This is the first cache you will need to visit in order to
complete the entire The Big Pipe - April Fool 2006 series. It is
located in an area close to some of the water that is affected by
the Big Pipe and the draining of the Oak Ridges Moraine aquifer as
well as the seemingly endless construction that is part of the
cause of the pipe's being built. There are still plenty of birds
and other wildlife around here but it remains to be seen how much
will survive as their homes are destroyed. Good news - with
impeccable timing the pair of Trumpeter Swans that have made this
area their home returned from their annual migration on March
31st, 2006.
The starting point for this cache is on the 9th line near the
Markham end but the cache itself is in Stouffville.
Please note, especially if you are going to be doing this
series at night, depending on certain factors some of the hunts may
or may not take you close to people's houses. So please do be
considerate and suitably stealthy and not cause problems that could
bring our sport into disrepute.
Updated instructions 00:01 1st April, 2006: Oh
come on - get real!! Did you honestly think we were going to get
you to read numbers off this sign? April Fool to you if you did
. That would be far too easy - especially if you
had checked out the place beforehand and taken lots of photos to
try and get ahead of the game 
!! No, no, no! To calculate the "North"
coordinates of the final, you must determine the width of the sign
shown in the photo below, in decametres (sic),
and add that number to the minutes part of N 43° 58.485'. The sign
is located at the published coordinates for this cache. Measure
along the bottom edge of the sign.
Further updated instructions: 25th May, 2006:
Well - as the world turns so things change - apparently the sign
has now been removed (suppose they heard all about cachers making
unauthorised measurements of it or something). So as to keep this
interesting and not provide the complete answer we will tell you
that it was a standard size and was an exact number of feet
wide and half as high as it was wide. There are a number of similar
such signs in the general area since there is so much construction
going on so you can measure one of them if you like. Anyway, that
should be enough to figure it out - by all means check with us
before heading out on the hunt if you are unsure.
The next stage is at the waypoint W1THB2 (N 43° 56.890', W
079° 15.126') which is where you will see this mess (or would have
on 1st April, 2006).
This was once a delightful pond with ducks swimming on it,
beside the 9th line but has been wantonly destroyed and drained by
the construction of the Big Pipe. The green pipe you see in the
picture is part of the system that is draining the water from the
aquifer.
Updated instructions 00:01 1st April, 2006: To
calculate the "West" coordinates of the final, project a waypoint
from W1THB2, 180 metres on a bearing of 355° True where you will
find the sign of a business that has been severely disrupted by all
this construction (they have great turkey pies by the way!!). Take
the municipal street number of this business, divide it by 1000,
and add the result to the minutes part of
W 079° 03.621'.
Cache extraction note: You
may have to do a bit of manœuvring to remove the cache
container from its hiding spot, but with a bit of thought it is
perfectly possible without causing any damage to anything.
When you have found this cache you will need to follow the
instructions contained in it to find the next four caches in the
series. NOTE THAT, BECAUSE THE NEXT CACHE IN THE SERIES HAS BEEN
MOVED SLIGHTLY, THE EXAMPLE GIVEN IN THESE INSTRUCTIONS WILL NOT
LEAD YOU TO THE EXACT LOCATION OF TBP - DRIP, DRIP - YOU WILL HAVE
TO REDO THAT CALCULATION FOR YOURSELF:
TBP - Drip, Drip
TBP - Drip, Drip, Drip
TBP - Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip
TBP - Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip
These are all in Markham so you will need to drive back down 9th
line from Stouffville to Markham to find them. (Note:
there are often speed traps on all the country roads between
Markham and Stouffville at all hours of day and night so don't be
too foolish!!) On this drive the havoc wreaked on the
environment as the Big Pipe is installed beside 9th line will be
more than evident. This has been going on for a couple of years
now, with water pouring out of the aquifer over the ground surface
at times, people's homes and businesses disrupted and surrounded by
mud, and mature trees all along the east side of the road wantonly
destroyed to ease construction (this is mostly Federal Government
owned Pickering Airport land and that is another sad story - see
Pickering Airport - April Fool 2004)
Once you have found these caches, by following the instructions
detailed for The Big Pipe - April Fool 2006 you will have
enough information to locate the 6th container of the series which
in turn will contain the instructions on how to find the final
cache of the The Big Pipe - April Fool 2006 series.