The name of this cache, chak-chak, is the Chinook word for eagle, not to be confused with the thunderbird (hayas chak-chak). Since I live in Scappoose (the Chinook word for gravelly plain), I thought it would be fun to name my caches in Chinook. This is my 28th hide, celebrating my 280th find. The cache is hidden about 2.2 miles from the parking coordinates
The Crown Zellerbach trail was once a logging road and before that, a logging railroad. Today it is a linear county park. It is a rails-to-trails project that is progressing as funding permits. Mile posts have recently appeared! The park runs along a lot of private property, so be respectful, and stay on the trail. This is especially important when choosing your parking space. I've given parking coordinates along Rain Garden Lane. This is a public road, so the no trespassing signs are a little confusing.
This is my 18th letterbox cache, but only my 4th hand-carved stamp. I became interested in letter boxing last year (2012), and there are so few in this area that I decided right away that I wanted to hide some. Remember: letterboxes include stamps, which are not trade items. I placed the stamp in a labeled bag. I placed the trade items in another labeled bag, so you shouldn't get them mixed up.
There is no cell phone service in this area. The box is not hidden at the posted coordinates. You need these clues to find the box:
- The box is hidden approximately 500 feet (106 paces, 212 steps) west of Mile Post 12.0
- You will know you have arrived in the general area when you arrive at a spot where there is no canopy. There are mostly evergreens on both sides of the trail. On the north (right) side of the trail there is an open space about ten-feet wide with no trees, just grass (see photo). If you step into this space, you can peer over an edge and see lots and lots of ferns. There is a very small evergreen (too small to be a Christmas tree) growing on the east side of the space, and there is a larger evergreen growing on the west side of this space.
- The box is hidden under this larger evergreen.