MERIT BADGE REQUIREMENTS
Full requirements can be found here
CACHING INSTRUCTIONS Since orienteering is an extremely useful skill to know when you're out hiking in the woods for caches, this cache will require you to complete an orienteering course on a specialized orienteering map.
First, go to the posted coordinates. Here you will find a stash of maps. This map was created by the Up North Orienteers for a permanent orienteering course. Additional maps are available at the Milford Town Hall. If you have a color printer, you may want to visit this link and print your own copy of the map. If you print your own, you do not need to visit the posted coordinates.
You will notice that this map contains special symbols unique to orienteering maps. Besides symbols for trails and streams, you will also find symbols for features such as boulders, cliffs, stone walls, and thick vegetation (mostly laurel in this area). Take some time to familiarize yourself with the symbols. You also need to pay attention to the scale shown near the top of the page. The north-south lines on the map are magnetic, and will align with north on your compass.
The numbered circles on the map are called controls. In the center of each circle will be a feature, such as a boulder, or cliff, which you will have to find using the map. When you arrive at each feature, you will find a control marker, in this case a 4x4" orange and white square (see picture below). Each marker will have a three-digit number on it. You will need to copy down these codes, as well as the number of the control at which you found them. You will use these numbers later in a formula to find the final container.
Your orienteering course will include the following controls on the map, in this order:
- 10: East side of 2 meter boulder
- 9: NE side of 2 meter boulder
- 8: W side of 1 meter rock pile
- 7: Foot of cliff
Once you get your map at stage 1, take time to orient it. You most likely parked on Savage Road, running along the northwest side of the map, under the powerlines, shown as a big yellow band, as yellow is the symbol for a clearing. You are now in the woods just off the powerline, on the curvy little trail shown just south of it. To get you started, I have included an extra waypoint for Control 10, at N 42°49.697 W 071°42.339. As you walk down the hill on the trail, pay attention to the features you pass, including a small boulder on your left, a small cliff on your right, then just before you turn right to go to Control 10, a steep sided valley (shown as "V" shaped contours) lined with cliffs.
For the other three controls, you will rely on the map and compass. And don't forget to write down the 3-digit codes you find.
Formula for Final You will find the final at N 42°A.B, W 71°C.D., where
A = Code for Control 10 minus 58
B = Sum of the 4 codes plus 179
C = Code for Control 8 minus 60
D = Sum of the 4 codes plus 95.
Many thanks to both the Up North Orienteers and the Milford Conservation Committee for making this type of cache possible.