The Garish Colours of the Mountain Witch's Spell Berowra, New South Wales, Australia
By
Baktrak on 30-Jan-17. Waypoint GA9837
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Unknown or Mystery |
| Container: | Large |
| Coordinates: | S33° 38.150' E151° 8.935' (WGS 84) |
| 56H 328318E 6276684N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 200 m |
| Local Government Area: | The Hornsby |
/151.148917,-33.635833,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Another bizzarely-named cache for the 2016/7 Summer Scavenger Series.
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The Mountain Witch casts the spell of her garish colours upon the seekers, compelling them to embark upon a mission to release the imprisoned cache. Avoid the listed coordinates. The Serpent of the Mountain Witch dwells there but he guards not this cache. Please repack and rehide the cache exactly as found. |
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Hints
N fcryy ol nal bgure anzr ...
I pyrsg va pyvss snpr, abg uvtu, abg ybj, abg rnfl. |
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Decode |
Logs
After getting the 3 new ones at Asquith it was time to come along this little trail of mysteries hoping for some scavenge points for the summer game. Certainly earned my smileys in today's heat and managed a total of 9 finds before the heat beat me and I retreated to the Berowra pub for a cold cider. As I was standing on the track working out where to start the bushbash 3 very hot looking mountain bike riders came up the non trivial concrete slope from the north. Now that's even more dedication than I was showing. Once I got to the cliffline it was along to the left for a few meters before I made the easy find. Thanks Baktrak.
Out again this morning for some more Baktraking adventure all in the name of the 2017 Scavenger hunt.
I swallowed an accidental Red herring, before making the connection.
A quick find and the cache is in good shape.
SL TFTC
I swallowed an accidental Red herring, before making the connection.
A quick find and the cache is in good shape.
SL TFTC
Wow, this puzzle caused me all kinds of grief, unlike past finders I had no clue what to look for as I'm not familiar with a lot of these codes. I guessed early on what garish colours I needed but had no idea what to do with them. It was only after hours of research that I'd figured out what they were and more hours of research to figure out how to possibly extract a set of coords. I do my best puzzling late at night and last night, I stumbled upon a few tools to assist me. The problem was I had no idea how to combine the info I had with the tools at my disposal. Finally, a light bulb moment, and after much puzzling, I stumbled upon that missing link. It was a quick finish after that.
Now to those puzzle kings who live in the Northern Suburbs this was surely a D2 but for someone who distinctly lacks the same ability this was a D5.... horses for courses.
I approached GZ in glorious sunshine and found the cache immediately. I am much more adept at high terrain retrievals than high difficulty caches so this cache location put a big smile on my face.... but how to approach this? I stood at the bottom and decided that alone and without a spotter, I was not prepared to rock climb an overhang. Hmmm... a wise man once taught me all I know about cliff lines..... there is always a way through the cliff lines. Not long after, I had scrambled up an easy route and found myself up above. I approached GZ once more ..... hmmm one slip and this is not going to end well. I used the tree to dangle mid air over the slot but my legs were not long enough to reach the ledge. Next idea, I lay down but the slope of the rock was making me feel uncomfortable and I had nothing to anchor myself with... and my arms were not long enough to reach down into the slot. So I cam up with a third idea. I found myself a natural tool, lay down once more and managed to knock the cache off the ledge where it neatly landed down below. I found a super easy way back down through the cliff lines and picked up the cache. Easy peasy..... log book signed, I found myself another huge natural tool and was able to return the cache nicely to its resting spot on the ledge. It even dropped nicely into its recess. All done from below. No climbing necessary. Loved this one. Thanks for the challenge.
Now to those puzzle kings who live in the Northern Suburbs this was surely a D2 but for someone who distinctly lacks the same ability this was a D5.... horses for courses.
I approached GZ in glorious sunshine and found the cache immediately. I am much more adept at high terrain retrievals than high difficulty caches so this cache location put a big smile on my face.... but how to approach this? I stood at the bottom and decided that alone and without a spotter, I was not prepared to rock climb an overhang. Hmmm... a wise man once taught me all I know about cliff lines..... there is always a way through the cliff lines. Not long after, I had scrambled up an easy route and found myself up above. I approached GZ once more ..... hmmm one slip and this is not going to end well. I used the tree to dangle mid air over the slot but my legs were not long enough to reach the ledge. Next idea, I lay down but the slope of the rock was making me feel uncomfortable and I had nothing to anchor myself with... and my arms were not long enough to reach down into the slot. So I cam up with a third idea. I found myself a natural tool, lay down once more and managed to knock the cache off the ledge where it neatly landed down below. I found a super easy way back down through the cliff lines and picked up the cache. Easy peasy..... log book signed, I found myself another huge natural tool and was able to return the cache nicely to its resting spot on the ledge. It even dropped nicely into its recess. All done from below. No climbing necessary. Loved this one. Thanks for the challenge.
Rated: for Overall Experience
Team Merlin had previously determined the final coordinates for this cache
So out today with Team Merlin to collect while in the area.
Such a wonderful day to cache.
Once found we signed our names and replaced as found and moved on to the next cache on our list.
Thanks Baktrak.
So out today with Team Merlin to collect while in the area.
Such a wonderful day to cache.
Once found we signed our names and replaced as found and moved on to the next cache on our list.
Thanks Baktrak.
Rated: for Overall Experience
A quick solve on the puzzle soon after publication...but it wasn't until today that an opportunity presented itself to venture out and collect a few caches around Mount Kuring-Gai with JJCC. Parking nearby we made our way towards GZ and bush bashed the last section. Needed to resort to the hint for this one as the GPSr was pushing us downhill. But with the hint we spotted it straight away and proceeded to utilise our height advantage and some rock climbing skills before we could get our hands on the cache. After signing our names, we replaced as found and moved on to the next cache on our list.
Thanks for the puzzle and the cache Baktrak.
Thanks for the puzzle and the cache Baktrak.
Rated: for Overall Experience
#7
It's so nice to find some local caches that I can ride my MTB to again. It's also a great excuse to become more familiar with my 64s toy. Came in from below using tree for leverage. Retrieved cache by extending my reach and returning to to ground level. SL and replaced in reverse order.
TFTC Baktrak
It's so nice to find some local caches that I can ride my MTB to again. It's also a great excuse to become more familiar with my 64s toy. Came in from below using tree for leverage. Retrieved cache by extending my reach and returning to to ground level. SL and replaced in reverse order.
TFTC Baktrak
Rated: for Overall Experience
Well hinted and solved quickly. Left the bike near the rail and tramped through the light scrub. I was wondering high or low when I spyed the box. Hmmm, ok. Perhaps not in MTB cleats? Tried from the bottom and the nearby small tree provided some support but couldn't hook a hand around to a confident hold and cleats were slipping so opted to come in from above. This was a tight squeeze. Signed and replaced in a tight position. Then decided down was easier than up and jumped down. Thanks Baktrak, like the spot.
Rated: for Overall Experience
