Columbia Street Art Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Ninja Reviewer: As there has been no cache to find for a long time, I'm archiving it to keep it from showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.

Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for unarchival.

-Ninja Reviewer
Geocaching volunteer reviewer

More
Hidden : 3/24/2003
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Columbia Street Art is an eight-part multi-cache in the Columbia metropolitan area.

The first seven stages will lead you to various displays of public art: murals, sculptures and the like. While some of the art works are small and a precise set of coordinates is needed, most of the large murals are contained on the single wall of a building and a less precise set of coordinates is enough to get you within view of the mural (all of the murals are very obvious). Each stage contains clues that will help you compute the coordinates to a successive stage.

You will most likely drive to the first four stages. From the fourth stage, it is an easy walk to the fifth, sixth and seventh stages. You will most likely drive to the final cache location. The instructions mention the use of a compass, but you probably will not need it.

Please don’t be discouraged that I drop trailing zeros from some coordinate sets.

Thanks to jon & miki for inadvertently providing me with certain locations. Some of us actually read log entries for locationless caches.

Hints to certain stages are given below.

Stage 1:

N 34 01.79 W 80 58.58

The mural at this location is a large-scale reproduction of a famous painting by a world-renowned artist. If you’re trying to complete this cache on your lunch break, you might want to step into the attached shop and grab a sandwich. I am not affiliated with this establishment in any way, but the Greek Turkey sandwich is too good to not recommend. If this painting is not recognizable to you, you may want to venture inside and read some of the press clippings on the wall. [NOTE: As of January 2005, the press clippings inside have been removed. The staff has come to accept people going inside and looking for them, so just pretend they are there and go inside anyway.]

What year was this world-renowned artist born? __ __ __ __ (A B C D)

It’s okay to phone a friend at this stage.

Using these values, compute:

E = (C + D) – A*B

F = D – A

G = B – A

Stage 2:

Use the previous values to compute the coordinates for this stage:

N 34 0E.F W 81 0A.CG

Another mural, this time an Italian sidewalk. If you stay in your car, you will most likely end up with the wrong values. I recommend getting out and walking around.

Number of birds in the painting along all roof tops: __ (H)

Number of cats in the painting: __ (J)

Number of bells in the painting: __ (K)

Compute:

L = G + J + K

Stage 3:

Use the previous values to compute the coordinates for this stage:

N 33 CL.LC W 81 EF.FK

This is perhaps my favorite mural in the Columbia area.

Number of people in the third panel: __ (M)

Number of Tractors + Horses: __ (N)

Number of Knives in the first four panels: __ (P)

Compute:

Q = L – G – (H/H)

Stage 4:

Use the previous values to compute the coordinates for this stage:

N 34 0P.MD W 81 0N.QQ

You will need to park for this stage and walk to the stages 4 through 7.

Here you find not a mural, but a sculpture.

How many links are found here (only count the whole links)? __ (R)

While standing on the sidewalk in front of this work, if you look to your right you will see an old clock which could be considered a work of art in its own right. If you’re curious, you can find out more information about this clock here: (visit link)

Stage 5:

Starting at the clock on the corner, walk “East” along the sidewalk for three blocks until you come to a cornfield. If you get to Bull Street then you’ve gone too far. The cornfield contains a vehicle with the steering wheel visible.

Number of spokes in the steering wheel: __ (S)

Number of birds visible in the mural: __ (T)

Stage 6:

Using your compass, look for a large sculpture at a heading of SMT degrees. Walk to this object.

Number of Links of Chain: __ (U) (could be two digits)

Stage 7:

From the sculpture, walk due South to the final mural. This is perhaps the most famous mural in the Columbia area. I’ve seen postcards of this at the local airport.

Zip code of this location: __ __ __ __ __ (V W X Y Z)

Final Location:

Use the previous values to compute the coordinates for this stage:

N 33 CB.[H-F][2*F][C+F] W 81 TN.[H+P][R][P+R]

Oh yeah, those last five zip code numbers aren’t actually used for anything.

The cache is in a small Rubbermaid container, covered with leaves and sticks.

Please note, for the final cache location, you will not have to travel more than 30 feet off of a paved trail. If your final set of coordinates puts you in a location that does not match this description, then it may be that your final coordinates are not correct. If you're stumped, send me an email and I'll be happy to provide additional clues.

Happy caching!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

(1) Nyy gur ahzoref va gur lrne bs ovegu nqq hc gb friragrra. (2) Fgergpu lbhe yrtf. Jnyx nebhaq. (3) Lbh tbggn gehfg lbhefrys. (5) Abg-frrvat vf oryvrivat. (Svany) Gur pnpur vf ybpngrq va n genqvgvbany pnpur uvqvat cynpr nobir gur ryringvba bs gur cngu.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us