Inbound from Proxima

The Cache

"Inbound from Proxima" is a multi-stage virtual geocache.

To log the cache you must visit a number of locations in sequence. At each location you will find a landmark with a few words on it. The position of the next landmark can be determined by decoding the landmark as explained below. When you have visited all the locations you will also be able to find two code words which will enable you to log the cache.

All the landmarks can be reached via public paths, roads or parks. The path to the first landmark (it starts at N 51° 18.712',E 0° 10.882') does however cross a farm field which can be extremely muddy at times, and often has livestock in it. Dogs need to be kept on a lead.

There are two routes you can take to log this cache. The scenic route is longer and trickier. The express route misses out most of the cross-country walking and visits fewer locations. You could log one or both routes. If you want to log both, then I'd suggest you visit both the express and scenic start locations before going on to the rest.

The Scenic Route

1. Start at: N 51° 19.141',E 0° 10.391' Decode template: "?#.@+............."

2. Position: N 51° 18.?+2',E 0° 10.@#2' Decode template: ".@.#?..+.........."

3. Position: N 51° 18.?++',E 0° 11.@7#' Decode template: "+.?.%@#..........."

4. Position: N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@#6' Decode template: ".+...#?%@........."

5. Position: N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@#6' Decode template: ".@..#?.%.+........"

6. Position: N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@#?' Decode template: ".+.@#............."

7. Position: N 51° 18.9+1',E 0° 11.@#7' Decode template: "?.#+..@..%........"

8. Position: N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@?#' Decode template: "...@.............."

The Express Route

1. Start at: N 51° 18.659',E 0° 10.589' Decode template: ".#?@.............."

2. Position: N 51° 18.?12',E 0° 10.@#2' Decode template: "#.@.?...+........."

3. Position: N 51° 18.?+?',E 0° 11.@#6' Decode template: "..*+.@#.%..?......"

4. Position: N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@#*' Decode template: "?#...+@..........."

5. Position: N 51° 18.?+1',E 0° 11.@#6' Decode template: "....@............."

Decoding the landmarks

This is the key you will need to turn letters into digits (see step 3 below).

 This letter |A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z|
   becomes   |-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
 this digit  |2|7|1|0|8|6|0|9|9|3|4|8|9|3|1|7|6|8|5|8|4|2|5|6|2|5|

The position of the next landmark can be found in this way:

1. Arrange the words from the landmark in alphabetical order with no spaces between them.
   For example, if the words were "Roman burial ground" then the required string of letters would be "BURIALGROUNDROMAN".
   You can safely ignore any small lettering, especilly if it reads like a dedication or explanation. If you find yourself dealing with more than, say, half a dozen words then it's time to think again.
2. Look at the decode template and extract the letters from the string corresponding to the code characters. The dots (".") in the decode template represent letters that do not need decoding. (The template may well be longer than the string of letters it decodes, but will not have code characters beyond the end of the string.)
   For example, if the string was "BURIALGROUNDROMAN" and the decode template was "...%..#...@*..?.+." then %=I, #=G, @=N, *=D, ?=M and +=N.
3. Turn the letters into digits using the decoding key above.
   In this example, %=I=9, #=G=0, @=N=3, *=D=0, ?=M=9 and +=N=3.
4. To find the position of the next landmark, determine the digit associated with each letter, and place that digit into the appropriate position in the in-complete co-ordinates.
   For example, if the incomplete co-ordinates were N 51° 18.?+%',E 0° 11.@#*' then the completed co-ordinates would be N 51° 18.939',E 0° 11.300'

When you have found all the landmarks for a route, including the final one, you can find out the code word by taking the letters identified by "@" in each template, and placing them in sequence starting with the one from the first location.

PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR THE CODE WORD!

To log the cache:

• Make sure you are using CAPITAL LETTERS for the code word.
• Put the code word in place of the "===" in this URL: http://www.lazyleopard.org.uk/===.html
  (If the code word were "XYZZY" then the URL would become http://www.lazyleopard.org.uk/XYZZY.html)
• go to the page that URL points to, and fill in the form you'll find there.
• Don't forget to add an entry to the cache page on geocaching.com.

If you have queries, please contact me.