The above coordinates will take you to the site of two unique Grand Traverse area historical events. Down the hill to the south the road follows an old RR grade. As one drives the back roads in this area, you will see the remains of many old grades, they were built to haul the logs out of the woods to the mill.(Visit GC8105) When the trees were gone, the lines were abandoned and the grades were either used as roads or became overgrown. This railway was unique in that it was gravity powered, the logs were boomed to this spot on the lake, loaded on flat cars and then, controlled by a pair of courageous breakmen,the train rolled down the hill to dump in the Boardman river. Horses were then used to tow the train back up here. Over 9 million board feet of timber traveled this route. In 1906, Arbutus Lake to the north was overflowing at the low spot just to the west and Traverse City was in a panic. Men sped into town announcing that the water from the lakes would cause the river to flood the town. The story spread that a young man, Waldo Culver, had a grudge against the town and intended to wipe it out. The sheriff hooked up his buggy and galloped out to investigate. He found that Culver was indeed draining Spider Lake, through a ditch down into Spring Lake and with a series of dams and pipes, was washing away the hillsides. The result was he had filled Arbutus Lake to overflowing, and it was all legal. He had been hired to create a cranberry marsh and had the State permits to use the water of the lakes to do it. Imagine the amount of water needed to bring the lake level up to the level of the road. It’s fortunate that there were no cottages here back then.
Count the number of mailboxes on the south side of the road (black, white, red, green and all) and add the total to each of the following coordinates; N44 39.569 W085 30.604 and drive to that spot.
To the east is Spring Lake. The private drive ahead follows the ditch and cut Culver created. The marshy pasture on either side of the paved road is the bog land he created by using the lake water to sluice away the hills on either side of the cut. When his backers lost interest in 1908, the project was abandoned and over time the lakes have reverted to their present levels.
On the yellow plastic post along side the pavement is a phone number (Don't use the top sticker. Peal back the bottom right corner of the sticker to get the original phone number.) Subtract the last three digits from the following coordinates; N44 40.788 W085 30.937
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.
When you get to the lake, look to the SE. The ditch Culver dug is on private property, blocked by an earthen dam through the channel about 1/4 mile from here. The cache, a 1 quart camouflaged container with a log book and a selection of trinkets is just a short walk of about 300 feet.
Adopted by KzooOtters in 2021
