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One of the Sickest Caches in North America, With a Big Cash Prize!


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Your listing is WAY too long. Has anyone posting here actually read all of it ? i havent.

 

I'm surprised to hear that so often. I've read the entire listing, as I did for the rest of the PUC series some time ago. At first I thought the danger associated with these caches was overstated, thinking to myself that Tyvek suits do nothing to shield the wearer from radiation, for instance, but I quickly realized that it's a mixture of trying to warn off the park-n-grab club and just plain fun.

 

For the record, I believe there is a cache up there, and sooner or later I see myself attempting it. My work doesn't very often take me that far east, but someday...

:) Yes, I tend to write the kind of cache listing page which I would wish to read if I were a cache hunter and contemplating seeking such a cache. BTW, the recommendation for wearing the Tyvek protective bunny suit while seeking the final stage of PUC #9 was indeed made to make sure that the park-and-grab crowd give it a big berth, but also to help prevent the seeker's clothing and skin from becoming heavily laden with radioactive dust and also with toxic waste/dust. And, yes, for me, all these caches are pure fun and I do love to ham up the drama a bit! :)

 

If you ever do come out this way to go after the PUC #13 cache, I wish you the best! I will offer you any assistance that I am able (i.e., detailed information, introduction to local extreme geocachers who have it on their wish list, etc.) :D

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Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon, sign the log and reverse the process, leaving the pylon about 200 feet from where it presently is and then post that the coordiantes were way off.

 

Come on Vinnie! PROVE it is really there! Anyone can SAY they placed a cache in some inaccessible location. Tell us who your accomplices were! Let them come on the forum and swear they saw you put it there. (sockpuppets all!) :)

 

HOAX! :D

 

Sorry, but this simply won't work.

 

The cache is not attached to the top of the pylon, so when the believers rotate it to somewhere near 90° the cache will fall to the ground.

 

With your scenario digging down to the 'top' won't get you anywhere, as the cache will be lying on the ground some distance (however tall the whole pylon is) away!

 

Even the incredible power of faith needs tempering with logic! :)

 

Ed

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Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon, sign the log and reverse the process, leaving the pylon about 200 feet from where it presently is and then post that the coordiantes were way off.

 

Come on Vinnie! PROVE it is really there! Anyone can SAY they placed a cache in some inaccessible location. Tell us who your accomplices were! Let them come on the forum and swear they saw you put it there. (sockpuppets all!) :)

 

HOAX! :D

 

Sorry, but this simply won't work.

 

The cache is not attached to the top of the pylon, so when the believers rotate it to somewhere near 90° the cache will fall to the ground.

 

With your scenario digging down to the 'top' won't get you anywhere, as the cache will be lying on the ground some distance (however tall the whole pylon is) away!

 

Even the incredible power of faith needs tempering with logic! :)

 

Ed

looking at the pix, me thinks it would end up floating down the river, or sinking.

 

good luck with that.

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Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon,

looking at the pix, me thinks it would end up floating down the river, or sinking.

 

good luck with that.

 

Nope, under the scaenario it'd be on the ground.

 

On another topic, I dunno, but it looks like inciting controversy and casting insult is the favored hobby of some!

 

Folks who have no intention of hunting this cache keep hammering away at the listing wording and length.

 

If you (the generic use of 'you') aren't gonna hunt the cache, why do you care?

 

I read it, several times, carefully, and like it.

 

He's obviously proud, I would be too, he wants folks to find it, so he gives lots of info, obvious and otherwise, and he wants no one hurt, so he gives plenty of warnings.

 

Why take issue with that?

 

What drives posters to express their displeasure with things they don't like rather than just move along, find something you'll enjoy? Control Issues, perhaps?

 

Ed

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Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon, sign the log and reverse the process, leaving the pylon about 200 feet from where it presently is and then post that the coordiantes were way off.

 

Come on Vinnie! PROVE it is really there! Anyone can SAY they placed a cache in some inaccessible location. Tell us who your accomplices were! Let them come on the forum and swear they saw you put it there. (sockpuppets all!) :)

 

HOAX! :D

 

Sorry, but this simply won't work.

 

The cache is not attached to the top of the pylon, so when the believers rotate it to somewhere near 90° the cache will fall to the ground.

 

With your scenario digging down to the 'top' won't get you anywhere, as the cache will be lying on the ground some distance (however tall the whole pylon is) away!

 

Even the incredible power of faith needs tempering with logic! :)

 

Ed

Yes. And, actually, the cache will have slid off the top of the pylon and fallen into the water, there to sink and never be found, once the pylon has reached an angle of about 52 degrees from vertical.

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Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon, sign the log and reverse the process, leaving the pylon about 200 feet from where it presently is and then post that the coordiantes were way off.

 

Come on Vinnie! PROVE it is really there! Anyone can SAY they placed a cache in some inaccessible location. Tell us who your accomplices were! Let them come on the forum and swear they saw you put it there. (sockpuppets all!) :D

 

HOAX! :)

 

Sorry, but this simply won't work.

 

The cache is not attached to the top of the pylon, so when the believers rotate it to somewhere near 90° the cache will fall to the ground.

 

With your scenario digging down to the 'top' won't get you anywhere, as the cache will be lying on the ground some distance (however tall the whole pylon is) away!

 

Even the incredible power of faith needs tempering with logic! :)

 

Ed

looking at the pix, me thinks it would end up floating down the river, or sinking.

 

good luck with that.

Yes, sinking! :unsure: The only bouyancy is provided by the small yellow Otterbox, while the weight of the Otterbox and its three attached steel weights is 26 ounces! :wacko:

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I think the clue to reaching this cache is that the pylons used to support a bridge. Clearly the bridge was in place when the cache was placed and he has since dismantled it. All one has to do is reassemble the bridge and log the find.

All components of the dismantled 600 foot long railroad bridge are now safely stored in my backyard, and available to rebuilders for the asking! :)

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..... BTW, the recommendation for wearing the Tyvek protective bunny suit while seeking the final stage of PUC #9 was indeed made to make sure that the park-and-grab crowd give it a big berth, but also to help prevent the seeker's clothing and skin from becoming heavily laden with radioactive dust and also with toxic waste/dust......

 

C'mon, admit it. You recommended cachers to wear a Tyvek suit so they would NOT be bitten by any radioactive spiders and would NOT be able to easily complete Pyscho Urban Challenge #13. Pretty sneaky, I'd say. :)

 

:)

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Nope, under the scaenario it'd be on the ground.

 

On another topic, I dunno, but it looks like inciting controversy and casting insult is the favored hobby of some!

 

Folks who have no intention of hunting this cache keep hammering away at the listing wording and length.

 

If you (the generic use of 'you') aren't gonna hunt the cache, why do you care?

 

I read it, several times, carefully, and like it.

 

He's obviously proud, I would be too, he wants folks to find it, so he gives lots of info, obvious and otherwise, and he wants no one hurt, so he gives plenty of warnings.

 

Why take issue with that?

 

What drives posters to express their displeasure with things they don't like rather than just move along, find something you'll enjoy? Control Issues, perhaps?

 

Ed

Ed, interesting points, and well said. I very much want people to find this cache, but I also want only the right people -- that is, only those with the training, experience, skills, courage and heart -- seeking it and none else. And thus the plentiful warnings. And, I very much want people to succeed in finding this cache, as -- while it is inarguably one of the most difficult extreme terrain caches in all of North America -- it was not placed as a snub or taunt to the extreme caching community, but rather as a gift (albeit with the bar raised somewhat above norms), which I hope will be found again and again over the years by very skilled and resourceful and enterprising cache hunters. And thus the plentitude of information on the cache listing page about the location, the exact weight of the cache, its placement, the pylon, and the river -- I want people to have the maximal information available before tackling this cache, and I want them to succeed! I would like nothing more than to give the FTF prizes, including the $160 cash, to a deserving FTF before the end of this weekend! :):)

 

And yes, Ed, I too noticed the plethora of criticisms of the cache listing page from people who never intend to seek it! And that also explains why they never bothered to finish reading it -- they have no sincere intent nor committment to go after the cache, and thus there is obviously no need for them to finish reading the incredibly detailed information on that page. Why that would lead to their complaining about the presence of that information does puzzle me too! As for the complainers, well, I chalk it up to lack of fun and joy in their lives! I am a happy person, regardless of whether my cache had ever been placed or not, and I just kinda watch all the comments and smile!

 

Ed, I sooo wish you would come up and go after it! :D

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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..... BTW, the recommendation for wearing the Tyvek protective bunny suit while seeking the final stage of PUC #9 was indeed made to make sure that the park-and-grab crowd give it a big berth, but also to help prevent the seeker's clothing and skin from becoming heavily laden with radioactive dust and also with toxic waste/dust......

 

C'mon, admit it. You recommended cachers to wear a Tyvek suit so they would NOT be bitten by any radioactive spiders and would NOT be able to easily complete Pyscho Urban Challenge #13. Pretty sneaky, I'd say. :o

 

:huh:

Curses on you, you hooligan! :) Scalawag! I hate it when my plots are exposed for all to see! :huh::):D

 

 

:wacko::lol::unsure:

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You don't need to climb the pylon. You just need to climb the monument in the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

 

Here's my plan. Refer to the diagram below for more information.

 

1) Run a line from the top of the monument on the east bank of the river ( A ) to a tree on the west side ( B ).

 

2) Using a specially developed hands-free zip-line helmet, travel down the line ( C ), grabbing the cache from the top of the pylon on the way by ( D ).

 

3) After reaching the west bank, sign the log while a friend drives you back to monument at the National Park.

 

4) Return the cache to the top of the pylon using the same technique.

 

5) Leave the line and the helmet for the next person.

 

coyote_cache_retrieval_plan.jpg

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It would be easier to just shoot a harpoon into Column D close to the top from the original bridge landing {close to 'C (detail) above}. Then tie the rope tight and ride a bike out along the rope, stopping to have a snack on the other columns. Once you get to Column D, sign the log and bike back to your starting point.

 

Piece of cake.

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I love watching these caches, I'm also an armchair cacher on Quantum Leap and the Shelter Trilogy.

 

My plan would include a precision low altitude skydive with a grappling gun, upon reaching the top I'd unclip my chute quickly so as to not be dragged off. Log the cache, then base dive with a rocket propelled parachute into the river where I'd be picked up by a waiting boat.

 

What are the dimensions of the top platform?

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My plan would include a precision low altitude skydive with a grappling gun, upon reaching the top I'd unclip my chute quickly so as to not be dragged off. Log the cache, then base dive with a rocket propelled parachute into the river where I'd be picked up by a waiting boat.

I was thinking of a HALO jump, but I would have to plan for a boat to pick me up (since I don't own a rocket pack). I just don't feel like involving that many people.

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You don't need to climb the pylon. You just need to climb the monument in the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

 

Here's my plan. Refer to the diagram below for more information.

 

1) Run a line from the top of the monument on the east bank of the river ( A ) to a tree on the west side ( B ).

 

2) Using a specially developed hands-free zip-line helmet, travel down the line ( C ), grabbing the cache from the top of the pylon on the way by ( D ).

 

3) After reaching the west bank, sign the log while a friend drives you back to monument at the National Park.

 

4) Return the cache to the top of the pylon using the same technique.

 

5) Leave the line and the helmet for the next person.

 

coyote_cache_retrieval_plan.jpg

Fine idea, but wrong pylon! It is the center pylon! This is actually important information, because, once you are out on the water, GPSr readings in that area tend to be rather inaccurate, due to the tall railroad bridge about 450 feet to the south, and due to the three massive pylons, and, most importantly, due to blocking of the horizion by the river banks and thereupon, as the banks rise from the water's edge. This "down in the bottom of a teacup effect" is so pronounced that even when you are on the top of the pylon, much of the horzion is obscured by these obstacles, and this is is why helicopter pilots tend to feel that tackling this cache via helicopter is too risky and dangerous.

 

Oh, and the Rumsey monument on the S/SW bank is located in the village of Shepherdstown, and does not seem to be on NPS property. It is the entire far bank (the N/NE bank) of the Potomac River which is NPS National Historical Park property.

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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Folks, a late update with news just in: I have just learned that there was an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the cache made early this morning by an out-of-state cacher (who understandably wishes to remain unidentified) who has been staying in the area since yesterday afternoon, and who chartered a helicopter. The cacher reports that once they approached the river and the copter pilot saw the pylon and the surrounding terrain (which is higher than the top of the pylon) and the two nearby very tall bridges, he blanched and told the cacher "no way!". The cacher was able to see the cache container from an altitude of 100 feet above the pylon, and says it looks fine. It seems that he may be staying in the area another day and may attempt to find another helicopter pilot who may be more daring.

 

BTW, there is some chance that I will be doing a brief maintenance visit to the cache sometime after 2 PM today, maybe much later in the day. If so, the cache will be disabled and unavailable for only an hour or two at most.

 

I will let you know any further news on attempts or planned attempts as I learn them!

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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I haven't read the full description yet, so sorry for asking if it's already answered there.

 

It's hard to tell from a distance what the surface of the pylon is like. Can it be scaled like a traditional rock face by using rock climbing anchors like nuts and stoppers, or is the material too lose to hold them safely. Do you have an idea of what the rating is if it were compared to a traditional free climb?

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I haven't read the full description yet, so sorry for asking if it's already answered there.

 

It's hard to tell from a distance what the surface of the pylon is like. Can it be scaled like a traditional rock face by using rock climbing anchors like nuts and stoppers, or is the material too lose to hold them safely. Do you have an idea of what the rating is if it were compared to a traditional free climb?

I believe that one of my past posts in this thread describes the surface of the faces of the pylon in detail. Basically, the faces are in quite good shape, and the pylon faces consist of large cut blocks of stone with mortar in the joints between them. There seems to be relatively little crumbling of the blocks and mortar joints. If I had to rate the climb, I would rate it between a 5.10 and a 5.12 on the rock climbing scale; one problem is that there is really only one leg, and it is 143 feet long at a minimum, although if you went up the NW face, there is tree growing out of the shoulder at the halfway point that might possibly be used as a belay/rest and anchor/tie-in point. For more info, please see my past posts in this thread!

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I was thinking of a variant on the Wile E. Coyote method...

 

a huge rubber band secured to the 2 outer pylons...

 

a floating ramp upstream, supported by trained manatees...

 

large yellow waterskis, and a fleet of jet-skis to pull you upstream against the current and to tighten the rubber band...

 

release...hit the ramp...fly gracefully up through the air towards the center pylon...smash into the pylon about 50 feet up...have a friend grab the cache out of the rubble...trade and log...log online as a found and then as a needs maintenance...

 

Jamie

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Your listing is WAY too long.

 

I'm surprised to hear that so often.

Maybe you're hearing it so often because it's true? Without discrediting the cache in any way, (I think it's a way kewl idea), it's obvious that the cache page is roughly 300 words detailing necessary information, and roughly 10,000 words of repetitive hype. :):D:)

I still wish I lived closer. I'd love to try for it.

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release...hit the ramp...fly gracefully up through the air towards the center pylon...smash into the pylon about 50 feet up...have a friend grab the cache out of the rubble...trade and log...log online as a found and then as a needs maintenance...

 

That's a lot of work for a DNF - after all, it's your friend who got the find and signed the log.

 

"Took McToy, Left Friend"

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I was thinking of this method. c25d90b6-64c2-43dc-b312-b2d02015dfe6.jpg

Could you possibly change the container to something resembling a small animal. :D

Yes, Sue and I often joke that we wish that we could train one of the many red-tailed hawks or turkey vultures that live in the mountains here (we live in a wilderness area with plenty of hawks and vultures) to go fetch and return the cache for us when asked! :):)

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It's not a hoax. The cache is there. Also I know how he placed it. The cache will be logged shortly in a lot easier way than it was placed.

 

Well, I wasn't sure before, but El Diablo's posts have made it obvious.

 

Vinnie shot himself out of a cannon and landed directly on top of the pylon. The "technicians" he's talking about were obviously members of the 110th field artillery of the Maryland Army National Guard. I dismissed this idea at first, wondering how he got down from the pylon, until I realized he's still up there. He's posting from his laptop, and he's accelerated his posting rate because he knows the batteries will go dead soon.

 

El Diablo's reference to retrieving the cache easier than it was placed can only mean that he's planning on studying under a yogi on a mountain top in Babaji, India for 30 years. Then he will simply levitate up to the top of the pylon and log the cache.

 

Vinnie's hoping El Diablo will bring a pizza with him.

Sadly, you have figured out what happened. :unsure: I have only a few hours of life left in my spare NiMH battery pack for the laptop, and the WiFi signal from the Shepherdstown municipal WiFi system is a bit faint up here, making my Internet connection a bit iffy. The biggest pain is sleeping in my sleeping bag on the concrete and stone plateau at night. While the bag is quite comfortable, I have several times almost rolled off the sheer edge of the tiny plateau while tossing and turning in the middle of the night. Oh, and there is a very aggressive female goose who keeps landing here and telling me that this is her nesting area; she wants me to leave. sigh! :unsure:

 

El Diablo, please also bring steamed dumplings!

 

So THAT's how he placed the cache! A trained goose! A TALKING one, even!

 

Yes! Levitation!

 

I've got a better idea.

 

The Good Book says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. So...

 

We will enlist a bunch of believers of various faiths to have a prayer/seance/(whatever else any other religion might call their faith expression) and by the collective force of all the consiousnesses (including the universal mind and great spirit of geocache unification), we will have the pylon remove itself to dry land, invert and we will tunnel under the now inverted pylon, sign the log and reverse the process, leaving the pylon about 200 feet from where it presently is and then post that the coordiantes were way off.

 

Come on Vinnie! PROVE it is really there! Anyone can SAY they placed a cache in some inaccessible location. Tell us who your accomplices were! Let them come on the forum and swear they saw you put it there. (sockpuppets all!) :laughing:

 

HOAX! :huh:

 

Sorry, but this simply won't work.

 

The cache is not attached to the top of the pylon, so when the believers rotate it to somewhere near 90° the cache will fall to the ground.

 

With your scenario digging down to the 'top' won't get you anywhere, as the cache will be lying on the ground some distance (however tall the whole pylon is) away!

 

Even the incredible power of faith needs tempering with logic! :laughing:

 

Ed

Yes. And, actually, the cache will have slid off the top of the pylon and fallen into the water, there to sink and never be found, once the pylon has reached an angle of about 52 degrees from vertical.

 

Ah, yes. Well I guess its back to the ol' Good Book then. Got to get out the ol' drawing board I suppose. Nice idea that. Heave Ho. Moving on I guess.

...

...

...

...

...

Oh, yeah! There it is! 2Kings 6:6!

I'll 'ave a man of God break a stick and throw it on the water, then... the cache will jolly well FLOAT to the top! :ph34r:

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Hey, This sounds like a great cache....Is it ever going to be a non-member cache???

No. As a matter of policy, I deliberately always make all of my more extreme caches Premium Member Only Caches (aka PMOCs). While one reason for doing this is to offer a bit of a reward to those cachers who choose to express their appreciation and gratitude for the geocaching.com listing service by paying a few bucks per month, my larger reason by far is to simply reduce the pool of potential seekers by excluding people who were casually browsing the web (and mayhaps stumbled upon the geocaching.com website) and who might be tempted to tackle the cache while grossly unprepared (i.e., without the right training, skills, experience and gear.)

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I was thinking more along the lines of someone going up, getting in the middle or on top and freezing and not being able to get down and then needing a real expensive, dangerous rescue. You know the kind , the ones that put rescuers at risk, so they are more than happy to send the bill.

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