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Brick U Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/23/2008
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Two physical stages, a few slightly puzzling elements... oh yeah, a few Bricks! I guess it goes without saying this cache is not at the posted coordinates.

It's been called Moo U and Cow College.... maybe it's just me, but when i was there i never saw a single cow. What i did see was a lot of bricks. Red bricks, white bricks, bricks with mysterious inscriptions in them, brick courtyards, brick smokestacks, brick buildings, bricks worn smooth by thousands of feet. If we can't call it by it's proper name, i suggest Brick U be added to the vernacular.

But hey, i'm not likely to make much progress on that front, so here is a brick-themed cache in honor of all the bricks i traversed in my time at Brick U.

Parking

Plenty of parking available at stage 1, and you can walk from there to stage 2. Trailhead is in the corner of the parking lot roughly in the direction of the cache. Look for the red and white sign that tells you what you can't do on the trail.

Stage 1

To find the first stage, just look at the Google Maps Satellite view for the posted coordinates.
The offsets from posted coordinates to the first stage, in thousandths of minutes, are:

N minus (123*A + 2*B + C)
W plus 45*A + C

Where:
A = number of sides on the shape used to tile the plaza
B = number of letters on the logo in the bricks
C = number of A-sided shapes that share at least one side with the rectangle surrounding the logo.

Stage 2 / Final

At stage 1, you will find what you need to decode the following coordinates for the final:

28 30 16 13 22 32 34
20 40 16 33 35 13 29

As a check on your decoding method, my caching handle is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

And the decimal minutes for parking for the final: North: 30 9 11, West: 8 13 14

Once you find the cache and log your find, etc. please try to replace it so it is out of sight.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

chmmyr: pbagnpg zr vs lbh arrq uryc fgntr 1: ab pbagnvare, whfg ahzoref fgntr 1 chmmyr: 1 = 1fg qvtvg, 35 = 35gu qvtvg, rgp. fgntr 2: sebz pbbeqf, ybbx hcuvyy gb fbhgu naq guvax "ohggerffrf"

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)