After putting out 15 Multi-caches in the Hike or Bike series, starting at Darlington Provincial Park in the east and terminating at Port Union in the west, I felt I had gone as far as I wanted to go with the series and keep up with cache maintenance.
Then a few weeks ago while searching for a new cache down by the lake, I discovered a new paved section of the Waterfront trail that did not exist when I originally placed the Oshawa section of the series. Since the waterfront trail committee and the City of Oshawa have gone to great lengths to create this new 2km paved section of trail that offer wonderful views of the lake as you cycle or walk past the sports fields and over streams, I thought I should at least give geocachers a reason to come and check this new trail out.
There are four stages where you will need to gather the information to find the final cache. The distance from start to finish is less then 1 km however this may be slightly longer if you choose to park and walk from the parking coordinates.
Keeping with the theme of the other Hike or Bike caches, this cache will head in a westerly direction however you may do some of the stages out of order depending on where you start. Since this is a new trail, maps may show you having to cross a stream. Don’t worry as there is a nice paved trail, and boardwalk so your feet will not get wet unless you go out in the rain.
Lakefront Park West
The coordinates listed are for the first Waypoint. If you are biking, you can follow the waterfront trail route and go right to the first waypoint however if you are driving you will need to park at Lakefront Park West, north of the ball diamonds and find the paved trail that connects to the waterfront trail.
1. At the first stage you will find two large sentries. Count the number of fossils you find in BOTH sentries = A
2. At the second stage guarding the entrance to the bridge are two more sentries. Count the number of leaves you see on both sentries. If there is one leaf on a single stem, count that as one leaf. If there are multiple leaves on a large stem, count them as one. You do not need to count multiple leaves on a single stem, for example if there is a fern leaf or frond, you do not need to count the individual leaves that protrude from the frond, just count it as one leaf. This number will = B
3. At the third stage count the number of stone bands you see in each of the sentries. The bands look like a strip of small pebbles embedded in the sentries. This number = C
4. At the forth stage you will find a sign with valuable information. Determine the number of full months that the trail is open until 10:00pm = D
5. At the same sign on the top of the post are a series of grooves carved into the wood post. Count the number of groves = E
Now for the math. Use this equation to determine the final coordinates for the cache.
[ (A x B) / E ] + 3 = FFF
[ (C x D) x B] + 97 = GGG
Final N43 51.FFF W 078 52.GGG
