Noble Grove Multi-Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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An eight-stage multicache. Sounds intimidating? Use the waypoints and it should be a routine, easy walk of a mile or so, beginning near Morehead Planetarium. The walk will introduce you to several of the most beautiful trees on the UNC campus.
“My first impression of Chapel Hill was trees. My last impression is of trees”.
Robert B. House, chancellor 1945-1957.
“UNC’s campus trees have been recognized as something special from the institution’s earliest days. After the university opened in 1795, it took less than 10 years for the place to become synonymous with its trees; ‘the Grove’ was shorthand for the campus. Today UNC’s students, faculty, and visitors still gravitate to the trees. Groves of trees create a setting where people are encouraged to do their best work — and also where people can simply relax, exhale, and find a momentary refuge from the pressures of life”.
Ginger Travis, in Noble Grove: A Walking Tour of Campus Trees.
This cache was inspired in part by ncbiscuit’s Chapel Hill Art Walk, and in part by a small book published by UNC. The book is The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Noble Grove: A Walking Tour of Campus Trees, with text by Michael A. Dirr and line art by Bonnie L. Dirr. Noble Grove describes four campus walks that highlight many of the finest trees on campus, and includes detailed information about each species.
This cache uses some of the campus walks, beginning at the published coordinates and ending at
N 35° 54.ABC W 079° 0M.XYZ.
You must find the seven missing digits. The digits, and the final cache, can be found on or near eight trees, selected from over 100 included in Noble Grove.
Each tree in Noble Grove has a label attached to or beside it. The tag provides both the scientific name and common name for the tree, and an identifier that can be used to find it in the book. The identifier consists of a letter followed by a one or two digit number, e.g., M31. You must use the last digit from the identifier. For example, if the identifier is M31, the digit you need is 1.
Begin at the published coordinates, which take you to Stage 1. Use the label on this tree to find M. Then proceed through six more stages, finding in order X, Y, Z, A, B, C. The waypoint listing includes brief quotations about each tree from Noble Grove.
The final coordinates will take you to the cache itself. You are looking for a black bison tube, well hidden within 20 feet of the eighth tree. The tree is described as "One of the refined jewels of eastern North America … the tonic that propels spring into orbit". Seek this cache in early April to see it at its best.
The final location is less than 200 yards from Stage 7, and less then half a mile from your starting point. If it looks like more than that, you have probably made a mistake. The location is interesting in its own right. If you would like to know more, please request information when you log the find and I'll send a web link.
Please note: You need not disturb any of the trees or any other vegetation to find this cache, or to gather the information you need. The bison is hidden out of sight, not on or in the final tree. Please rehide it well.
Note added 1/16/2023: The problem with caches that use trees is that things happen to trees. They fall down, they are chopped down, and things fall off them. Because of such accidents, temporary fixes had to be used for stages 2 and 3. A magic marker was used to provide the identifier (the letter and two digits) for damaged trees. It should be easily seen on the stump of the tree at Stage 2, which was cut down. The identifier has ben inscribed on the bark of the tree at Stage 3, where the label was missing. This may be trickier to read, but at least the last digit should be legible.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Purpx jvgu gur fghqragf. Vg'f uneq gb frr, ohg gur zbhfgnpuvbrq bar vf xrrcvat na rlr ba vg, ghpxrq bhg bs fvtug va gur pbeare.
Treasures
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