Introduction
This cache is located in the
Frances Hildreth Townes Forest, 543 acres of conservation land
owned by the New
England Forestry Foundation. NEFF is running a GeoChallenge
this year; the "official" cache goes live May 20th or so. I've
received permisison to place several other caches in the forest to
support the GeoChallenge cache, as well as the
Frog Rock CITO on May 6th. As we all know, the more caches
there are, the more cachers there are!
This cache is part of the Excelsior Loop (see below).
Sam Loyd's Excelsior
"Excelsior" is one of Sam Loyd's most famous chess problems. It was
named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem of the same name for
reasons that remain unclear to this writer.
In 1858, in a joking mood in the Morphy Chess Rooms, Loyd
composed a mate problem for his friend Denis Julien.
Julien was willing to wager that he could always find the piece
that delivered the principal mate of a chess problem. Loyd composed
this problem as a joke and bet his friend dinner that he could not
pick a piece that didn't give mate in the main line (his friend
immediately identified the pawn on b2 as being the least likely to
deliver mate), and when the problem was published it was with the
stipulation that white mates with "the least likely piece or
pawn."
It was originally published in the London Era in 1861. He
also submitted the same problem to a Paris tourney in 1867 and the
Excelsior took 2nd prize.
The solution (in algebraic notation) is as follows:
|
|
1. b4
Threatening Rf5 and Rf1 mate. White cannot begin with 1. Rf5
because Black's 1.... Rc5 would pin the rook.
1. ...Rc5+ 2. bxc5
Threatening Rb1 mate.
2. ...a2 3. c6
With the same threat as in move one.
3. ...Bc7 4. cxb7 any 5. bxa8=Q mate (or bxa8=B mate).
The mate is delivered with the pawn which starts on b2.
|
Any problem which features a pawn moving from its starting
square to promotion in the course of the solution is now said to
demonstrate the Excelsior theme. Nowadays it is most usually
shown in helpmates and seriesmovers.
The Cache
The cache is not at the listed coordinates. The hike isn't too
long but it does involve a decent amount of bushwacking. Please be
very aware of the NEFF property line and do not cross it. Take Frog
Rock road until you see the first NEFF sign, which is at the listed
coordinates, then start your bushwhacking. Do not start
bushwhacking from the parking coordinates, you will certainly be on
private property.
The cache is a 3- to 4-cup Lock and Lock container with the
usual trinkets and logbook. FTFP is a Puzzle Cache GeoCoin. I have
already activated it so it shows up in the listing but I will
transfer ownership to you once you log the coin.
Once you find the cache you should cross the stream, if
possible, if you are continuing on with
Longfellow - Excelsior! Look at your topo maps to see where you
are and where you want to be.
Parking Instructions
The designated parking lot is on the 2nd NH Turnpike about a
mile south of the intersection of the Turnpike with the
Lyndeborough Road. From the intersection, travel south for about a
mile until you come to Frog Rock Road on your left, which is - of
course - unmarked! This road is just past Hopkins Road on your
right. Look closely for Frog Rock Road since it is somewhat
overgrown and on a sharp curve of the Turnpike. Do not park on Frog
Rock Road, it is a Class 6 fire road, but rather park just to the
south where there is an unpaved wide spot that will easily hold 4
cars.
The Excelsior Loop
Since this area is not very populated, not many cachers visit
the area and I thought that placing several caches here would
attract cachers to the NEFF cache. This idea grew into the
Excelsior Loop. The Loop consists of the following caches
done in this order:
From the Nash Rambler cache you can then hike to the NEFF cache
directly or return to the Frog Rock Road and find the NEFF cache
with the letterboxing clues. When you do the loop you'll have
completed: a traditional, a multi, a micro, a letterbox hybrid and
a puzzle plus the traditonal disguised as a puzzle!
Note: Early logs will be deleted.