GC3A1WD St. Brendan The Navigator's Multi
Type: Multi | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 11/29/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 42.070 W105° 26.139 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                       

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CONGRATULATIONS TO PIXELMAGIC AND CACHEMAN48 FOR THEIR FTF!! View here their celebratory moments at the Final Stage: Celebration

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Saint Brendan of Confort was known as “The Navigator”. He lived from 484 to 577 AD and is renowned for his legendary quest to the “Isle of the Blessed”, aka “St. Brendan’s Island”. Available accounts were described in the 9th Century treatise “Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator”. He allegedly discovered the blessed island as well as a sea monster called Jasconius while on his mission to find the Garden of Eden. The treatise is an overtly Christian narrative, but it contains descriptions of natural phenomena and fantastical events and places. His voyage created one of the most remarkable and enduring of European legends, and it remains difficult to interpret what is factual and what is folklore. In some renditions, the Isle of the Blessed is actually America! Perhaps it was St. Brendan who “discovered” our continent! If this is true, he deserves a contemporary navigational challenge, so this cache is crafted for him. Sainthood has so many manifestations, doesn’t it? Even a posthumous multicache...

But “The Navigator” would have had significant difficulty navigating through this 8-stage multi, even as a Saint. He lacked the power and accuracy that you hold in your hand–your GPSr! It has all the features needed to assist you through the stage challenges ahead of you, if you know what to ask of it. Count on it. It will do the job for each stage if you set up the correct formats and request of it the appropriate GPS procedures at each stage location in order to reach the next one.

Finding the cache takes you through seven stages before you obtain instructions for the Final. You will travel approximately 8.5 miles RT and hump up about 2000 feet of cumulative elevation gain. A decent trail takes you from parking through the first two stages. Beyond Stage 2 the trail becomes fainter. Due to compressing terrain features, many crossings of Elkhorn Creek are necessary to advance through all stages. And occasional bushwacking over fallen trees is necessary. But the needed route takes you through some remote, beautiful country that is infrequently visited by others. This is a Backcountry sequence, so go prepared. It took me 7+ hours to set up the multi stages (and less than that on my followup Beta testing trip). So you can easily progress through the stages to the Final in a single day.

Motorized vehicles are prohibited. Mountain bikes and horses could assist, but only in the early portion of your quest. Thereafter they would quickly become nuisances.

The Final is a small container. Camo-taped Rx vials are used in all other stages, but the descriptions given here should make it relatively easy to locate these Stage vials if you correctly use the information given in each prior Stage container to reach the correct GZ vicinity. Pay very close attention to the specific instructions given in each Stage! Because most Stage containers are hidden on or near the ground, this sequence will be impractical when snow covers the area. Use the following to facilitate locating each stage:

Stage 1. Hidden on the uphill side of the base of a large, yellow-barked Ponderosa Pine tree.

Stage 2. Hidden in a space between two rocks, covered by a couple of small rocks, at the top of the smaller and the northernmost of the outcrops in the vicinity.

Stage 3. Hidden under a rock on the south side of a solitary Ponderosa Pine tree.

Stage 4. Hidden under the left side (when facing up-valley) of a solitary prominent boulder, covered by a thin, flat rock. The faint trail passes immediately to the right side of this boulder.

Stage 5. Tucked between the trunk of a large Ponderosa Pine tree and the adjacent large rock, covered by two small rocks.

Stage 6. Placed under a moss-covered flat rock in the prominent overhang cavity of the large boulder, right against the Ponderosa Pine tree.

Stage 7. Hidden on a steep hillside at the northern side of a distinctive diamond-shaped rock (it has this shape from both southern and northern views), covered by a few small branches. See spoiler photo. In a maintenance hike in April 2014 I noted great signal bounce at this location, sometimes resulting in a 50-foot "swing" between GZ and the stage container--the container being downhill from the general GZ location on that date. Look carefully for the solitary diamond-shaped rock shown in the spoiler!

Final. Under the largest boulder in the GZ vicinity, covered by several small rocks to conceal the cache and keep it in place. The views from this final cache location are special delicacies for finders–they are added prizes to the golden treasure of the cache log!

Mils System

For cache seekers who are unfamiliar with the Angular Mil, learn about mils here.

We are all familiar with compasses that are marked in cardinal points: North, East, South, West; and the intercardinal points: North North East, North East, East North East etc.; and the compasses marked in 360 degrees where North is zero or 360 degrees, South is 180 degrees, etc. But there is another unit of measurement that has been in common use with military compasses since the mid 1960s–the mils system.

The mils system originated near the beginning of the 20th Century, but the American military formally adopted it in the 1960s and it is now widely used, in one form or another, by military units worldwide. There are 6283.1853 mils in a circle, but the U.S. military standardized this to 6400 mils to simplify things, so that North is seen as 6400 (and 0000), South is 3200, and so on.

Many compasses are calibrated in both mils and degrees and are known as dual-use compasses. Mils can appear confusing, but using them is exactly the same as using a compass calibrated in 360 degrees–you just think in different numbers: 6400/360=17.78 which translates to 17.78 mils being equal to 1 degree.

To use mils with your GPS is relatively simple. Your GPSr knows how to do this, if you instruct it properly! But there is one very important function you must give close attention to–the function of Heading can change your azimuth when using mils (or degrees) if it is set to either True (map) or Magnetic (field). When using mils it’s important to set the heading to True. As an example, in Colorado our magnetic declination is about 10°. A Magnetic azimuth of 6454 mils (363°) will change to 0053 mils (3°) when set to True. Set your heading to True when using mils.

Take time to fully appreciate the remote country you penetrate as you unravel the stages of this cache. You will always recall (I hope with positive, fond memories) your adventure. Go prepared; and return safely!

Additional Waypoints

PK3A1WD - GC3A1WD Parking
N 40° 41.912 W 105° 26.505

S13A1WD - GC3A1WD Stage 1
N 40° 42.070 W 105° 26.139

09/20/2014 By ArkF
About a year ago, I started getting back into geocaching after a couple years with little activity. I hadn't really been hiking in that time either, so was excited to restart both of those hobbies. I made a choice at that time to focus only on caches that I really wanted to search for, instead of my previous strategy of going for whatever happened to be nearby at the time. In support of that goal, I started scanning the map and making lists of caches that sounded fun. Multi-caches are my favorite type, and I also really enjoy hikes with some solitude, and caches that require some thought. So this cache was one of a few that I was really excited about.

I put it off for a while, because I wasn't sure if I was in shape enough for it, both physically and mentally with all the navigation tasks. After working on some easier caches that helped me practice using my GPS in different ways, and going on enough hikes to feel comfortable with an 8.5 mile trip, I decided to try today. I parked about 8:30, and was very quickly impressed by the beautiful creek, and the trees and bushes just starting to get some fall color. The weather was great, though a bit hot towards the end of my hike.

I proceeded through the stages with minimal difficulty. For stage 5, my waypoint was a little off, and instead of heading for the tree that matched the description, I ignored my instincts and followed the GPS across the creek to a different tree. I got myself sorted eventually, and had no other issues worth mentioning. I was grateful for the detailed hide information, it would have been a harder find without it. I didn't make the best route choices on my way to the final stage, and hiked up (and down) a couple extra hills. I regret those hills as I sit here typing. Found the final right where I expected it, and enjoyed the views and a candy bar. On my way back, I was rather surprised to see a woman on a horse coming up the trail at me, after a day being alone. Not sure how far she got, with all the growth. I also saw a hunter up on a ridge near stage 2, but managed to not look like a deer and had no issues. Took just about 9 hours, including lunch breaks and everything.

Thanks for the great cache, it met my high expectations wonderfully!

Edited to add:
After viewing the FTF video, I realized that every finder before me has celebrated their find with some St. Brendan's Liqueur. I would hate to break tradition, so I procured a bottle and celebrated in proper style.

This entry was edited by ArkF on Sunday, 21 September 2014 at 03:02:48 UTC.

04/06/2014 By Denali41
I took the opportunity of a hike with icezebra11 to check on the eight stages of this challenging multi. I needed to replace two of the stage containers--the second stage had been affected by the severe storm this past September--it's "support" material had collapsed and it had fallen a significant distance. Icezebra11 had replaced this container last week. Today I "redid" the specific location, to ensure that the stage has continued, long-term integrity. Stage 5's container had been destroyed by a gnawing rodent. Today it was replaced by a container that can't be chewed up! All other stages were in perfect condition, so with the two corrections today, this entire sequence is awaiting your search. Please make certain to replace each stage in the location you find it, and conceal it well.

04/06/2014 By icezebra11
I'm enjoying the sweet flavor of St Brendan's liqueur as I write this log. For this cache the third time is truly a charm, not only because I got through all of the stages but I also was able to spend the day hiking this beautiful canyon with Denali41 and his puppy Orizaba. Last November I made my first attempt at this cache. What I wasn't prepared for was how high the water was running! The creek crossings were extremely difficult due to the amount of water coming out of the mountains after the torrential rains of last September. There are three crossings just to get to the first stage. I made the first one but I couldn't find a good spot to cross back so I went up and over some steep terrain to avoid those other two crossings. After finding the first stage I set off for stage 2 - three more creek crossings, each one making me wonder if I was going in! Got to stage 2 and searched hi and lo for it but couldn't find it. With that and the high water, it was a quick decision to head back to the trailhead and try another time.

The second time I tried was Saturday last week. Denali41 had provided me the information that was supposed to be in stage 2 and asked that I put out a replacement container, which I did. With that information I worked my way through the first four stages. I entered the data into my GPSr for finding stage 5 and went to that location. I found the features described on the cache page and commence searching. After digging through the pine needles a while I found the lid of the container but nothing else, no container and no clue. Strike two!

I sent Denali the information about stage 5 and we agreed to get together to do a maintenance run on it, and today was the day. I felt relief that he confirmed at both stage 2 and stage 5 I had looked in the right spots and they truly were missing. We made our way through stages 6 and 7 without problems. I entered the info for the final into the GPSr and headed that way. About a half mile from the final, Denali left me to make the final climb and find solo. Arrived at GZ and quickly had the final container in hand. Signed the replacement log (the original had been destroyed by fire) and took in the views. Headed back down the mountain and met Steve and Zaba at the car. What a great day in the mountains!

Thanks Steve for your company, this excellent cache, and your dedication to keeping your caches ship shape!

09/13/2012 By Denali41
Post-fire status/maintenance check. I took a long hike today to check on three caches that were within the general area of the High Park Fire. Seven of the eight stages of this multi were fine. One stage was destroyed by fire-related activities and was replaced. Everything is again "go" for working through the stages of this challenging multi.

04/09/2012 By cacheman48
Co-FTF with Pixelamgic. This was a fantastic adventure --- one of being in the beautiful canyon, making stream crossings, and learning about the various measurement units and navigating. As Pixelmagic points out in his log, we made a couple of mistakes that extended our hiking, but we learned from them and enjoyed the trek up and down the canyon. This is a multi where a partner should be along due to the isolated area, the many stream crossings, and sometimes rugged hike. Thanks Denali41 for this great educational and outdoor experience!!! SL