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Fiddlin' John Carson Mystery Cache

Hidden : 3/13/2010
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Here's another East Atlanta cache for you. This time it comes with some history and will require some extra work from you. Country music has a long history and tends to strongly attract or repel listeners: not much middle ground. Fiddlin' John's music was probably classified as hillbilly by the record companies; fair enough because it is a distant ancestor to the glossy highly-produced fodder that calls itself country now. You can hear some snippets at allmusic.com.

The initial coordinates are not the cache location as you probably know. They will take you to the grave of Fiddlin' John Carson. He became one of the first country musicians ever recorded and was the very first to be broadcast over the radio a year earlier.


You are welcome to visit the initial coordinates and obtain the year of his first recordings from the marker in front of the grave that reads "The Georgia Fiddler." The year in question is when he recorded his first two songs for Okeh Records. When you have that year, you will need to do some research to determine which future country superstar was born in that year. When you know who that is, take the four digits of this future superstar's birth year, ABCD, and add all four together. Multiply that sum by six and subtract the resulting number from the starting point latitude. Then use this superstar's day of birth (not the month or the year); subtract it from the last two digits of the longitude. The new coordinates will take you on a short drive or walk to the cache location.

The new version of this cache in June 2011 features an ammo box (in town!) and I hope it fares well in its environment. It has some musically themed swag and is roomy enough to serve as a TB hotel. UPDATE: The ammo boxes are going missing regularly so now you're looking for a flare tube, still a decent size!

Note that the physical cache location is in a wooded area off of cemetery property. Please respect the many gravesites in this very old cemetery. The local residents have worked very long and hard to restore it from an overgrown and forgotten relic to its pleasant and peaceful current state. FTF to Axmantis! Congrats!

You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

trbcvyr

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)