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UTM Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/20/2020
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


This cache is not at the posted coordinates.

How do you project a round Earth onto a flat map and be able to define locations on the map? This is a complex question, and there are multiple ways of doing this.


A common method is to use Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates. UTM divides the Earth into zones, and within each zone, a position is defined by meters north and meters east of the reference point of the zone (generally the southwest corner, which is bottom-left on the map). UTM is useful in cases where you are looking at a small section of Earth as opposed to the Earth as a whole. UTM has sometimes been used historically in wartime because a war zone usually occurs within a single UTM zone, and it is easier to visualize meters than it is to visualize, for example, degrees/minutes/seconds. UTM zones are not necessarily squares, rectangles, or even straight lines because in some cases they are adjusted to political borders, for example to keep a country or state within the same zone.

One example of where you, as a geocacher, may see UTM coordinates is in National Forest Service trail maps, which use UTM zones (most national forests lie within a single zone) and meters north and east from the origin. The lines drawn on forest service maps are often 1 km, which is a good reference when hiking.

In addition to WGS-84 coordinates, Geocaching shows UTM coordinates on caches. For example, the UTM coordinates of this cache's posted coordinates are 13S 414535 3938329, e.g it is in Zone 13S, and it is 41435 east of the southwest corner of this zone and 3938329 meters east of the southwest corner.

UTM position of this cache's final location:

13S 414628 3938452

 

Checker allows answers within 3 meters.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

ntnvafg ybt, srapr fvqr, haqre fbzr onex naq n fznyy fgbar

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)