The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book, written in 1898 by Albert Bigelow Paine, tells the adventures of three animal friends, Mr. Crow, Mr. ‘Coon, and Mr. ‘Possum, who “lived together in three big hollow branches of a great Hollow Tree in the Big Deep Woods…” The three friends used to gather in the parlor downstairs to eat lunch, talk, and “pitch the bones under the table…”
Waypoint #1 is similar to the forest home of the three friends. In a dwelling a lot like this, Mr. Crow, Mr. ‘Coon, and Mr. ‘Possum entertained their friends Mr. Jack Rabbit and Mr. Turtle in the downstairs parlor one fine April day. “Mr. Crow was the best cook anywhere… [he planned to bake] …chicken pie and hot biscuits with maple syrup… [and then] hurried out and got the pair of pink glass vases that Mr. ‘Coon had given him… and put the flowers in them for the table…” The hollow tree and its parlor are now gone but the adjoining tree provides direction to the next way point.
You will enjoy the second part of the cache most if you start from the big flat sitting rock at N 39 degrees 43.799 minutes, W 105 degrees 08.661 minutes and walk east on the trail through the Big Deep Woods. (Well, OK, the woods are not really that deep; we’re in suburbia, after all!) On a path like this Mr. ‘Coon, Mr. ‘Possum, and Mr. Jack Rabbit strolled one evening when they “…walked and walked, till by and by they got to the edge of the world and sat down and hung their feet over and talked and looked at the full moon that was just rising.”
New paragraph. At Waypoint #2, you’ll find the treasure – not the edge of the world where the three friends shared their stories, but instead the cache inhabited by another set of animal pals. No digging through dirt is needed to find the cache - it's well hidden but not underground. If you want to trade, please stay with the animal theme.
We hope you enjoyed your walk through the Big Deep Woods. Now that you’ve met Mr. Crow, Mr. ‘Coon, and Mr. ‘Possum, you may want to read more about their adventures in The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book, The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Book, and Hollow Tree Nights and Days, all written by Albert Bigelow Paine and illustrated by J. M. Conde. The books are often out of print but you can find them in used bookstores, buy them on the internet, or borrow them through interlibrary loans.