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Captain Cook and Two Infamous Captains Multi-Cache

Hidden : 2/21/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This two-stage multi-cache is designed to draw cachers, especially out-of-towners, to this interesting downtown location at the listed coordinates. This city park has interesting historical information, a statue, and really great panoramic views. Once you are at the coordinates, you can easily obtain the information needed to get the coordinates of the final cache which is a short walk away.

As plaques at the location explain, Captain Cook led the first European expedition into the area around Anchorage in search of the Northwest Passage. Cook Inlet is named for Captain Cook.

What the plaques do not disclose is that Captain Cook did not go ashore in the area. Instead, Captain Cook sent his Sailing Master, William Bligh, to lead a party up Knik Arm to see if it was the Northwest Passage. He quickly returned to report Knik Arm indeed led only to a river.

Master Bligh went on to become a captain himself, and is best known as the infamous Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. For his work as an officer for Captain Cook, an island in Prince William Sound was named "Bligh Island" in his honor.

Two hundred and eleven years after Captain Cook sailed into Cook Inlet, Captain Joseph Hazelwood sailed the supertanker Exxon Valdez into "Bligh Reef" next to "Bligh Island" in Prince William Sound, causing the largest man-made disaster in Alaska history.

Before you leave this park, take a few minutes to enjoy the view. A nearby large hotel with a related name has a very interesting series of large paintings depicting the travels of Captain Cook in their lobby and basement level, which is open to the public.

To find the cache, walk to the listed coordinates and read the plaque under the statue of Captain Cook. In the second paragraph of text there are numbers in the form of "ABCD-EF". Using those numbers/letters as a code key, the cache and log is a short walk away at coordinates:

N 61° 13.0FD W 149° 54.2FA

The cache is smaller than a micro and larger than a nano. Experienced cachers will have seen the container before, but beginner cachers might find it difficult to spot. Please note if the log scroll is running out of space.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur pnpur vf rnfvyl ernpunoyr sebz gur fvqrjnyx naq ab zber guna 20 fgrcf qbjauvyy. Pnpur vf hfhnyyl ybj va gur fhzzre naq uvtu va gur jvagre. Nobhg 1/4gu bs svaqref fnl gur TCF tbqf cbvag gurz gb gur jebat fvqr bs gur fgerrg.

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)