UPDATE:
Now that Spring has arrived and baseball practice is in
full swing, you have a VERY high probability of being seen by
muggles - especially curious young ones!
PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS.
This is a LOG ONLY CACHE – BRING A
PENCIL!
There isn’t enough room for trade items, so please limit to
logging of names and dates. Even though TB’s and geocoins will not
fit in the cache container, feel free to log them IF THEY ACTUALLY
VISIT THE SITE. Virtual visits will be deleted from the
log.
The title of this
cache refers to two elements of Fairmont, WV
history.
The Black…
Coal mining has played an integral part in West Virginia’s
history. The monument you will find at this site is dedicated to
those who have lost their lives in the mine.
As early as the 1850s, immigrants from Wales,
England, and Scotland were brought over to work in the coal mines.
Of the numerous coal fields in West Virginia, one of the larger
fields is the Fairmont Field, developed around the rich Pittsburgh
seam. The first marketed Pittsburgh coal in West Virginia was
produced around 1852 from a mine near the city of Fairmont.
Production and marketing success of the field increased, and in
1901 the Fairmont Coal Company was formed, later to become the
Consolidation Coal Company.
… and the
“Gold”
Fairmont, WV and several surrounding communities are birthplaces
to many national and internationally known athletes, politicians
and celebrities. One of the athletes is the namesake of this park,
Mary Lou Retton. Although she now lives in Texas, Mary Lou is still
one of Fairmont’s favorite daughters.
From the biography on her website: “Mary Lou
Retton catapulted to international fame by winning the All Around
Gold Medal in women's gymnastics at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los
Angeles, becoming the first American woman ever to win a gold medal
in gymnastics. She also won silver medals for Team and Vault, and
bronze medals for Uneven Bars and Floor Exercise. Her five medals
were the most won by any athlete at the '84 Olympics. To this day
she remains the only American ever to win the Olympic All Around
Title.”
To locate the actual cache:
Step 1. Count the number of counties shown on the
columns around the monument.
This value = A.
Step 2. Find the United Mine
Workers of America District number. This is shown in at least two
different locations.
This value = B.
Step 3. Count the number of
items hanging from the miner’s belt.
This value = C.
Step 4. Add the value for A to
the last digits of the beginning North coordinate.
This calculated value is the final North coordinate.
(Example: if the coordinate was 39° 45.234’, and A=15, then the
corrected coordinate would be 39° 45.249’)
Step 5. Add the value for B to
the last digits of the beginning West coordinate.
Step 6. Subtract the value for C
from the answer calculated in step #5.
This calculated value is the final West coordinate.
Enter the new coordinates to your GPS and find
your way to the cache. The cache is located within 300 feet of the
monument. It is not buried. After signing the log, replace the
container EXACTLY as you found it for the next finder.
This is my first cache – I hope you enjoy
it!