Surveyor's Mark
This Is An Offset Orienteering Cache
Before I purchased a GPS unit in 2009, I used my Silva compass and a topographic map to find my way around the woods. With orienteering, I used the technique of Pacing (counting each time your right or left foot hits the ground, a distance of about 5 feet for me), selecting an Attack Point (obvious feature to travel toward), and to avoid constant bushwhacking, following Handrails (a linear feature that closely parallels your route), to go anywhere I wanted. I teach orienteering in my Life Sports class and have now included geocaching and the use of a GPS unit since I began using one.
This cache is just a short walk into the woods on a vacant lot that my wife and I own and a chance to use basic orienteering skills. If you choose to use a compass and find it by using orienteering techniques, it might rank as a difficulty level of one. While checking this properties boundary, I found a cut-out in a tree left by the surveyor years ago. The surveyor put a notch in the tree to see the distant surveyor's rod rather than cut down the tree. The cut-out turned into a wonderful hidey-hole for a cache with age, and that’s where it is.
This cache can be done several different ways but you might want to try finding it the good old-fashioned way. Take a bearing off the lot corner stake, sight off to a distant landmark and start your journey, counting your paces. Take the easy path (Handrail) and don’t lose sight of your Attack Point.
Coordinates for this Lots Corner Stake-Your Starting Point (Marked with blaze colored tape):
N 45 22.666’ W 086 51.479’
Cache Location: Distance of 155 feet at a Bearing of 360 degrees from the Starting Point