On the Tenth Day of Christmas, mrGreen317 hid for me, a two-stage multi starting at an SGL tree!
Welcome to the Twelve Multi(cache)s of Christmas (12 MoC). Each cache is a simple two-stage multi leading to a small-sized latching box in one of our fine PA state game lands (SGL).
While the retailers have pretty much packed away the Christmas wares for 2019, the traditional Christmas season actually runs from December 25 through January 5, the "Twelve Days of Christmas". (After today, you still have two more days of Christmas left to enjoy!) Here are some multi-caches hidden for the "Twelve Multis of Christmas" to grab this Christmas season or any other time of the year when geocaching is on the day's agenda.
NOTE: The final/second stage container was replaced on 5/8/21, as the original went missing. The location is slightly changed, but the stage one coordinates still seem to be within 16-20 feet of this new cache location (depending on your device and the weather). The hint was updated to reflect the new location, and the stage one coordinates on the hanging ornament were left the same. You will be looking for a small green latching container at the base of a double-trunked tree with rocks geo-cover at the base.
For this cache series, be sure to note both the design on the stage one item as well as a printed code on the final stage logbook. These notes may come in handy for a future cache to be published.
This cache location is an exploration of this quiet corner of a tract of SGL 108. There is parking nearby, depending on the capabilities of your vehicle (and weather/road conditions), or a pull-over at the bottom of the SGL dirt road, with an uphill hike of about 1800 feet of distance. Please note that Grozanick Road, the farm road that leads towards either the pull-off or the SGL road, is itself partially paved, changing to dirt and gravel, with some potholes along the way. Please proceed carefully with your vehicle to either parking waypoint. The parking area closest to the cache may also be very muddy with soft ground, so use care when parking your vehicle if you chose to drive all the way up. (Also note that there is a gate that may be closed in non-hunting seasons restricting vehicular access to the closer parking area).
Vegetation Note: Since these caches are hidden in SGL in the non-growing months, it is always possible that access may get more challenging during late spring and summer growth seasons. When considering hide locations, an attempt was made to minimize this potential issue as much as possible, but when searching in the late spring or summer, just keep this in mind. Good, sturdy hiking footwear and possibly long pants (not shorts) are a good suggestion. Always be on the lookout for wild animals and ticks in the game lands.
This cache is located in state game lands, so PLEASE observe all state game land rules and wear orange during hunting seasons. During the primary hunting season, finding this cache is recommended on Sunday only.
For this cache, be on the lookout for some possible thorns near both stages in the growing seasons.
Warmer weather could mean ticks are present, so please be watchful. Ticks pose a potential health risk, so please be sure to check that any ticks are removed from one's person after seeking the geocache.
Series Information of Note
- Each of the Twelve Multi-caches should have a stage one ornament hanging on a tree or similar object at the posted coordinates. To find stage two/final, replace the decimal portion of the north and west minutes with what you see affixed to the ornament at stage one. (See below for an example with this cache.)
- Each stage one has the numbers incorporated into the ornament hanging wire. This should be all the clues you need to find the final/stage two part of the cache.
- The log book in each final stage will have a code word, something that might relate with Christmas traditions. You will want to make a note of both the ornament design at stage one and this code word in stage two to get you the needed information for the Days 1, 4, 7, 10 "final" geocache.
Example for solving to stage two: For this cache, the posted coordinates for stage one is at: N 40 39.158' W 78 36.484', so to find the stage two, you would assume N 40 39.??? and W 078 36.???. To fill in the question marks, look for some numerical information at stage one, something that would give you three numbers to go with north and three numbers to go with west to replace those '?' in the previous coordinate formula.
A congratulations on FTF goes to the joint team of KB3PPR and KB3PPS with r.e.s.t.seekers and ted28285. Merry Christmas to you and your families!
Merry Christmas from the Green-Hippo household!
(mrGreen317, Sage-Hippo, and littleEEE)