*** CACHE IS NOT AT THE LISTED COORDINATES ***

THE SERIES:

With luck, this will be the first cache in an ongoing series that will spark a friendly competition amongst cachers across the entire GOWT region. The basic idea is patterned on the First To Find Championship series of caches, which has enjoyed a successful two-year run in the Houston area, and which is now up to the 28th cache in the series.

The premise is pretty straightforward: the first finder of this cache can take this custom-engraved FTF All Star travel bug trophy with them to enjoy for awhile — snapping pictures and gloating a bit along the way, I would imagine:

There are, however, some some key stipulations:

• Within 30 days, the FTF cacher must hide a new cache, title it "FTF All Star #2," and place the trophy inside for the next lucky FTF cacher to enjoy.

• The new cache must be hidden within a 100 mile radius of Jackson, Tennessee, which seems like a reasonable distance that will cover most of the area catered to by the Geocachers of West Tennessee organization.

• The hider must mention the series in the cache description, and must provide clear instructions so that the next winner of the trophy will know what is expected of them. Feel free to cut-and-paste the text from this description, if you'd like. If you need help with inserting hyperlinks and photos into your cache description, contact me and I'll be glad to help.

• Follow the normal travel bug rules by retrieving the FTF All Star trophy from this cache and dropping it into the inventory of your new cache hide (the travel bug tracking number is affixed to the bottom of the trophy). And while it's permissible to carry the trophy to events, and to otherwise show it off before moving it along to your new cache hide, nobody but the actual FTF finders should log the travel bug. The travel bug page will thus serve as a handy record of everyone who has nabbed FTF on one or more of the caches in the series.

• Have fun and be creative on your new hide!

Whoever grabs the trophy next time around will do likewise, and so on ad infinitum. The trophy is six inches tall, so it should fit in most regular-size cache containers, including small ammo cans and medium or larger Lock-n-Locks.

The same person can grab the trophy more than once, of course, but hopefully the series will encourage some of the newer cachers to join the excitement of the FTF hunt. And while there are no restrictions on the type or difficulty of each new hide, if the Houston-area series is any indication there will likely be a good percentage of challenging puzzles and multicaches in the mix, with each new hider trying to come up with some off-the-wall twist to stump their fellow cachers.

THIS CACHE:

Once you've figured out the initial coordinates, you'll be looking at a simply two-stage multicache with a total roundtrip hike of just at one mile — or perhaps twice that, if you don't locate the closest legal parking area. Although it may be tempting, please note that numerous signs prohibit the use of motorized vehicles beyond a certain point. While tackling the cache, you may see evidence of what befalls the vehicles of those who ignore such admonishments.

Use the following images to learn the starting coordinates:

As you approach this initial location, keep a sharp lookout for the final set of coordinates. With that information in hand, you'll now be looking for an ammo can stocked with goodies. In addition to the usual trade items — and the FTF All Star trophy, of course, if you're first to find — I've dropped in some of cool geocoins. Have fun!