The “spring check” in 2019 will be the last of the regular formal checks at this location; hereafter, we will visit only when we are informed in a log or personal e-mail that maintenance is needed - so please keep us informed!
Sir Charles G. D. Roberts (1860 to 1943) was born in New Brunswick and grew up near Sackville. He was educated at Fredericton Collegiate School and the University of New Brunswick and published his first book of poetry in 1880. He married in that year and, by 1892, had fathered five children. By 1895, the year in which he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he had been a schoolmaster in several places and published three more volumes of poetry.
In 1897, he separated from his family and began 28 years of travelling - the U.S.A., France, Germany and England. During this time, he earned his living from writing fiction - especially animal stories and romances - and non-fiction prose. He served during World War I in the 16th Battalion of the King's Regiment, then as captain at the London Canadian War Records Office, and last as a Major and a press correspondent in France. While living outside Canada, Roberts produced four more volumes of verse.
In 1925 Roberts went to live in Toronto and settled down. Late in his life, when Roberts was recognized as the father of Canadian literature, he brought out four more substantial volumes of poetry. He received the Royal Society of Canada's first Lorne Pierce Medal, he was elected President of the Canadian Authors' Association in 1926 and he was knighted on June 3, 1935. Sir Charles died on November 26, 1943 and is buried in Fredericton.
The following poem was published in 1897; our version of it replaces a number of letters of the original text with the number symbol, #. Your task is to use these missing letters to determine the final co-ordinates. Once you have replaced the letters removed for the purposes of this puzzle cache, you will enjoy reading it. In the days when students memorized poetry (a good thing in our opinion) this was one frequently assigned.
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The Solitary Woodsman
When the grey lake-#ater rushes
Past the dripping alder-#ushes,
And the bodeful autumn wind
In the fir-tree weeps and hushes,
When the air is sharply damp
Round the solitary camp,
And the moose-#ush in the thicket
Glimmers like a s#arlet lamp, --
When the birche# twinkle yellow,
And the cornel bunches mellow,
And the owl across the twilight
Tr#mpets to his downy fellow, --
When the n#t-fed chipmunks romp
Through the maples' #rimson pomp,
And the slim viburnum flushes
In the darkness of the swamp, --
When the blueberries are dead,
When the ro#an clusters red,
And the shy bear, s#mmer-sleekened,
In the bracken makes his bed, --
On a day there #omes once more
To the latched and lonely door,
Down the wood-road striding silent,
One who has been here #efore.
Green spruce #ranches for his head,
Here he makes his simple bed,
Co#ching with the sun, and rising
When the dawn is frosty red.
All day long he #anders wide
With the grey moss for his guide,
And his lonely axe-stroke startles
The expectant fore#t-side.
Toward the quiet clo#e of day
Back to camp he takes his way,
And about his sober footsteps
Unafraid the sq#irrels play.
On his roof the red leaf falls,
At his door the bluejay #alls,
And he hears the wood-mice hurry
Up and do#n his rough log walls;
Hears the la#ghter of the loon
Thrill the dying afternoon;
Hears the #alling of the moose
Echo to the early moon.
And he hears the partridge drumming,
The belated hornet humming, --
All the faint, propheti# sounds
That foretell the #inter's coming.
And the wind abo#t his eaves
Through the chilly night-wet grieves,
And the earth's dumb patience fills him,
Fello# to the falling leaves.
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You are given that the cache is at: N 44º 2&.&&&’ W 078º 4&.&&&’ where you have to find the ampersands; use of this symbol throughout does not imply that the numbers are the same. The cache is a camouflaged, well-washed peanut butter jar containing a few tradeables, a log book and a pencil although the writing ability of the latter cannot be guaranteed.
Enjoy the poem, the puzzle and the perquisition!
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
There is a parking machine near the permanent parking - $4 for the day; however one might wish first to visit the office - 80 m away - and purchase an annual pass to all "Kawartha Conservation conservation areas" for $84.75 - 20% less for seniors.
And a big thank you to kayakers2 and murfster for getting us started with html.