Final Of A Multi Located "along A Line"

[+Tonylama]

I have an idea for a multi-stage cache that would involve two preliminary stages, and a third stage that would provide TWO waypoints. The idea is that the 4TH and final cache container would be at some point along a straight line drawn between the two points designated at stage III.

 

My idea for this came from exploring a very large park near me that has immaculate (equine) trails. The thought is to establish this "tangent line" well off trail and to make it about 3/4 mile long - with some of the line on either side of a very substantial moving water obstacle and involving some lowlands/marsh.

 

The Five Star challenges would be (1) to try to guess right the first time on which end of the tangent to begin (water hazard) and (2) the cacher is off-trail the whole time during stage IV and must struggle to stay as tight to the tangent as possible (underbrush/briar and lowland marsh hazard) as the they move down the line. (3) Some good skills with reading maps, using control points and GPSr features will certainly be needed for success.

 

I would probably NOT severely disguise the cache container - or in the alternative would position the cache at a notable formation of trees, rocks, etc - that would be well identified with a good clue in case it was needed.

 

Thinking this through fully, there is no known "off trail hiking" prohibition at the state park and the density in this park is low. Can anyone think of a design-based reason this would not be approved - and also, is this too insidious of a hide?

 

I'm thinking of calling it "Bushwhacking on-line"

Edited March 6, 2006 by Tonylama

[+MT CatRancher]

I Love It. Sounds like a great final step to me

[CoyoteRed]

An angle I've not heard of before.

 

It sounds similar to a concept early in the formation of geocaching where the coordinates took you to an object. At this object you had to determine its height and the cache was somewhere on a circle with a radius equal to the height of the object.

 

Sounds like a good idea.

[+Tonylama]

An angle I've not heard of before.

I just want to go on record right now and claim all right, title, and interest in the "Tonylama Tangent" as a method of puzzle cache structure and designation.

[+Tonylama]

all royalties must be paid in cache

[CoyoteRed]

 

[+briansnat]

An angle I've not heard of before.

 

That is extremely rare these days. With close to a half million hides since this sport began, nearly every angle has been thought of before. There is a good chance that this one has been too, but I'm not aware of any.

 

..and also, is this too insidious of a hide?

 

There is no such thing.

Edited March 7, 2006 by briansnat

[+QDman]

I had to resort to finding a cache in a similar fashion. It was a puzzle cache, and I had the east coords and all but one digit of the north, so I had it narrowed down to a line about 40 feet wide by a couple of hundred feet long. I looked on Google Earth and saw that most of the line was a parking lot, but that one end was in some trees. I went out to the area, searched the trees, and snagged an FTF.

 

What you're describing is similar, if more difficult. I think the concept is sound.

[+NotThePainter]

and also, is this too insidious of a hide?[/b]

Just be forewarned, if the hide is percieved as "too difficult" you will get less finders. Park and grab caches around here generaly get several logs per day on a weekend, yet the difficult puzzles will often go months between finds. If you're ok with that, go for it!

 

Paul

[+two left feet]

Cool. I had been thinking along the same "line" as you. I have a cache that I make that has rebar on top and it is placed in a parking curb. I was thinking of giving the points at both ends of a parking lot and placing the cache in one of the curbs. If there were 4 or 5 lamp posts along the way they would make for great decoys. Could be as many as 100 hiding places involved and parked cars would be covering some of them much of the time. I don't normally like parking lot micros but this would be more of a challange.

 

You have to be a little twisted and sick to do this don't you? Thanks for posting the idea.

[+icefall5]

all royalties must be paid in cache

 

 

Cool. I had been thinking along the same "line" as you...

Enough bad puns!

 

Since the NPS banned caching in National ________s (forests, parks, etc.) there may be something against it in a state park.....

Edited March 7, 2006 by icefall5

[+robert]

Enough bad puns!

 

Since the NPS banned caching in National ________s (forests, parks, etc.) there may be something against it in a state park.....

 

State Parks in Maryland where Tonylama lives allow geocaching with prior approval of placement and the use of the proper container.

 

[+DocDiTTo]

So assuming GPS accuracy of +-20 feet, you could potentially have a path 40 feet wide and 3/4 of a mile long to search for the cache? That's about 5866 square yards of area to cover. Let me guess -- micro cache off trail?

 

Sounds a little too "needle-in-a-haystack" for me. Depending on the terrain, it could require the time and effort of lots of people, kinda like what's used when searching for a missing person in the woods - form a line with someone every 10 feet, then start walking the 3/4 mile stretch.

 

Certainly you could do such a thing, but it doesn't sound uber-fun to me. Maybe if there were some optional puzzles to narrow down the search area it would be better. As you decribed it I think it would consume an enormous amount of time and effort if only 1 or 2 people were searching an area this size.

 

But, I'm sure there is someone out there who would do it. There always is.

[+Tonylama]

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to give it a try.

 

I talked yesterday with a good friend who is a registered land surveyor. He said that a magnetic compass would be helpful - and the trick will be to "strike a line" using trees and other control points in conjunction with the GPSr, one segment at a time. My friend also suggested that I place a portion of the tangent such that it has a clear view of the sky, to allow for an area of solid signal with which to establish a firm course bearing on the line.

 

I'm going to set it up and suggest that this could be best done as a team effort - and I probably will shorten the length of the tangent to about 1500 feet and hide with little or no camo.

 

Look for this cache - coming to a woods near you!