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YOU WILL NEED A COMPASS IN ORDER TO FIND THIS CACHE!
Please ignore declination or set your adjustable compass on 0º declination. In other words, your compass should be reading magnetic north, not true (map) north. (This is a concession to the old-timers who use a non-adjustable compass and might not have a map that shows declination with them.)
After you arrive at the posted coords, have a seat right on the rock that used to hold the Art Loeb memorial marker, directly over the marker. Although the marker is missing, its location is easy to recognize - a large square indentation in the rock. Using your compass, take the bearings of the two points below. We have built a bit of leeway into the puzzle, but be as accurate as possible in order to avoid a DNF.
1. Look westish and find a large open field at the foot of a mountain with two symmetrical knobs. Sight on the slight saddle between the two knobs. Use the number in the tens place of your bearing as A.
2. Look northeastish from your place above the marker. You may need to stand if you're short. Sight on the mountain peak with a radio tower on top. Add 8 and then round your bearing UP to the next even ten. (If you get an "even ten" bearing, use it as is.) The number in the tens place is B. For instance, a bearing of 34º rounds UP to 40, and B = 4. For a bearing of 40º, B = 4.
Final location: N 35º 19.6A2 W 082º 52.B04.
Extra help in finding the final container: as you're walking down the trail, don't turn toward the cache until you're at 90º to it. You should find a grassy area and then a fairly clear place to walk with only a few bushes in your way. Closer to GZ, find a small rocky dry stream (slight gully). The cache is about 10 feet north of the gully, at the base of a fairly small blueberry bush. Print out the spoiler photos below for extra help.
During winter months, be sure to check whether the Blue Ridge Parkway is open. Call 828-298-0398; press 1, then 3. The Forest Service access road to Black Balsam Knob intersects the Parkway between Milepost 412 (U.S. 276, Wagon Road Gap) and Milepost 423 (NC 215, Beech Gap).
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