Thunderbird Track #1: Glacier
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Thunderbirds – legend? myth? reality? Native tribes revered these giant birds and believed that they cause thunder by flapping their wings, while lightening flashes from their eyes. Legends have them both helping and attacking people. In 1992 Kitsap County placed 10 bronze Thunderbird tracks in strategic spots to tell the story of the water cycle. We have relocated 9 of the 10 tracks and placed caches at all 10 sites. We hope you will enjoy them as much as we do.
There is a legend that goes with this track: Thunderbird ruled the air, like a good-hearted king. All creatures relied on him for survival; they rarely saw him, because he flew only when clouds covered the sky. But they could hear the distant rumbling of his thunder, which was the sound of his moving wings, and they could see the terrifying bolts of lightning as they struck the earth from above, and fire would explode in the trees.
At one time, Thunderbird noticed a great white invader from the north creeping down, on heavy relentless feet, and he tried to slow its advance, with thunderstorms, and to melt it with his lightning bolts. Finally, the intruder, Glacier, covered the country, destroying all plants and animals in Thunderbird’s care. Thunderbird demanded that Glacier leave, and Glacier explained that he also was simply a force, like the ocean wave, like the Thunderbird himself.
Thunderbird grieved so for the loss of his children that Glacier relented, and left, promising that life would flow again. So thanks to Thunderbird, we have this land in all its glory, back again.
For a season.
As a geological note, glacial ’erratics’ were also carried down; they are large boulders often seen along beaches or in open fields. Most were eroded from mountains in British Columbia, and fell on top of a glacier, whence they ‘hitchhiked’ down to the US as the glacier advanced. When the glacier melted, these boulders were left behind, a stone unlike any surrounding it now.
Now, how to find this track? Here in this poem are some hints. Read carefully.
The name of the place had no point, you say?
I disagree, it’s all a word play!
In a park just south of the flashing eyes,
Is where the first Thunderbird track lies.
Ol’ Gus Halvor and Thors will take you there,
Stash your car by the eagle’s lair.
Walk down the path to the top of the bluff,
It’s there you’ll find the Thunderbird stuff.
And what of the hitch-hiker, Glacier’s erratic ‘gift’?
Step down to the beach- but don’t try to lift.
After you find the cache- go down to the beach and find the ‘erratic’ boulder; post a picture here.
There is a shortcut to the cache without climbing up the cliff! The clue is in the poem.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
jvguva gjryir srrg naq ybj...