Ashley's Winter Splendor Family Cache Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Geocaching HQ: Archiving. This cache is on Arizona State Trust Land. The Natural Resource Manager of the Environmental Resources & Trespass Section (ERT) have requested that this cache listing be archived and the geocache containers removed from their locations.

This is a decision made by land managers from the State of Arizona, NOT Geocaching.com or the reviewers.

If you have any questions regarding this action contact the ERT section. Contact information can be found at their website link below.
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[url=http://www.azland.gov/support/contact.htm]How to Contact the State Land Department[/url]
[url=http://www.azland.gov/webapps/parcel]Parcel Viewer Interactive Maps[/url]
[url=http://www.azland.gov]Arizona State Land Department[/url]
[url=http://www.azland.gov/programs/natural/env_res_trespass.htm]Environmental Resources & Trespass Section[/url]
[url=http://www.azland.gov/programs/natural/rec_permitFaqs.htm#Q2]Recreational Use Permits - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)[/url]
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Hidden : 1/8/2013
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Arizona's night skies are awesome to see, and the winter season offers us one of the grandest views of the outer regions of our home galaxy, The Millky Way. Earth orbits the galaxy in a region between two arms of the galaxy, the Cygnus arm towards the galactic center (summer sky) and the Orion arm looking out towards the galaxy's outer boundaries (winter sky). There are fewer stars in the winter sky, but many of them are dazzling jewels set on black velvet!

Named for a 13-year old fiend of ours who recently lost her fight to brain cancer, this family-oriented multi-cache consists of 9 caches, all located on State Trust land. You can hike to the locations or even mountain bike or take a horse, but motorized vehicles are NOT permitted. Also you may not want to bother with this cache if you don't have a permit for State Land. (See (visit link) Arizona Trust Land is land managed by the State Land Department. Trust Land is not public land! A recreation permit is required to camp, hike or travel on Trust Land that is designated as open for recreation. The best access is to park on the west side of 40th Street south of Lone Mountain Road. I logged the total path (car to caches and back) at 3.6 miles, so this is a cache that you may want to break up into 2 or more trips if you are bringing smaller children. Be sure to pack water! Be prepared to navigate around prickly plants and be on the lookout for nasty desert creatures. Only the first and last caches are large enough to contain swag and other trinkets (and caches 1 and 9 are loaded with goodies for children, plus FTF prizes for the first to find each cache).

The area is mostly flat with several washes of various depths slicing through it. (If you take a mountain bike, be careful trying to ride through the deeper, sandier washes. I have gone over the handlebars more than once on those tricky critters!) The area is also teeming with wonderful desert life, including over a dozen species of birds (including a pair of bald eagles that patrol this area on occasion, and two great horned owls), several jack rabbits (there is a rumor that 2 jackelopes have been spotted on this land, but I cannot confirm that), coyotes, a herd of javelinas (they hang out mostly at Cave Creek 1.5 miles west, but sometimes forage in this parcel), and even deer. I have also seen tracks of bobcats in the sand in some of the washes. The posted coordinates point to this cache, the first in the series; to get the coordinates for the next cache in the series, you will need to locate the cache by the coordinates for it posted in the previous cache. Be sure to bring a pen or pencil and note pad so you can write down the instructions to the next cache.  You will also need tweezers to retrieve some of the clues from the small containers.  The first and last caches are painted to blend in with the desert; the seven intermediate small ones are covered in camo tape.

Each cache will also contain interesting information about the cache’s featured object.

When you are finished, if you plot the cache locations on a map of the area, you should see the outline of a famous winter constellation! In addition to that, the last cache has a special surprise.

There are FTF gifts for the first and last caches of the series (if you are the first to find each, please leave one of the two for the next cacher.)

Congratulations to Kira's Rangers and Team SW&L for the FTFs!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fgntr 3: Gubeal Tevc Fgntr 4: Fcbbxl byq gerr Fgntr 5: Hc n gerr Fgntr 6: Rlr yriry, jrqtrq

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)


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