I enjoy riding my bike on the urban wooded trails that the Cedar Rapids/Marion area offer. They represent an easy escape from the traffic hustle and bustle of the streets to where I can enjoy a more relaxing environment and the potential to enjoy some of nature. One day, I was riding along one of these trails and spotted what appeared to be a true refuge for some unique area birds. Even more amazing, there seemed to be an opening developing in the area for a geocache hide that would serve to mark this destination for others to enjoy.
As I set out to hide this cache, I started to think that it would be a bad idea to destroy the ecology of this area by drawing hordes of finders all at once… hence, I had the bird-brain idea to require solving for the coordinates. That way, visitor numbers could be filtered to those most deserving of being rewarded with a visit to this special spot. Don’t worry if you’re not as wise as a hoot owl to solve the puzzle. In the worst case, you can probably wing it with the aid of elementary grade algebra student.
The coordinates for the cache are: N42 0(A-B).(D+F)(A-C+H)(D+F-B) W 091 3(G-F).(B+H)(C+D-I)(B+D-E)
Here is the puzzle. Eight equations are presented below. Each of the nine letters in the equations represent a different digit from 1 to 9. Determine the integer value of each letter to substitute above and reveal the geocache location.
A + B = 9
B + C = 10
C + D = 9
D + E = 10
E + F = 9
F + G = 10
G + H = 9
H + I = 10
The listed coordinates provide a convenient parking spot to start your bird watch search. Equally convenient alternate parking is also provided.
The City of Marion approved this hide.