The Hobbit- There and Back Again by J.R.R Tolkien (1937)
This series of caches (each one named after a chapter in The Hobbit) will be placed counter-clockwise around the Aurora Reservoir as a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and an educational spurning for children of all ages to read the book for themselves. I’ve tried my best to pattern the finds and their physical locations after the content of the chapters themselves (see "cache note(s)" below). I hope you enjoy this series.
Chapter 6- “Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire”
Synopsis
After escaping the Goblins, Bilbo finds Gandalf and the Dwarves and they continue their journey. Eventually, they are attacked by Wargs and forced to climb trees.
Plot
When Bilbo emerges, he discovers he is on the other side of the Misty Mountains. He decides to go back and look for his friends. Still invisible, he hears Gandalf and the Dwarves arguing; Gandalf is saying they must go back and rescue Bilbo. Bilbo slips into their midst and takes off the ring so they see him. He tells his tale and gains their respect, but he does not reveal the existence of the ring. They set off almost immediately, because the Goblins will soon be after them. They have nothing to eat, and Bilbo is hungry.
Later, the Company slides down a stony slope, making more headway on their journey. Night falls and they hear wild wolves, the Wargs, howling. The Dwarves and Bilbo (helped by Dori), climb trees to hide from them; Gandalf, who understands Warg language, listens to the wolves talking about their plans to join the Goblins in a raid on a nearby village. He sets the wolves on fire with burning pinecones that he throws down from his tree, chasing them away.
The Lord of the Eagles hears the noise and brings other eagles with him to investigate. In the meantime, the Wargs have joined the Goblins, setting fire to the forest as they run through it. The Goblins build up the fire around the trees where Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves are hidden in an attempt to smoke them out. As Gandalf's tree goes up in flames and he prepares to jump to his death, the Lord of the Eagles swoops down and carries him away. The other eagles seize the Dwarves and Bilbo and carry them to their eyrie. The eagles cannot fly them too far on their journey because men will shoot at them, but they give the Company a place to rest for the night and bring back animals for the Dwarves to roast and eat the following morning.
Image Credit
Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire, digital image of pictographic material, The Lord of the Rings Wiki, accessed 5/31/2023, <https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:The_Hobbit_Chapters>
Cache note(s)- This cache is located just adjacent to a popular launching point for kayaks and other personal watercraft bound for the middle of the lake and beyond. It was HOT the day we planted it and (trust me) it is even hotter out on the water the sun’s ray bouncing off the water like an intense mirror and baking you to a crisp (don’t forget your SPF 100). So, it is almost like going from “out of the frying-pan into the fire.”