NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT - We have moved the final location about 60 feet! Rather than re-writing the entire tale, after you have solved the puzzle and have the old cords, you MUST ADD .008 from the North cord and SUBTRCT .009 to the west cord!
ONCE UPON A TIME in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana there was an old prospector by the name of Luke who lived by himself near the Bitterroot River. He did not really live by himself as he had several of his animal friends to live with him. He had a wonderful donkey by the name of “Daisy” who was his working companion. Along with Daisy he also had one yellow Labrador dog by the name of “Smooch” and one blue parrot by the name of “Skipper” and three tortoise shell cats he named “Enie”, “Minie” and “Moe”
One spring day Luke realized that the river was running brown which signaled it was time to “go for the yellow.” That was his term for prospecting for those beautiful nuggets that he could use to purchase food and supplies in town. His supplies were down to just about nothing and the temperature was above 50 degrees and it was time to go!
Luke put the packsaddle with overnight supplies on Daisy, placed Skipper on top, called to Smooch, and they headed up the trail. It was a jaunty looking little group with the bearded old prospector in the lead, then Daisy with Skipper perched on top and Smooch going three times the distance checking everything out all around. There were a few patches of white snow but most of the trail was clear. It was a beautiful day with the still leafless brown trees in contrast against a very blue sky. Luke enjoyed the outdoors and the wonderful animals that inhabited the forests of the Bitterroot Mountains. He seemed to have a natural affinity for the animals and they seemed to sense that he would not hurt them.
He had not been long on the trail up Downing Mountain when he saw a mother brown bear and her fluffy brown fur ball cub recently out of hibernation. Luke and the mother bear knew each other well and after checking each other out they went their own ways – with Luke remembering his goal was those yellow nuggets that would sustain him for the summer!
It took most of the day to reach his mine that he kept very secret from the townspeople. Many of them knew he had a mine but no one knew where it was. He built a small fire and heated some wonderful chili he had brought with him. Luke’s secret recipe for his savory brown chili was sought after by the townspeople just as much as the location of his mine! The next day would be hard work and he needed to get to bed early. It was already getting dark and he could see there were no stars or moon and it was going to be a very black night
He laid out his sleeping bag and went quickly to sleep dreaming of Daisy and Smooch romping in the green forests in the summer. He loved all the seasons but was looking forward to the advancing spring and the summer to follow. The wild flowers would soon be blooming and the days were getting longer every day. He slept well as he always did on “his” mountain and the next morning he woke to see gray skies that just might bring some snow. This did not worry him much as he was prepared and it was very normal for this valley in this season. He fixed a breakfast of some oatmeal and got to work early finding plenty of those yellow nuggets in even less time than usual.
By early afternoon he had enough nuggets to last him and his animal friends for the summer and they headed down the trail towards home. It had only taken them two days when he had thought it would take three. It was indeed a very lucky day when he found that mine many years ago. It was late and well after dark when he returned to his cabin by the beautiful Bitterroot River, near what is now called Hamilton Montana.
Luke’s cabin is now long gone and Luke along with Daisy and Smooch and his other animal friends eternally walk, fish and romp next to the Bitterroot River in that area – can you find where his cabin was? If you do, be sure to log into the cache at that location. By the way, the fairy tale is about half true with some of my own imagination!
A note about Hoyt Axton: While I do not claim to be close friends with Hoyt, we did know each other. I always enjoyed Hoyt in his acting and his singing. I first got to know him personally right after we moved to The Bitterroot Valley and they were filming “Disorganized Crime”. After the filming was completed he and many others involved in that film came up to The Grubstake for a diner before going their separate ways. A few of years later he played in “A Season of Change” also filmed here and I had the pleasure of seeing him again. He bought a house in the valley and we seemed to see each other periodicly – usually when he was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Hoyt was one very good guy and we miss him. There is a web site dedicated to him at: http://www.sixcats.com/axton/hoyt2.htm - For a listing of all the films he was in (over 30)and the music he wrote go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001924/
Winter Note: This cache might be a little more difficult to find in the winter but assuming a normal winter, I would put the difficulty at 3 stars
NOTE: You can check your final cords by way of a "check sum". Add the minutes only of the north and west FINAL cords (14.XXX + 10.XXX). You should have 25.499.