Ranger Challenge Multi-Cache

RANGER CHALLENGE

One of the few elite forces in the United States military is the U.S. Army Rangers.  In 1751, the U.S. Army Rangers were organized by Major Robert Rogers.  As this organization grew, they became instrumental and have participated in every war/conflict the United States has been involved to present day operations.

Becoming a Ranger is an extremely challenging process.  Beginning with the Benning Phase, ranger candidates go through two phases - Ranger Assessment Phase (RAP) and Squad Combat Operations.  RAP is where Ranger Candidates are initially put to the test physically and mentally.  Following Benning Phase, Ranger candidates go through Mountain Phase and Florida Phase before earning their Ranger tab.  Over half of candidates who attend Ranger school dropout.  Some of the reasons for dropping out of Ranger school are due to issues with physical and mental fitness, initial assessment processing, and land navigation.

This cache is a seven-stage cache.  Stages one through six are locations that provide you the grid coordinates of the next stage.  For example, stage one provides you the coordinates for stage two etcetera to stage six which will provide you the coordinates for stage seven, the actual cache location (be sure to follow the coordinates for each stage and don't get discouraged about the difficulty of the stage and cache locations).  This cache was developed to be extremely difficult.  The purpose of the difficulty level is to replicate somewhat the degree of difficulty it is for Ranger’s to earn their tab.

To locate the different waypoint locations, one may have to understand how camouflage works and understand the reason behind this (not being able to be found easily).  When looking for the cache or waypoint markers, remember to look EVERYWHERE (high, low, in, and around).   One waypoint may be easier compared to the rest.

Before venturing out to take on the “Ranger Challenge”, one should be prepared as much as possible.  The total length of this challenge is about 20 miles, give or take.  The course begins at the Heritage Rails to Trails Black Bridge area and ends near Shoshoni.  Travel by ATV is best for accomplishing this challenge.  If one leaves in an ATV with a full tank of fuel, you should be good to go to come back to the starting point.  Some items that one should consider taking with are food, water, sunscreen if sunny, GPS, and anything else that you may need for comfort.  One may need to make more than one attempt to find all waypoints, so please do not feel discouraged if you cannot find the cache in one day.

If you find a waypoint marker, please put it back as you found it.  If you encounter errors, please let me know.  Please do not post photos of waypoint markers, photos to provide hints to other geocachers about waypoint or cache locations who may want to take on this challenge, or provide any tips.  For the FTF, there is an already activated geocoin that you can take to place somewhere else and also there is a monetary reward.

If you choose to take on the “Ranger Challenge”, I wish you the best of luck.