A trip down the Holston River
While floating the Holston River with fellow geocachers Psyprof and Cynwood, we stumbled across a beaut of a cave and it was just too cool not to hide a geocache here to bring other cachers to it. Access is by boat only, and using the suggested launch and take-out coordinates, is about a 16 mile float/paddle. The float journey will require some planning to complete without mishap, be sure to check out the TVA release schedule to get an idea of water flow on the day of your trip. Also make sure you let someone know where you are going and what the plan is. As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
The Cave
While there are a few pseudo caves along this stretch of the river, you will know when you reach the cave. Intrepid geocachers can use this information alone to find the cave and search for the cache, but know that doing so will make the difficulty much harder, maybe a true 5/5. Alternatively, solve the puzzle below to get coordinates to the cave's entrance and a hint about how to find the cache, making the difficulty rating more like a 4. Bring a flashlight, and sturdy pants/kneepads for more serious exploration of the cave. We were not so well equipped on our visit, so I couldn't tell you how deep it goes, only that it is well frequented by people as the graffiti and trash will attest. Please leave the area cleaner than you found it and treat all cave features with the respect they deserve.
The Puzzle
The image below is an arrangement of 19 hexagons with a few numbers filled in. You will need to fill in the remaining hexagons so that all the numbers between 1-19 are used. Additionally, the numbers of each row or diagonal when added must all make the same sum. Seems rather magical doesn't it? A correct hit on the coord checker provides additional guidance for finding the cache inside the cave.
The coordinates will then be
North 36° (C-D).(J-B)(E)(P)
West 83° (2*S+J+Q).(G-A)(K)(R)
Final Note on D/T rating
The D/T rating assumes that accessing the cache is done by a river trip, as this is the only access I am aware of. However, should there prove to be a land-access route, I may adjust the D/T rating accordingly. If you have information about a land approach, please email me so I can update the listing.