GC3F8DW Ride A Painted Pony
Type: Mystery | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 03/24/2012 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 36.615 W105° 03.085 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
         

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Someone's waitin' just for you Spinnin' wheel's spinnin' true Drop all your troubles by the riverside Ride a painted pony Let the spinnin' wheel fly

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This is a puzzle cache that is NOT located at the listed coordinates. Do not go there. Ground Zero for these coordinates takes you to the middle of Lindenmeier Lake in northern Fort Collins. Even scuba gear at that site will not get you on your way to the final. Instead, read details about this cache here, have fun in discovering the locations of the ponies required to map the final cache location, and then go for it! It will provide good entertainment, and you’ll see some unusual, unexpected art work as you progress...

Several years ago a number of large fiberglass ponies, all in an identical posture, were acquired by the City of Fort Collins. Several artists in our local community were given opportunities to paint these ponies, each using a unique artistic theme. The results are interesting examples of art having western flavor. Most of the Painted Ponies are available for public viewing. Cachers who live in the area have undoubtedly walked right past some of them! They are large and conspicuous. Have you noticed them?

Look at the images included on this cache page. Six of the Painted Ponies are depicted. For purposes of advancing through this cache, three of the six are critical for your work. You’ll need to find these three. Each is in a very public area within the city limits of Fort Collins. The three ponies that unlock this mystery are shown in images A, C, and E.

As you find each of these three Painted Ponies, stand adjacent to its base and carefully determine and record the coordinates. Check the accuracy of your coordinates by walking a distance away from the pony and then doing a “Go To” to make certain the coordinates take you back to the correct location. After finding the three designated Ponies and verifying their coordinates, make a triangulation using the following bearings:

• From the Pony at Image A, take a bearing of 30.1° T
• From the Pony at Image C, take a bearing of 60.3° T
• From the Pony at Image E, take a bearing of 5876 mils

After mapping the three headings, go to the point where the three lines intersect. When you reach your triangulation point, you will notice a solitary, conspicuous object. Stand close to it and record its coordinates. The final cache is 1,650 inches on a heading of 800 mils from this object. Find it, sign the cache log, and congratulate yourself for having completed an interesting mission. In the process, you’ve probably learned a few new things about “what’s where” in Fort Collins!

What goes up, must come down Spinnin’ wheel, got to go round Talkin’ ‘bout your troubles it’s a cryin’ sin Ride a painted pony Let the spinnin’ wheel spin

[Update on April 9, 2015. On March 28, 2015 a drunken transient decided to literally "ride the painted pony" near Coopersmiths. This is Pony C. After imbibing "plenty of whiskey and rum" he tried to tackle the pony, toppling and destroying it. See http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/04/09/horse-hooch-bad-combo-old-town-square/25532763/. I will revise the triangulation instructions for this puzzle. In the meantime, continue to use the coordinates for the destroyed pony. They are N 40.58775 W 105.07570]

Additional Waypoints

06/14/2017 By malaika54
Found with antlerridgeroad with our chauffeur, Denali41.

06/14/2017 By antlerridgeroad
Found it with malaika54, with my brother Denali41 acting as escort and chauffeur. Left the geopooch at my brother's house on this warm afternoon. We're on a long road trip, over 5000 miles so far, and spending a couple of days with my brother and his wife. Solved this one a while ago, from home, using Google Maps and Street View to identify all the locations. Glad to finally get here to make the grab. Gets a fave from me!

Back in 2014 my brother visited us in WA, in part for the Block Party and Going Ape events. After those events, he came and spent a couple of days with us at our home, during which time he gave me a tutorial on mapping and projections, etc. After that I solved several of his puzzle caches such as this one. I really enjoyed learning about all the different units of length, angle, etc. With my math and physics background, these sorts of mapping puzzles are right up my alley.

06/13/2017 By Denali41
I stopped by the final location today to check the spot relative to the current high flow of the Poudre River. The location of the final is somewhat risky to reach during flows of this magnitude. Hence, I've hidden the final in a slightly different location and have made necessary modifications to the cache description to account for this minor change.

02/05/2017 By Death from Below
I nice warm February day for caching. I searched for quite awhile at the final coordinates, but no Joy. Lots of potentials for this one. Dipping my coin.

04/24/2015 By ShamRider
So saddened about the destroyed pony! It was one of my favorite! May you run in the pasture again soon, "Caballo de Colorado."