Tricky Triangle Geocache Multi-Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
|
|
The Tricky Triangle Geocache will take you to some scenic places on the North
Shore of Vancouver (BC, Canada). You'll be required to gather clues along the way to help you solve the tricky triangle.
|
The co-ordinates above only point to the starting position for this cache, not the physical location of the cache.
Also note that the final hiding spot is a fair drive away (+- 25 kilometres by road) from the last clue point. Remember this if attempting the cache.
The clues for this cache can be gathered fairly quickly (probably an hour or two). You'll need a pen, paper and (scientific) calculator (Some Garmin GPSr's have a built in scientific calculator) once you've gathered all the clues to calculate the final location of the cache. You should not need any fancy/specialized equipment or software to solve this cache, although it might make it easier if you battle with math.
To log a successful find on the website you'll need to log an entry in the physical logbook at the cache. Only one successful 'find log' per person/team.
Below are the various places you'll need to visit and the clues that you'll need to collect. Make sure to bring a pen with you and record your answers at each point as you'll need them in calculating the final cache location.
To make things easier let's use UTM for all coordinates.
Tasks and clues to be collected:
Task 1
Starting at scenic Cates Park in North Vancouver close to Deep Cove, located at N49 18.328 W122 56.920 (UTM 10 U 503732 5461415), gather the following information:
A = You should be near to an object a good couple of metres big enough to be noticed. How many entrances are there into this shape/object?
B = Find the paved trail leading south / south west and follow it. You should come to a wooden bridge. Before crossing the bridge you'll notice a bench or benches 20m to 30m before. How many benches are there?
C = At the wooden bridge find out how many vertical support pieces of wood are on the railings (on both rails) holding the railing to the bridge.
D = If you follow the trail further you'll come to steps going down to the water. The steps have a railing. Use the following to get a value based on what the railing is made from. Rope = 5, Metal = 10, Wood = 15.
E = When you get near to the end of the walk way near the main parking lot you'll see a plaque on a stone for a man with the initials ML. How old was ML when he died.
Task 2
Staying in the general vicinity take a drive to Indian River Crescent which starts at or near to N49 19.393 W122 57.631 (UTM 10 U 502870 5463388). Drive North / North East on Indian River Crescent basically following the scenic road. Eventually you'll come to a dead end. Here comes what you need to find.
F = Somewhere on this road you'll see a speed limit sign indicating XX 1/2km/h. What is the integer portion of the speed limit sign, the XX portion? Enjoy the scenic drive. (You may loose your GPS signal here. Wouldn't that make it a great place to put a cache?)
Task 3
Now we head to West Vancouver to Ambleside Beach located at N49 19.430 W123 08.968 (UTM 10 U 489138
5463466). The info you'll need to gather is approximately between the Totem Poll and the Fishing Pier. Gather the following information:
G = Starting at the Totem Pole side you'll see a board, probably 65m from the Totem Pole on the beach, labelled 'Visions of the North Shore'. On this board is an old photograph with a date (year) printed underneath it. What is this year?
H = Somewhere along your walk to the pier you'll see a park bench with the names 'Simon & Marie Moscovitch' and underneath it 'Happy 50th'. On what year did they celebrate there Happy 50th?
I = Somewhere along your walk you'll see a signboard (on the beach side) with the initials of a man CM who set a world record for doing something in a certain number of days. How many days did it take for CM to do this and set a world record?
J = You should also see a monument erected by the Lions Club of West Vancouver made of stones with a plaque on it commemorating the 150th anniversary of something happening on 'The Mainland of Western Canada'. What year did this historic event happen (not the anniversary of the event)?
K = You should now be closer to the fishing pier and have gathered most/all of the clues. On the pier are lights on blue coloured poles. How many of these lights are there on blue coloured poles on the pier?
As a check for your answers if you add up all the values collected you should get a total. If you add up the individual numbers of that total you should get a checksum value of 16.
From each Park/Beach you visited you have a set of coordinates in UTM that was given to you. Let Point 1 equal the coordinates for Task 1, Point 2 for Task 2 and Point 3 for Task 3.
You also have clues/answers. Apply the formulae below using the answers above to convert your Easting and Northing UTM values to the correct values for the tricky triangle.
Point 1 Easting = Task 1 Easting - (A x H x K) - (D x E) + 4366
Point 1 Northing = Task 1 Northing + (B x J) - H + 8940
Point 2 Easting = Task 2 Easting - (C x G) + G + J + 3733
Point 2 Northing = Task 2 Northing + (F x G / B) + G + 9172
Point 3 Easting = Task 3 Easting - (C x I) - (E x F) + 3896
Point 3 Northing = Task 3 Northing - (B x H) + J + 14451
If you draw/plot your points on a piece of paper you'll notice the triangle shape. Do the following:
Connect Point 1 to Point 2
Connect Point 1 to Point 3
Connect Point 2 to Point 2
TIP: You'll notice that all the sides of this tricky triangle are equal in length which means it's an equilateral triangle. Equilateral triangles have all 3 sides and all 3 angles equal (60 degrees). This should help you in solving the next part of the tricky triangle.
Connect Point 1 to the mid-point (call it Point 4) of line segment 2-3, and Point 2 to the mid-point (call it Point 5) of line segment 1-3. The lines you've just drawn should be perpendicular (90 degrees) to the base line segments.
Take a look at the diagram below to help you in drawing your own diagram/triangle.
Where lines 1-4 and 2-5 intersect you'll find the cache!
The cache container is a white mid-sized Rubbermaid clear plastic container (in a white bag inside a darker coloured bag) which originally contained the following:
- Log Book and Pencil (in a ziplock bag)
- Geocache Instructions
- 1 x Unscented Blue Candle
- 1 x Unscented Green Candle
- 1 x Deck Playing Cards
- 1 x Canadian Flag Pin
- 4 x Canadian Money Keyrings ($10, $20, $50, $100)
- 1 x Mini Slinky Spring
Now that you are able to solve The Tricky Triangle why don't you try my more difficult cache North Star Geocache!
Enjoy
RobertM
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur pnpur vf ybpngrq ng gur onfr bs n fghzc whfg jrfg bss n genvy/ebnq.
Ubj gb fbyir:
Lbh xabj nyy natyrf bs gur ovt gevnatyr ner 60 qrterrf naq ol xabjvat gur Abeguvat naq Rnfgvat inyhrf bs nyy gur cbvagf fubhyq noyr gb pnyphyngr gur yratgu bs gur bhgre rdhny yvar frtzragf.
Gb znxr guvatf rnfvre qenj va gur qbggrq yvar (nf fubja va gur qvntenz nobir).
Gur yvarf frtzragf tbvat gb gur zvq-cbvag bs rnpu bccbfvgr yvar frtzrag sebz Cbvag 1 naq Cbvag 2 fcyvg gur ovt gevnatyr va unys gurersber fcyvggvat gur natyrf ng Cbvag 1 naq Cbvag 2 va unys. Gur vafvqr natyrf bs n gevnatyr nyjnlf nqq hc gb 180 qrterrf. Va gur irel obggbz yrsg gevnatyr (Cbvag 1, Pnpur Cbvag naq zvq-cbvag bs yvar 1-2) lbh xabj znal guvatf. Gur natyr va gur yrsg bs gur gevnatyr vf 30 qrterrf. Gur natyr bs gur qbggrq crecraqvphyne yvar vf 90 qrterrf. Gur erznvavat natyr ng gur pnpur cbvag zhfg or 60 qrterrf. Lbh nyfb xabj gur yratgu bs 1 bs gur yvarf (Yvar 1-2 qvivqrq ol 2). Gur yratgu bs gur obggbz yvar sebz Cbvag 1 gb gur qbggrq yvar vf gur Rnfgvat inyhr gb nqq gb gur Rnfgvat bs Cbvag 1 gb trg gb gur pnpur.
Ol hfvat n fvzcyr gevt sbezhyn (Tenqr 10 Zngu) lbh fubhyq or noyr gb pnyphyngr gur yratgu bs gur qbggrq yvar juvpu vf gur Abeguvat inyhr gb nqq gb gur Abeguvat bs Cbvag 1.