As promised in the "Brought to You From Cambodia" cache, this is the companion cache. (Yes, as I placed it here about 18 months ago, it's also another procrastination cache.) It's a pleasant walk, giving you time to think as you go.
Important things to know before you start:
- Using the letterbox instructions is recommended, even if you correctly solve the puzzle for coordinates. GPS reception is erratic and there are multiple paths you might take in error.
- Posted coordinates are both for parking and the trailhead. Parking is free on weekends. Weekday parking will cost a few dollars. Security is "on the ball" and you are apt to be ticketed if parking illegally.
- Reading about our experience will help you understand the placement of this cache.
In early February of 2020, my friend Olivia and I spent time in four East Asian countries. During our days in Cambodia we had experiences from one end of the spectrum to the other. We did things such as boating to a floating village, learning to capture, cook and eat tarantulas, and visiting beautiful places such as Ankor Wat.
On our second day in Cambodia, our tour group visited the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Prison Museum. This was a sobering visit. History I had only heard about became very real. I had learned little from the refugees my family sponsored in our home because they spoke no English.
When we reached The Killing Tree, both Olivia and I could take no more, left the tour group, and sat wordlessly on a nearby bench. After a bit, with tears in our eyes, we talked about similar incidents in world history, including slavery, removal of Native Americans from their lands, the Holocaust, and Japanese interment camps.
The beautiful thing I saw was also at that same tree. People remembering history through the ages and hoping for a better world in the future hung all sorts of bracelets and chains from limbs of that tree and the fence surrounding it. I was wearing no jewelry, so I pulled out a piece of string I had in my backpack, finger crocheted it into a little bracelet, and walked back to the tree to attach to the others, all while wishing for better things in the world's future.
Later that day, we met one of only seven survivors of the Khmer Rouge prisons. He told what it was like to continue to live and to be able to teach the next generations of people about love, respect, and forgiveness.
At this cache site, a tree with a tall snag next to it, I have hung a variety of bracelets/beads from the snag. The interesting thing is that in the many months the cache has been hidden at this location, non-cachers have added a few bracelets, and someone placed a group of small rocks in a crevice on the snag.
Letterbox instructions:
Park in the "F" lot at the stated coordinates. (Letterbox folks, this is at the beach trail from Parking Lot F of The Evergreen State College.)
Begin your walk near the stated coordinates. You will see a large sign/map titled "Trails of The Evergreen State College." Take this wide trail a short distance until you come to a "T." Turn right and head downhill. (There is a post here - E1-01, "To Beach" - which is often covered with stickers.)
Near the bottom of the hill, go past the trail to the right and continue almost straight onto a boardwalk.
Continue across the boardwalk, and stay on this trail until you get to a bridge. Cross it and continue up (almost straight) on the main trail.
Note: You will see many smaller side trails; do not take them unless instructed to do so.
At the next main intersection, veer left and uphill. Do not take the right trail "To Beach."
At top of that slope, it is almost a "V." Take the smaller trail veering right. Do not take the larger trail to the left or the very small social trail directly right.
Continue on this trail, and then down many steps to another bridge. Be cautious as they can be very slippery. You may have to walk around trees that have fallen.
Cross this bridge, continue about 30-50 feet, then spot and go up to the large nurse stump at the top of the slope.
At the nurse stump, go right at the "V" in the trail.
Go a short distance to the next "V" and go right less than 100 feet to a very large double maple tree on your right. It is actually a triple or larger size once you get close enough to see all of the trunks.
With your back to this maple tree, look less than 100' across the trail for a large tree with a very tall snag on its right. Unfortunately, the snag has fallen, so you are looking for a short, messy stump. I hope to get out there some time to correct the hiding location, or at least the directions. Look at the photo from 11/16/24 to see what you are looking for.
The cache is hidden there behind the tree and snag. It is the size of ammo cans given to the prisoners at Tuol Sleng Prison to use as latrines.
The puzzle, should you choose to solve it: N 47° 04.black purple purple' W 122° 58.black yellow blue'
Should you want more information about this site, or want to see photos I took during my visit, please contact me.