Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
Wakulla Volcano – Location 30.1250, -84.2417
Twenty-five miles southeast of Tallahassee there’s a secret buried in the vast Wacissa Swamp that’s one of Florida’s great pioneer legends. For nearly two centuries, stories have been handed-down about the mysterious Wacissa Smoke, which supposedly came from the long, lost Wakulla Volcano. The name “Wakulla” is an early Indian word meaning “mysterious” but the legendary volcano takes its name from the small hamlet of Wakulla, which happens to be in Wakulla County. However, the actual location of this enigmatic volcano is in southwestern Jefferson County, about ten miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico.
The first accounts of the Wacissa Smoke can be found in early Seminole Indian lore telling about “smoke rising in the swamp.” In 1830, settlers blamed the mystery on smoke from Indian campfires, or from a pirates’ den. The smoke varied from thick black, like coal smoke, to the bluish-white of wood smoke, and usually swirled upward in a chimney-like manner, although at times it was just a drifting haze. The smoke was visible from far out on the Gulf of Mexico and ships sailing into the port of St. Marks often relied on it as a navigational aid. Seafarers said it was “the old man of the swamp smoking his pipe.” Superstitious folks claimed it was “the Devil stirring his tar kiln.” While each generation came up with a new explanation, the weird smoke continued spiraling up from the swamp.
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: In 2006, an Australian citizen attempted to sell this nation, on eBay.
A: Mordor = N29° 28.104' W81° 46.578'
B: Hogwarts = N29° 28.104' W81° 46.588'
C: New Zealand = N29° 28.104' W81° 46.598'