The Ballad of the Edmonton Cheryl Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

UBC Geograd: This one had a great run. It is at an interesting location, and it is time to open up this prime real estate for a new container.

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Hidden : 2/6/2008
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:



ou may remember Gordon Lightfoot’s classic song, The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald. But have you heard that sad ballad of our own doomed vessel, the “Edmonton Cheryl? Concerned that this important part of Alberta’s “truthy” history has been overlooked, I introduce you to “The Ballad of the Edmonton Cheryl”, to the tune of the original Lightfoot classic.



The Ballad of the "Edmonton Cheryl"

This legend arrives from the folklore that thrives,
On the river they call the Saskatchewan,
The river, they say, is a watery grave,
For the crew of the “Ed”, and her captain.

A steamer was she, that was carrying to sea
A bear and a full load of treasure.
The lore of the ship, its calamitous trip,
Said the cargo was wealth beyond measure.

The ship was the dream of a prospecting team,
Returning with gold from the prairies.
“The finest” they said, for thousands were spent,
To ensure that she’d ply to Fort Garry.

On a cold autumn night, the old Cheryl took flight,
And set out to conquer the river.
The North winds were blowing, and ice flows were growing,
And the vessel steamed on with a shiver.

For the river was high, and the flow rush-ed by,
And the night was striking and gloomy.
For the ominous yell, of the old steamship’s bell,
Suggested that trouble was looming.

The morning came late and the crew was awake,
And the dawn sky was redder than pure blood,
But the Edmonton Cheryl, had perched to its peril,
On a sandbar that slept in the fall-flood.

“The water will rise, we’ll continue to ply”
Said the Captain, with hope in his diction,
The men made no sound, and they loitered around,
With trust in the Captain’s prediction.

For the vessel was full, with the prospectors’ gold,
And the pirates up-river were gaining,
So the men lit a lamp, in attempt to revamp,
Their spirits and hopes that were waning.

The lamp gave them light, and the cabin was bright,
And the whisky and rum were a-plenty.
The time floated on, but the boat was still drawn,
And one gambler put down a twenty.

“I’ll make you a dare, I can wrestle the bear
That we’ve kept beneath in the storage”
“What good is it when, we keep Gentle Ben
In the cargo hold eating his porridge!?”

The bear was a keen vicious killing machine,
But that didn’t faze him a sliver.
He had in his head, he’d be better off dead.
Than stuck on a boat in the river.

The ominous “ding” filled the wrestling ring,
The toll of the ship’s bell was sounding.
And the bear was released, and the villainous beast,
Gave the poor sailor a pounding.

When the carnage was done, and the bruin had won,
He went to the lamp on the ceiling,
And with a guffaw, and a swipe of his paw,
Sent the lantern a-reeling.

The ship was in peril, and the Edmonton Cheryl,
Was as burnt as a brash dragon trainer.
The crewmen were told, “we must salvage the gold”
And they raced to find some containers.

Some ammo they found, for if pirates were ‘round,
A rebuttal could be delivered
They filled up the boxes and counted their losses,
And threw the cans in the river.

The Edmonton burned, and the crewmen adjourned,
To face their warm, doomful glory,
For the honorable crew, inherently knew
That the ship would soon be a story.

And the ammo cans full, of the valuable gold,
Floated the river and landed,
Many were found, on the watery ground,
Wet, rusted shut and sanded.

But one lonely box, soon washed up on the rocks,
And remains there, lonely and horded.
For this is a cache, an incredible stash,
That shall leave you rich and rewarded.

This legend arrives from the folkore that thrives,
On the river they call the Saskatchewan,
The river, they say, is a watery grave,
For the crew of the Ed, and her captain.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Nee... Haqre gur ybtf, ohppnarre.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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