Mystery
GC8FQX9
by dentzel dog
Difficulty:
3
Terrain:
1.5
Location:
Nevada, United States
N 36° 01.569 W 115° 10.994

*Ring, ring*

If a telephone rings in the desert, and no one is there to answer…is it really there?

This is the age-old question that many geocachers ask themselves after attempting our Geocache of the Week.

If you feel ready to answer the call, be sure to grab a hat and sunglasses as we trek into the desert for GC8FQX9 – “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”

Image by PtsAngel.

Our journey begins with a “history lesson” in the form of a poem. The cache page, in perfect meter, covers the invention of the telephone and a throwback to the era of landlines and phone booths. Your ears ringing with this newfound information, you head out for Ground Zero.

You find yourself on a ranch in the middle of the Nevadan desert. The heat beats down on you as you trek on, and soon enough, some of the caches “guardians” come into view. These guardians, cleverly disguised as horses and donkeys, have seen over 160 geocachers venture in to make the find in the three years since GC8FQX9 was published.

Image by KoolWaters.

Though you have a faint idea of where to begin the search, there are a few steps that you must complete before you can make your call. The posted coordinates provide you with clues to your next stage. As you solve each part of the puzzle, the ringing seems to get closer and closer.

Finally, the correct digits in hand, you make your way to the final location and prepare to dial. Who will be on the line? Will this puzzle be solved at last? Will this be the end, or is there more of the mystery to unravel? As you hold your breath in anticipation, the phone rings.

*Ring*

*Ring

*Ring*

Image by SnoopyRocks.

Finally, a bell signals your success as the compartment with the logbook opens. You’ve solved it! The ringing sound in your ears finally fading, you can hang up the phone and sign the logbook at long last.

Already reflecting on your adventure, you browse the praises of past log entries. As cacher Fungjones states,

“Wow, three gadget caches in one. I would love to know what’s happening behind the scenes in these stages and how they were built. But, that’s the beauty of a great cache like this. We almost stumbled at the end, but decided to do exactly as instructed, despite distractions, and it worked. The cache is worth more than one Favorite Point, but that’s all I can do.”

Image by Tin999.

Before you replace everything back as found, be sure to take a celebratory picture next to your friendly equine observers—after they watched you frantically search around for the past 30+ minutes, they’ve become a part of the journey too.

You breathe a sigh of relief as you step away from the ranch. You answered the call to adventure today, and heard it loud and clear.


Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world. Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.


Source: Geocaching

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