Olympian 2: Apollo's Appeal Multi-Cache
Olympian 2: Apollo's Appeal
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Location: Iroquois Park, Louisville, KY
This cache is part of the Olympian Series based on the legends of Greek and Roman mythology. If you read the legend and search for Apollo, you will complete three stages ending in a traditional cache and hike about three-quarters of a mile.
Background:
All is not well on Mount Olympus. The party in paradise ended long ago, but only recently did the Olympian gods notice. After nearly two thousand years of ambrosia and boasting of their accomplishments, they have little interaction with mortals other than hearing of their ancient adventures being told as bedtime tales. They are ready for a change of venue, ready to create a second Olympus. Although Athens or Rome are obvious choices, in recent decades Pegasus, the magical winged horse of Zeus, has taken annual springtime trips to Louisville, Kentucky, USA, to participate in a festival revolving around a horse race, and has then returned to Olympus to regale the gods with entertaining stories. One by one, the gods decide to seek new adventures in and near this city just south of the Ohio River.
Legend:
Apollo (god of light, truth, poetry, music, and medicine) leaves Olympus in search of new friends. His twin sister Artemis (goddess of hunting), seems to prefer the company of animals and the other Olympians often worry what true secrets he may reveal about them. His admirers, the Muses (of poetry, dance, music, history, etc.) will follow him anywhere, so he will never be alone, but what he desires is friendship, not blind devotion.
Apollo sadly recalls his last true friend, a young mortal lad named Hyacinthus who suffered a tragic death while playfully competing with Apollo to see who could throw a discus farther. Apollo accidentally tossed the discus with too much strength, fatally striking Hyacinthus in the forehead. Try as he might, even the god of medicine could not stop the bleeding. However, he did honor his friend’s death by causing a deep blue/purple flower to grow where his friend’s blood spilled, a perennial plant and namesake we know as the hyacinth still today.
Upon his arrival in the area, Apollo is drawn by the sound of music to a park setting where he discovers people competing in a disc-tossing competition and hears music coming from a nearby amphitheater. Realizing that a friend with similar interests might be found in such a place, Apollo decides to stay here.
Your Mission:
Become Apollo’s friend. Of course, first you must find him. His daily routine includes disc-tossing practice (in order to prevent future tragedy) and playing beautiful music on his lyre. To aid potential friends, and just in case his sister Artemis decides to visit, he has left some clues leading to his new abode.
Stage One:
At the original coordinates listed at the top of the page, you'll find Apollo's favorite target with the information to lead you in the right direction. Be careful...others in the area without his divine abilities may mistake you for the target.
The target number indicates the indicates the current step of the contest. = _____
A. What is the target number minus 3? A = _____
B. What is the target number minus 5? B = _____
C. What is the target number minus A and minus B combined? C = ____
Use the answers to A, B, and C to find the stage two coordinates.
Stage Two Coordinates: N 38* 9.AAB / W 085* 47.CAB
Stage Two:
Entry to Apollo’s new home is guarded by a dragon you will find at the stage two coordinates. Because Apollo is the god of truth, his dragon has the power to discern honest intentions and to set afire intruders with false hearts. Those who sincerely wish to be Apollo’s friends have nothing to fear and should find a matchstick container with the necessary numbers.
Stage Three:
Use the dragon’s information to locate stage three, a spot where Apollo can sit and play his lyre while enjoying his view of the sunrise in the morning and the sunset on his back each evening as he listens to the amphitheater music from a distance. Tree cover could cause your GPSr coordinates to vary, so read the last hint if absolutely necessary.
The cache container is a medium-sized Pelican box (replaced June 2018). please sign the log and make sure the container top is snapped shut when rehiding. Olympian series bookmarks and Rade items may be available.
Apollo (as the god of poetry) enjoys logs in the forms of poems. Allow the Muses to inspire you.
To find this cache is to find a friend,
Let his music lead you around each bend.
The Muses will aid those pure of heart
No reason to tarry, it's time to start.
Please close the container flaps on each side until you hear them snap into place and camouflage it appropriately to keep it a fun challenge for the next cacher.
Cache Themes:
Trade items might relate to…
- Domain: poetry, music, light, medicine
- Emotions/ideas: truth
- Colors: yellow, orange, gold
- Symbols: lyre, sun
- Animals: crows, ravens
- Although theme-related items are encouraged, feel free to trade even if your item doesn’t match a theme. No food or strongly scented items, please.
Olympian Series Description:
Based on the Olympian gods of classical mythology, most of the caches in the series are two or three-stage offset multi-caches with two-star difficulty and terrain ratings. The coordinates listed on each cache page will lead you to a marker, a plaque, a sign, or a container providing you with the missing coordinate information to find the actual cache. All of the caches in the series are located in the Louisville, KY area, including bordering counties. The series started in June 2004 and will expand to fourteen caches, one for each of the Olympian gods. Each cache contains an FTF prize and signature bookmarks with clues to a final series cache, encouraging you to scale the new Mount Olympus and attain hero status.
Disclaimer:
The mythology background and related tales are provided purely for entertainment and cultural appreciation purposes.
 Kid Friendly  Poison Plant Alert  Thorns
 Dogs Allowed
 Available year-round  Restricted hours  More than a Half-Mile Hike
 Equestrian Trail  Beware of Muggles!  Wear bug repellant! |
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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Fgntr guerr: Gur “evat bs sver” vf whfg bire 100 srrg abegujrfg bs gur qentba, creuncf yrff vs lbh’er bar bs Ncbyyb’f pebjf.