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 9- “Barrels Out of Bond”
Plot
While trying to escape Mirkwood, the Dwarves are captured by the Elves, however Bilbo avoids capture by wearing the Ring. He secretly follows them, who are taken to the cave palace of the Elvenking, near the eastern edge of Mirkwood. The Elvenking sends them to separate dungeons when they refuse to reveal their intent in the forest. Bilbo remains invisible, hiding in the Elvenking's palace for several weeks, until he finds the Dwarves, including Thorin.
Bilbo carries a message from Thorin to the Dwarves not to reveal their mission to the Elvenking, and Thorin's respect for Bilbo grows. Bilbo discovers that a stream flows underneath the palace out to the river beyond the cave, and empty wine barrels are dropped through trapdoors under the palace to float down the river to nearby Lake-town. He steals keys from a prison guard and frees the Dwarves. He presents them with an escape plan: if they hide in empty barrels, they will be dropped into the underground stream where they'll float down the river to Lake-town. They object to the danger of the plan, but finally agree out of desperation. Bilbo packs the Dwarves in the barrels and they are tossed through the trapdoors into the stream below. Still invisible, Bilbo clings to a barrel and floats with them to where the stream joins the river and washes ashore. The next morning, he sees that the barrels have been bound together as a raft and he hops aboard as they continue to float toward Lake-town.
Image Credit
Barrels Out of Bond, 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 was placed very near the southernmost finger of the lake which would make a lovely launching point (much like the area aforementioned in the “Chapter 6- Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire” cache) for a number of waterborne craft like, for example: a kayak boat, canoe, makeshift raft, “barrel”, or…even a park bench.