MILE MARKERS ----- #1 Mystery Cache
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Have you seen what looked like a gravestone on the side of the road? If you have, it was probably a mile marker. Connecticut's early laws required that mile stones at least two feet high be set up by the selectmen of the towns along the major routes to the county town. These routes would have been the main postal routes. These markers first appeared between 1795 and 1850 when stage coaches traveled the routes. Before this time, a pile of stones often was the marker along the route.
Most of the earliest mile markers were made from red sandstone. However, there are some made from fieldstone. The red sandstone was quarried around Portland, CT and was very plentiful. The red sandstone eroded easily because it is soft stone and many of the mile markers became illegible. Many of the mile markers have disappeared due to the development of an area or have sunk into the earth. In the 1970's, the state Department of Transportation with the help of many interested individuals, found many of the original marker locations and where stones were missing, replaced them with new markers. Gray granite replaced the original field stone markers and pink granite replaced the red sandstone markers. This geocache takes you along one of the old routes. It is the route that went from Colchester, CT to Hartford, CT. Today the route is called the Old Hartford Rd. and New London Turnpike depending on the town you are located. Today, Route 2 is the main highway through the area. Your jouney starts at the posted coordinates. Once you get to this location, set the trip odometer on your vehicle to zero or take a reading on the odometer. There is a mile marker every mile starting at this location for the next 7 miles heading in a north westerly direction. There are 9 mile markers along this section (one location, mile 11, has two mile markers, one old and one new). There is nothing to be found at any of the mile markers except some information. The mile markers at many of the locations are on private property. The mile markers are within a short distance of the side of the road. The roads on which the mile markers are located are very busy and you should be very careful when you stop and start. In order to find the final cache you will need some information with which to make some calculations to determine the final coordinates: 1. What is the mileage to Hartford on the mile marker at the posted coordinates? This is the starting point. The answer is A. 2. What is the mileage to Hartford on the mile marker at N 41* 37.104 and W 072* 26.515? The answer is B. 3. What is the mileage to Hartford at N 41* 37.835 and W 072* 27.460? The answer is C. 4. What is the mileage to Hartford on the mile marker at N 41* 38.943 and W 072* 29.136? The answer is D. The final cache is located at: N 41* 38.903 + A + B + C + D and W 072* 29.197 - A - B - C - D
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Guvegrra Srrg, Avar Vapurf
Treasures
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