Goldie Locks and The 3 Bears
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(large)
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Once upon a time there were 3 bears that lived in a cottage in the woods. One day while the bears were out for a walk a little lost girl named Goldie Locks happened upon their cottage.
Blah, blah blah...
Yes, we've all heard the story a million times and we can probably recite it backwards and forwards. But recently, while doing some research, I came upon some interesting facts about the story that may surprise some folks.
First off, did you know that the woods that the 3 Bears lived in are actually a suburb of Buffalo, NY... Orchard Park specifically. And did you know that Goldie Locks was an avid GeoCacher who never went anywhere without her GPSr. In fact, it is believed that Goldie Locks was actually in the process of hiding a most extraordinary cache when the batteries died on her GPSr, causing her to become disoriented and then lose her way. I guess she should have taken the advice of Hansel and Gretel! No, not the bread crumbs, extra batteries!
During my research I actually uncovered the coordinates to the first leg of the cache that Goldie Locks had hidden, now it is your job to find the rest, and in doing so, learn even more interesting and unusual facts about Goldie Locks and The 3 Bears!
Another little known fact is that Goldie Locks was not walking through the woods when she got lost, she was out test driving a Jeep 4X4 that Little Red Riding Hood was looking to unload. The cache consists of 3 legs and the final (4 stops in all). Each leg is located in a different area of Orchard Park and they are not within walking distance of each other, at least not for most people, as the legs are several miles apart.
The first 3 legs are small (water bottle sized) camoed cache containers hidden in very traditional ways. Nothing overly difficult and no real trickery, as finding the containers is meant to be a very straight forward exercise.
However, inside each of the containers is a smaller locked container which actually holds the coordinates for the next leg of the hide. When you see the method in which they are locked you will understand where the cache got its name. On the outside of the locked container is another "Lesser Known Fact" about the story of Goldie Locks and The 3 Bears. Take some time reading and analyzing the given fact because it actually contains the numeric clue necessary to unlock the container and release the coordinates for the next leg of the cache.
There are 3 Bears and there are 3 locked containers. And just like in the story one may prove to be too soft, one too hard, and one just right.
The final container is a camoed 5-gallon bucket which contains the final locked ammo-can cache, as well as two more lesser known facts about the story which you will need to to decipher in order to reveal the code and claim your prize.
This is not meant to be a simple cache and dash and it will require a significant amount of time to complete the entire cache sequence.
Leg 1 of the cache is located in an area that is out of view and away from spying eyes and muggles, which should give you enough privacy to be able to find the cache container and then sit for while to ponder the clue. Very little bushwacking is necessary, but this area is very wet and muddy, so come prepared.
Leg 2 will have you on a nice walking path until you get within 250 feet of the cache and then there's a bit of a stream to cross and some decent bushwacking necessary. Also, the area is very swampy and any bit of rain may leave the area very wet. I was standing in ankle deep water while hiding the cache at this location. Muggles will not be a problem here, but the bugs are terrible!
Because of the location this leg does have a dusk to dawn restriction.
Leg 3 is a breeze compared to Leg 1 and Leg 2. I figured I'd give you a little break before the final. You can park within a few hundred feet of the cache, but here your stealth level will need to be on super high mode! I don't believe there is any posted hours for the location of leg 3, but when you get there you can make the decision if it is wise to be poking around late at night. Leg 3 also contains some cryptic directions to the parking/entry point for the final. Please use these directions! There are other seemingly better places to park and enter, but they are all on private property and the local residents will not be very happy if you try to park in front of their house and walk across their property! Please, be respectful, use the directions and enjoy your hunt!
The final is a decent walk on a well marked path until you get within a few hundred feet of the cache site. Then the bushwacking factor becomes very high (thorns, low trees, mud, vines, etc) and again, the bugs!
Please make sure that each leg of the cache is returned to the exact location that you found it. The caches were placed in their locations for very specific reasons and I want all cachers to have the same opportunity to experience the cache in the manner it was first hidden. So please, if you are not able (or unwilling) to return a cache to its exact location please do not attempt to retrieve the item.
Also, none of the items need to be forced open. All the locks will open when the correct combination or technique (for the final) is used. Please do not use the brute force method on any of the items which will cause damage. The final cache only contains dollar store items, not King Solomons Treasure. The fun is in the search, and like the poster says "Caching is a Journey, not a Destination". Well, it should say that!
Any feedback on the cache containers, the hiding methods, the coordinates and the overall cache would be most appreciated. I want to make the caching experience as fun as possible, so let me know what you think!
Anyway, as always, let's be safe out there. No cache is worth getting hurt to find. Use common sense and most of all... Have Fun!
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Congratulations to SkeeterBait2 for his early morning FTF!
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