Geocache Description:

Cache is NOT at the posted coordinates. Solve the puzzle to find the cache. You can check your answer at GeoChecker.com.

SAFETY NOTE: Congrats to THe SKuLL and RPieperCO on the FTF!! But yes, please make sure you do this one at night....the reflectors are setup to take you on a safe path through the trees to get to the final---scrambling on the nearby cliff is extremely dangerous and is not necessary to make the find. I might reposition the final to help avoid confusion, but in the mean time please don't climb anything or attempt this cache in the day...the reflectors provide a safe route but can only be seen at night.

Starry Night II is a replacement of my old puzzle cache that burned in the Waldo Canyon Fire. The new location is much better but is harder to reach. The D/T score is slightly higher as a result of the need to drive quite a ways on Rampart Range Road at night, but I think you’ll agree that the final location is spectacular. If you solved the old puzzle, then you have most of what you need to solve this one – I hope you saved your homework!

You are about to embark on a journey through the life of one of the world’s most renown painters, Vincent Van Gogh.  Your travels will take you to some of the most prominent locations of his life and bring you face to face with a few of his best works.  Most of the questions will require that you to actually stand in his footsteps.  I hope you enjoy your trip!

Birth

Vincent Van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot Zundert, The Netherlands. Exactly one year prior to his birthday, Van Gogh’s mother gave stillbirth to a child that would have been his older brother.  Vincent grew up within eyesight of his brother’s grave. 

A = How many letters are in this brother’s first name?

B = How many architectural columns are on the front of the building across the street from Van Gogh’s birth home? (it's one less than the numbers of windows on the top floor)

First Major Work (1885)

In 1885, near the time of his 32^nd birthday, Van Gogh created his first major work: The Potato Eaters.

C = How many letters are in the name of the town in which he was living at the time? (starts with N, ends with N)

D = There is statue of Van Gogh in a triangular shaped park with a pond in the center of this town. How many of Vincent's arms and legs are modeled in the statue (1, 2, 3, or 4)?

The Potato Eaters (1885)

Move to Paris (1886)

After spending three years in the town in which he created The Potato Eaters, Vincent moves to Paris and lives with his younger brother Theo.

E = One of the places they lived is an apartment on Rue Lepic. How many stories are in the building?

Move to Arles (1888)

Less than two years after moving to Paris, Vincent moves to the town of Arles in Southern France.  It is here that he begins to produce some of his best known works, and also where he commits one of his most famous acts by severing his ear for reasons that are still debated.

To solve this portion of the puzzle you will need to tour Arles and determine the distances between Van Gogh’s Yellow House and the locations of three other places featured in his paintings. The actual Yellow House was bombed in WWII and replaced with a four story building. Use the street side corner as your reference point. Distances are line-of-site. The number you need is in the hundreds place for each measurement.

F = What is the distance to the subject of Painting #1?  F is the number in the hundreds place. (i.e.   _70 meters)

G = What is the distance to the subject of Painting #2?  G is the number in the hundreds place. (i.e. 2_50 meters)

H = What is the distance to the subject of Painting #3?  H is the number in the hundreds place. (i.e. _20 meters) Be careful with this one - only one of the bridge's four staircase corners is the right one.

The Yellow House (1888)

Painting #1

Painting #2

Painting #3

Van Gogh painted another famous work while in Arles, Starry Night Over the Rhone.

I = How many letters are in the name of the constellation featured in the painting? (the name of the asterism also works) 

An interesting side note, which may help you along the way, is that when Van Gogh painted the stars to the north he was actually looking the opposite direction across the water. He had to reverse everything.

Starry Night Over the Rhone

Confinement in the Saint Paul-de-Mausole mental asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (1889)

Shortly after his 36^th birthday, and under deteriorating mental conditions, Van Gogh enters treatment at the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint Rémy.  In June he produces his best known work, The Starry Night.

J = A church is featured in the painting. There is a prominent single steeple church in the heart of the city. How many letters are in the second portion of the Church’s name? (starts with M ends with N)

K = The ruins of a Roman City are located southwest of the asylum.  How many letters are in the name of the city? (begins with a G)

The Starry Night

Move to Auvers-sur-Oise (May 1890)

Van Gogh moves to the town of Auvers-sur-Oise and enters the care of Dr. Paul Gachet.  He continues to work fervently and paints many of the scenes found nearby.  Among these are The Church atAuvers, and The White House at Night. 

L = While in Auvers, Van Gogh stays at the Auberge Ravoux inn. How many stories is the neighboring building to the east?

M = If an observer is standing at the viewpoint captured in The Church at Auvers, how many stories have windows on the building to the observer’s right? (there are dormers on the roof, do not include them as a separate story)

N = Dormers have been added since the time Van Gogh paintedThe White House.  How many dormers were added to the front side of the building? (the White House is within 150 meters of the Auberge Ravoux)

O = How many stories are the east and west wings of the long building across the street from The White House?

The Church at Auvers

The White House at Night

Death

On 27 July 1890 Van Gogh walks into a nearby field and shoots himself in the chest with a revolver.  He survives the immediate injury and is able to get himself back to the Auberge Ravoux Inn, but dies two days later in the arms of his brother Theo.  The final words of his tormented 37 years: “The sadness will last forever….”

It is said that the Theo’s wife Joanna requested that a sprig of ivy from Dr. Gachet’s garden be planted at their gravesite and that the same ivy grows there to this day.

The final stop of your pilgrimage is the graves of Vincent and Theo.  I trust you will go there without extra questions.

The graves of Vincent and Theo Van Gogh

In 1990 Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet sold for $82.5 million dollars.  As of that date, it was the highest price ever paid for a painting.  It is still ranked in the top twenty.

The solution is: 

North (A*B*C*D*E*F*G) * 17.000568 

West (H*I*J*K*L*M*N*O) * 344.551633  

Round both answers to the nearest whole number. 

A NOTE ON THE FINAL:

Van Gogh’s fascination with the night is well illustrated in his paintings.  You too must share this fascination if you want to succeed. The longest part of your journey will be the drive. From the vantage point of the puzzle solution, use your flashlight to find the trail of twinkling “stars” attached to the trees.

2 vertical dots = on path

3 vertical dots = trail changes direction

3 dots in a triangular arrangement = location of final

The actual hike to the cache is fairly short, and should take less than 15 minutes – it’s primarily a night cache to require you to come to this location in the dark and appreciate the stars and the lights in the same way as Van Gogh. Enjoy!!!