This is a 4 stage multi-cache. With the exception of Stage 3, every cache is a micro. 3 is a small. The listed coordinates are not at the location of the cache, but are near the first stage of your journey. Parking is ample around Myer's Park - so if you plan to walk round trip then find a spot and remember to set a waypoint for your car. From Stage 1 to the final is about 3.8 miles, and about 5.4 roundtrip (as the roads go).
ToTTs to consider:
Tweezers, flashlight (if you're going at night), long arms (wink), imagination, pen and paper, imagination.
Without further ado, A Midnight Dreary:
You will be using the book given to the Library of Congress by Harper & Brothers. It sits in the Rare Book/Special Collections Reading Room (Jefferson LJ239).
An online copy can be found here:
http://www.read.gov/books/raven.html
We will need this version (along with a little Google research) to find the location of the first cache. This version contains the poem, a forward (comment section by Edmund Stedman) and a reduced version of the poem after the original poem with illustrations Gustave Dore and additional name engravings.
Read through as I formulate...
Great - let's test your memory (or your counting skills)!
A) What year was Edgar Allen Poe born?
B) How many Angels are in the illustration on page 44 (even the ones without wings)?
C) What is the sublass number (LC) associated with this book in The Library of Congress?
D) How many times is Lenore mentioned in the Poem itself and the reduced version (pgs 34 to 126) after the poem?
E) How many women are visible yet behind the open doors on page 60?
F) What year was this version published by Harper Brothers?
Checksum A + B + C + D + E + F = 6326
Stage 1 coordinates = N 35º 12. UVW | W 080º 49.XYZ
UVW = (F - A) - (2*E)
XYZ = (((B * (B-E)) + D) * 2) + C) / 5
Checksum U + V + W = X + Y = Z = 27
And there you have your coordinates to stage 1.
Stage 1 will possess the location for stage 2, so write them down and add them as a waypoint. It will also include 2 out of the 6 numbers needed for the final cache.
The Final Cache is at N 35º 11.ABC W 080º 50.DEF (not related to the letters in the above equation)
You will receive two numbers each time you complete a stage until you have all 6, and will be at the spot of the final resting spot of The Raven in no time.
Please no spoilers for other cachers, but feel free to message me for any help/hints or concerns.
Happy hunting!