Think Outside the Box Mystery Cache
Mean Gene: Time to retire
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is a two-part multi-cache navigational exercise situated
entirely within Faust Park in West St. Louis County. Any geocacher
who can think outside the box will be able to skip waypoint 1 go
directly to the final cache.
There are two ways to find this cache, the traditional method and
the armchair method.
Traditional Method – For this method the navigational exercise will
be physical and done on foot. Waypoint 1 (coordinates are at the
top of this page) is located near the middle of the Governor Bates
Trail. You may park at either end of the trail at the following
coordinates:
West Trailhead Parking – N38° 40.059 W090° 32.696
East Trailhead Parking – N38° 40.219 W090° 32.378
Go to waypoint 1. There you will find a small cache container with
a four-digit number, XX.XX, attached. To find the final cache you
must construct the “box” by projecting waypoints as follows:
Create waypoint 2 by projecting from waypoint 1 for 149.62 Km at a
bearing of 000° true.
Create waypoint 3 by projecting from waypoint 2 for XX.XX Km at a
bearing of 090° true.
Create waypoint 4 by projecting from waypoint 3 for 149.62 Km at a
bearing of 180° true.
Compute the final cache coordinates by projecting from waypoint 4
for XX.XX Km at a bearing of 270° true.
I will do the first projection for you and you can use it as a
check of your calculations. You get a different answer with a
different datum.
Spherical Earth (1’ = 1852 meters):
Waypoint 2: N40°01.110’ W090°32.818’
WGS-84 ellipsoid:
Waypoint 2: N40°01.182’ W090°32.818’
These two answers differ by over 133 meters but do not worry about
it just use the same datum for all projections.
Armchair Method – For this method the navigational exercise will be
mental. The information provided so far is only have half the
information required to compute the final cache coordinates so you
must think outside the box. With proper reasoning you may park 50
meters from the cache then enjoy an easy stroll over to it. It is
not necessary to use your computer or go on the Internet to solve
this but it is OK is you do. All of the computational power you
need is right there in your GPS and you should have it all setup
and ready to go when you arrive in the park.
Note to purist: You purists (and you know who you are) will argue
that the above projections do not constitute a closed figure not to
mention a box. Therefore, any discussion of inside/outside the box
is moot. I cannot argue with that logic. This cache was intended to
demonstrate GPS navigational methodology. However for you purist
there is an additional way to find this cache that is way out in
right field to use a different metaphor. It is so obscure that I
would not expect anyone to think of it let alone contemplating
trying it except for the fact that I just brought it up.
If you use the armchair solution please do not reveal any part of
your solution in your log. If you are a purist send me an email I
would like to know what you did. Bragging in the log is OK.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
JC1 – Ubyybj Ybt
Svany – Nzbat fbzr ybtf jvgu svir srrg bs ohfujunpxvat vagb gur jbbqf sebz n ynetr svryq.