NOTE: The cache is not at the listed coordinates. You must
gather ten clues that will reveal to you the actual
location.
"TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far
and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy." So
begins The Odyssey.
You are Odysseus, wily master of landways and seaways, king
of the island state of Ithaca, husband of Penelope, and father to
your son Telemachus who has never met you.
10 long years ago, you sailed with twelve ships to fight in
the long Trojan Wars on the sands before the walls of the City of
Troy. And finally it was you, O wily Odysseus, who masterminded the
fall of Troy with the clever ruse of the Gift of the Trojan Horse
and led the final assault!
And now you set sail for Ithaca. But the Greek gods and
goddesses have other plans for you, and before you return to the
arms of Penelope, you must survive many more adventures.
O clever Odysseus, will you ever return to your kingdom?
Only the Fates know for sure.
And the Fates are not telling!
Odysseus and Penelope: The Return of the
King
Clues to your fate await you (in chronolgical story order) at
the following geoccaches that are part of the series Tales of
Odysseus: The Return of the King:
The Trojan Horse
Cyclops Polythemus
Aeolus, Keeper of the Winds
Circe, Witch Goddess
Into the Underworld
The Sirens
Scylla or Charybdis
Helios, Bringer of the Sun
Calypso, Sea Nymph
and The Suitors and Penelope's Test.
You must
gather ten clues, one for each of the ten long years your
voyage home to Penelope and Ithaca will take - if you are
successful, that is, O wily Odysseus!
But beware! The clues are not easily gathered. They are
scattered along several miles of the rugged and beautiful Pacific
coast, and many travels and adventures lie between you and your
return.
Enjoy! And happy caching!
O wily 50sumtin
And now, the tale's end.
After the slaying of the suitors, you drop your beggar's
disguise and reveal yourself to your faithful wife
Penelope.
Confused and suspecting a trick by the gods, Penelope asks you
to have the bed moved from your wedding-chamber.
But O wily Odysseus, you protest that this can not be done for
having made the bed yourself, you know that one of its legs is a
living olive tree.
And so it is that Penelope accepts that you are truly her
husband finally returned home to her after twenty long years of war
and adventure!
Cache owner's note:
I was hiking along the the rugged and beautiful coast of Wilder
Ranch late one winter's afternoon last year with my wife and
daughter on one of those clear and beautiful days along the coast
when the land and sea and sky come together in such ways that it
just takes your breath away. And as I was pondering over the lack
of caches in this particularly scenic section of the coast I was
inspired, O Muse, to create this puzzle cache based upon the
various adventures of Odysseus as told in The Odyssey.
The Odyssey is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems
attributed to the blind poet Homer. Originally a poem of oral
composition, the poem would have been sung by a trained bard and
passed on from bard to bard in the oral tradition. The poem itself
was eventually written down (fortunately for us!) and preserved for
future generations.
Many of the adventures of Odysseus are such classic tales in
their own right that they will be immediately recognizable, such as
the encounter with the cyclops Polythemus, and that of the Sirens.
Other parts of the poem may not be as familiar and I have included
brief descriptions of the main elements of each particular
individual tale in each cache description for fun.
While the cache descriptions focus on the adventures of
Odysseus, the poem itself includes many more intriguing elements,
such as the faithfulness, patience and guile of Penelope who puts
off 114 suitors for six years! And Telemachus who grows into a
young man and who has his own issues with the suitors. There are
the many colorful gods and goddesses whose personalities affect and
dominate the tales, such as grey-eyed Athena who is the steadfast
champion for Odysseus on Mount Olympus, and the trident-wielding
Poseidon who develops a strong hatred for Odysseus.
And then of course there are all of those incredible monsters to
deal with!
As of April 15, 2007, all of the caches associated with the
Tales of Odysseus series (including this puzzle cache) have
been placed. Look for the clue at each cache at the back of the log
book.
I hope that you enjoy the series Tales of Odysseus as
much as I had putting it together.
In any case, enjoy the views and watch for whales!
While not required, if you choose to find all of the caches in
one outing, I would strongly recommend that you seek the caches in
the chronological order that I noted above. 
And one final safety note: while the coast can be appreciated
almost any day of the year, I would strongly recommend enjoying the
coast when there is NOT a heavy fog blanketing the edge of the
coast.
Besides the fog hiding the crumbly edges of the nearby steep
ocean cliffs and the superb views, you wouldn't want one of
Scylla's six fanged heads to pop unexpectedly out of the fog and
grab you up for a tasty meal, would you?