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Middlesex Canal Puzzle Cache Mystery Cache

Hidden : 7/25/2010
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

I was out doing maintenance on one of the Middlesex Canal caches when I decided to place three caches: one traditional, one multi and one puzzle. Two of them are easy and one not quite as easy, depending on your point of view.
This is the puzzle/mystery.

The Middlesex Canal
The Middlesex Canal, which linked Charlestown, on the Charles River, to the Merrimack River at Chelmsford, was the result of efforts by merchants and other wealthy men of Boston, Medford, and surrounding towns to develop a more efficient way to tap the natural resources and reach the markets of the Merrimack River Valley in northeastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The route of the canal went right through Wilmington. Near this cache are the remains of the Maple Meadow Aqueduct. I hope you take time to explore the remains of the canal before or after finding this cache.

The Cache
If you want to increase your Loch Cache find count this will be an easy one to find provided you do the puzzle right. The puzzle is based on the plaque where the Middlesex Canal trail crosses Butters Row. The plaque has about three paragraphs with a total of only 4-6 sentences. Use those sentences to solve this simple triplet puzzle:

N 3-2-1 / 1-14-1 . 4-9-2 / 1-10-4 / 2-11-7
W 4-3-2 / 3-7-2 . 2-12-2 / 1-18-2 / 3-8-4

If you get a letter convert it to a number based on its position in the alphabet. (i.e. A=1, B=2, etc.) If you get a number, just use it.

If you don't know what a triplet is here is an explanation:

Each triplet has three parts: A-B-C. Part A tells you which sentence to use; B tells you which word to use; and C tells you which letter to use. So the triplet 2-6-5 would tell you to use the 2nd sentence, the 6th word and the 5th letter. In the case of this paragraph that would equate to an E or 5.

A couple things to note:
  • If you see 30 1/2 that equals one word
  • If you see 20 ft. that equals two words
  • Don't count paragraphs, count sentences
  • The final is less that 4/10th of a mile from the plaque
  • There is a log IN the cache, not the other way around


Good luck and good caching,
Loch Cache


Additional Hints (No hints available.)