The Secret of Arnold S.

Arnold S? Who? Who is this guy??

Enjoy a hike through a nice region and find out more about the life of this mysterious person.
Maybe you'll even find clues to the secret of his success?
Even if not, you'll find at least a geocache.

Approach
Car: There are parking lots available near the header coordinates where you can leave your car. If you come from Graz just drive to Thal, then turn left (uphill) right after the town sign.
Public transport: GVB bus #48 "Goesting - Thal" (schedule) until station "Thal-Kirchberg" or "Thalkreuz".
Bike: Bikeway R39 "Thaler Radweg". From Graz go north on the west side of the river mur until the R2 leaves the river bank. Then follow the signs R2/R39 west; you will pass a large InterSpar market. At a crossing not far from the header coordinates you have two possibilities. You can follow the street straight ahead towards "Thal" and then go to the header coordinates, or you can keep following the bikeway until you reach N47° 04.488 E015° 21.839. Here riding a bike towards the header coordinates is not allowed, but I still prefer to use this way than the main street to Thal. Note: While it's possible to ride a bike all the way along this cache there are quite some parts where this isn't allowed.

Now what?
At the header coordinates you will find a box with free maps of the hiking trail that we will follow - together with other interesting information about both the area and our mysterious person Arnold S.
Take one - it will be your guide!
We will follow the blue hiking trail. You will see blue arrows and blue marks along the way.

If there are no maps left you can print this one, but you will miss a lot of information. A full version is also available. In addition there is a single-page basic information sheet as well.

Stage 1 - Church
N 47° 04.584 E 015° 21.690
(Green point of interest #1 on your map)

A really interesting church, right? It was designed by Ernst Fuchs, you can find more information in your guide (map) or online.
The rectorate was first mentioned in 1322 and was located at castle "Unterthal" (stage 2). 1772 the church was relocated to a chapel on a nearby hill. Because of the increasing population count the old church became too small and it was therefore rebuilt in 1992-1994.
How many red lamp posts with benches next to them are located around the place in front of the church? = A



Stage 2 - Ruin Unterthal
N 47° 04.359 E 015° 21.787
(Green point of interest #2 on your map)
This castle was constructed in the middle of the 13th century. One of the oldest parts is the tower with a wall thickness of more than 1.5 meters. The castle used to be the location of a church until it was moved to a nearby hill (stage 1). In 1996 parts of the castle were renovated.
Sum up all digits of the house number of the ruin (white tower) and multiplicate the result by 9. =B

Stage 3 - House of Birth
N 47° 04.329 E 015° 21.764
(Green point of interest #3 on your map)
Right next to the House of Birth there is another (yellow) building with an oval sign that tells us the name and purpose of this building. There is a single word (9 letters) in the middle, translate the first letter to a digit (A=1,B=2). =C

Update Jan 2013: The sign seems to be missing; it used to read "Reichsgräfliche herbersteinische FÖRSTEREI Thal", C=6.



Stage 4 - Lake
N 47° 04.291 E 015° 21.979
(Yellow triangle #2 on your map)
This artificial lake was created in 1920 for the purpose of obtaining ice for cooling purposes. Five years later it was enhanced as a place of recreation by Hans von Reininghaus.
Right next to a large stone there is a post with two hiking signs. Sum up all digits on the first sign "Alt-Eggenberg". =D


Along the way

Stage 5 - Wayside shrine
N 47° 03.400 E 015° 20.722
(Near yellow triangle #4 on your map)
In which year was the construction of this object? 18EF =E,F


Along the way

I have added a trailhead waypoint at N47° 04.001 E015° 20.376 because it looks like this junction lacks a trail-sign. But you shouldn't be able to miss it with the trail-map anyway..

Stage 6 - Wayside commemorative cross
N 47° 04.185 E 015° 20.718
(In the forest on the way to yellow triangle #5 on your map)

Date of construction. 19GH =G,H

Final stage - Cache
Follow the trail until you reach the stone at the yellow triangle #5 on your map. Take a seat and solve the following, really difficult calculation.
N47 0F.(E-G)(A+1)D
E015 20.(D+2)(B-C+2)(H-A-1)
Note: No multiplications.

There are spoiler pictures available. Take care - there are thorns near the cache location and the cache box!
Good luck.


Afterwards
You can just follow the blue trail back to the header coordinates. Or you can extend your walk and continue along the yellow trail and find out more about Arnold S.
I had planned to hide a traditional cache near castle "Oberthal" (green poi #4), but unfortunately it is on private property with no-entry signs.