Last Fall I planned a trip to Geocaching headquarters with my son, Aaron. On our way to Seattle we reached Issaquah, Washington just as the sun was setting but we decided we still wanted to hike the Rainier Greenway Trail. How bad could it be? We were close to civilization with the Issaquah Middle School nearby and there was a night cache hidden on the trail.
We headed out.
The trail was unusually quiet, only the rustling of fall leaves broke the silence. We walked only a short time when we encountered something unusual.
At first, it was just a dark shape in the distance, nestled between the trees. Aaron squinted and whispered to me. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" I stopped and followed his gaze. "What is that?" My voice was trembling.
It looked....HUGE. A massive tall shape so large that its outstretched arms could clutch trees that were several feet apart! It stood still, its head peering between the grasped trees almost as if it spotted Aaron and I and was silently watching us.
A chill ran down our spines. It wasn't just any animal. This thing had a presence of something foreboding and dangerous.
"No way..." Aaron whispered. "That's Bigfoot!" "I'm going to take its picture for proof."
I reticently followed him as the shape came into sharper focus. It wasn't moving but looked like a monster carved out of the very forest itself, blending into the trees.
I took a few more steps and proclaimed "This isn't Bigfoot!" "This is some kind of sculpture.." I checked my Geocaching map and sure enough it was a virtual Geocache: GCAJFEH Northwest Trolls - Jakob Two Trees which was part of the IssaQuest Sustainability GeoTour. I looked more closely at Jakob and saw he was wearing a necklace of birdhouses inviting forest creatures to spend the evening with him. I also noted that it is preferred that you visit this geocache only during the daylight hours. I understand why. He looked like a twenty foot monster in the dark rather than the environmental guardian that artist Thomas Dambo meant him to be.
We left the area and it was only later that I realized that I never looked for the night cache but I was able to log a Virtual of me and Jakob.