I-5 Drive Break Multi-Cache
RobertLG: It is no longer possible to hide a cache in this area since the land is cleared for construction. The cache is no longer there.
RobertLG
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Related Web Page
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The above coordinates are not the location for the cache, but they
will get you very close. Use the information in the long
description below. I have now (July 13, 2002) corrected the
misleading coordinates, and apologize for the confusion they caused
earlier. This cache is an offset cache because the coordinates help
you begin the steps leading to the actual cache.
This game is for I-5 travelers through Washington state. There
are several steps to take before locating the cache, but it will
not take an MIT graduate to pull it off. I opted to make finding my
cache a task in several steps because simply giving the final
co-ordinates just doesn't sound all that fun or challenging.
The cache site is only about twelve feet off a road not heavily
used. Getting from the road to the cache requires a small descent
down about five feet of loose, sandy gravel. (I am a very
out-of-shape 60 year-old, and I did it. So you should be able to do
it too.)
The entire search should take no more than 15 or 20 minutes
from freeway exit, to searching and finding, and to returning to
the freeway.
GPS & COMPASS
VERSION:
I also made an orienteering version - for those
without GPS receivers. Click on my web page link above to see these
instructions.
Steps:
1. Locate the intersection, then the gazebo.
If you are traveling SOUTHbound on I-5
you must take the first off-ramp after you pass latitude 46 30.000.
From that mark it will take you a little more than one minute at 70
mph to reach the off-ramp and stop sign. When you come to the stop
sign, you should see the gazebo. The gazebo is about 8 feet in
diameter.
If you are traveling NORTHbound on I-5
you must take the first off-ramp after you pass latitude 46 27.000.
From that mark it will take you just over one minute at 70 mph to
get off the freeway and to the stop sign. When you come to the stop
sign, you should be able to see the gazebo. The gazebo is about 8
feet in diameter.
If you can't see it from the stop sign, turn left/west and drive
over the freeway. Look for the gazebo immediately after you cross
the freeway. If you drive to the top of the hill, you've gone too
far.
This small structure is located at the edge of a paved area.
2. Locate the light, then the numbers:
If you stand before the entrance to the gazebo (not entering, but
just about so,) locate the first vertical support post of the
gazebo on your right. Then locate the second vertical support post
in a counterclockwise direction.
By visually aligning these two posts you can sight off into the
near distance. Look for a tall wooden light pole roughly 1,000 feet
away. If you sight correctly with these posts, there will be only
one tall light pole. This light is for the safety of those who
leave their cars near it.
Drive to this wooden light pole and look behind the sign fastened
to it. There you will find a label with a large two-digit number.
(Probably the year the sign was put up.) You will use these two
digits to figure the latitude and longitude of the cache.
3. Locate the cache:
Take the first digit and multiply it by 3.1403 to get the minutes
of 46 degrees latitude. (For those who don't want to spend too much
time working out the math, here are the only possibilities:)
*1 = 3.1403
*2 = 6.2806
*3 = 9.4209
*4 = 12.5612
*5 = 15.7015
*6 = 18.8418
*7 = 21.9821
*8 = 25.1224
*9 = 28.2627
Take the second digit and multiply it by 10.572 to get the minutes
of 122 degrees longitude.
*1 = 10.572
*2 = 21.144
*3 = 31.716
*4 = 42.288
*5 = 52.86
*6 = 63.432
*7 = 74.004
*8 = 84.576
*9 = 95.148
If you have any trouble calculating the minutes precisely enough,
here is a bonus, course-correcting clue:
Assuming your calculations got you in the ballpark, you should have
found yourself very near a set of guardrails at the edges of the
road not far from the light. Count the number of posts that support
the eastside guardrail. (Only count the posts that are actually
sticking into the ground.) Add 20 to the number of posts you've
counted. This new number is the direction in degrees you need to
move in.
Stand at the north end of the guardrail that borders the west side
of the road. Using a compass, walk in the direction of the number
of degrees you arrived at (by counting one set of posts and adding
20) until you reach the trees. Look in the brush beneath what I
believe is an ash tree. You do not enter the brush or woods to
find the cache.
Happy hunting! I am open to friendly comments about my cache.
rlg@froglegstilts.com
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)