Rund um den Stainzbach

AnnaMoritz attracted my attention to this cache some days ago when it got published on opencaching.de. So cachers eager for becoming the first finders could have been successful earlier. I decided to delay my visit to the cache to a day when I could visit the cache together with AnnaMoritz. Today the cache fitted well into our other plans.

As we came with a somewhat tight time budget it was a good idea that AnnaMoritz prepared in advance to obtain the stage coordinates quickly. In contrast to what gvet23 wrote I had however no difficulties at all to calculate the coordinates of the next stage on the go as the direction in which to head was always clear and only two simple arithmetic steps were involved.

We parked at the cemetery as suggested and then headed into our walk. I noticed the sign at Stage 1 even before I realized that the sign plays a role in this cache. On the way to the next two stages we encountered once again people coming back from blessing of meat ceremonies - we saw some groups already on our way to Stainz and were a bit amazed by the early hour. Apparently the schedules these days need to take into account that the parishes are much larger these days than they have been before and there is less staff available.

The wayside shrine at Stage 2 hides in a corner and we did not see it from some distance but it was at the calculated coordinates. Some part of the trail in this area is certainly not suitable for people with mobility issues and also not for baby strollers. There was quite heavy pedestrian traffic at a bridge we had to cross due to the aforementioned event at the Calvary hill chapel. I have been there before but today we did not make a detour and followed trail 6 which does not pass by the chapel directly.

While the trail 6 is not always well very well marked in the direction the cache sends us, there are indeed many sign posts placed at Stage 3. C was quickly obtained. We both have been at Stage 4 before. However when listening to an old man who told recollections of his youth to what appeared to me relatives of his I learnt new things about the location. The group had come in vain to the location as they came too late for what they had planned to come for.

It took us a while until we came up with the right value for D. The question as it is phrased would ask for the number of names which show up on both stone plaques. Whatever interpretation we tried we ended up with something even. Only when I realized that maybe the total number of persons mentioned might be what is asked for we obtained something odd and reasonable.

The way to Stage 5 was a bit boring and lengthy. The direct way to the cross would warrant a T=2.5* rating. As AnnaMoritz was with me she took over the counting to speed up things.

I was glad when we could leave the tarmac road. At a bridge we encountered a group of young males who wished us Happy Easter.

In the following section of the walk we walked close to the creek. AnnaMoritz pointed me to interesting things I would not have noticed in my own.

At Stage 6 one could debate about the colour of the bricks buit it was clear what was meant. The provided parity made it clear that one is not supposed to count the top row. AnnaMoritz correctly remarked that a more precise description of the side to be taken into account would involve providing the compass direction but I guess that no one will end up with issues at this stage.

At some point the form of the route was rather rectangular than round which made AnnaMoritz make a joke that it is a angular trail and not a round trail.

The sewage treatment plant is very large. One of the doors of the enclosing fence was open - somehow dangerous.

None of the last two stages posed an issue and I felt relaxed as I was confident that we would not run into time problems. Amazingly the calculation for the final by AnnaMoritz tool provided a correct result after a minor fix. The coordinates we obtained looked reasonable and so we headed there. The reception was somewhat jumpy and we investigated some candidate hideouts in vain but then AnnaMoritz spotted the cache container which was in proper condition. At this time of the year the access was not a real issue, in other seasons it might be more challenging.

After having successfully found the cache we had some time for a break at a bench before we went back to the cemetery.

All in all I enjoyed the walk despite we wished to have a bicycle with us in some section of the trail. I did not mind the way the coordinates for the next stage are to be calculated at all. One advantage of this method is that one can check immediately if the variables obtained so far are correct. I would not recommend to go for this cache on a hot day.

Thank you for hiding a multi cache which invites for a decent walk, a cache type unfortunately not popular these days in Styria.