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Rockets Red Glare Traditional Cache

Hidden : 8/8/2010
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This is the fifth in the Camp Adair Building Locating Exercise (CABLE) series

This is the remains of the Camp Adair BOMARC missile base.

You are looking for Micro.

Coordinates were kind of jumpy.... You may have to widen your search....

The cache is located in the remnants of a BOMARC IM-99 B missile base.
The BOMARC missile was a long range, nuclear tipped, anti-aircraft missile intended to intercept incoming Russian Bombers.

The Camp Adair base was to be one of 18 bases built around the U.S. and Canada. Each base was to have had 56 missiles each. Budget cuts reduced the number of launchers to 28 at camp Adair.

Construction on the Camp Adair BOMARC facility commenced in 1959. The base was to be activated by August 1960 and operational by August 1961. Due to budget cuts and competition for funds from other higher priority cold war projects, such as the Titan and Atlas ICBM projects, work ceased on the Camp Adair facility in early 1960. It was never an active base. Only 10 of the original 18 BOMARC bases were completed. Of those 10, some remained operational until 1972.

You will note how the north to south road was removed to make room for the base. I had walked these roads for years and was always puzzled as to why the road ended and then started up again. Now I understand. 59 Camp Adair buildings and the roads associated with them were removed to make room for the base.

The cache is located in one of four support buildings for the missile base. From research, I believe the structure the cache is located in is the security control building.
To the south, (N 44 42.107 W 123 12.162) you will find a much larger building with many interesting features to look at.This is the composite building, which included a squadron operations center, the heat and power plant, special missile vehicle shop, spare parts and vehicle storage.
To the east there are two more support structures that are well worth the effort to find them. The larger of the two, (N 44 42.138 W 123 12.219) which is nearest the cache, is the missile assembly and maintenance shop. You will notice the large concrete ramp located next to the path. This ramp was to be used to unload missile components from trucks and move them to the missile assembly building directly behind it.

Further to the east, you will find 28 concrete slabs approximately 22’ x 48’. They are located in a grid four across, south to north, by seven deep, east to west. These are the launch pads for the BOMARC missiles. You will note the concrete piers on each side of the launch pads. These were outriggers to support the roof as it slid open to allow the missiles to launch.

As you look around at the original structures of Camp Adair, you notice that these structures are different. The original structures were demolished. All of the BOMARC foundations are in various states of completion. In some cases concrete form boards are still in place. Wood shims are still wired in place between conduit pipes to keep them in place during the pouring of concrete. It's as if the workers just disappeared.

Look around and try to visualize what might have been. Imagine the thought of having tactical nuclear warhead equipped missiles in the Willamette Valley. How times have changed. This is a fascinating bit of cold war history that may have been forgotten.

If you would like more information, you can go to the following website: (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Zntargvp Snfgrare

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)