NOTE: 28 July 2016 - The dam renovation has resulted in the closure of the dam trail all of the way to Champions Park. This includes barricades that prevent access to Bridge 8. Bridge 8 is made by Marine Bridge and has a maximum load of 6 tons.
The inspiration for this cache was a virtual cache that I found and completed recently in Waco. Several days later, while riding the trail, I realized that I could take the same approach with this cache.
While traversing the length of the Brushy Creek Trail, you will see lots of bridges. There are bridges to cross creeks. There are highway bridges that are crossed under. There are bridges from a historic railroad line that are crossed under. There is even a tunnel under Brushy Creek road that you bypass.
For this multi-cache, you will need to find (that shouldn't be hard) the bridges along the Brushy Creek Trail. Each bridge has an identification plate on either end identifying company, date, serial number, and weight limit in tons. Gather the information for each of the bridges so that you can do the computations as outlined below.
The bridges that you need to locate are the oxidized steel (aka rusty) bridges. They all look the same, so they shouldn't be hard to miss.
Waypoints for each of the bridges are included, but they really shouldn't be hard to identify. As you venture east from the YMCA, or west from Olson Meadows, you will cross all but three of the bridges on the main trail. Three of the bridges are off the main trail a bit, but shouldn't be hard to find. There is one bridge in Olson Meadows Park, and there are two bridges off the main trail at Champions Park and at 183A.
The final location of the cache is N 30° 30.ABC W 097° 47.DEF
where:
| A |
Tens digit of the Sum of the weight limits (in tons) of bridges by Marine Bridge |
| B |
Second digit (from left) of serial number of bridge by Pioneer |
| C |
Number of bridges by Continental |
| D |
Number of bridges by Wheeler, minus number of bridges by Marine Bridge |
| E |
Smallest weight limit (in tons) of any bridge by Marine Bridge |
| F |
Ones digit of total weight limits (in tons) of all bridges |
Notes
- You can walk or bicycle along the length of the trail. The terrain rating is more reflective of the length of the hike than it is of the difficulty of the trail. The trail is concrete for the first 2.5 miles starting from mile marker 0.0 at the YMCA, then switching to crushed granite as it traverses Brushy Creek Lake Park, then back to concrete as it crosses the dam, then primarily crushed granite for the rest of the way. There are a few climbs, but otherwise is relatively flat.
- You can visit the bridges in any order, so if you choose not to walk or ride the entire length in one go, you can hop scotch from park to park retrieving information for the bridges close to each park.
- The trail is crazy busy at times on Saturdays and Sundays, so use common sense and be careful and be courteous. When stopped to read information at the bridges, try to move off the trail if possible, so that you aren't blocking the trail while stopped.
- For the night owls that might attempt this at night - I know of no posted curfew times on the trails, so follow local regulations. Also, be sure to have lights and reflective clothing, as I don't want to run over you while you are stopped trying to read bridge information. If you are biking at night, watch out for the invisible walkers and joggers (those not smart enough to have lights or reflective clothing in the dark, which seems to be a majority).
- There is plenty of parking in the Twin Creeks YMCA parking lot near Bridge 1. Alternatively, you could start at the eastern end, there are a couple of parking areas near Bridge 13.
- Like any good geocacher, bring a pen to sign the log
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.