UPDATE June 2020
Check this Bookmark List for all the caches in this series. HtGSC: Reindeer Training Camp was archived in 2018, the clues from that cache are Mobywv, Ammo cans. HTGSC #7 "Is Loose In Clifton"Multi was archived in 2019, the clues from that cache are offline.cacher, Toy cars. HtGSC: The Grinch’s Warehouse was archived in 2020, the clues from that cache are SpursUp11, Harmonicas.
The Grinch stole the gifts and now it's your goal to find them again and make Cachemas whole!
Stay focused and treasure, these things that we hunt. Don’t let the Grinch tell you It’s all just a stunt.
Welcome to NoVAGO’s How the Grinch Stole Cachemas 2015! This cache is one part of a special Cachemas series planned and hidden by cachers from all around NoVAGO. Dress warmly, load up your cache-sleigh, and go seek!
Seek out each of the HtGSC "gifts" and collect the clue from each.
Once you've collected them all, this solve is a peach!
We won't reveal how many HtGSC caches there will be
(the Grinch really is sneaky you see).
The clue will be clearly marked in the logbook of each HtGSC cache. Make sure you don't leave without it!
“How The Grinch Stole Cachemas”
Adapted from the story by Dr. Suess
Every Cacher in NoVAGO liked Cachemas a lot...
But the Grinch, who lived just north of NoVAGO, Did NOT!
The Grinch hated Cachemas! The whole Cachemas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't popped on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes,
He stood there on Cachemas Eve, hating the Cachers,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown,
At the warm lighted windows below in their town.
For he knew every Cacher down in NoVAGO beneath,
Was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.
“And… prepping their caching bags!” he snarled with a sneer,
"Tomorrow is Cachemas! It's practically here!"
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find some way to stop Cachemas from coming!"
For tomorrow, he knew, all the Caching girls and boys,
Would wake bright and early. They'd rush for their new GPS toys!
And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise!
Noise! Noise! Noise!
That's one thing he hated! The NOISE!
NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!
And THEN they'd do something he liked least of all!
Every Cacher down in NoVAGO, the tall and the small,
Would spread far and wide, with Cachemas bells lurching.
They'd peer and they’d poke. And the Cachers would start searching!
They'd search! And they'd search! And they'd SEARCH!
SEARCH! SEARCH! SEARCH!
And the more the Grinch thought of this Cachemas Search,
The more the Grinch thought, "I must stop this Caching lurch!"
"Why, for fifteen years I've put up with it now!"
"I MUST stop this Cachemas from coming! But HOW?"
Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE GRINCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!
"I know just what to do!" The Grinch laughed in his throat.
And he made a quick Signal Claus hat and a coat.
And he chuckled, and clucked, "What a great Grinchy trick!"
"With this coat and this hat, I look just like Signal Nick!"
"All I need is a reindeer..." The Grinch looked around.
But, since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch? No! The Grinch simply said,
"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!"
So he called his dog, Roo. Then took some red thread,
And he tied a big horn on the top of his head.
THEN He loaded some bags, some old empty sacks too,
On a ramshackle sleigh And he hitched up old Roo.
Then the Grinch said, "Giddap!" And the sleigh started down,
Toward the homes where the Cachers lay asnooze in their town.
All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.
All the Cachers were dreaming sweet caching dreams without care.
When he came to the first little house on the square.
"This is stop number one," the old Grinchy Claus hissed,
And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch.
But, if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch.
He got stuck only once, for a moment or two.
Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue.
Where the little Cacher ammo cans were all set in a row.
"These cans," he grinned, "are the first things to go!"
Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, he took every caching present.
L’il picos! And bisons! And Lock-n-Locks!
Ammo cans! Soda blanks! Nanos! Fake rocks!
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney!
Really from his point of view, it was a no brainer.
Log sheets! Coords! TB’s! And pill bottles!
Any and all that served as cache container!
Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Cachers' feast!
He took the Cache-pudding! He took the roast beast!
He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a cache.
Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Hoo-hash!
Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee.
“And NOW!” grinned the Grinch, “I will stuff up the tree!”
And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove,
When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Cacher!
Little Carrie Ann Cacher, who was not more than two.
The Grinch had been caught by this tiny Caching daughter,
Who’d got out of bed for a cup of cold water.
She stared at the Grinch and said, "Signal Claus, why,”
"Why are you taking our Cachemas tree? WHY?"
But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick,
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!
"Why, my sweet little tot," the fake Signal Claus lied,
"There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side."
"So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear."
"I'll fix it up there. Then I'll bring it back here."
And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head,
And he got her a drink and he sent her to bed.
And when Carrie Ann Cacher went to bed with her cup,
HE went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!
Then the last thing he took was the log for their fire!
Then he went up the chimney, himself, the old liar.
On their walls he left nothing, not even hooks or wire.
It was quarter past dawn... All the Cachers, still a-bed,
All the Cachers, still asnooze when he packed up his sled,
Packed it with their smart phones! Their containers! The cammo!
Labels! Tools of the trade! The log books! All cans ammo!
Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!
"Pooh-Pooh to the Cachers!" he was grinchishly humming.
"They're finding out now that no Cachemas is coming!"
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!"
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then the Cachers down in NoVAGO will all cry Boo-Hoo!"
"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "That I simply MUST hear!"
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a rustle rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at NoVAGO! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Cacher down in NoVAGO, the tall and the small,
Was searching! Without any new caches at all!
He HADN'T stopped Cachemas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"
"It came without puzzles! It came without events!"
"It came without multis, or logs being sent!"
And he puzzled like a Cacher, three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then he puzzled, yes, puzzled, and puzzled some more!
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Cachemas," he thought, "doesn't come from a site."
"Maybe Cachemas...perhaps...well, it has much more might!"
And what happened then? Well...in NoVAGO they say,
That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!
And it's no wonder that the Grinch could use help returning his plunder
He called to all Cachers to search high and search under
Good Cachers crunch their numbers before they set forth
This way they know that they add for the north
And lest they be stressed
They subtract toys for the west
With caching gear in hand they set off on their quest
(N38°40.000 W077°08.000)
And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
And those clever Cachers helped him get right
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light,
He brought back TB’s and logs in their bags!
Containers, coords, and even the swag!
He brought the firetacks for night caching!
Every conceivable container for stashing
So now is the time to help gather it all
And spread through NoVAGO the Grinch's great haul!
FTF prize is obviously first pick of the Grinch's haul but also a gift card. There's one card for the FTF and one for the FTF-Family!
Some of this cache may be in Fairfax County Parks. Park Authority parks are open from Dawn to Dusk. Night Caching in Park Authority parks is expressly forbidden. Physical stages are no more than 25 ft off the trail. Please remain on the trails to assure good stewardship of the natural and cultural resources in the parks.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Stage 1
Nothing is there
Just Finish this Quest
Enter Your numbers
To Reveal What is Next!
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Stage 2
You must solve S1 and use the S1 geochecker to get the coords for the S2.
Then use Geochecker #2 to get more info on the Final stage of this Bonus cache.
