On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, mrGreen317 hid for me, an ammo box under one final evergreen tree!
Welcome to the Twelve Cans of Christmas (12 CoC). Each cache is a simple puzzle that leads to the coordinates of a plastic ammo box (i.e. "Can") somewhere in SGL 108.
While the retailers have pretty much packed away the Christmas wares for 2018, the traditional Christmas season actually runs from December 25 through January 5, the "Twelve Days of Christmas". (So today is the actual last day of Christmas... but you only have to wait about eight months until the "retail Christmas" for 2019 gets back into gear sometime in August of this year!) Here are some "regular"-sized geocaches hidden for the "Twelve Cans of Christmas" to grab this Christmas season or any other time of the year when geocaching is on the day's agenda.
Find this cache by using the simple puzzle, then plug the solved coordinates into the built-in coordinate checker on this page.
Z = The number of drummers drumming in the song (not the image above) given on Day 12
Then the caches is at:
N 40 39.[ Z - Z ] [ Z - 6 ] [ Z / Z ] W 078 30.[ Z - 11 ] [ Z - 7 ] [ Z / 3 ]
Note the simple math inside each bracket is to be solved for a single digit that makes up the decimal part of the final coordinates.
This cache location is designed to be a nice, moderate hike "past the gate". The SGL path is pretty easy to follow beyond the gate. Near the coordinates for the Unicorn Forest cache (GC7T875), turn left onto another grassy path and head towards the solved coordinates for this cache (and dont' forget to grab the Unicorn if you have yet to do so). Suggested parking is right near last year's Day 11 Gate cache (GC7GE49).
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.
Ticks have been reported at other locations in SGL 108 this winter by geocachers, 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.
"Thank yous" to mention at the close of this series
To begin with, thanks to SageHippo for the container for this specific Day 12 cache. The other 11 were all purchased prior to hiding this series, but with Day 12, I finally put a gift from SageHippo into active use after it has been sitting on my shelf since probably Christmas 2016.
Thank you to ted28285 for the generous gift of a strong flashlight provided at the New Year's CITO event in Altoona. It was put into good use after the evening event in Ebensburg to get this final cache in the series hidden after sundown.
Thank you to all the geocachers coming after this series, both in the FTF period and the days ahead. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2019 to you all!
And a very big "thank you" to our local reviewer, Keystone, for all the work to review and publish this series of caches day after day, especially during the busy holidays. This series would not have been possible without his generous giving of the time and effort required.
Look for the "series final" to be out on the map sometime within the next two weeks, if all goes to plan. Until then... Merry Christmas and Happy 2019!
Clues for the series final cache
- Each of the Twelve Cans should have an ornament affixed to the inside of the lid, attached by chain. Please be sure to leave this attached ornament with the container, as it is a clue needed to log the final cache.
- If interested in the series final cache, be sure to write down the ornament object on your personal notes or take a photo with your device, whatever is most convenient, to remember which ornament was found with each numbered Can of Christmas.
- Unlike last year, all the needed clues for the final at each of the series caches are already in place at the time of hiding and publishing.
A congratulations on FTF goes to Butterhopper and The Cache Weasel. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Merry Christmas from the Green-Hippo household!
(mrGreen317, Sage-Hippo, and littleEEE)