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The Haut-Fays Geocache - GPS Stash Hunt This is the second GPS
Stash Hunt to be set in Belgium. It was set on the 6th of July,
2000 near Haut-Fays [map]. The idea of this one came from the
Degree Confluence Project although it is not an "official" point
for this project. Why? Because for latitudes above 49 degree they
drop every third point :-( This one is in south of Belgium, not far
from France, in the Haute Lesse area. That is a very attractive and
touristic area in the belgian Luxembourg province, though the stash
is actually in the Namur province. There are many other things to
visit and enjoy after you will have found the stash. You will be
just some kilometers west of the European Space Agency ground
station in Redu. This site is operated by Ciset and controls more
than 80 geostationary satellites (no, not the Navstar satellites
that your GPS uses!) A more recreational site about space is the
Euro Space Camp. The small village of Redu is also known for being
a "book town". There are more than 20 bookshops that you can visit
in a friendly and relaxing environment. The geocache is located in
the woods at about 10 meter from a paved road (N835). A 1/200.000
Michelin road map (sheet 214) should be enough if you want to go by
car or road cycling. We chose to leave our car at the Redu's ESA
station and go with a mountain bike. To get to the stash it was a
17km westward ride, mainly in the woods and trough the village of
Gembes. We came back mainly by paved roads and trough the village
of Daverdisse for a total of 39km round trip [map]. The topomap was
absolutely necessary. The IGN 1/25000 sheet 64/1-2 (Haut-Fays -
Redu) covers this area. Be aware that the coordinates on that map
are not WGS84. More details on that on the IGN web site: in French
or in Dutch. The stash is a ammo box. It is burried between the
roots of a large stump (on the side facing north). The ammo box is
coverd with some leaves and small branches but remains evident for
the one who searches for it. It is marked in big blue letters
"Geocache - GPS Stash Hunt" and the coordinates. We took some
pictures and they will be published here (it may take some time,
though...). The initial contents: a log book and a pencil of
course, plus some roller pens, orange juice, green-and-white
"antistress" ball,... No batteries in this one but genuine belgian
chocolate (56% cocoa, 0% other vegetable fat). As the rule says:
take something, leave something, write in the log book.. And now
for the coordinates: after a 15 minute averaging, the Garmin GPS
III Pilot confirmed the cache is at: N50°00.000' - E005°00.000'
(WGS84) That position was determined with 9 sats, DOP 1.2 and EPE 5
meters. The averaging showed first E004°59.997' and Estimated
Precision 4.6m. This geocache was visited for the first time on
July 16, 2000.
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