In Japanese tradition the crane has long been a symbol of health and long life. In modern times the origami paper crane, also known as the Tsuru, has also become a symbol of peace. Among paper folding enthusiasts it has become common to fold 1000 cranes when a friend or loved one becomes ill, or when other tragedies strike. Currently the grounds of the former World Trade Centers are decorated with cranes to commemorate those who died in the September 11th terrorist attacks.
This cache will give you a chance to do something a little different. In addition to being a traditional cache where you can trade items as usual, you are invited to take a break and fold a traditional origami crane. What? You have never folded a crane before? Have no fear, there are detailed instructions on how to fold a crane inside the cache box. There is also paper supplied. Please take a sheet from the ziplock bag, sit down, right there on the ground and fold a crane. Please only take as many square sheets of paper as cranes you wish to fold and leave the rest for future visitors. Also do not take the laminated instructions home with you. These are to stay with the cache for future visitors.
For those of you who do not wish to fold a crane there in the forest, there are also some less detailed paper instructions. You may take one of these sheets home with you. These instructions are provided by permission of Rachel Katz and are also available on her website. The diagrams where created by Yuri and Katrin Shumakov.
When you log your visit online please tell me how many cranes you and your group folded. I don't care how good or bad you think your crane looks please count it. I don't care if it ends up looking like a wadded up piece of paper. If you tried count it. I will be keeping a running total of the number of cranes folded. The goal is of coarse 1000 cranes. At that point good health and well being will be bestowed on all geocachers world wide!
As mentioned before do not trade for the laminated folding instructions, the ziplock bag of square pieces of paper, or the ziplock bag of folding instructions. In addition to these items there are several other items that can be traded. Including several pairs of chop sticks, a couple of books on simple origami, an Etch-a-sketch, and some Japanese ornaments. There are also several sealed packs of origami specialty paper. These may be traded for as usual. Also let me known when the regular square sheets of paper, and paper instructions are running low, so that I can replenish them. And please, if you don't want to take you crane home with you, leave it in the cache box, not on the ground.
For those who are interested in more information on origami, the art of paper folding, here are some more links to web sites and organizations:
Joseph Wu's Origami Page
Origamido
Origami USA
British Origami Society
Park at N40 49.192 W111 40.027 and follow the trail for about .22 miles and look for an opening in the trees to your right. Be judicious in finding your path. It is not necessary to do a lot of bushwacking, with it's accompanying scrapes and scratches to get to the cache.
Number of cranes folded so far: 105
