Total Alphabet – Redux is NOT at the published coordinates.
I planted the first Alphabet Cache about 15 years ago (was published on 1/4/09). I was considering archiving the series but decided to put out another one instead. As with the first Alphabet Series, there are 4 or 5 caches in a given location, a hike of at least 1 mile (no more than 2) is required to find all the caches, and at least 1 of the caches (sometimes maybe more) will be a Mystery cache. Each cache will contain a number, which is used to calculate the coordinates of the Mystery cache and the grand final (Total Alphabet – Redux).
Total Alphabet Redux is a Multi-Stage Mystery cache and the Final cache in the Redux series. There will be several field puzzles which must be solved. To find Total Alphabet Redux, you will have to have previously found all of the 26 Alphabet Redux caches obtaining the letter codes you have found and hopefully recorded.
Overview of Total Alphabet Redux: The trek to final will require 3 hikes at 3 different locations. The trek starts off at Stage 2 – MPEA parking. From there you take the ~3 km loop trail to Stages 3 (N39 12.706 W076 54.556) & 4 (N39 13.110 W076 54.665) gathering information to solve the puzzle that will lead you to stage 5. At stage 5, you solve another puzzle leading you to a familiar location where stages 6-9 are located. The loop trail with stages 6-9 is ~2.5 km. From here you go to the final were a round trip hike of ~2.5 km is required. The total time that the original 13 co-finders took was 3.5 hours. However, I did ask probing questions which enabled them to solve the first two field puzzles.
The Trek to the Final starts off at the MPEA(Stage 2 - N39 12.736 W076 55.024), the present home of Lizzie's Long Walk – Redux (GC95RYD), where you will gather information at Stage 3 and Stage 4. These stages are on the original Lizzie's Long Walk (GC172Z8). Stage 3 information is used to find the latitude of Stage 5 and Stage 4 information is used to find the longitude of Stage 5. From MPEA you will need to drive to Stages 5, 6-9, and 10.
Stage 2: N39 12.736 W076 55.024 – MPEA Parking
Stage 3: (N39 12.706 W076 54.556)
Stage 4: (N39 13.110 W076 54.665)
Stage 5: Using information related to Stage 3 and Stage 4, Stage 5 can be found. Stage 5 is given by N39 1aa.bbcc1, W076 5dd.eeff9 where aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, and ff are all 1 digit numbers given by aa = (U,W,H), bb = (C,N,K), cc = (F,Y,O), dd = (P,Q,J), ee = (K,R,G), & ff = (J,M,D). See hint a). Check Sum aa+bb+cc+dd+ee+ff= 24
Stages 6-9: At Stage 5, one will obtain gg, hh, ii, jj, kk, mm, nn, and oo which are all 1 digit numbers needed to find stages 6, 7, 8, and 9. These are found similar to the previous solution but with a slight twist. These numbers are found using gg = (E,LZ,S), hh = (O,P,H), ii = (U,T,R), jj = (H,K,K), kk = 2(mm), mm = (R,X,W), nn = (X,P,S), and oo = (N,W,G). Once you have obtained gg through oo, one can proceed to Stages 6-9 where you will need to take a 2+ km hike to gather information for the final location. To help solve the puzzle at stage 5, see hint b). Check Sum gg+hh+ii+jj+kk+mm+nn+oo=47
Stage 6 N39 0gg.hhjj4 W076 5nn.kkii8 - Here you will find a 2-digit number pq
Stage 7 N39 0gg.kkgg9 W076 5nn.jjoo5 - Here you will find a 2-digit number rs
Stage 8 N39 0gg,hhjj1 W076 5nn.mmmm0 - Here you will find a 2-digit number tu
Stage 9 N39 0gg.iihh9 W076 5nn.mmkk1 - Here you will find a 2-digit number vw
Stage 10: Using the number gathered, the location of the Final is given by
N39 (s)(w).(t+u+v)(p)(p) W076 5(r+s).(p+r+u)(q)(p+r+u)
There are at least 3 reasonable places you can park to hike to the final. The one I used can be found by subtracting 0.161 from the Final’s latitude and adding 0.435 to the Final longitude. The Final’s cache is 10”x10”x4” plastic kitchen storage container. The log is inside a container which you will need to open. There are several coins inside for the first few finders.
Congratulations to the original 13 co-finders, who attended the TAR M&G and made the way to all the stages in the rain that fell the entire time!