Adventure Lab Tracking the Thunderbird is a driving tour in Kitsap County. Coordinates for this Bonus cache can be found in the completion Journal entries.
Stop by these locations while you are out and about! There are no interpretive signs to guide you, so this is a discovery trip of our local scenic beauty. The questions are about observations of the Thunderbird bronze casting at each site.
In 1993 Kitsap County received a grant from the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority to create an environmental learning game highlighting nature's water cycle. In Indian legend, the Thunderbird was responsible for lightning, thunder, storms and rain, which is why it was chosen as the leading symbol for the game. Locations were selected to correspond with the aspects of the water cycle. Twenty-five local artists and writers composed a booklet with facts about the natural history of each area where bronze castings were placed with hints for finding them. This Adventure Lab and Bonus Cache highlight *****six of the Thunderbird sites, with some educational information included in the descriptions.
***** #1 Glacier (Point No Point, Hansville)
***** #2 Clouds (Scenic Beach State Park, Seabeck)
#3 Rain (Wicks Lake, Port Orchard) missing
***** #4 Groundwater (Island Lake, Silverdale)
#5 Stream (Gold Creek, Tahuya) missing
***** #6 Lake (Square Lake, Port Orchard)
#7 Wetland (Kitsap Memorial Park, Poulsbo) missing
***** #8 Estuary (Arness Park, Kingston)
#9 Puget Sound (Fay Bainbridge Park, Bainbridge Island) Earthcache
***** #10 The Legend (Silverdale Waterfront Park, Silverdale)
In 2005 Nana Bear, Pappa Bear, and ohjoy! created geocaches for the ten tracks. At that time, the actual track for #5 Stream was the only one missing. Now only one of these original geocaches is still active: GCPF32 EarthCache #9 Glacial Rock (Fay Bainbridge Park).
In 2013 Kitsap County Parks recognized the 20th anniversary of the game. Access to the illustrated booklet was removed in 2023, the 30th year of the project.
This location is meant to tell about Groundwater.
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 sundappled creek he fell in love with a stream in the shape of a young woman ...
Water moves underground very slowly depending on the porosity and permeability of the earth. The porosity is the total percentage of void or open space in the earth material to hold water. Permeability is the ability of earth material to let the groundwater flow. This very slowly flowing groundwater can hold pollutants for centuries. These factors are extremely important in our ability to drill wells and remove the clean lifegiving water in the amounts that we all need. Kitsap County depends on 80% of groundwater for its potable water.