I have always maintained that Geocachers are an intelligent group of people, capable of joining forces and solving some of the most dastardly thought out conundrums imaginable. I have only just been confronted with such a poser which I bring forth to the Geocaching community to help solve. It has two parts; a story and a series of numbers, and I have no idea what to make of either of them.
It began on a rainy afternoon when I was home reading and there was a knock on the door. I put down my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, (although I have read it several times I was going to watch the movies that weekend, especially number 8, it is the best, and wanted to refresh the story in my mind) and went to the door. On the porch stood a woman; small in stature and long in tooth, holding a parasol. She smiled and excused the interruption but asked if I might be able to help her, to which I replied I would try. I invited her in and took her coat as I bade her to have a seat on the couch while I shook the parasol dry and stood it in the corner.
She gazed at the book on the table and asked if I had read all of them, to which I replied yes, then she said she wished she could but had never learned how to read. She did admit to looking at the covers of the books often because she loved the pictures and that her name was Mary, the same as the artist. Wanting to get back to my reading, I asked her what it was I could do for her when she took out a faded and worn package from her pocket and handed it to me. She said she had been given this when she was a little girl and was told it contained the secret to a hidden fortune. All her life she had travelled the world, hoping to find someone who could help her solve the puzzle and find the fortune so she could live her life without any worries. Now she felt the treasure would be too late to help her but wanted someone to find it.
I opened the package to find a tattered piece of paper with a note and some numbers scrawled upon it. I read the note and looked up to ask the woman who had given her the package but she was gone, vanished without a sound, the parasol standing in the corner. My mind raced with so many questions as I combed the streets for her, all of them unanswered as I returned to the house, soaking wet.
I read the note again, and again, and yet again. There was something peculiar about it but I could not figure it out. That is why I come to you, my fellow Geocachers, to help solve this and leave the treasure unfound no more.
Please know that I don’t have any more information to give; but I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Northeast Sedgwick County Park is situated on 645 acres of land near Furley, KS. The park is available for use, please see the rules below. The park is made up of land which was previously used for agriculture and livestock pasture and is now primarily geared toward equestrian and pedestrian uses. There are 4 small ponds in the park and numerous creeks running through many areas which support various forms of wildlife including deer, coyote, fox and turkey.
There are also hazards to beware of as one uses the park, to include old barb wire fences running along former property lines as well as fallen timber which has been overgrown with grass and is not visible. For that reason it is recommended that you cache with a friend in case anything happens. Exercise appropriate caution, slow down and enjoy!
The park boundary is not marked or fenced but you can assume that if you have entered a field with crops you have left the park. This aerial photo depicts the general boundaries.
Some basic park rules are as follows:
- Open dawn to dusk
- Prohibited is anything with a motor, bicycles, hunting, fishing, camping and fires of any kind.
- Permitted are equestrian uses, pedestrian activity and pets on leashes.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.