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New Hampshire County Challenge Mystery Cache

Hidden : 10/21/2008
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


PLEASE DO NOT LOG THIS CACHE WITHOUT MEETING THE CHALLENGE REQUIREMENTS.
It is a difficult challenge requiring a lot of work

The cache IS at the above coordinates BUT.....

In order to log the cache as found, the challenge below needs to be completed first......
The difficulty rating is due to having to find 30 other caches in addition to finding the final.

The NH Counties

The state of NH has only 10 counties, in comparison to some states with well over 100 counties. The smallest county is Strafford County with 369 sq mi and the largest is Coos County with 1801 sq mi. The counties with smaller land areas are towards the southern end of the state, where the NH population is concentrated, and the larger land area counties are those in the north of the state.

The first 5 counties were formed in 1769 when New Hampshire was still an English colony. These are:
Cheshire County named after the English county Cheshire (where incidentally Mrs Britpitts went to High School).
Grafton County named after Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton and British Prime Minister 1768-1770.
Hillsborough County named after Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, known in America as the Earl of Hillsborough.
Rockingham County named after Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, 2-time British Prime Minister 1765-1766, 1782.
Strafford County, named after William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford.
Coos County was formed in 1803, named after a bend in the Connecticut River and meaning 'crooked' in Native American.
Merrimack County was formed in 1823 and named after the Merrimack River.
Sullivan County was formed in 1827 and named after John Sullivan, the 3rd and 5th governor of NH.
Belknap and Carroll Counties were the last to be formed in 1840, they are named after Jeremy Belknap, early NH historian and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the US Declaration of Independence respectively.

Map Courtesy of Digital Map Store

The Challenge

The requirements for the NH County Challenge are simple:
For each county in NH ( Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coos, Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, Strafford and Sullivan), find a traditional, a mystery AND a multi cache.
Sign the physical logbook for each cache and log it online.

The Rules

1. For caches to be eligible for this challenge, they must be found on or after November 1, 2008, the physical log book should be signed and they should be logged on www.geocaching.com.
2. Caches you have placed do not count towards your finds.
3. Multi/Puzzle caches that cross county borders will only count for the county that contains the listed coordinates on www.geocaching.com
4. Please do not go to the final until you have completed the challenge. Exception: If you live more than 40 miles (as the crow flies) from this cache, you may visit this cache while in the county, however, it WILL NOT count towards your finds in Rockingham County. Please only log as a find online when you have completed the challenge (you may log an earlier visit as a note at the time of visiting, and state your progress and distance from home!).
5. Once you have found a traditional, a mystery and a multi cache in each county, visited this cache and signed the log book, please log online. In your online log, please include the following information for each of your finds:
Cache Name, Waypoint Code, Cache Type, Date Found, County

Logs that do not include all the correct information will be deleted and you will be contacted to let you know what is missing.

You are more than welcome to post notes and/or pictures of your progress here as you work towards the final. Smiley

For anybody who has already found all the traditional, mystery or multi caches in a county, and wishes to take up this challenge, you may revisit a cache of that type in that county (please note this in your log)

While completing this challenge, you could also use many of the caches found to count towards the challenge caches The New Hampshire Delorme Challenge - GCZTTQ or 9 Degrees of New Hampshire - GC17YQH

Have fun! Happy Caching around the State of New Hampshire!
Remember, that any 'cheating' is only cheating yourself!!

The Cache contains a log book, a photo album and NH themed trade items. (Cache contents at start: NH keychain, 2 NH fridge magnets, NH pad, NH auto magnet, 4 NH pencils and 2 NH sharpeners)

It would be neat to build up a pictorial record of the state through the seasons, so if you take any pictures, feel free to put a copy in the photo album (labelled with name, date, county). I will also build up an online album if anyone feels like submitting photos with their logs :-)

FTF Prize for completing the Challenge (not just finding this cache) is an NH Geocoin.

Congratulations to Greystones & Haverood - Co FTF in 24 days!!
Team Bullis, Meandmydogs & 2GeoHounds - Co STF!


Note: The cache will be harder to find with a lot of snow, although it is possible, as shown by The 3 STF Teams!


Additional Hints (Decrypt)

AU vf bs pbhefr gur 'Tenavgr Fgngr'

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)