Shortly after the announcement of the GAG21 event came the sad news that Blanco, the last of the two horses that played Shadowfax in Lord of the Rings (LOTR), died at the age of 25 years after a lengthy illness. The other horse, Domero, died in 2003 of melanoma.
Domero was a purebred Andalusian stallion who appeared in the majority of the riding scenes. He was 16 years old during the filming of LOTR. He injured his leg towards the end of filming and was replaced by Blanco.
Blanco was an Andalusian-cross bred gelding who appeared in the majority of galloping scenes in The Two Towers and Return of the King. He was 12 years old during the filming of LOTR.
What does this have to do with the cache? To claim a find, you must sign the log. To sign the log you must open the cache container. To do that, you need to solve a field puzzle. The manufacturer of this particular field puzzle has given it a name that has a connection to Shadowfax. Figuring out this connection beforehand will save you some grief and a possible return visit.
But where is the cache you ask? The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates - there is no need to go there. To find the coordinates of the cache, look not to Middle Earth but to Google Earth.
Since it may take some time to solve the field puzzle, please move away from GZ while you work so that passing muggles won't know where the cache is hidden. In the spirit of fairness and fun, I ask (but do not require) that all members of geomobs have a go at solving and resetting the field puzzle. Please! contact me if you have any trouble returning the puzzle to its original configuration - you don't want to ruin the fun for the next finder do you?
Caution:
- The access road is narrow, has soft shoulders, and is not cleared during the winter. It is possible to get stuck even in good weather. You may wish to walk in from the main road.
- No force whatsoever is needed to solve the puzzle.
- This is a challenging puzzle. You may wish to warm up by doing this one first.
Finally, there is a FTF prize for the first signer. Good Luck & Have Fun!
This cache has been placed for the GAG21 event. Do not attempt to find or log the cache before Friday May 10, 6 PM. It will be guarded by hungry wargs until that time!