Farpoint!
This is a puzzle cache. It is not at the listed coordinates. To obtain the cache coordinates, please solve the following puzzle by filling in the blanks below.
This cache is part of The Atoz Sequence series. Click here for more information.
With due respect to Star Trek, the subject of this puzzle is not a Denebian starbase.
Most of us have wondered about what lies on the exact opposite, or far point of the earth from our current location. A lot of us "learned" that digging a hole straight down through the earth to the other side would put us in China. Most of us learned incorrectly!
The term used to refer to the global farpoint is antipode - the location on earth diametrically opposite a given location. The two opposite locations are antipodes. Interestingly, antipode is pronounced an-tip-ode, while antipodes is an-tip-uh-deez. Two locations that are antipodal are connected by a straight line that passes through the exact center of the earth.
Computing the antipode of GPS coordinates is pretty straightforward. For the latitude, simply reverse the N and S designations, thus moving from one hemisphere to the other.
The longitude is a bit more involved: subtract the longitude of the given location from 180 and then switch the W and E designations.
Here's the computation of the antipode of the posted coordinates:
N 46 01.856 becomes S 46 01.856.
W 123 55.895 is subtracted from 180 degrees to give 56 04.105. Switch the West to East and you get E 56 04.105. On paper, it looks something like this:
The antipode of the posted coordinates:
S 46 01.856
E 56 04.105
There are numerous online calculators for coordinate antipodes.
Try using Google Earth to fly to the posted coordinates, and then to the antipode of the posted coordinates.
You would be swimming in the _______ Ocean.
The closest major landmass is _______, about 1,500 miles to the NNW.
Be sure "Terrain" is checked in Google Earth (lower left corner) and then scroll down to a low altitude over the antipode and note the Google Earth elevation there (lower right). It should be negative, indicating feet below sea level, or ocean depth. To the nearest 1,000 feet, the depth is _______ feet (positive number, no commas).
When this cache originally published, there were very few "close" geocaches. That changed, and now there are a few ultra-remote caches in this region.
On the date of this update (6-11-2021), the closest cache is 203.2 miles west and was placed on 4-20-2019. Viewing the images for the listing, it's obvious the cache is in a sign post. The word on the top line of that sign is: _______.
Another "close" cache is Deep Gold, 1,628 miles northeast and a mere 8,000 feet below the ocean's surface. Enjoy the hilarious logs and photos!
Moving on, the word antipode can also be used to describe something that is the exact opposite, or contrary to. In centuries past, the word was used to denote an inhabitant of the far side of the earth.
Australia and New Zealand are sometimes referred to as the Antipodes and Australians and New Zealanders as Antipodeans. As an extension, a group of islands about 500 miles southeast of New Zealand, are called the Antipodes Islands.
The population of the Antipodes Islands is _____ (numeric, not spelled number).
The antipode of (and make sure you get the right group of dudes - seven of them):
is approximately:
A
B
C
D
A, B, C or D? ______ And the closest, um, town is _______, 1.5 miles west (be sure "Borders and Labels" is checked).
Only about 15% of land on earth has antipodes that are also land. This map shows land antipodes in orange (click the map to enlarge).
How cool would it be to live in a house whose exact antipode is also a house? Sort of like having a twin in a parallel universe. I set out to find an example, and it was not easy!
Visit this home in Christchurch, New Zealand, and scroll down to get a good look at the house and pool:
S 43 33.897
E 172 43.464
And then its antipode in Lugo, Spain. I was very taken by the beauty of both areas. Wouldn't it be interesting to visit both homes and introduce the antipodeans?
At the Spanish home, locate the driveway leading to the home and drop to Street View where the driveway meets the public road. Travel down the street WSW and through the wonderful graffiti-free tunnel. Keep going to the Y-intersection and spot the rustic arrow sign pointing to the right fork. The two words on the sign are: _______ _______.
We have seen the antipodal areas of Oregon are very, very wet, but what about the rest of the lower 48 United States? Are there any land antipodes at all? Yes! Use Google Earth and fly to this incredible island:
S 38 42.455
E 77 31.205
Ile Saint-Paul or St. Paul Island is antipodal to Colorado. Check out the exact antipode of the above coordinates:
N 38 42.455
W 102 28.795
What is this site in Colorado? A meteorite impact? Alien spacecraft landing site? I have a theory, but don't know for sure, so this is a bonus question (not part of the puzzle). Please share your theories in your "Found It" log. Again, two way-cool antipodal sites.
Other than the tiny St. Paul Island, the only other land antipodes of the contiguous (lower 48) U.S. are the slightly larger Ile Amsterdam (also opposite Colorado) and the Kerguelen Islands (aka Desolation Islands), antipodal to a tiny piece of northern Montana. Here's a good graphic of the three antipodal areas of the United States.
The last line at the bottom of the previous (weathergraphics) link is most curious, stating that Rudyard, Montana, is the only town in the U.S. that has a land antipode. This site and and this interesting ramble, as well as many other sites, echo the statement regarding Rudyard.
But.... here is Rudyard:
N 48 33.700
W 110 33.346
And, here is Rudyard's antipode:
S 48 33.700
E 69 26.654
.... in 230 feet of ocean and seven miles from the nearest land, according to my observations. Another mystery!
I did find one site in apparent agreement. Oh, and this bit from a Rudyard City Council meeting:
Mayor: You know, I've been thinking as how we should capitalize on this whole anti-podal business. Seeing as how we don't really have anything else going on.
Commissioner 1: We've got clean air!
Comm 2: And just about absolute zero crime!
Public Works Director (and the town's only school teacher): Um, regarding the antipode claim, I don't actually think it's....
Mayor: Shut up, Paul.
Assistant Mayor: Excuse me, what is this "antipode" thing anyway?
Comm 1: Oh yeah, Sally's new here.
Assistant Mayor: I've been here since 1969!
Comm 1: Yep, just what I said. Me, my great-great grampa was here when there was one building in the whole town!
Mayor: Sally, an anti-pode is where you would end up if you was to dig right down all the way through the earth to the other side. And for us, we end up on land, which ain't the case anywheres else in the States!
Public Works: Except, if you research it a bit, you'll find....
Mayor: AND that makes us pretty darn special, right?
Public Works: Well, we could lay claim to making the biggest false claim in the country.
Mayor: OK, Paul, what have you got?
Public Works: Our antipode is seven miles from any land. I have no idea where this myth started.
Comm 2: Well....how about "best weather in the USA"?
Comm 1: What?! It's minus fourteen outside! And you can boil eggs on the sidewalk in July!
Comm 2: Yeah, but between April 10th and 20th...try to beat that, eh!
Regarding this mysterious claim, I even consulted The Great Oracle at Les Dubois who confirmed that the antipode is indeed in open ocean. If anyone else has any information or theories, please share! The main point, though, is that lower 48 land antipodes are exceedingly rare and extremely desolate.
Wrapping up, Hawaii appears to be 100% antipodal to land. Specifically, the countries of _______ and _______ (two country names in alphabetical order, don't include "and").
To reveal the coordinates of the cache, string your answers together and enter them here (with or without spaces and capitalization).
Stuck? I'm always glad to help!
Enjoy the puzzle and the cache and get some antipode visits on your bucket list!
Don't forget to make a note of the clues on the cache log. You will need them to solve The Atoz Sequence!