The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates.
The Cache
You must solve the desk puzzle (see below) to learn the actual coordinates for this cache.
There’s parking 200 metres east of the cache.
You shouldn’t have any difficulty finding this one, but you’ll encounter a field puzzle when you arrive. You must access the cache and sign its log book before you claim your online “Found It” smiley.
No tools or excess force are required. Please use your brain instead of your brawn.
By itself, we would assign this cache a one-star difficulty rating. The desk puzzle adds another star, and the field puzzle adds a half star.
A free hockey card is available to all finders, while supplies last. One card per person, thanks.
The Desk Puzzle
Ms. CanadianRockies and I were having trouble finding a good location for our latest cache, so we decided to leave its placement to the winds of chance.
We secured our newly constructed birdhouse to a big helium balloon, inserted some instruments (including a GPS transmitter), and headed to McMahon Stadium.
It was a pleasant Friday afternoon on 2 August 2013, with the temperature at 19.9°C and a relative humidity of 53 percent. The barometer was holding steady at 102.5 kPa.
After arriving at McMahon, we walked to the centre of the football field (N51° 04.220 W114° 07.286) and prepared to release our balloon-birdhouse contraption. The wind was blowing generally from the NE at 5.1 km/h, with occasional gusts of up to 12.8 km/h.
At precisely 4 p.m., we let go of our lighter-than-air cache, watched as it slowly rose in the sky, returned to our vehicle, tracked the balloon in real time, and followed it across the city. I navigated, while my wife drove and focused on obeying all traffic laws.
It was a leisurely drive, since the birdhouse wafted along at an average ground speed of only 2.7 km/h. Its bearing always was 232.2° True North.
The balloon reached a maximum altitude of 1735 metres above mean sea level before starting its gradual descent. A little over three hours after takeoff, the birdhouse finally touched Earth at the location where we “hid” it. My watch showed 7:15:56 p.m.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Credits
Many thanks to Ms. CanadianRockies for another fine birdhouse paint job.
Congratulations to peanutbutterbreadandjam for being the first to find this cache.