Tin Man, Protector of the Geocache
A long time ago, a radioactive meteor struck a remote corner of the Montana wilderness unleashing a primordial ooze from beneath a glacier and it engulfed the only manmade object for miles - a geocacher's carefully placed ammo can.
Out of this bubbling muck a new life was being created. It took on the human fears, dreams, and the form of the geocacher that placed this remote cache. It grew, and grew, and grew some more until it stood 6 1/2 feet tall and was nearly three feet wide.
At this moment Tin Man was born and in his powerful arms he held the precious geocache, protecting it for the next geocacher to come along.
But no one came.
No geocacher dared enter this remote area as stories spread about a strange mutant lurking in the remote Montana wilderness. Year-in and year-out, Tin Man stood brave against elements waiting for a brave geocacher to visit, growing lonelier with each passing winter
Then one spring day a cacher from the far away land of Colorado, who had not heard of these stories nor knew of this long-ago archived cache, decided to take a hike to see area glaciers. Two hours into his hike he stumbles across this enormous creature holding an ammo can and Tin Man had his first visitor.
The cacher, Ecylram, stood in awe. Fearful to go near yet drawn to the sight of the enormous ammo can, the cacher started to edge closer. Then a voice boomed out "Hello! Welcome friend!"
Startled, the cacher froze on the spot unable to process what was happening. Finally, he finds his words and stutters "Who...who are you? The booms back "I am 'Tin Man, Protector of the Geocache'', but you can call me 'Bob' if you wish."
He continues "I have been alone here for years protecting this geocache and nobody has come. Please rescue me and take me to a place where cacher's will not be afraid to find me."
The cacher, finding his voice, responds "I know of such a place, many miles from here in the heart of the beautiful Flathead Valley. It's on land that I own and my family keeps a close eye on all caches I place there."
The cacher continues "Best of all, the Flathead Valley has some of the world's finest geocachers. They love finding caches, they take great care with caches they find and they write wonderful logs. They will love having you in their midst."
"Not only that, you'll get to meet cachers from all over the world as they drive from Flathead Lake to Whitefish Mountain and up to Glacier National Park. The Canadians are particularly nice, though their money looks kinda funny."
Overwhelmed by the opportunity, Tin Man responds "Take me to this wonderful place and I will not only protect this cache but I will extend my protection to all caches owned by those brave enough tol have their picture taken with me."
With that, the deal was made and Ecylram took Tin Man to his new home where he lived happily ever after, guarding this cache and meeting cachers from all around the world.