On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, mrGreen317 hid for me, a two-stage multi starting at one final evergreen 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". (So today is the actual last day of Christmas... but you only have to wait about eight months until the "retail Christmas" for 2020 gets back into gear sometime in August of this year!) 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.
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 designed to be a nice, moderate uphill hike "past the gate". You may park at an SGL parking area off of PA-53/Clearfield Valley Blvd (but please do not block the SGL gate), near to the 2017 12 Gates Day 3 cache GC7GA0T. Stage one is along the SGL road/path past the gate, and there is a waypoint provided to a side trail that goes up towards the final stage and a nice view back over the valley.
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.
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.
"Thank yous" to mention at the close of this series
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 2020 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 a "series final" (or three) to be out on the map sometime within the next two to three weeks, if all goes to plan. Until then... Merry Christmas and Happy 2020!
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.
- he 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 a future "final" geocache.
- FTF on each series cache: There is a small ornament for FTF that either matches stage one's ornament or is somehow thematically connected to it. Since not all FTF gifts exactly match the stage one ornaments, it is suggested that FTF cachers make note of the stage one ornaments for their records if seeking the series "final" cache. FTF will also have a different code word labeled on the FTF gift bag, a code that is different from the final stages's code word. This code is unique to the FTF gift and can be used to claim other additional prizes at the conclusion of the 12-days series. More information will be forthcoming.
Example for solving to stage two: For this cache, the posted coordinates for stage one is at: N 40 34.815' W 78 31.229', so to find the stage two, you would assume N 40 34.??? and W 078 31.???. 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 KB3PPR and KB3PPS. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Merry Christmas from the Green-Hippo household!
(mrGreen317, Sage-Hippo, and littleEEE)