Don McLellan's Hermit Paradise Traditional Cache
Don McLellan's Hermit Paradise
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Cache is about 10”x5”x3” green container.
Growing up as a kid in Redcrest, my mom had taken me here several times. At the time, the Hermit tree was still standing and you were able to go inside. I remember that there was a door made of redwood to get inside but the tree had grown so that it wouldn't close all the way. Once inside there was a window across from the door and a table and chair. On the right I remember my mom telling me to be careful when climbing up onto the second floor. Not much was up there. Just a few broken boards and no way of getting up to the third and final floor. After climbing down she took me to another tree that Don McLellan would store his bicycle. Then we would continue down the trail to the bridge you have to cross to get to this cache. Many years later my mom told me of a fire that occured in the Hermit tree. Going down to look at it we discovered burn marks on the outside and everything inside was destroyed. A few years later my mom called and told me that it had fallen down. I was never able to find it since. On my way to place this cache I found it and confirmed it with my mom. Check additional Waypoints for coordinates to this historic tree. My moms aunt, Evelyn McCormick, wrote a book about some of the history called: Living With The Giants: a History of the Arrival of Some of the Early Northwest Coast Settlers. The following is what she wrote in in 1972: Chapter 13 Living in a Goosepen The redwoods of the Jordan Creek area are part of a primeval forest that has endured the ravages of time for centuries. Here the scars of past floods and fires have almost been erased. A lone woodsman, erroneously called the hermit, is probably the only person to inhabit this darkened and lonely spot in recent times. Don McLellan arrived unannounced in late 1958 or early 1959. He resided alone for about a year in a redwood goosepen, an aged redwood tree or stump whose center died and disintegrated leaving a large hollow. This particular tree, akin to many others, is still alive, producing new needles and cones from year to year. The inner circumference of the goosepen was large enough for McLellan to house a wood stove, a few shelves and necessary utensils as well as provisions. This ingenious hermit found that what his new home lacked in girth, it furnished in height. He immediately went to work with redwood beams, constructing second and third stories above his kitchen. He fashioned a mattress of straw for his second floor bedroom and kept some of his belongings on the third floor. His stove was completed with a curved chimney which forced the smoke through a wide crack and beyond the bark outdoors. His tree house was completely within the tree itself. Toward the southwest he discovered a second goosepen. Here he stowed ropes, climbing spurs and his bicycle. Both goosepens were enclosed with sturdy redwood doors and locked with heavy steel padlocks. A third goosepen was used as a smokehouse. The clean-cut man was a native of the state of Washington where he spent much of his life as a high climber in the pine and Douglas fir forests. He had also spent some time working in the Humboldt redwoods. He enjoyed our towering trees and climbed up into the mists and down the trunks without disturbing the limbs or foliage. While on the ground he stayed on the paths to leave the redwood sorrel lawns and the giant ferns intact. He was a friend to all who came to visit or to observe what they considered a curiosity. He and the late Albert Porter of Pepperwood and a few others became fast friends. Porter advised the visitors to lie on the ground to better observe the hermit and treetop flags. It was the hermit's fondest dream to have the 1960's world summit meeting held in San Francisco. To lure the world leaders to the West Coast and gain publicity for the redwood realm, he wrote several letters inviting officials to the grove where he planned to house some of them in the goosepens amid the green and peaceful surroundings. He also wrote the Save the Redwoods League urging their support. His preliminary work was climbing to the redwoods' tips and hanging American flags in the cool breezes. The flags could be seen from the northenmost end of the Avenue of the Giants roadway which was then Highway 101. He also hung two California Bear Flags amidst the several national flags. The flags ranged in size from 10 x 13 feet to 5 x 8 feet. The hermit urged people to take color photos to show the resemblance to immense plants in blossom. He wanted no personal publicity. The long sought after summit meeting was eventually held in Paris. Observers in the grove were awed as he spiraled himself up the trunks. He perched on limbs, threw the rope over each in turn and climbed with his spurs until the limbs were close enough together for him to continue climbing without his gear. His attire included logger's boots and a silvery hard hat. He occasionally bicycled to Eureka and was easy to spot. His vehicle was equipped with two circular baskets in front and he wore a black three-quarter length coat with a split tail which flapped as he pedaled along. When the weather was severe, he left his bicycle in the goosepen and rode the Greyhound bus into town. The entire distance to Eureka was via a two-lane highway through Scotia, Rio Dell, Fortuna, Loleta and Fields Landing. He often shopped at a Pepperwood grocery store where he always picked up a few candy bars or other sweets. He purchased kerosene for lamps and lanterns in Rio Dell. The Jordan Creek area at the time was the property of The Pacific Lumber Company. When McLellan was preparing to take a business trip north to his Washington home, he stopped in at the Scotia TPL office and asked for the top company official. He was escorted to the private office where he asked the official to take care of the goosepen door key until he returned. When he was finally convinced that the summit meeting would be held in France, he returned to Washington where he died some time later. Today, the tree is within the confines of California State Redwood Parks.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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