As
you can see, my stick is almost 14" long!
I had
to cut part of my stick off, otherwise it would've been a
STUD!
You
want to put your thumb on the knot right where my stick
bends...
The twenty-sixth President of the United States, Theodore
Roosevelt, was known to have said, "Speak softly and carry a big
stick." He obviously knew what he was talking about. Properly used,
a big stick can serve to put your money where your mouth is.
However, to be successful in your hunt for this cache, merely
having a big stick is not enough; knowing how to use
it is the KEY!
In order to find this multi-leg Scytale Cipher cache, you'll need to find my
big stick and follow the instructions below to solve the puzzle
in the field. No homework is necessary. Your quest will take you
to four stages of this multi-cache in a beautiful section of the
Seminole State Forest. Each of the initial
three stages will yield ciphered coordinates for the next stage,
which you must decode. Each of those preliminary stages might
also contain a quasi-relevant clue that might or might not help
you find the subsequent stage.
Just in case someone has already grabbed my big stick to go off
and play with it, I've added a few little sticks that will work.
While length is important, some say that adequate girth is even
more desirable. That's debatable, but you'll definitely find it to
be true in this case. The smaller sticks are the same thickness as
my big stick, but they are only 5" long. They probably won't
provide nearly as much satisfaction as my big stick, but they'll
still do the job.
I hope that this area of the forest isn't
slated for a controlled burn anytime soon... it would hurt deeply
for my stick to go up in flames!!
What in bloody hell does playing with my stick have to
do with ciphers? A lot, as it turns out! Be patient—read
on and I'll show you how it's done. (I bet you've never done
this before!)
At the posted coordinates, I hope you will find my stick
dangling limply in a tree. (I really wanted to put it in a bush
instead, but if I did, you wouldn't get to play with it.) There,
you will also find a container that holds your first paper cipher
strip. Remove a key from the tree—either my big stick or one of the
inferior ones. Decipher the first paper cipher strip as per the
decoding instructions below, replace the strip in the container,
and then proceed to the next stage. You've now gotten yourself
off to a great start! You'll repeat this experience at the
other intermediate stages.
Take the stick with you! You will need it to
decipher the other stages. After you have completed all the stages
of this cache—or if you have given up for the day and wish to
return on a future day to finish the remaining stages— please
return here to lovingly reattach my stick exactly as you found
it, so that others can play with it. In the meanwhile, treat
it kindly, as if it were your own. Please do not
take any of the paper strips with you! Decode them in
situ, then gently reinsert them into their original
receptacles.
NOTE: It would be helpful to
bring along a small quantity of masking tape for reasons you will
quickly glean in the field.
DECODING
INSTRUCTIONS
OK, so how do you decode the cipher strips?
As you can see in the first picture, my stick bends at about 5"
into its magnificent length. Grasp this part with your left hand
and gently place your left thumb on the knot shown in the third
picture. Lift your thumb and put the end of the paper strip under
it, pressing the paper down with your thumb. Wrap the paper around
the stick at about a 10° angle from left to right. Wrap the paper
toward you, then under the stick and over the stick back toward
you. Continue this until the paper is completely wound around the
phallic power pole. Be certain that the edges of the paper just
touch but do not overlap. Handle the paper with care so as not to
render the cipher strip unusable by others.
This is where the tape will come in handy, to temporarily secure
the paper to the big stick so that it doesn't unwind, as it did for
Jon while we were placing the cache. (That was his excuse for
playing with his big stick for an exceptionally long time.) Read
the strip from left to right starting where your left thumb is and
you will have the decoded message! You will need to rotate the
stick away from you as you read. Also, please note that all spaces
have been removed and all numbers have been spelled out. Write down
the deciphered coordinates, make a mental note of the salacious
clue, and put the paper strip back in the container. Now, you can
proceed to search for the next stage.
And, in summation...
Let me summarize this whole thing right here, and give you the
nuts (and bolts). As we've told you all along, there are four
stages. You will sequentially find three preliminary stages (all
35mm film containers or slightly larger, possibly camo colored),
including the one with my big stick, before finding the final
cache. The final cache is a .30 cal. ammo box painted camo colors
in which we've placed our balls and dropped our rocks off. In it
there is a nice prize for the FTFer, who will also
receive aggrandizing recognition on this page, unless that would
prove to be too embarrassing. For those of you who cannot be first
to find, extra geo-points will be awarded for creative log entries
in keeping with the theme. But I digress...
Please keep trade items consistent with the general theme of
this cache! Good luck and have fun fondling my ponderous
pleasure peg!
Final bombastic thoughts, notes, acknowledgements, and
admonitions from we2geezersnaguy...
Please understand that this is a wilderness area. Along with
nature's beauty, you'll encounter nature's perils. Hike, bike, or
trot with a friend and, if you use the orange or white trails north
of the shelter, please sign the log you'll find in a rural mailbox.
Do not approach or feed wild animals (unless you're
overrover and moochie, who like
to play with deadly snakes). Do a tick inspection upon leaving the
forest. Some bushwhacking will be necessary in pursuit of this
cache. Do minimal damage to the plant life and be careful with the
saw palmettoes and thorny vines. They can cut you up pretty badly.
Cache trading items aside, take nothing but pictures, and leave
nothing but footprints; kill nothing but time.
WARNING: HUNTING
AREA
Hunting is permitted in
the forest in designated areas. Hunts occur at various times of the
year, except for mid-summer. Please either check the Seminole State Forest web site, read the signs
at the gates to the forest, or call the rangers' office in Leesburg
at (352) 360-6677 for information about hunting dates. During
hunting dates, you must wear appropriate orange clothing and pray a
lot.
Big thanks to Geomutt Cosmo, who served as
guide dog on this mission of the blind leading the blind. (Our
blindness no doubt resulted from the intense glare created by
polishing our sticks too feverishly and too frequently.)
There are at least
seven other caches in this forest and several more in the
general area. Why not spend the day here? There is much to see and
do in the forest besides playing with my big stick. Good luck and
happy caching!
Major we2geezersnaguy
congratulations to Bob of Jackie and Bob, also
known as BoJaB or DOMP depending
on who's doing the knowing, for being FTF—or possibly FTGB (first
to go blind)—in the quest for our fine cache. Bob, may your stick
always be straight and true and may your balls always bounce your
way. (Check out the great final stage pictures in Bob's FTF log
entry.)
Many thanks to the Florida
State Forest officials, who approved the placement of this
cache.
Note to Jetskier: For anyone who
would like to "Jetskier" this cache, the final stage is somewhere
in Seminole State Forest. Just look within a couple hundred yards
of some pine trees or oaks or palmettos or something, possibly. (I
think.)
Note to DOMP: You MUST bring
Jackie (or a suitable surrogate) to complete this mission
successfully. Just leave the proof by the final stage.
Note to overrover: Another
Bushwhack of Death probably will not be necessary for this one, but
if you're lucky, you might come across a swallow or two.
Note to hiddenrock: And if
you're even luckier...
Note to Z_Statman: There is a
good helicopter landing zone close to the final stage. You can
spell out "H-E-L-P" with your calling cards.