GC7CXA1 Alpine Valkyrie
Type: Mystery | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: K Trackers @ | Hide Date: 09/27/2017 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 11.003 W105° 01.998 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
               

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Welcome to GC7CXA1 Alpine Valkyrie, a 5 stage mystery cache with a straight line distance of approximately 3 miles between stages; not counting distance to the final. The distance and waypoints to be visited can be reduced by a field puzzle. Please be prepared for terrain and weather conditions typical with this part of the Rocky Mountains. Note the listed attributes.

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In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie (old Norse, Valkýrjur or “corpse-choosers”) is a female figure who choose the male warriors that live and die in battle. Half of those selected die are taken to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field Fólkvangr; while the valkyries bring the other half to Valhalla. Ruled by Odin, in Vallhalla the deceased warriors become Einherjar (once fighters) and exist in the Norse version of a warrior’s paradise. Valkyrie lore is contained in the Prose Edda, Heimskringla, and Njáls sagas; all written in the 13th century. Additionally, the Poetic Edda is another important source, a collection of poems from earlier periods. The Valkyrie image started as female priestesses wearing bird costumes as depicted in the bronze age. The modern image of a winged, or non-winged female warrior riding a flying horse, comes from Richard Wagner’s Die Walkür (1870), the second musical work of the Der Ring des Nibelungen. Photos in the cache gallery provide examples of the image evolution and different interpretations in the post-Wagnerian era as compared to its Bronze Age origins.

During my geo-travels across the continent, I have seen many "tribute caches" placed to honor a geocacher. I have always thought about placing some tribute caches, but in the end, decided against it. In my opinion, a proper tribute cache would require something special that captures the essence of the named geocacher’s geo-personality. This can be a difficult and time intensive task. For example, I can think of at least one cacher I considered doing a tribute cache for. In her case, to do it right; I would have to make a placement requiring you to climb MT Everest without oxygen, tackle 1000 feet of scree in flip flops and shorts, employ nothing but Decon containers that are coffee resistant, and be limited to placements in Estes Park. This cacher also earned the epitaph “Alpine Valkyrie,” due to her history of swooping down to replace or perform maintenance on remote, alpine caches neglected by their owners. Somehow packaging all of that into a single cache seemed like too much work.

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Hunting the Valkyrie

If you wish to see a Valkyrie, begin your hunt at the listed parking coordinates which can accommodate one vehicle. At the posted coordinates is a hidden container containing a field puzzle. The field puzzle is a question about Valkyrie lore, with 4 possible answers. To put it simply, you will have to hike to 2 – 4 waypoints depending on how well you do on the field puzzle. Two of the four answers are correct, containing the latitude (one waypoint) and longitude (the other waypoint) to the final. Even if your Valkyrie lore knowledge is weak, you can still get the final coordinates by simply visiting each of the four waypoints. The hike will be easier if you use good land navigation and terrain association techniques. The cache design provides you the ability to manage your route and waypoint selection, providing another opportunity to make the hike easier. Most of your hike will be cross county, although game trails and (abandoned?) recreation trails criss-cross the area. During the hike, expect possible “feet wet” crossings (I managed to stay dry), choke points, and moderate to difficult terrain. Because you control the route, you can either breach or bypass these obstacles. Once you reach the final, expect a Valkyrie to swoop down to personally congratulate you or carry you off if you are near death from exhaustion. Remember your lore, the Valkyrie chooses you, please don’t chose her and take her home.

Enjoy the hunt and hike.

Additional Waypoints

P07CXA1 - AV Parking
N 39° 10.976 W 105° 02.007

12/01/2017 By COpackrat
Valhallas to Betsy! That was an interesting excursion – I don't think I could have made this one tougher for myself unless I tried it on crutches in a blizzard... The distances were not far (as a Valkyrie flies), but were worthy exercise for mere earthbound mortals, and I was happy to get to the shrine at last and pay homage to the honoree. Thanks for creating this tribute to Colorado's resident Valkyrie!!

10/27/2017 By ernie66
“Ding ding!” Just my phone. The Grand K Tracker was tantalizing once again with an adventure in the woods. Rescue a Valkyrie stranded in the forested hills of Douglas County. Interesting, I thought to myself, saving a Valkyrie sure wouldn’t hurt my chances of being one of the chosen to enter Valhalla.

I arranged with frequent hiking partner estes01 to start the quest the next morning. Imagine my surprise after arriving at the meeting point when she revealed that she was a Valkyrie herself and had been hiding it all these years! And that she had Anglicized her original name, Æstïsa the First, to blend into American society.

We took my silver steed to the location told to us by the writings of Grand K Tracker and found the Test of Worthiness. Failing the test would add many miles to our trek. The spirit of Verizon failed to make contact with the Oracle of Google in the wilderness, but of course Æstïsa knows Valkyrie lore and solved the puzzle instantly. “If only my plumage were up to it, we could just fly there,” Æstïsa lamented.

First one battle success, then another, and we had uncovered the two keys needed to find the trapped Valkyrie. The Crystal of Garmin glowed as the hand within slowly rotated to point in the direction we needed to walk. As we approached our destination, a flock of ravens flew by, their wings whooshing with every stroke. We had arrived.

Æstïsa uncovered the dark chest and was reunited with her sister Sigrún. Using a salve she had brought and the contents of the dark chest, she mixed a potion that restored Sigrún’s plumage, setting her free to fly off with her raven friends. Unfortunately the potion worked more slowly on Æstïsa since she is so much larger than her sister, so we had to walk overland all the way back to the steed.

I do hope her plumage comes in soon – it would save a lot of time on future caching hikes! As for me, I didn’t make the ascent to Valhalla on this quest, but I think my chances are better now that I know two Valkyries!

10/27/2017 By estes01
The mighty cacher, Ærnïgroth of 66, agreed to accompany me on a task set forth by the Grand K Tracker himself. To locate the golden Valkyrie who hides within the granite hills and restore her plumage so that she can once again swoop over and repair those worthy caches that have long been forgotten by their owners. Unfortunately, my plumage isn't as good as it used to be (apparently if you don't use it, you lose it), so we had to rely on Ærnïgroth of 66's silver steed to get us to the only provided coordinates. O'er ramparts, ranges, and roads, past several tributaries (which will require future reconnaissance) we rode until we arrived at the starting location. The rest would have to be done on foot, which is not the preferred mode for me, being an air warrior, but it suits Ærnïgroth of 66 well and his navigational skills are excellent…almost as good as the Queen of the Rockies. A question was given at this point on Valkyerie lore and fortunately I was able to answer it and thus avoid embarrassment and excess travel. Onward we trod, over snow-covered hills and dales. Lots of them. But these were very nice hills and dales, mostly because they were free of scrub oak, cactus and nasty crumbling granite. We didn't see one fallen warrior along our way, not even ones practicing how to avoid being fallen warriors. This was a bit of a drag for me as part of my job is to be chooser of the slain. In the end our mission was successfully accomplished. We located the golden maiden and restored her plumage. It was a wonderful journey! Now, without steed or functioning wings and with zero air support, there was little left to do but reverse our tracks, on foot.

FTF with ernie66. K Trackers' clever caches never cease to amaze me, but I feel he outdid himself with this one. Just brilliant! Not only was it fun to figure out, but we loved the entire hike. Wonderful tribute cache. Thank you.

10/24/2017 By Alpine Reviewer
Published

10/14/2017 By K Trackers
TB Drop