Dreaded Parameters 1, The Pavilion 03/07/10

Well after spending 2 hours here yesterday I returned today armed with a little hint from the cache owner.  I was really determined today as I really wanted to make this find #300.

The Dreaded Parameters is a 2 stage multi. Stage 1 is Somewhere withing 31 feet from the center of the pavilion, the pavilion itself is 62 feet long by 20 feet wide.

There are no hints so you need to search everything.  Now bear in mind it is a building with all sorts of corners, cracks and crevices.  There are also 20-30 picnic tables, a large grill, trashcans, signs and numerous trees.

This is my fourth trip and came alone this time, I had gotten a tiny hint from the Cache owner but in reality it didn't help much other than a tip of where not to look.  Today I spent 45 minutes at the pavilion peaking around at a few places that even though I had looked at them before might notice something new, but mostly just sat and thought.

There was this one spot that I had looked at about 15 times before but I never quite noticed what was wrong with it.  It had always looked funny from a distance but as soon as you got to it, it seemed to fit right in with its surroundings.  Today I pulled out all the stops and investigated every tiny lead that came into my head.

VICTORY!!!!!  I found the micro.  EXTREMELY well hidden, good job Hotwcnyy!!
This was attempt #4, with a total of approximately 9 hours of searching combined.


Once I got the coordinates it was off to the final.  I walked through the woods towards the final.  It was a nice little walk and the trail came out along the beach to this:

 I new I must have been "Dam" close, I know bad humor.
It was a nice day looking out across the semi-frozen reservoir.

The final was a very quick find as I could see it out in the open from 30+ feet away, so much easier than stage 1.  As I said it was noticeable from quite a ways away, I really wish cachers would re-hide caches as they found them so they don't disappear. 
The cache container was full of water and the log book was soaked.  Unfortunately I didn't  bring any spare supplies with me but I emptied out the water and let it air dry for a few minutes.  I singed the log book and wrote a little note about the fun of this cache.


After the find I decided instead of going back up through the woods I would take the road out thinking it would be a little easier.  I was wrong.
Although it was a smoother walk and since the park was gated for the winter I could walk right down the middle of the road.

It was a MUCH longer walk as the road swoops out and around.  It was still a nice walk although I felt really out of place as I was the only one of about a hundred people I saw who didn't have at least one dog.


Well I was really happy that I was able to make this one that has been laughing at me for about a year, my 300th find.  Thanks Hotwcnyy!