WATCHOUT FOR POLAR BEARS! Mystery Cache
WATCHOUT FOR POLAR BEARS!
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This is my first puzzle cache hide, and it’s really not that much of a puzzle. It’s definitely not hard, but hopefully different. If you do the simple math before you go, it’s an easy park and grab. I'm giving it a 3.5 D only because it's Christmas time and I'm feeling generous. Well, and the fact that you have to read thru my lengthy description.
You don’t have to be a retired navigational engineer to get this one, but if you are, I hope it's still fun!
The magnetic pole, unlike the geographic North Pole, is in constant movement. Figuring out exactly where the pole is allows map-makers to draw what's called "magnetic declination," which is the number of compass degrees that separate the direction of magnetic north from True North, which points to the geographic North Pole. Blah, blah blah.
WAIT!! Before most of all traditional cache seekers skip past this one, it is easy. Instead of using all this magnetic declination mumbo jumbo, lets just take a “virtual trip” to the geographic location of the North Pole.
The above coordinates will take you to a monument that has simply the letters 'N' & 'P' stamped into the top as well a set of numbers, which may be the elevation. This will work out perfect for our little puzzle. We can assume that the letters N and P refer to the North Pole and therefore you will BE at the North Pole once you find the monument. Now, we need a story…
...Many years ago, a fellow cacher went to the Arctic in search of a cache. He was very pleased that he not only found it, but also was FIRST to find. But before he could get out his pen to sign it, a hungry Polar Bear appeared and started chasing him. The poor guy was scared half to death and ran due south for 150 yards. He turned around and there was the bear. He ran again, this time due east 200 feet with the bear still closing in. He then ran due north 100 feet and could now sense the bear inches behind him. He cut back due east 250 feet, accidently dropping his pen along this route. Surprisingly, the Polar bear stopped to check out the pen, giving our hero just enough time to catch his breath. He then sprinted off one more time due north a distance of 350 feet. Feeling confident he now has lost the bear, he turned around to get a glimpse of the big beast just before he was devoured.
Sad story indeed, however the good news is that he dropped the cache in that exact spot before he could sign it! It still doesn’t have a FTF as of the publishing of this story. All you have to do is figure the correct bearing and distance from the monument at the North Pole, to the long forgotten cache. You have to do just one more thing; WATCH OUT FOR POLAR BEARS!
**Congrats to a FTF party which included: Smiling in Acworth, Leafer54, ClemsonMom and RedOwl80 for FTF, and also not getting eaten by Polar Bears!**
You’re looking for a red and white match holder.
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