Somewhere on State Trust Land in Apache Junction there is a
cache waiting to be located. It should be fairly close to US
60 over basically flat terrain. It is NOT in the Silly
Mountain parking area as the above coordinates suggest.
Here’s the story: An old college friend stopped by
for a visit while traveling across the country. Naturally I
steered the talk to Geocaching and he seemed quite
interested. He told me he knew a little about a map and
compass, and enjoyed walking in the desert. I showed him how
a GPSr worked, and then guided him to a couple of caches. He
thought it was fun and asked if he could hide a cache for me to
find before he left. It sounded like a good idea to me, so we
dug out a small metal box, I loaned him my GPSr, and off he
went. He said he wanted to explore the State Trust Land near
his RV park, and would let me know the next day where he had hidden
the cache. I cautioned him about taking accurate coordinate
readings, and even told him about the good common practice of
approaching the waypoint from several directions just to verify the
accuracy of his figures.
Now, I hadn't seen this guy since college (a LONG time
ago). He was a bit spacey even back then. The rest of
us never did understand what he was talking about, but we admired
him and called him the "Math Whiz". He was the kind of guy
that carried a 2 foot long slide rule in a holster - he could
calculate a cotangent to 8 decimal places. He could do square
roots on paper with an ink pen. He knew the derivative of pi
r squared. He knew... well, you get the idea.
I was a little worried when I had not heard from him the next
morning, but when I looked on my porch I found my GPSr and the
following note:
Sorry, but I thought I’d get an early start towards
Yuma. The desert was beautiful, the weather superb, and I
found a neat spot for your cache. I remembered to take four
readings just like you said. I converted all compass headings
to true, except maybe #3 – I don’t know about that
one.
(1)From N33º 22.589’ W111º 29.329’ the cache
is 201º true
(2)From N33º 22.706’ W111º 31.724’ the cache
is 111º true
(3)From N33º 21.051’ W111º 28.620’ the cache
is 320º either magnetic or true
(4)From N33º 21.712’ W111º 28.620, I forgot to
write down the heading.
It should be very easy. Oh yeah, I also remember that
it’s exactly one mile from #4 to the cache. Have fun
and I’ll see you next year, I hope. Hide a cache for
me.
When I first read this over, I thought: Great, you dummy, you
forgot to write down the coordinates of the cache. I’ll
never be able to find it. And I can't even contact him - my
voice mail must be getting caught in his spam filter. A cache
container gone to waste. Oh well.
But after a little while of pondering, I thought of at least a
couple of ways to look for the cache. Perhaps you can help me
out. This is one adventure that definitely requires
pre-planning. Good maps are a plus. This website could be
a help. Or maybe this
one. Or maybe neither. And a compass if you get
really desperate. And desert boots.
Hope you can find it for me.
PS: If you do find it, please do not give away your
secret(s) in your log. More of a challenge for others, and
more satisfaction when they find it on their own.
PPS: Congratulations to DoubleBogie6, azdiablos and Team
AZFastFeet for finding the cache on their own. The remainder
of the caching community seems to have leaked from a somewhat lower
level in the gene pool. The cache has been dumbed down a bit
and there are now three helps available for those of less nimble
wit, or for those that feel somewhat mathematically
challenged:
(1) You can ask for help.
(2) You can plead for more assistance than anyone should need, and
finally
(3) You can grovel on the ground while begging for a giveaway clue
that would lead a blind idiot to the cache.
To use the first help, log a DNF (might actually be a Did Not
Try if you are at that stage) and ask for help.
To use the second help, (after failing to comprehend the obvious
clue provided in the first help) log another DNF and explain how
your life's experiences have failed to prepare you for such a
simple challenge.
To use the third help, abandon all pretense of intelligence,
subject yourself to abject humiliation, resign yourself to the
position of Also Ran, log yet another DNF and prepare yourself for
the head-banging "DUH" answer.
