Geocacher Jones and the Four Elements Cache

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N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.???  [] In Saskatchewan, Canada

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The above coordinates are CORRECT, however, in order to gain access to the cache, you'll need to visit all four of the four elements in the series. . .
Earth(GC1EGQ8)
Air(GC1EGQE)
Fire(GC1EGQM)
Water(GC1EGQQ)
. . . and gather the three digit codes from each. I changed up the way the cache is locked up so it is necessary to find all four element caches to get into the final. Good Luck!! The cache is a 5-gallon pail.

EDIT:
This is turning into a tougher cache than I had originally thought it would be. To log this as a find you will need to log the physical logbook(No logging a Find if you've only just looked at the cache). This is to keep it fair to everyone that goes for this. Sorry to Scratch1, BennyKidd, Bitzer, Pike_Eater, and the many others.
Please place everything back where it was hidden and make sure the cache is locked in the same manner in which you found it so as to make the challenge fun for future cachers. Thanks!


The Adventure Begins . . .

The package that was waiting for you on your desk was small and could’ve been easily missed had you not been partly anticipating it. You had just come back from the funeral of a former professor and mentor of yours. He had always been eccentric, but the last few years he had seemed to go beyond that, allowing himself to become a hermit of sorts in the deep woods of Northern Saskatchewan. So obsessed was he with his theories that he had completely cut himself off from all his family and friends.

Yet there it was, on your desk. Probably the last thing he did before he took his own life. A small book, his notebook, filled with notations of the strangest sort. Along with it was a small note:

Dr. Jones,
You were always my most brilliant student. I feel it is only right to let you finish what I have started. Good luck.
Yours truly and forever
Gerald B.

You sit behind your cluttered desk and flip through the book, taking in what is inside. You should’ve known that this is what he had been working on. Your mentor, your friend, had always been obsessed with ancient tribal legends, and the one of the Four Element Spirits, was always a favorite of his. You could ramble the story off by heart.

Legend had it that the five tribes of the Great West came together ages ago in the midst of a major battle. The chiefs knew that the source of their fighting was the treasure given out to them by the spirits of the land. The spirits of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. Individuals within each tribe felt that the total treasure was rightfully theirs and built up armies to wage war against one another to gain access to the full load. The elders, recognizing that the treasure, instead of bringing the tribes together like the Spirits had wanted, was driving them apart. So they came together, in secret, with the treasure from each of their tribes. They conjured up the Four Spirits who agreed with their plan. They hid the treasure, and the spirits agreed to stand guard over it until such time as someone who could show to have all the attributes of each spirit can come before them to gain the treasure. Four locations were set up as tests. Each to test for each of the four spiritual attributes. Should someone manage to survive each test, and gain the numbered wisdom from each, would be worthy of the treasure, and the power it holds.

You smile to yourself.

Inside the little notebook, hidden among dozens of Cree, Masonic, Iroquois, and other native symbols, were the five locations. The four test locations, and the location of the full treasure.

“Casey!” You call to your teaching assistant.

They poke their head into your office. “Yes Dr.Jones?”

“Cancel the next couple weeks classes. We’re heading on a little adventure.”

Casey’s face showed a mix of excitement and fear. “Another one? Wasn’t the one in Peru adventurous enough? Where are we going this time?”

You look down at the notebook. “Saskatchewan.”

Additional Hints ( Decrypt ) 

Decryption Key
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
(letter above equals below,
and vice versa)

Nsgre bcravat pnpur: nafjre gb evqqyr vf n ohfu gb gur rnfg bs gur pnpur. Ybbx ba gur tebhaq jurer gur 7 ynetr gehaxf pbzr gbtrgure. (Decrypted Hints)

Find...

• ...other caches hidden or found by this user
• ...hotels near Saskatoon

Logged Visits ( 31 total. )

17

6

5

1

2

Cache Logs

November 7 by League of Robots (47 found) Out caching with el_fudgeeo today and finally was able to get all four of the pieces. Headed for the cache and lo and behold ... another test! Were we worthy of the challenge? We searched around for a few minutes before finally figuring this one out, found the final stage and finished the puzzle. I really enjoyed this one - nice work! TFTC. [view this log]

November 7 by el_fudgeeo (359 found) Out for a day of caching with League of Robots. We were successful at the four stations, and come to the main event, where we hit a brick wall. Where is that last key? We found a small camo container with a number grid on it, but that did not fit in the lockbox :). We searched around a bit for another container that had the missing bit, but no luck. We thought the key might be with the main cache, so we fully uncovered it, and thought - what a pretty design. Then the penny dropped, and we were off. Found the missing piece of the puzzle and opened up the main cache. Very nicely done. The whole series was fun to do, and the puzzle at the end was unexpected. Good thing there were two of us, so we could bounce ideas off one another. We replaced the small cammo container in a clump of trees probably 1 or 2 m from the main cache towards the new-born sun. T - kids book, Travel bug L - assorted small plastic animals [view this log]

August 28 by rider_fan (815 found) Ok. Did the whole series this afternoon. Got all the answers needed to open the cache. Found the cache easily, and opened it, only to find that there was one more piece to the puzzle. We searched as directed by the hint, and the writings on the cache container. Searched and searched and searched. Finallay found a camo'd container SE of the cache, not E. The cryptic piece inside made no sense to us, so back to searching. Nothing. Finally left this one, as we had to be back in the city for other commitments. Will return once the final piece is proven to exist. [view this log]

June 23 by r00k1e (203 found) Found the cache, but only had one of the combinations for it. Will have to come back to this one again! [This entry was edited by r00k1e on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 6:17:22 AM.] [view this log]

June 6 by 3pollyc (525 found) Found it! (First to sign the new log book!) Took nothing Left Brown Blaze Travel Bug Signed log. TFTC #7 of the day and another set of caches off our 'to do list'! [view this log]

June 3 by pangaeanshift (172 found) Added a hint to the final cache. Please attempt to finish before reading it. Honestly! I didn't make it to be that overly complicated! lol. Just don't overthink it when you're there. [view this log]

May 25 by Prairie Maiden (104 found) We came, we saw, we ........... didn't find! This was a very frustrating way to end the day in Martensville. After finding all the clues that we needed and locating the cache we weren't able to open it and sign the log book because we couldn't find the final key based on the cryptic clue. Maybe you could include a waypoint for the key in the hints for those of us who are overly challenged by riddles. [view this log]

May 25 by pangaeanshift (172 found) Always feel like I need to reassure people that the cache is still there and attainable when there's a DNF. And since it's so easy for me to check it's not impossible to do this. Anyways, everything is still there in the same places they've been since I placed it almost a year ago. No worries :) Only thing that's changed is the amount of ground cover placed over the cache to eliminate any future attacks by axe wielding muggles who really really really want into the cache without unlocking hte locks. Yeah. . . that happened. Only took a day for me to replace it though. YAY! [view this log]

May 25 by sktourismgal (187 found) We look and we look and we look, and then we looked some more. "Who does that" was the phrase I kept using when i couldnt find it. At least it was really nice and sunny out and it felt really natur-e! Hope u find out if its missing, or else give some sort of other hint thats not so complicated. [view this log]

May 25 by jellybean12 (267 found) You are a mean mean person to do this to us... we found the pale and had all the clues but couldn't find the key for the final lock... we search for about 1/2 hour and finally gave up... (and I usually don't hang around much longer than 10-15 mins for DNF) - We think that with the last time someone found this and all the winter growth and moss around that it is not findable - we even called a life line friend but she found it so long ago that it was different from now... It was fun to find all of these but it would have been better to get the final cache since it would have been my 200th - anyway I believe checking on the final key is necessary. Thanks for the hunt [view this log]

May 4 by pangaeanshift (172 found) Cache is back with its new paint job. As well, I have changed the way it's locked up, so you'll have to visit ALL four elements to get into the cache. [view this log]

May 3 by pangaeanshift (172 found) Taking cache in to give it a new coat of camo and fix some things on the container itself. Should be back within a day or two. [view this log]

May 3 by thevirg (52 found) I found where I thought it might have been. I wonder if it hasnt been muggled. I will wait for someone else to find it before I try again. [view this log]

February 3 by SNSGKrieger (1555 found) Dipping personal Geocoin for mileage. [view this log]

October 28, 2008 by Bitzer (1940 found) I hadn't been out here since the summer, but today was so nice I decided to come out at lunch to finish this off. What a great cache and what a great series. I loved the adventure -- thanks. Since there is little foliage around these days, I covered up the cache a bit with moss and sticks. It still should be an easy find for someone who is looking for it. TNLNSL TFTC [view this log]

October 22, 2008 by verticalrock (364 found) Solved the four elements puzzle today. Found three elements and the final cache. Had some trouble with Fire, searched some and didn’t find it then the muggles started showing up. The others were relatively easy. The GPS went a little erratic for the final cache, but because it was big I was able to find the cache. I must say this is a very well planed puzzle, well done TNLN TFTC SL verticalrock [view this log]

October 7, 2008 by Trillium03 (1630 found) This was an interesting idea for a cache. Enjoyed doing this series! Got three & DNF but got the final one & able to open the cache & sign the log. TFTC [view this log]

September 24, 2008 by Dragonfly E&N (1159 found) Had a good time with this one.....Great final cache. 3 out of 4 isn't too bad....still never found (air)......frustrated the heck out of me....i will go back and find it.....it'll bug me till i do... Took wooden northbound coin Left biner Thank for the hunt......Cheers [view this log]

September 20, 2008 by mackdog2 (502 found) decided to stop with three of the four elements had a great tour of town sl t nothing left compass dude+superman lunchkit [view this log]

September 13, 2008 by SNSGKrieger (1555 found) Fantastic final cache! What a blast we had chasing down the other caches to get here. The skunk encounter was pretty funny after the fact. George was a good boy and let us search in stealth for a long time. This was part of an excellent day of caching in great company. TFTC TFTH [view this log]

September 13, 2008 by Sask_girl & Novy (1736 found) Spent the late afternoon caching with SNSGKrieger - well no N. This was our fourth of 10 today :) Thought we'd tackle this series. Decided after finishing 3 of the 4 elements that we'd give this one a go since we were so close to it. Found it right away and we cheered when each lock was opened. Imagine our surprise inside. lol. Spent lots and lots of time in the area of the final. There was one point when we were all spread out a long ways when Novy yelled 'SKUNK!!!!' and came rushing back towards ground zero. He and the skunk has come face to face only 5 feet apart! Luckily they both were equally started and took off in different directions. Sask_girl was paranoid the skunk was going make its way towards them which kept her from venturing too far out. Finally we achieved our goal. We grabbed the geocoin but didn't trade anything because we left the cache bag in the car. TFTC! What a lot of work you put in :) Great fun :) [view this log]

September 7, 2008 by two hotdogs (193 found) What a great challenge!!!! We found all 5 elements and it was a lot of fun - TNLN - T4TC - SL [view this log]

September 1, 2008 by K is for Crazy (681 found) Oh the sweet taste of success. The team managed to find all five in the series today and we had a great time doing it. It was a great way to be introduced to geocaching. TFTC. [This entry was edited by xcmtr on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 7:25:13 PM.] [view this log]

August 16, 2008 by pike_eater (158 found) We finally got the combination to this one. Had logged it as a find before, but that was technically not right. Did get into today. Thanks for being patient with us. Took the diabetes travel bug. Took nothing, left nothing, signed the log. pike_eater [view this log]

August 12, 2008 by scratch1 (3203 found) Thought we had this one solved last night but not so. This AM Scratch1(M) kidnapped (L) & Mrs bennykidd to go finish this cache. T-citronella wristband L-Geocoin Club June 2008 geocoin. Thanks for the adventure-great fun. scratch1 [This entry was edited by scratch1 on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 8:53:57 PM.] [view this log]

August 12, 2008 by bennykidd (2289 found) After a challenging 2 days and numerous trips to find "Fire" of course everyone knows we can not live without fire--well our flames were flickering pretty low in "Muggleville".Almost impossible to outwait them--but yes success. All 4 codes in hand we were off. We knew where we were going so felt great about this one. Then----SURPRISE-----Will send you a personal note on this .Scratch1 took some pictures as well. Cache is sitting there cute as you please.This was a fun-challenging-frustrating-rewarding cache to do. Very well thought out. Thought we had completed this one last night as we thought the "key" had gone missing. Turned out after checking with the owner we were oh so close to the completion. Back K went with Scratch1 team this morning to complete. SL TN TFTH--TFTC bennykidd(R&K) [This entry was edited by bennykidd on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 4:19:43 PM.] [view this log]

August 3, 2008 by pike_eater (158 found) Found it, but of course couldn't get into it. Very nice series of caches. Thank you for them. pike_eater [view this log]

July 27, 2008 by Chevelle (1109 found) Great cache idea. We had fun doing this one. Took second to find prize. TFTC [view this log]

July 26, 2008 by alex063 (739 found) WOOOOHOOOOO! FTF! This was a long day in Martensville. We had intended to knock this series off in the morning then head in to Saskatoon a do several more before our late afternoon wedding. As it turned out we were here almost all day and made it to the wedding hall in time to get changed quickly and take our seats. We stopped by here earlier in the day after doing the water element and decided that even though we had failed at earth, that we could get in with three elements. After all you need a hinge on the lid right? Yup...no problem it opens up fine...but then another twist once you're in the pail, but I won't spoil the surprise. Needless to say we completed it. T: FTF prize. and portable pet bowl. L: clip on pencil and a mechanical pencil. Also dropped off a Diabetes TB. TFTC You made us work, but it was a great day and lots of fun! [view this log]

July 25, 2008 by mwellman (539 found) Yeah for EDOs! T saw this challenge pop up mid afternoon and off the mwellmans went. After only finding 2/4 caches, we thought that maybe we could find it by playing with the two coordinates we had - bad idea. We ended up in a farmers field and a backyard etc. We will wait to see if anyone else finds the other two. But we did have fun and found two more FTFs. Thanks for the puzzle and the adventure in Martinsville. Duh! Now that I read the cache description again this morning, we were very close to the final cache. But finding it wouldn't have helped us as we had only 2/4 of the 'codes'. We'll be back to finish this puzzle. Hopefully we will not fail our mentor. [This entry was edited by mwellman on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 5:57:52 AM.] [This entry was edited by mwellman on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 5:58:56 AM.] [view this log]

July 25, 2008 by onecrazycanadian (2 found) Published [view this log]

Current time: 11/22/2009 7:39:35 AM
Last Updated: 11/8/2009 2:02:23 AM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum