Trail Hound

Games for geeks: Collect the whole set

Geocaching has lots of games, like sub-plots of a Coen brothers' movie without the gore.  Players have to find a certain set of caches that together solve a puzzle or form a complete collection. 

There's the Green Monster Series of 23 caches that must all be found to derive the latitude and longitude coordinates for the Green Monster final cache.  I think it has to do with the Red Sox. 

The way-too-complicated DeLorme Challenge involves hiding or finding a cache on each map grid of a state's particular Atlas and Gazetteer published by DeLorme cartographers.   Massachusetts has 54 to 56 grids in all (I guess there's some debate about split-page grids); and if you complete all those requirements, you are given the secret coordinates to the final cache. That gives you bragging rights at the next geo-meet.

 Honestly, people take these games seriously.  Geocachers have obsessive-compulsive tendencies to begin with and these challenges just encourage us.  I have held off from jumping into such frenzied pursuits:  They're for people with way too much time on their hands.  Until... maybe... now. 

Two local cachers, who go by the names erycka & wichie, have thrown down the gauntlet for the Cape Cod Towns series.  There will be 14 published caches in the series when it's complete, each one depicting something special about a different Cape Cod town.  Each component's cache page on Geocaching.com describes a bit of history and lore of the town.  Find all 14 and you'll have the clues you'll need for the coordinates of the 15^th cache.

 The first few caches - Provincetown, Dennis and Bourne - were placed shortly before Thanksgiving.  I found the Dennis one in a scenic spot overlooking Swan Pond.  Brewster, Chatham, Falmouth, Orleans and Truro have been placed in the last week.  With only one find in the series so far, I'm way behind.  But this series looks do-able. And I don't have to cover every inch of the state to complete it, either.  Erycka & wichie might just be on to something here:  discover hidden Cape Cod, one navigational coordinate at a time.

 Photos, from top:

Could the "Cape Cod Towns - Provincetown" cache be near here?

Peace and quiet (and a nearby cache) on Dennis' Swan Pond

Is "Cape Cod Towns - Truro" cache a beacon in the storm?