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Amelia's Obstacle Traditional Geocache

Hidden : 7/20/2001
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Owners Note: This is one of the oldest and most popular caches in Newfoundland. The original owner, Aviex, placed this iconic geocache here back in July, 20, 2001. This makes it the Second oldest active geocache in our province. Aviex is no longer able to maintain this one so I have the honor of adopting it in 2020 and carrying on with this cache and keeping it active for many more years to come. New cache placed at the original location August 10th 2019.

Harbour Grace airstrip was one of the World's first international airports, the site of numerous early attempts to cross the Atlantic by air. Most notably by Amelia Earhart in May 20, 1932. At the age of 34 she set off on her quest to fly the Atlantic solo. 14 hours, 56 minutes later she successfully landed in a pasture at Culmore, north of Derry, Northern Ireland.

Today it is a quiet, grass airstrip, rarely visited, but steeped in aviation history. It is beautifully located atop a low ridge with a commanding view of the bay and surrounding terrain. Further history on Harbour Grace aviation may be found at: http://hrgrace.ca/air.html

Aviex placed the original version of this cache using a light aircraft to access the location, but the site is readily accessible by a gravel road or on foot. Since the cache was first placed a new road has been constructed running alongside the airstrip.

The container has been changed over the years, currently it is a clear plastic jar with a blue lid. The cache is placed in a rock crevice in the cliff, about 2 meters above the base of the aviation monument. The crevice is at the top of the loose scree but below the steep rock wall. Easy rock scrambling is required.

Safety Notice.

Some recent visitors have commented they were not comfortable crossing the loose scree slope. This cache was one of the very first caches in Newfoundland and was placed at a time when the few geocachers in the Province were fairly adventurous souls. Now with the much wider scope of participants I suggest if you are the type who prefers the boardwalks, then you should not attempt to set foot on the scree. Instead, appreciate this tranquil monument where so many human beings deliberately faced unknown dangers to further the spirit of mankind.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybpngr gur uvfgbevpny zbahzrag ng gur Rnfg raq bs gur fgevc. Gur fvgr vf va n ebpx perivpr nccebkvzngryl ba gur prager yvar bs gur ehajnl naq nobhg 2 zrgref ryringvba sebz gur onfr bs gur zbahzrag. Gur pbagnvare pna or frra vafvqr gur perivpr ol n gnyy crefba fgnaqvat ng gur zbahzrag.

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)