Old National Pike - Mile Marker 10 Multi-Cache
Old National Pike - Mile Marker 10
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A micro hidden in historic Ellicott City, Maryland
This cache is part of an informal series started by lpyankeefan in Washington Co. The National Road was authorized by Congress in 1806 and ran from Cumberland to Springfield, IL. The Maryland state government, not wanting the port of Baltimore to be bypassed, authorized a road from Baltimore to Cumberland, sometimes called the Bank Road to connect with the National Road. Lpyankeefan’s cache descriptions tell of the excitement surrounding this road 180 years ago much better than I can, so I will refer you to one of his cache descriptions, GC5A6RR.
***NOTE***
Due to the recent flooding in downtown Ellicott City, the flood height sign is down again. So, since we are good people, here are the coordinates:
N 39 16.036 W 76 47.704.
The cache is there, dry and waiting to be found .
Good luck and happy hunting.
The second part of this double-header historical cache is downtown Ellicott City and the B&O Railroad Museum, Ellicott City Station. Downtown Ellicott City is a quaint little place, full of restaurants, bars, shops, museums, churches and any number of interesting places. Consider a walk around and a stop at one of the many purveyors of food and beverage.
This unique cache location has both the marker for the Old National Pike and the first manifestation of the emerging technology that would soon make the Road obsolete. The Ellicott City Station is the first railroad station in the United States, begun in 1830 and completed in 1831. The station was used to haul the output of the Ellicott brother's mills to the port of Baltimore. The station is now a part of the B&O Railroad Museum.
Now, about the cache. This is a two-part cache. The final stage is a micro, hidden near the B&O Ellicott City Station property. Bring your own pencil. THERE IS NO NEED TO ENTER THE MUSEUM OR GO ONTO MUSEUM PROPERTY TO FIND THIS CACHE!
To find the cache, park at the suggested parking coordinates and locate the stone for Mile Marker 10 at the posted coordinates. On the nearby railroad viaduct, you will see a series of markers showing historic Ellicott City flood levels and the year of the flood. Use these markers to find the final cache coordinates.
The final coordinates of the cache are: N 39 deg 16.xxx min and W 076 deg 47.yyy min.
Let A = flood height in 1868,
Let B = flood height in 1972
Let C = flood height in 1952,
Let D = flood height in 1975.
Then .xxx is equal to (A+B)/1000 and,
.yyy is equal to (44x(C+D))/1000
Be very careful of traffic at the final site. Not recommended for children.
FTF honors go to GeoGrandpa. Congratulations!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ergevrinoyr sebz gur ebnq.