This cache is hidden off of the Flatrock Trail and shares same general parking area and trailhead as the Trail Mix #8 cache. On some maps, the trail is called Trail 674. This is a puzzle cache. In order to find this cache you must have found three of the Trail Mix caches numbered 11 to 16. But which ones?
For this cache, the ones you need to find are the ones that have an animal on the inside of their lids that start with the letter b or c. The other caches will be used for TM #18. To figure out where this cache actually is, you must use the math below.
You can park near the posted coordinates and then hike between a mile and a mile and a half one way depending on the route you use to get to the cache. I actually made a loop out of my hike to hide the cache but much of this loop was off trail. The trail at the Cabin Ridge trailhead is for trail 675. You can follow this to where it meets trail 674 which then heads towards the cache. You will eventually have to leave the trail to get to the top of a rock formation. It's not too hard of a climb - nothing technical. When I hid the cache there was about 2-3 inches of snow covering much of the trail.
Solve this puzzle to figure out where your actual destination is:
For each cache in the TM series 11-16 that have an animal starting with b or c, add the TM number and the number of letters in the animal name to get three two digit numbers. For instance, if Trail Mix 11 had cheetah written on its lid, you would add 11 and 7 (number of letters in cheetah) to get 18. (By the way, TM #11 does not have cheetah written on its lid).
Add the smallest and largest numbers together and then reverse the digits to get yy. Add all three numbers together and add 5 more to get xx. Then plug those numbers here:
N 39 19.xx3 W 105 07.yy6
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
Oh, and bring your own pen. If you found and logged one of the earlier TM series but failed to write down the name of the animal, send me an email and I will provide it free of charge.
Additional Waypoints
JC6YGYH - Junction of trail 675 and 674.
N 39° 19.138 W 105° 07.364
Trail Mix #17: Flatrock
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