Plot This (A lesson in UTM) Multi-Cache
the kernels: 1st stage was in bad shape and final was almost unapproachable due to the vegetation that had grown up.
Plot This (A lesson in UTM)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache will hopefully teach you how to plot coordinates from a
map and put them into your gps. It will also teach you how to
switch the coordinate system on your gps unit. You will need a gps
that can switch to UTM coordinates.
More details about the UTM coordinate system.
The Universal Transverse Mercator projection and grid system was
adopted by the U.S. Army in 1947 for designating rectangular
coordinates on large scale military maps. UTM is currently used by
the United States and NATO armed forces. With the advent of
inexpensive GPS receivers, many other map users are adopting the
UTM grid system for coordinates that are simpler to use than
latitude and longitude. The UTM system divides the earth into 60
zones each 6 degrees of longitude wide. These zones define the
reference point for UTM grid coordinates within the zone. UTM zones
extend from a latitude of 80° S to 84° N. In the polar regions the
Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) grid system is used. UTM zones
are numbered 1 through 60, starting at the international date line,
longitude 180°, and proceeding east. Zone 1 extends from 180° W to
174° W and is centered on 177° W. Each zone is divided into
horizontal bands spanning 8 degrees of latitude. These bands are
lettered, south to north, beginning at 80° S with the letter C and
ending with the letter X at 84° N. The letters I and O are skipped
to avoid confusion with the numbers one and zero. The band lettered
X spans 12° of latitude.
A square grid is superimposed on each zone. It's aligned so that
vertical grid lines are parallel to the center of the zone, called
the central meridian.
UTM grid coordinates are expressed as a distance in meters to the
east, referred to as the "easting", and a distance in meters to the
north, referred to as the "northing".
Eastings
UTM easting coordinates are referenced to the center line of the
zone known as the central meridian. The central meridian is
assigned an easting value of 500,000 meters East. Since this
500,000m value is arbitrarily assigned, eastings are sometimes
referred to as "false eastings" An easting of zero will never
occur, since a 6° wide zone is never more than 674,000 meters wide.
Minimum and maximum easting values are: 160,000 mE and 834,000 mE
at the equator 465,000 mE and 515,000 mE at 84° N
Northings UTM northing coordinates are measured relative to
the equator. For locations north of the equator the equator is
assigned the northing value of 0 meters North. To avoid negative
numbers, locations south of the equator are made with the equator
assigned a value of 10,000,000 meters North. Some UTM northing
values are valid both north and south of the equator. In order to
avoid confusion the full coordinate needs to specify if the
location is north or south of the equator. Usually this is done by
including the letter for the latitude band. If this is your first
exposure to the UTM coordinate system you may find the layout of
zones to be confusing. In most land navigation situations the area
of interest is much smaller than a zone. The notion of a zone falls
away and we are left with a simple rectangular coordinate system to
use with our large scale maps. Frequently, in land navigation, the
zone information and the digits representing 1,000,000m, and
100,000m are dropped. The 1m, 10m and 100m digits are used only to
the extent of accuracy desired. Note that it's the smaller digits
that are dropped in the notation used by the USGS on the edges of
their maps. For example 4282000 mN. becomes 82.
The container for this cache has been recycled from another
multi we had in the area that the river washed away some of the
stages. It is hidden where the water level shouldn't be a problem
again. Once you find the first stage, take the info back to your
cachemobile and follow directions on included instruction sheet.
Final location should be approximately 1460 feet from the first
stage if you've done your homework correctly. I recommend using the
included trail waypoint from the instruction sheet. As with the
other caches in this area do not attempt after dark. The area is
only open from dawn to dusk.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
hc uvtu va penqyr bs gerr
Treasures
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