Thunderbirds – legend? myth? reality? Native tribes revered these giant birds and believed that they cause thunder by flapping their wings while lightening flashes from their eyes. Legends have them both helping and attacking people. In 1992 Kitsap County placed 10 bronze Thunderbird tracks in strategic spots to tell the story of the water cycle. We have relocated 9 of the 10 tracks and placed caches at all 10 sites. We hope you will enjoy them as much as we do.
Track 4: Groundwater
Clue Writer: Magdalena Herreshoff
Track Sculptor: Douglas Granum
For more information and activities related to the tracks, contact the cache owner.
The Way of Water
Raven, the Bringer of Light
and Maker of Man was lonely
and descended from the sky
to search for a wife.
Seeing his reflection
in a sun-dappled creek
he fell in love with a stream
in the shape of a young woman
who held blades of cattail rush
with nails of copper, drawing hummingbirds
in the sand at stream’s edge.
Together, they caught Coho and Chum,
cooked on skunk cabbage.
He rolled Creek Woman
and her family,
streams, rivers, and lakes,
into a blanket
for a move to his Island,
but as he flew towards the heavens
all water, except Creek Woman,
spilled out, spreading
over the land.
This water-fed new streams,
rivers, lakes, and shores
covered with ferns and alders,
salalberries and huckleberries
to be pressed and dried
while cedar canoes and paddles
eased by listening to men
cut silently through dark water
searching for salmon,
in the way of bear,
otter, and eagle.
Today a single red cedar stands
witness among scattered conifers:
People have come to live
close to edges of the water
and higher, on gentle slopes
well-holes for homes and humans
reduce the flow of water
to a distant inlet, forcing
the surface water beneath
the ground where roots are deep
and there are no fish.
As I sit in the sand tracking
V-signs left by ordinary mallards
I imagine Raven’s raucous cry calling:
Head South on the road of three names.
I am fed by groundwater
and my name has been mentioned before.
I am a lake, an oasis
in the midst of civilization
covering forty-three acres.
While you have lunch
on a wooden table near the shore
you may see a kingfisher,
a blue heron or an osprey alight
on my sun-reflected water.
Letterbox seekers: The location you seek is Island Lake County Park and the road of three names is Island lake Road. There is a small stamp in the container. You will need to bring your own stamp pad. Once you have used hints in the above poem to locate the Thunderbird track, continue on your quest as follows:
With back to the water,
spy out a bridge.
Cross this bridge and find
a spot dedicated to remembering
the tragedy of 9/11.
While here, find a concrete planter
on a concrete slab,
read the inscription and
decide if you want to make the suggested promise
and place a pebble in it.
Now, standing with back to
the dedication monument,
proceed 29 paces uphill through the shelter and beyond,
search within a large shrub behind a metal box.
Geocachers: Use the above coordinates to locate the Thunderbird track and then proceed as follows:
1. While standing next to the track, follow a bearing of 45º until you have crossed a bridge.
2. At the end of the bridge, follow a bearing of 140º to a memorial for the victims of 9/11
3. With you back to the large stone marker, follow a bearing of 35 - 40º for 3 to 4 paces to a small stone planter and read the plaque in front of it, taking the suggested action if you so choose.
4. From the planter, follow a bearing of 55º for 29 paces, through the shelter, to a large bush where you will find the cache next to a pole.
Note: Thank You to Ohjoy! for the approval to redo this wonderful cache.
Bring your own pen and stamp pad if you are collecting stamps for letterbox’s. Do not take stamp it is not swag.