Welcome to Trabuco Canyon. This cache is located near one of the nicest RC airplane clubs in OC. You may be treated to a nice airshow with planes flying over your head while you search for the container. They are open to the public on weekends, so if you see the gate open, you may go in and talk to the guys about the hobby after picking up your smiley. The cache is not located on the club's property.
After a good amount of rain, a nice creek runs through the canyon. You must solve the puzzle below in order to obtain the location of the container. After solving, I suggest you park at GZ, or at the alternate waypoint after solving the puzzle. The container is not at either of these two waypoints, but is nearby. Depending on the season, the creek may be flowing, and walking across shallow water or hopping across stones may be required, but can be totally avoided depending on which parking spot you choose before departing on your walk for the container.
I hid this one with my son. He suggested to bring his RC battleship and float it down the river, but we really needed a bigger area for the battleship.
The coordinates will bring you near two large rocks - too big and heavy to lift - that stand out amongst all the other rocks around it, hence the name of this cache :) You'll find the camoflagued container here. PLEASE!...place the container back exactly where you found it so that the owner can quickly locate it when maintaining. Thank you!
The solved puzzle will yield a solution with 13 characters. To check you answer, I'll give you 3 characters. If you get the same thing, then the rest of your solved characters will be correct: xxxxx4xx0xx3x, where x's are the unknowns which you must solve.
CAUTION! (This is not a hint, but a real caution!) This is a natural area and you should always look out for critters or snakes. I suggest bringing a walking stick along with you and poking around and stomping your feet as you make your way to the container. I've been a regular in this canyon for 8+ years now, and have come across only 1 snake. Encounters are rare, but welcome to SoCal. This is likely not new to you if you're a avid geocacher around here.
Please keep the puzzle fun for all and don't provide any additional clues. I'm happy to do that myself... just message me. (No clues until after FTF).
Puzzle:
B11-14, C11-12, Q4, O6-7, 16T-U, U18-20, S19, R13-14, then
15P, Q14-15, 23P, O24, 21N-O, 7T-X, U3-5, 17G-I, 1N-Q, followed by
P8-9, Q7-8, G2-7, E3-5, 25Q-R, N4-5, O4, 17R-U, 22W, keep it going
K22, 11N-O, 19N-P, 18W-X, W16, 19V-W, N2, 9A-C, R9, and then
A19-25, 23C-E, 10C-D, Y25, 25U-W, 12V-X, A11-13, D17, then
K17-18, U11-14, X14-16, Q17-20, 11E-H, L3-4, I18-20, you're getting warmer
9L-N, A15-16, I10, J11, 9U-W, V20-21, 21Q-U, 15V-W, woo hoo half way there!
L16-17, 1J-K, I3-5, 1B-G, 7B-F, S12-16, 22M-R, W10, yikes there's more?
T10-13, 22T-U, N16-17, Y21, 22C-E, 25B-F, G19-25, I15, hope I'm doing this correct!
14H-J, 13F-L, 9F-I, 12P-Q, P17-18, 1T-Y, N8, W3-5, almost there
M7-8, V3-5, D3-5, 25J-K, J16, M18, Y11-12, 23V-X, J8, three more to go
C3-5, 19B-F, S1-7, Y2-7, J4, I7, K5-9, 10M-Q, 16B-F, starting to make sense?
15F-G, K12, I12, H16, J19, I23-25, M16, 20L-M, Y17, why 13 characters but 14 clue lines?
23L-N, 12M-N, 14L-N, 13V-W, 14Y, D15, A1-7, 21C-E, done!