The White River isn't Stuck anymore Traditional Cache

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Hidden : 1/1/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A hide along an extension of the great trail from Sumner into Pacific.

Before recent arrivals came to the Big Valley a hundred or so years ago the White River came roaring unchecked out of the foothills to the east. The river came loaded with rock, debris and silt from as far away as Mt. Rainier. But when the river entered the Big Valley it could spread out, slow down, relax a little and stop working so hard. Where it had been carrying boulders along with smaller items through the narrow confines of the upper river, as it moved out into the Big Valley the slower water flow didn't move the large rocks nearly as well. Where the river exits from the foothills into the valley, over time, it built up layer after layer of flood debris making it the highest point within the valley. The White River enters the Big Valley nearly 50 feet above where the Green River enters the valley only a couple miles North. The White River built up a deposit that's more steeply sloped than the rest of the valley, although the difference isn't noticeable to the naked eye.

Now depending on where it had dumped it's last big load, sometimes it would flow south to join the Puyallup near Sumner, as it does today. But just as often the river would flow north through what is now downtown Auburn to join the Green River. And sometime, especially during a flood, it would spread out through the dense trees and brush that then covered the valley, draining it's water both directions at once, the river seemingly 'Stuck'. That was the name locals gave to the section of the White River around here when it ran to the south and joined with the Puyallup. There was no Stuck River by itself, just the White River under a new name when it flowed this direction.

The good folks of the town of Auburn, or Slaughter as it was first called, naturally got tired of dealing with the flood waters. They wished to assigned it a permanent drainage direction away from their fine homes and farms to become somebody else's problem. Here reports differ on whether a large flood alone early in the last century changed the course. Or should we also thank some skillful earth movement. Dynamite may or may not have been involved, depending on who you talk to.

And not wanting to allow the river to use any more of the newly available farm land than absolutely necessary, dikes were added, old channels were filled, and the river was made to act a bit more responsibly. Along with building dikes to contain the river and dams to control the peak flows down it's designated channel, the new residences of the area also dug rock out of the river bed at regular intervals to remove what the most recent flood had deposited. After all, they knew the river was bringing more, trying to fill it's channel and escape their civilizing influence.

Up until the 1970s Pierce County ran a bulldozer down into the riverbed every few years, pushing the rock up into a rock crushing operation on the west side of the river just south of the King County line. The crushed rock was used to cover the many dirt roads in the south end of the Big Valley along with helping to keep the bed of the river well below the dikes on either side. A gagging station just south of the highway bridge north of here allowed the county to not only measure the flow of water down the channel but also the level of the river bed. They understood that if they allowed the river to fill in it's bed the water would flow someplace else, and probably not anywhere good.

But ideas that were once right are often replaced with new improved more right ideas. So it was in the 70's when the idea of running a bulldozer down into a salmon bearing river fell out of favor for some reason. The gravel crushing operation was closed and the area later converted into a wetlands. And all the while the White River continued to bring rocks and debris down from their mountain homes into the valley and deposit them in its bed. With no one removing the rock and debris the river bed has built up a good deal in the last 40 years, making flood prevention more and more difficult. Where you are now standing is the accumulation of many 1000s of years of debris deposited now several hundred feet thick, slowly built up from what had been part of Puget Sound by that river near you.

This cache is hopefully placed to avoid some of the smaller flood events that periodically occur through here, at least for now. Enjoy your trip along the newly opened and freshly paved trail, perhaps even tossing a few additional rocks into the river from the foot bridge just south of here, helping to give the river something additional to move downstream. Yes, the river is still flowing, still moving things down stream and depositing them, a natural conveyor from the mountains to the sea, with plenty of stops along the way.

For information on new work to this old river see http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/dnrp/newsroom/newsreleases/2016/June/29-Countyline.aspx

This cache was placed by a WSGA member. If you are a geocacher in the state of Washington, please consider joining Washington State Geocaching Association. See the WSGA website for details.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

va sebag bs fghzc

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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