Camp Latona - the man, the legend, the enigma. This SQH puzzle is an ode to Camp Latona, with a dash of Seattle’s quirky geocaching history. Oh, but wait, there's more... What better way to celebrate 25 years of geocaching usual suspects and FTFs and 20 years of the Seattle FTF Bell trackable making it's way around town than to include the Seattle FTF Bell as the first trackable for the FTF.
And now for the Seattle's quirky history of Camp Latona...
It started on March 17, 2004, when Camp Latona made his first find after reading about geocaching and receiving a GPS as a gift from his wife. His first find was a multi-cache ‘Almost There’ GCHFA8 (https://coord.info/GCHFA8). It was a rewarding find and Camp Latona went on to continue geocaching before placing his own on June 4, 2004, ‘Crossing Green Lake’ GCJM5D (https://coord.info/GCJM5D), a multicache still active and thriving today. And the rest is history, the list of Camp Latona puzzle challenges grew as the legend did.
Anyone who has endeavored to solve a Camp Latona puzzle knows that It almost feels like trying to solve for quantum warp drive rocket engines. Camp Latona, as it turns out, literally worked in rocket science as well as mathematical information technology problem solving and actually wrote a book about about it. Problem solving in information technology is not rocket science or like solving a geocaching puzzle, nor is it Einstein level math, but it does require a certain degree of mathematical knowledge this book would help with.
Educated in mechanical engineering, Camp Latona spent 5 years serving this country in the United States Air Force (1963-1968) at Cape Canaveral and a2 years at the HQ Space Command, LA. (thank you for your service Camp Latona!) During his service he was testing Titan 2 (ICBM) and Titan 3 (space rocket) launches. After his service he found himself at the University of Washington achieving a masters in oceanographic engineering. (He really wanted to remain in Washington where he met a girl, and to this day he is still married to said girl.) He then switched gears to focus on software development (Fortran, RPG (IBM), Cobol, Basic, C) and then became a professor at a local college until retirement.
So if you feel like you’re cracking the code of rocket science while solving Camp Latona puzzles your feelings are validated. Camp Latona puzzles are some of the best problem solving challenges that are most rewarding when that ink connects with the log.
Mrs Camp Latona does not geocache but they hiked the Cascades a lot, and she got him his first GPS device
As with many stories, there’s more to it. Camp Latona was particularly fond of geocaches by FishIAm, a UW fisheries professor, and the two would trade wit and intellectual prowess through complicated puzzles they had to solve while they inspired each other to create more. FishIAm was frequently an FTF on many Camp Latona puzzles, and vise versa (FishIAm had the FTF Bell multiple times), so the challenge for challenges was on.
The geocache named Nellie Does Greenlake (https://coord.info/GCGE6V) posed a fun challenge for the geocacher Camp Latona. In order to solve the multiple waypoints for the final, he bought an inflatable boat, which he still has, solely to paddle to a waypoint and then make the find on May 26, 2004. A few years after that, GC1ZH57 (https://coord.info/GC1ZH57), by FishIAm, posed another fun challenge for the geocacher Camp Latona. After working to solve the multiple waypoints in that multicache, he paddled Greenlake to make that find on October 9, 2009.
The last geocache Camp Latona logged was on February 18, 2016, in New Zealand. His last Seattle find was on June 2, 2015. Perhaps he can be convinced to venture out to log this one… that is, if he can solve this very complicated multi layered puzzle.
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Solve for the final...
To get the final coordinates you will need to solve puzzles and then leverage information in a couple of rocket science equations:
Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation, Delta Thrust Equation, and a couple others. This is, after all, an ode to Camp Latona.
N Solution Puzzle Click HERE to solve the puzzle for the North coordinates
W Solution Puzzle
W 122 19.GPS
Click HERE for the mathematical equation to the W coordinates
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...and next winner of the Seattle FTF Bell is... B16TRAN (with co FTF'er PippiLongStockings)
Congratulations, and I look forward to the next exciting Seattle area puzzle that will move the Seattle FTF Bell long.
And while we normally don't specifically list @nd and 3rd to find, I will here. Gulliver_Snip was very close to first coming in second after the FTF duo. And Qaz&Kids, my co FTF'er that landed me the Seattle FTF Bell to start with, gets a 3rd to find. Yes... it's a good spot to have, in sailboat racing 3rd place gets a trophy.
Great job everyone, and Cache On!