This geocache is placed in memory of Karen, aka: bumblingbs. Karen was a sweet, kind soul and a uniquely creative person. She passed away on April 30, 2010 after a long battle with a crippling illness. She was 51 years old. Seven of her caches are still active today and two of them,
Historic Laurel Grove Cemetery Tour and
Haunted Port Townsend Rides Again, are undeniably the best mystery caches in Port Townsend.
Karen and her son Adam
This cache is a replica of the hide Karen once had here. It was always one of our favorites. It eluded us for a time and Karen gave the best hints. Those who knew her or found the original should have no problem locating this one. Others may need a little help. Email us for clues, phone a friend, read logs from the
original cache or use any resources you may have for information. When you find it, take a minute to enjoy the view and remember Karen. This is her cache. If you knew her, please include your favorite memory when you log your find.
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UNION WHARF
PLEASE NOTE: No wharf was harmed in the placing of this cache, nor should it be in the finding of the cache. Please leave your hand tools at home. Nothing needs to be dismantled. Please be careful to replace the cache just as you found it. Try to see that the visible part of the cache blends in a bit. Thanks, and enjoy. Bring a pen. 
Prominent throughout Port Townsend history for over 135 years, Union Wharf has been refurbished and repaired numerous times since first constructed by Capt. Henry L Tibbals, one of the city's first wave of settlers. "Had my hammer cast in Seattle; built my own piledriver and drove the piles with a span of horses."
Union Dock was incorporated March 6,1867, by Tibbals, Hibberd and Hastings. It was disincorporated in 1929 and acquired by the Puget Sound Navigation Co. and the Black Ball Line. For a couple of decades thereafter it was used primarily for the auto passenger ferry and Black Ball Freight service on the Port Townsend-Seattle-Victoria run.
It was also the home of the "rum fleet" which patrolled local waters during prohibition.
Black Ball suspended ferry service early in 1948. The dock faded away quietly in subsequent years. Union Wharf Corporation bought the dock for $13,500 in 1973 and began a seafood processing business.
The dock collapsed in 1981. Two large trucks were loading that day. One had departed; the other, driven by Jo Hartley, was maneuvering to leave when the structure collapsed. She escaped unharmed.
Union Wharf was removed and reconstructed. The new dock features timberframe construction and informational plaques about natural wildlife and eelgrass bed concerns. It's a great place to visit and watch the boats in the bay!
Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. ~ Rossiter Worthington Raymond