Welcome to the final of the HD JP Series. This is a series of eight caches and a final with a small award for finishers which has been published in honor of the memory of a good friend and master cacher. All caches published on the same day, so you can go after them in any order that works for you. The eight caches are spread out over a large geographic area, however, so an important TOTT for this series will be your map! The list of all the caches is here: HD JP Series Caches. Be sure to collect the code word from each cache in the series; you will need them in order to solve the puzzle for the coordinates to the final.
I have two favorite memories of HD JP to share: the first is typical of his engagement with caching and cachers. I was down caching in Larry's hometown with my brother, who was visiting from Texas, and we were having some difficulty finding GC2JDHX: VIRGINIAN 22019. After a fruitless search, I texted HD JP for a hint, which he gave us. We then found the cache pretty pronto, and when I looked up from signing, here came HD JP, walking across the lawn toward us. He spent the next hour or so showing us around the town and taking us to caches. Completely typical of his kindness and generosity. The cache container is symbolic of this visit and of HD JP's caching ethic and of his friendship. The other story is a funny one: my husband and I were in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport en-route from Amarillo to Richmond, and as we were riding down a long escalator, I hear this: "Aren't you a long way from home?" I turned around to see HD JP riding down the next one over. Turns out he was en route from California to Washington, DC. In an airport the size of DFW, one does not expect to run into someone from home. When you cache, you never know who you're going to be fortunate enough to meet in unexpected places!
This cache is the final in the series. The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates; you must find all the other caches in the series in order to collect the clues that will allow you to solve the following puzzle and get the coordinates for the final. The difficulty rating reflects the amount of driving you had to do and the number of caches you had to find in order to get the final coordinates. D Rating in this case is Driving Rating (thanks to TeamGandalf for the retitling!). The cache itself is a very traditional hide of tupperware in the woods--easy find! The actual difficulty, once you have the coordinates, is about 1.5. You will have to walk a ways on a flat surface to get there. To find the other caches in the series, you can search for HD JP or HD JP Series and all nine caches should come up. Alternatively, you can use the link above.
Be sure you get the clue from each cache in the series in order to get the correct coordinates for the final, as the posted coordinates are not the actual coordinates.
Once you have the clues, you can determine the final coordinates as follows:
N 36 58.ABC W 078 12.DEF
A =# of letters in code word from series cache 6.
B =# of letters in code word from series cache 3 ÷ 3 + # of letters in code word from series cache 1.
C =# of letters in code word from series cache 2 + # of letters in code word from series cache 5.
D = # of letters in code word from series cache 8 + 1.
E =# of letters in code word from series cache 1 - # of letters in code word from series cache 6.
F =(# of letters in code word from series cache 4 + # of letters in code word from series cache 7) ÷ 3 – 6.
This series is part of the larger collection of HD JP Memorial Caches. All caches with a title including HD JP-- have been placed in honor of our good friend Larry who was a geocaching genius. His 61,825 finds stand as an inspiration to us all! HD JP was known for the quality and professionalism of his more than 150 hides, and we aim to reflect his values in our memorial to him. If you would like to add a cache in honor of HD JP, please do so. Just use the phrase
HD JP--
in your title, followed by your cache title, so that your cache title is modeled on the title of this cache. Then copy this set of instructions into your cache description. That way cachers can search for HD JP in the title and find all the memorial caches in any area, and your cache can serve as inspiration to others who might want to add to the HD JP collection. You might also need to include a note to the reviewer that we have specific permission from HD JP's family to use his caching name and his first name in our cache titles and descriptions. HD JP traveled far and wide on his caching adventures, and we would love to see the caches in his honor spread throughout his caching territory, so please extend the invitation to anyone you know who knew HD JP or who enjoyed his caches and would like to create a cache in his memory! Enjoy!
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Congratulations to Team BlackZ for FTF!!