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Mirkwood

Long tour through the Dunkelsteiner Wald. Easy and not-too-steep terrain, tracks are mainly forest-roads

by Gavriel     Austria > Niederösterreich > Sankt Pölten

N 48° 19.477' E 015° 35.305' (WGS84)

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 Size: normal
Status: Available
 Hidden on: 02 July 2005
 Listed since: 07 December 2005
 Last update: 26 June 2016
 Listing: https://opencaching.de/OC1161
Also listed at: geocaching.com 

11 Found
1 Not found
0 Notes
1 Watcher
0 Ignorers
233 Page visits
0 Log pictures
Geokrety history
4 Recommendations

Large map

   


Description    Deutsch  ·  English

The "Forest of the Dark Stone" is a rather mystic place. For a long time only few trails crossed this area, the Kremser Steig is one of them. Even now in the age of large-scale tree-cutting this forest can be quite lonely and quiet. Take enough food and water for 5 - 6 hours with you, there are no wells or restaurant along the way.
The numbers aaa, bbb and so on consist of three digits. If a result has only two significant digits: Put a zero in front of it.

Parking: N = 48° 19.430' E = 15° 35.302'
Outside the soldiers' graveyard there are some parking facilities. The first Stage will be north of the graveyard.

Stage 1 - The Warrior: N1 = 48° 19.477' E1 = 15° 35.305'
A warrior is standing guard here. Take the number of letters of his "profession" (german word) as A. Very close to him you'll find some Stars of David, take their number as B.
aaa = (A+B) * (A+B) * (B+1) + 89
bbb = (A+B) * (A*2)+ 1

Stage 2 - Once a Tree Friend: N2 = 48° 19,aaa' E2 = 15° 35,bbb'
Trees caressed a rather inconspicuous monument at this place until they were brutally cut down. Now the lonely monument is desperately holding an ornament up into the sky. How many loose ends (that means ends that are not fixed to the roof) does this ornament have?
6 (C = 10),
5 (C = 20),
4 (C = 30)
or 3 (C = 40)?
ccc = (B*C) + 2*B
ddd = (B*C) * (A+2) + 2

Stage 3 - Small Stone: N3 = 48° 20,ccc' E3 = 15° 35,ddd'
A small stone will lead you to a spot with a somewhat moorish landscape. The stone's number ist D. If you are in doubt take the higher (odd) number. If you cannot read what is written on the smaller stone: Take the number on its fat brother and add 1.
eee = D * (B+1) + 2*C + 1
fff = (D*2) + (2*A)

Stage 4 - Small Stone's Brother: N4=48° 20,eee E4=15° 35,fff
As you may have noticed at Stage 3 these little stones like company. Don't let them fool you. To find the one you're looking for at this stage you'll have to leave the path for some meters (downwards). Take the stone's number as E.

ggg = (E+B) * (B+1) + A + 2
hhh = E - 2*A

Have a look on your map to find the best way to the next stage. (I went cross-country for a while, that was not a very good idea).

Stage 5 - Diggings: N5 = 48° 21,ggg' E2 = 15° 36,hhh'
What can you see here at this steep spot? Is it
the red number of the cave-inventory (F = 4),
a dead tree (F = 8),
a bench (F = 12)
or a sign-post (F = 16)?


Stage 6 is only a short way uphill from Stage 5.
You'll find a writing here. Take the second word from the second line and the fourth word from the third line. Convert the letters to numbers (A=1, B=2,...) and add them to get G.
iii = G*B - B*C - 2
jjj = G*4 - A + 2

Stage 7 - Animal Kingdom: N7=48° 21,iii' E7=15° 36,jjj'
What kind of animal will catch your eye here? Is it
a (roe) deer (H = 16),
a butterfly (H = 32),
a woodworm (H = 48)
or a woodpecker (H = 64)?
Go a bit further (appr. 30 m) in order to find a bench and a table.
kkk = H*C - B*F - 16
lll = H*F + B*C - 4

Stage 8 - Elf-Music: N2=48° 20,kkk' E2=15° 36,lll' (area coordinates)
Once there was music, now everything is destroyed. Only the pavillion remains. What is its shape?
rectangular: K=35<
six sided: K=25
circular: K=15.
Nearby you can find the remainders of a kind of pulpit. As orcs have destroyed the steps leading up to its top you have to look for informations carved in stone (nearby). Ignore the story, just remember the digit that appears three times as L.

Now you can calculate the final coordinates. The cache is not too close one of the stages in order to prevent by-chance-findings. It is a fairly obvious hiding place.

The Cache:
x = K * L * (E-H+F-B) + G + B*C + A
y = K * L * (E+2*A) + G * (F-B) +D

Ncache = 48° x/1000'
Ecache = 15° y/1000'

The cache is a plastic-box (appr. 1l) with a blue lid. Rehide it well and secure it against the wild boars and unfriendly eyes.

Happy hunting!

Additional hint   Decrypt

[3]: bqq ahzore, 88 vf jebat
[5:] Engure sne sebz Fgntr 4
[Cache:]Guvax bs gur anzr bs gur sberfg. Gur fhz bs nyy qvtvgf sebz NOPQRSTUXY vf friraglguerr.

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

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Log entries for Mirkwood    Found 11x Not found 1x Note 0x

Found Recommended 30 April 2022 Hynz found the geocache

Vor drei Monaten alle Stages gefunden aber keine passende Kontrollsume erhalten und deshalb auch keine Dose gefunden. Nach Rueckfrage bei der Ownerin war die Differenz der Kontrollsumme von 2 nur der Stein von Stage 4. Ich konnte also heute bei der ersten Motorradausfahrt wieder einen Ausflug in den Duestersteinerwald unternehmen und problemlos die Dose am netten Versteckplatz finden. Ihr gehts bestens und auch im Logbuch wird sich noch in 30 Jahren ein Platz finden Cool. Hab mir dann wieder die Stage 4 angesehen die sich aber identisch zu meinem Besuch vor 3 Monaten gezeigt hat. Keine Spur vom richtig beschrifteten Stein. Thanx, no trade.

Not found 05 February 2022 Hynz did not find the geoacache

Oeffentlich angereist um diese nette, lange Wanderung in Angriff zu nehmen. Alles recht gut gefunden bis ich bei Stage 4 zuerst ewig gesucht (weil falsch berechnet) aber auch nach Richtigstellung nur eine Zahl in deutlichem Abstand der berichtigten Koordinate gefunden habe. Hab eigentlich auch die Beschreibung nicht sehr passend gefunden. Die Zahl liegt naemlich direkt am Weg. Nachdem die naechste berechnete Koordinate aber sehr stimmig war weitergemacht und neben den laessigen Aussichten und der abenteuerlichen Verbindung von Stage 5 zu 6 wieder alle Fragen problemlos und auch eindeutig loesen koennen. Nachdem sich nach der letzten Stage aber eine um 2 zu kleine Kontrollsumme eingestellt hat, schon das heraufdraeuende Fiasko erahnt. Ich haette es in diesem Fall ja fuer sehr vorteilhaft angesehen, wenn das Final so platziert waere, dass ich nicht zum Ausgangspunkt zurueck muss (vielleicht ist es das aber eh Verlegen ) weil die letzte Oeffi-Verbindung von dort etwas knapp bemessen war. Ist sich aber trotzdem recht gut ausgegangen und ich hab an den berechneten Finalkoordinaten laenger gesucht aber nichts gefunden. Hoffe ich kann diesen Multi einmal abschliessen. War jedenfalls eine fordernde >20km Wanderung in wunderbarer Gegend. Thanx.

Found 12 May 2018, 18:16 trekkiefreak76 found the geocache

Nachlog wegen Einstieg auf Opencaching.de, gefunden wurde der Cache laut Found-Datum über die Geocaching-Plattform. DfdC 😎🔎🔏🔩📜🔦

Found Recommended 25 May 2017 npg found the geocache

Zuerst mal etwas wirr im Kreis herumgelaufen... bis die Aufmerksamkeit doch soweit geschärft war das Ornamentenspitzen zwar richtig gezählt sind... aber man eventuell Nullen nicht vergessen sollte an richtiger Stelle zu verwenden [:o)].
Dann ging es aber zügig voran und die landkarte zeigte auch ein annehmbares Ergebnis für S5.

Nach betörender Elfenmusik zeigte sich auch der finale Platz frei von Gnomen,Orks etc. und ich kam heil wieder zurück [:D]
thx npg

last modified on 29 May 2018

Found 29 June 2016 pri0n found the geocache

Nachdem ich schon vor einiger Zeit das deutschsprachige Namenspendant nördlich der Donau zu diesem Cache besucht habe, war heute an meinem freien Tag eine Visite beim südlichen Namensvetter angesagt. Bei prächtigem Wanderwetter hatte ich ich den ganzen Tag den Dunkelsteiner Wald für mich allein - alle anderen potentiellen Waldbesucher waren wahrscheinlich im Freibad...
So mirky/murky war es bis auf den immer noch recht feuchten Hohlweg gleich zum Start gar nicht, eher sonnig und freundlich, und auch die reichlich zu findenden Himbeeren und Heidelbeeren entlang des Weges haben meine Stimmung zusätzlich gehoben. Allen Stages konnte ich problemlos die gefragten Infos entlocken, und da sind durchwegs sehenswerte Plätze dabei! Die Checksumme im Hint war eine große Hilfe. Die einzige Unklarheit gibt der englische Hinweis zu Stage 4, die derzeit recht weit von sich selbst entfernt ist [;)]
Die beiden im Listing erwähnten "Bonustradis" habe ich ebenso besucht wie auch den "Spoiler-Cache" und den "Stagedieb". Alles in allem war ich bei stets bequemer Routenwahl auf Forststrassen und Wanderwegen 19km bzw. 4 Stunden in wunderschöner und heute richtig einsamer Umgebung unterwegs. Überraschenderweise war in diesem Gebiet die Garmin Topo Austria V4 den OSM-Karten überlegen - sonst ist es meiner Erfahrung nach meist umgekehrt.
Dem Finaldoserl geht es gut - *dort* gibt es garantiert keine Zufallsfunde!

Vielen Dank für einen sehr schönen Tag im Dunkelsteiner Wald & den Cache!

No trade

Found The geocache is in good or acceptable condition. 27 February 2016 cezanne found the geocache

I
When AnnaMoritz suggested this cache, I first was a bit sceptic due to the T=3.5* rating, but after having read a few logs, it seemed to me that this is an atypical T=3.5* gavriel cache. The drive was long but the nice walk in an area where I have never been before made the invested time worth to be spent (and in addition it was not me who had to do the driving [;)].

We parked at the suggested coordinates and started off for the walk. The cemetery is surprisingly large. Stage 1 came as a suprise to me but answering the question was not difficult. When we started our walk the ground was still a bit frozen which speeded up our progress for sure. While I did the calculations manually, AnnaMoritz used her Excel sheet which allowed me to refrain from double-checking my calculations.

The description at Stage 2 had made me expect something else than what we encountered there but in any case again the question was quickly answered and so we could head for Stage 3 which was not very spectacular. Along the way we encountered nice patters in puddles. The area around Stage 4 is very interesting. At first we ended up too low, but soon thereafter we found the right object.

AnnaMoritz chose a good route to Stage 5. We answered the question by the approach "remove which answers do not fit at all and take what remains". We had a short break near Stage 6 which is a nice place to have a rest.

We decided against a trackless approach and took the longer approach to the next stage which involved a detour. Without the provided options at Stage 7 I might have had issues to name the animal but with the options it was not an issue any longer.

The location at Stage 8 is definitely past its peak time. The "pulpit" nearby or rather the area around it impressed me quite a lot.

Having collected all variables, we were able to calculate the coordinates of the final. The result looked promising and AnnaMoritz chose a good and comfortable way to go there. Having arrived in the target area it was AnnaMoritz who spotted the container which is in good condition.

After having found the final we decided to further extend our walk. All together with this extension and some detours to other caches in earlier stages of our walk, we ended up with a walk of around 20km which is an ideal length for me for a weekend walk when the weather is nice and I have enough time. 30km is a bit long for me and tiresome and 10km is a bit short.


When AnnaMoritz suggested this cache, I first was a bit sceptic due to the T=3.5* rating, but after having read a few logs, it seemed to me that this is an atypical T=3.5* gavriel cache. The drive was long but the nice walk in an area where I have never been before made the invested time worth to be spent (and in addition it was not me who had to do the driving [;)].

We parked at the suggested coordinates and started off for the walk. The cemetery is surprisingly large. Stage 1 came as a suprise to me but answering the question was not difficult. When we started our walk the ground was still a bit frozen which speeded up our progress for sure. While I did the calculations manually, AnnaMoritz used her Excel sheet which allowed me to refrain from double-checking my calculations.

The description at Stage 2 had made me expect something else than what we encountered there but in any case again the question was quickly answered and so we could head for Stage 3 which was not very spectacular. Along the way we encountered nice patters in puddles. The area around Stage 4 is very interesting. At first we ended up too low, but soon thereafter we found the right object.

AnnaMoritz chose a good route to Stage 5. We answered the question by the approach "remove which answers do not fit at all and take what remains". We had a short break near Stage 6 which is a nice place to have a rest.

We decided against a trackless approach and took the longer approach to the next stage which involved a detour. Without the provided options at Stage 7 I might have had issues to name the animal but with the options it was not an issue any longer.

The location at Stage 8 is definitely past its peak time. The "pulpit" nearby or rather the area around it impressed me quite a lot.

Having collected all variables, we were able to calculate the coordinates of the final. The result looked promising and AnnaMoritz chose a good and comfortable way to go there. Having arrived in the target area it was AnnaMoritz who spotted the container which is in good condition.

After having found the final we decided to further extend our walk. All together with this extension and some detours to other caches in earlier stages of our walk, we ended up with a walk of around 20km which is an ideal length for me for a weekend walk when the weather is nice and I have enough time. 30km is a bit long for me and tiresome and 10km is a bit short.

Found 04 August 2012, 17:30 este-cache found the geocache

# 803: Der Aufruf für diesen Cache ein Rudel zu formieren wurde ja schon vor einiger Zeit veröffentlicht, meine sichere Zusage zur Teilnahme konnte ich allerdings erst am Tag davor abgeben.
Die Entscheidung hier mitzumachen war aber eindeutig die richtige.
Die Gruppe aus danyvet, mariah74, Kottan, SharksLaws (samt Minihai), TheznarF, Temu Dshin & Firlefanz war nett zusammengewürfelt, hat sich aber sehr gut ergänzt und sich auf Anhieb gut verstanden.
Der Cache war gut aufgebaut, die Stationen nicht übermäßig weit auseinander und immer gut aufzufinden. Lediglich bei Stage 3 brauchten wir eine Weile, bis wir die richtige Zahl hatten.
Die wesentlichsten statistischen Daten haben die anderen Teilnehmer schon in ihren Logs genannt, die Aufteilung zwischen Geh- und Pausenzeiten war sehr angenehm, Danke an das gesamte Team.

Wichtig für alle, die den Cache noch machen wollen: Nehmt euch jede Menge Wasser mit, ihr findet dort nirgends welches.

Alles in allem ein anspruchsvoller und interessanter Multi, der sich einen Favoritenpunkt verdient hat.

(17:30 Uhr) TFTC

Found Recommended 08 April 2012 temu_dshin found the geocache

Das war seit langer Zeit mal wieder ein Multi-KlassikerEin Klasse Team am Start und so wurde auch ein angenehme Geschwindigkeit gewähltAm Ende waren alles an Proviant aufgebraucht aber wir waren am Ziel!Dank an Klasse Team und Dank an den Owner für die schöne Runde
in: F-Punkt
(5 Sterne bei GCVote)

Dank für's zeigentemu_dshin

Found 17 November 2009 Rambler49 found the geocache

Heute nach zweifacher Vorarbeit endlich gefunden. Wir haben die Aufgaben in drei Teilen erledigt. Schöne, wenn auch manchmal anstrengende Wanderungen. Danke an Gavriel !

Found 06 October 2006 Johny299 found the geocache

In drei Etappen gemacht. Besonders schön wars bei Stage 6. Danke.

Found Recommended 11 July 2005 Chiroptera found the geocache

Das meiste hat Martin schon erzählt. Zusatz: ich habe auch das wechselnde Geruchserlebnis genossen. Einerseits durch die verschiedenen Bäume, andererseits durch mir unbekannte Einflüsse verursacht. Wahrscheinlich auch durch den Regen verstärkt.
Was die Wege betrifft: die Markierungen sind ziemlich schlecht und ganz klar ist mir immer noch nicht, wie Karte und Realität zusammenstimmen. (Unterhaltung unterwegs beim Blick auf die Karte: "nehmen wir die blaue Markierung" "das ist keine Markierung, das ist ein Bach" "nein, ein markierter Weg" ==> wir wissen bis jetzt nicht genau, wer recht hatte ;-)))
out: nix, denn wir waren zu dritt.
danke für die Tour, chiroptera

Found 11 July 2005 bevema found the geocache

After being at home much too long (as usual ;), we tried to make a print-out as last step, and my bubblejet ran out of ink, so it took half an hour. We took JOlira with us, zigzagged to the A1 motorway and speeded to St.Pölten. Well, we speeded a bit to much and long (well beyond any limits for ground-bound vehicles on public streets 8)), so we left the motorway at the Schallaburg. The driver-side wiper broke, so I was a bit handicapped from then on. As additional reward we just visited the new Schallaburg cache, but not the exhibition (crazy cachers, as usual). We arrived at the cemetary at 05:26 p.m.. The first stages went well, equipped with 3 GPS's many upcoming ambiguities were solved. The meet-you-stone groups at stage 3 and 4 left us a bit dazzled, but all assumptions proofed correct when we arrived at stage 5. The view was very nice, just the way was very difficult to find, and we had too wade through a flooded hiking path to avoid a detour of an additional kilometer. Stage 5 & 6 were absolved, despite our preachers a rain-front came from the East (why now ? , why we ? , why ?) and soaked us through on our wild descent down to the next stage. The kind/king of animals was identified at stage 7, we just followed the forest road then, despite the GPs's trying to lure us into taking the diretissima. The shelter at stage 8 was very welcomed, we just forgot to bring some raw meat for a BBQ with us, it would've been a brilliant idea  :) . Shortly after greeting the new day and still soaked, we arrived at the ultimate target location, and despite the pitch-dark and misty weather, Jo found the cache almost immediately. From my point of view, 2 minutes searching time !!! Backtracking to our car we arrived there at 01:40 a.m., crawled back through more rain to Vienna (remember, broken wiper), and I touched-down at my bed at 03:15 a.m. .

But still a very nice tour, well-chosen stages, in a nutshell an original gavriel-made cache.

Thx from Martin
Out: pearl-fairy
In: nothing (packed to the limit)