Packwood Teaser Multi-Cache

Shortly after the new trail reopened the Packwood area, I went back to see if I could locate all the waypoints for the caches in the Packwood Trilogy. Two out of three isn't bad, but that's another tale entirely. This is the tale of a cache to keep you interested on the way to the soon to be restored trilogy. And/or while waiting.

While I was wandering around up there, I bumped into Brenden, the Irish gnome navigator of Water Water Everywhere... fame. After I helped him up and dusted him off, we got to chatting about the various tribes of "otherpeople" who still inhabit the area. Brenden mentioned a legendary stream where one might still meet the occasional Water Sprite during the rainy season.

I asked him if he could direct me to the spot. He said that his specialty was more along the lines of islands and sea monsters. But he offered to introduce me to a pair of Missouri gnomes who had some small expertise in navigating local rivers and streams. Brenden said that back in the day, they'd come highly recommended by some fellow named Jefferson.

Jefferson must have known what he was talking about. Meri and Will, as they're known to their gnome friends, gave me directions that even a navigationally challenged human could follow. They did seem a bit puzzled by my insistence on translating their directions for use with modern navigational technology, though.

Let's see if I got it right. Start at the coordinates at the top of the cache page. You'll know you're THERE because you'll get a SIGN. In typical Packwood fashion, the sign contains letters, numbers, and pictures. We're going to use some of each. Also in typical Packwood fashion, some arithmetic is required. Now would be a good time to remove your shoes and socks. Or whip out your smart phone with calculator app.

The sign has a geometric symbol which indicates the difficulty of the trail. Multiply the number of miles to the end of the trail (NOT to the park) by the number of vertices in the symbol. The result is a whole number. Add the number of vowels in the first line of text on the sign. Let's call that number x.

Multiply x by 2211. The checksum is 18. Add the number of legs on the non-human animal which is allowed on the trail. Put the decimal in the right place and you have the minutes portion of the latitude - N 38 ##.###.

Multiply x by 2477. The checksum is 21. Put the decimal in the right place, and you have the minutes portion of the longitude - W 090 ##.###.

I was there during a dry spell. I did not meet any water sprites. Perhaps you'll have better luck. If not, you'll have to settle for finding the lock and lock I left for future travelers.

Standard disclaimer: No gnomes, elves or spirits were harmed in the production of this cache. Brenden's dignity did suffer minor bruising.

Co-FTF honors go to C3GPS, eravau, and Forest-Ghost. Glad you all enjoyed it!

Special permission to hide caches in St. Louis County parks is NOT needed as long as the Groundspeak rules are followed. "Blanket Permission" has been worked out in advance with the park service. DO NOT CALL THE PARK as they cannot handle the calls. The Groundspeak cache reviewer does need to know exactly how and where the caches are hidden and what type of containers are used. The geocaching liaisons will notify the park service of new caches. Remember NO AMMO BOXES or PVC PIPE caches.