Wasteland
A woman drew her long black hair out tight
And fiddled whisper music on those strings
And bats with baby faces in the violet light
Whistled, and beat their wings
And crawled head downward down a blackened wall
And upside down in air were towers
Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.
Excerpt from "The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot (1922)
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This is a three point multi-cache. The first two points can be reached easily from a single parking spot, but you’ll want to drive to park again for the third and final point. YOU WILL NEED YOUR OWN PAPER (such as a printout of this cache) AND PENCIL TO COMPLETE THIS CACHE.
First point: “Alphabet in a Coconut”
Park in the parking lot of the city park near the first set of coordinates.
Look for an upright snaggy trunk of a mature tree which has fallen (or perhaps still is falling) over. You aren’t too far from a graveyard, but don’t need to go into it.
There is a coconut, to which a washer is attached, just read the letters from the washer [N=XXX, W=YYY], and replace it all properly back into the hidey spot (you may need to make very slight changes to the hiding place as the tree continues to fall and decay over time, but please keep coconut associated with the standing trunk of the tree).
Using the letters, decipher them to produce number, using the following chart:
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
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FHK | ABG | CTV | DIY | EJW | LSX | MNZ | IPQ | ORU | Z |
The second waypoint: “The Tree”
The Tree is located at:
North:
40 deg 07.XXX min
West:
88 deg 11.YYY min
replace the Xs and Ys with the appropriate numbers given the information provided in the vial found at the first point in the coconut.
From the first waypoint to the second, you should be able to stay out in the grassy area for a bit before turning (about midway through the grassy area) onto a well-used trail through the woods – not a serious bushwhack here, though there are branches across the trail in places, and watch out for beaver holes that might try to grab your ankle. In the summer you might want mosquito repellent. The second cache point is a few feet from "the tree". Find a large scar on the tree, about one foot off the ground on the side of the tree away from the creek. Standing with your back to the scar, you can see the remains of a turquoise 1955 Buick. Go to the car and carefully chack under the dash on the passengers side. You may have to feel around or bend WAY over to see what you are looking for. Be very careful of the sharp and rusty metal here. Once you have written down your numbers, please re-hide the information in the same spot (under the dash) you found it. Thanks!
Now, you have what you really need -- the coordinates for the third and final point. But the coordinates need to be decoded as follows:
North:
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Numbers in the vial: | __ __ deg __ __ . __ __ __ min |
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+/- numbers: | -1 -4 deg -7 +5 . -2 -9 -5 min |
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Third point: | __ __ deg __ __ . __ __ __ min |
West:
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Numbers in the vial: | __ __ deg __ __ . __ __ __ min |
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+/- numbers: | +3 +2 deg -8 -7 . -4 -6 -2 min |
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Third point: | __ __ deg __ __ . __ __ __ min |
Third (final) point: ”Wasteland”
Approaching from the west, park north of the coordinates in an a city-owned parking lot. You are only a few hundred feet from the cache. Walk around the fence, keeping to the right (initially west) side of the fence. You are on a little gravel roadway. Pass around or through a gate (which may be open or locked) which is attached by short section of fence to the fence you have been keeping just west of. To the right (west) of the gate, the fence continues only a few feet. You are on public land still. Continue along on the gravel roadway. Ahead is another chain link fence. This one has barbed wire on the top of it. The gate here is usually locked but occasionally unlocked. To get to the cache, you do NOT go through the gate, but stay on your side of the fence (nearer your vehicle).
You might be trespassing (on city property) if you pass through the gate in the barbed wire-topped fence.
The cache is near the base of an embankment. Find a trash can, then a semi-crushed oil drum. The cache is hidden about 4 feet from the oil drum. Take note of how it is hidden before you open it - you might even be able to open it without removing it from the hidey spot.
We emphasize that the cache is on the side of the barb wire-topped fence closest to your vehicle.
There is a log book, and a very few small trinkets for trading. The cache container is a cylinder only about 2 inches in diameter, so leave your big stuff at home.
SPECIAL NOTE: When you are done, please replace the cache container to the correct location, with the threaded (opening) end facing downward to keep water from getting into the cache. Thanks!
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