GCQ5QM Erringtons Needle (Multi-cache) in United Kingdom created by Team Moogle

This cache has been archived.

Alba15: This cache has been unavailable for a considerable period and as the owner has not responded to logs nor logged into geocaching.com for sometime I am archiving it.

If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.

Alba15
Volunteer UK Reviewer

GCQ5QM ▼

A cache by Team Moogle Message this owner

Hidden : 8/16/2005

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is set on Berkhamsted common, home to Berkhamsted golf course, hundreds of deer, thousands of squirrels - and some nice, peaceful views - particularly in the early evening, as the sun sets.

The cache should take you just under an hour of nipping back and forth. Note that the cache and micros are all on public footpaths or public land, so please stick to the designated footpaths.
It's also best if you find any golf balls lying around to leave them where they are: they'll have to have been seriously badly hit to be on your path, but I guess there's a remote chance that they might be still in play...
The terrain is almost flat, with nicely well defined paths and is suitable, for the most part, for pushchairs - except for the location of the final cache, which definitely isn't!
The cache is a smallish (1 litre) square container, in a green waterproof bag, containing all manner of cheap trinkets for swaps and the all-important logbook. It should have a pen and pencil in it, but please bring your own - you're likely to need it to solve the clues...

The supplied coordinates are for a suitable public car park to start your search from.

To find the cache, you'll need to decrypt the locations of a couple of micros. Each of these, when found, will give you either the Latitude or Longitude of the final cache.

Erringtons Needle.
First, you'll need to find Erringtons Needle, which will give you the decryption keys you need. This is an obvious landmark right near to the parking spot, and from it, you'll need to discover the following:

The years of the war that is mentioned are: ABAC-ABAD
The number of years of Erringtons service is EF
The number of letters in each word of the Latin quote are: GFHE
The word that has been replaced by a stonemason (as if it has a box drawn around it on it's own) gives you the value of K
And the character that is in the same place in the inscription on the second, third and fourth lines will give you the value of L.

That should give you suitable values for the digits A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L

Using this information, seek out the following micros.

Erringtons Eye.
North: 51.CF.FAH
West: 000.EK.HDB
Find the tree you can see through - 'Erringtons Eye' - and look through it facing North. The tree that you can see immediately in front of you has the micro hidden at it's roots.

Erringtons Tooth.
North: 51.CF.CLK
West: 000.EK.ECL
Faded by the sun, the stump of 'Erringtons tooth' is used as a route marker for a number of National trust trails. But it also hides the micro you need at its base. Keep careful watch for muggles!

The coordinates found in the micros will give the location of 'Erringtons Hand' - which has grown an extra finger, and is the location of the final cache.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Micros] ner fznyy syng obkrf nobhg na vapu ol na vapu naq unys. Gurl unir n lryybj trbpnpuvat ybtb fgvpxre ba gurz. [Erringtons Hand] vf n ynetr gerr jvgu svir iregvpny gehaxf naq n ybar 'guhzo' gehax gung fgergpurf bhg ubevmbagnyyl. Gur pnpur vf uvqqra va gur ubyybj fghzc ng vg'f onfr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)