GCR5DB The Far Side of the World (Unknown Cache) in Washington, United States created by Camp Latona

This cache has been archived.

Camp Latona: Today while at the farmers market I check out WP1 of Far Side of the World. I was amazed to find its little resting place empty. Can't imagine how WP1 could be found by accident. But what ever the reason for its disappearance, as WP1 was one-of-a-kind and can not be replaced, off to the archive it must go. Sad to see it go.

GCR5DB ▼

A cache by Camp Latona Message this owner

Hidden : 10/30/2005

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Here is a puzzle cache that will test your geography skills and give you a better understanding of the longitude/latitude coordinate system. Once the puzzle is solved, you will need excellent geocaching skills to find this two stage multi-hide.

As a child I often heard that if you dug a hole through the center of the earth you would come out in China. Now that I'm wiser, I have come to understand that a hole dug through the center of the earth would pass through the molten core, making digging impossible. Ignoring that little obstacle, the path from Seattle to the opposite side of the earth would emerge, not in China, but in the Indian Ocean 2000 miles SE of the southern tip of Africa. This spot is the farthest point on earth from Seattle and is called its antipode.

To find the antipode for a given set of coordinates, flip N/S in the latitude, then subtract the longitude from 180 and flip E/W. For Seattle at N47.7, W122.3, the antipode is S47.7, E57.7. Notice that the antipode is in the opposite N-S hemisphere and the opposite E-W hemisphere, exactly 180 degrees away every direction.

When I began searching for antipodes for various large cities, I was surprised to find that because of the arrangement of the continents, most cities have antipodes that are in the ocean far from land. Thus, Seattle is typical. When a large city does have its antipode on land it is usually far from another large city. Only two pairs of the world’s thirty largest cities have antipodes that are closer than 120 miles. None are closer than about 60 miles. What about smaller cities?

With a little research I’ve discovered two pairs of smaller cities, those having populations more than 100,000 but less than 1 million, that have antipodes about 7 miles apart. (One pair is about 2 miles apart.) Your puzzle is to discover these two pairs of cities and their approximate coordinates. Use MapQuest to verify the coordinates of each center city mark (the black circle with a black dot inside) to the nearest thousandth of a degree using the city zoom level. Then for each pair, use this site to calculate the surface distance between northern city and the antipode of the southern city and verify that it is about 7 miles.

Express the coordinates of the northern hemisphere cities (rounded to the nearest minute) as:

AB degrees CD minutes North, EFG degrees HJ minutes East (or West) for the most northern city
PQ degrees RS minutes North, TUV degrees WX minutes East (or West) for the other northern city

There may be leading zeros.

WP1 is at:
N47 degrees 39 + (DCB + RQS - 25)/1000 minutes, W122 degrees 19 + (HGJ + WVX - 4)/1000 minutes

Disclaimer: My research found two pairs of cities which meet the criteria. But posted populations and coordinates do vary and I could have overlooked something. Be sure to verify the coordinates using MapQuest so they match mine. Even so, you may find other cities that seem to work. However, to find the cache you will have to discover my four cities.

Verify that you have the correct values of AB CD EFG HI, PQ RS TUV WX as follows:
(1) Replace digits that contain zero with the value of A. Lets call these the adjusted values.
(2) For the first city, compute a check value by dividing (A*B*C*D*E*F*G*H*J) by (A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+J).
Use the adjusted values and round the result the nearest whole number.
(3) For the other city, compute a check value by dividing (P*Q*R*S*T*U*V*W*X) by (P+Q+R+S+T+U+V+W+X).
Use the adjusted values and round the result the nearest whole number.

RESULT: The sum of the rounded check values for both cities should be 23399.
NOTE: The purpose of the adjusted coordinates is to avoid multiplication by zero in computing the check values. Once you have confirmed you city pairs, you will need to use the original coordinates to find WP1.

Note: In the city view of MapQuest, the four cities each have a dot within a circle that marks the city center.

Along with Hints 1-4 posted as notes below, the twelve clues below should be enough to let someone figure out the puzzle with only some fairly straight forward geographic elimination. Each clue applies to only one of the four cities:
1. On a large island that begins with “SU”
2. On an island that begins with “NO”
3. An oil port on the Pacific coast
4. On a large peninsula that begins with “I”
5. Famous for tooled leatherwork
6. Named for a green gemstone
7. Between the national capital and the largest city
8. At the end of a road just 30 years old
9. Known for its spicy food
10. On river W... near lake R...
11. Once an Islamic capital, famous mosque here
12. Rare tigers lurk nearby

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

JC1: Jurer OIZ zvtug unir ybbxrq Svany: Ybat nez'f ernpu FR ba pvepyr

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)

This cache has been archived.

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The Far Side of the World Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

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