“I was leaving Main Street with a case of red wine I bought as a present for my wife. I wanted to hide it in the woods for a while until her birthday. Maybe it wasn’t a full case, if you know what I mean. It started out full, that’s true…
Anyway, I have a very good idea of where I was when I started, but it got fuzzy as my search for a hiding spot went on. I am absolutely certain that I got on the trail at the back corner of the parking lot next to the Trolley Stop. The coordinates for that location are N 39 16.096 W 76 47.562 (The posted coordinates for the cache).
I took a deep breath, sipped a little of that red wine, and started up the hill. I very soon came to an informational sign about the Edges of the Earth’s Crust (“Earth's Crust Sign” waypoint). There was a lot of interesting info here, and several of the numbers stuck in my head. I’d suggest that you remember these important details:
- A = the first two digits of the years when the Baltimore Basilica was built.
- B = the first two digits of the years when industrialists like the Ellicott brothers came to the Patapsco River Valley.
Checksum #1: A+B=35
- X = the number of major East Coast cities listed as having developed as destination ports.
- Y = the number of unique color codes used to identify different rock formations in the geological map.
Checksum #2: X+Y=10
I continued walking and went over a wooden bridge and under a noisy bridge, both of which were worthy of a few more sips of wine, until I had gone roughly half a mile from the sign. Definitely getting a bit confused now, but I recall there was some connection between the trail and the red wine. I’m sure you eagle-eyed searchers will scout that out.
I left the paved trail on that dirt trail and started up the hill. Wish I could tell you what trails to take. Best I can say is keep an eye out for places where I spilled red wine. Had to refill my glass a few times. I’d take a sip, stumble a little, and splash red wine up on the tree trunks. After about a quarter of a mile, I came to another intersection. I wasn’t sure if I should go left or right. I’m still not sure which way I went. I can tell you that I was still spilling red wine and I was glad there was some left.
I went downhill for a bit. Thought I was getting a break, but after about 50 or 60 feet I had another decision to make. I contemplated the amount of wine I had spilled, and I wasn’t too happy about it. My mood was getting a little blue, and after looking around, I think my blue mood guided my next decision. You know how I must have felt, right?
I was getting tired from carrying all that wine. I stayed on the same trail, crossed through an open area with no trees, and saw a few large rocks on my left just as I was about to get back into the woods. I took a quick break here and thought about stuff.
Those numbers from the sign were rattling around my brain, and I was wondering just how much more walking I had in me with this case of wine, which, admittedly, was now a bit lighter. I decided to use those numbers to determine where to stop.
C = A*B
Z = X^Y (X raised to the power of Y)
Now all that was left was to hide the wine. From the rock, I found a place C degrees and Z feet away from me. Make that projection from the rock, follow the trail until you’re close, look to the right up the hill a little, check behind a tree and you’ll have revealed where I stored the not-quite-a-case of wine.