The original 'Haunted Port Townsend' was spirited away last July. I went looking for it, but could not find it. I liked that cache, but I was not caching at that time, so I archived it with regret. I didn't think there was a ghost of a chance that I'd see it again.
Oddly enough, about 6 months later a nice young man showed up at my door with cache in hand. He said he'd found it in the park where I had hidden it, lying in the middle of the trail. It was completely intact. So, it's the same cache container, but in a new location with different ghost stories. I've got plenty of them; this is one "haunted" little town!
Stop # 1
N 48 06.939 W 122 45.976
Find the street address of this former B & B.
Subtract 1 from the third digit =A
Thelma Scudi formerly operated this residence as Lizzy’s B & B. She spoke of two spirits who occasionally made their presence known.
One was a playful 10 year old named Clancy, who like any other 10 year old ran in and out of the inn slamming doors, and occasionally played tricks on guests to whom he had taken a fancy. “Clancy was born here in 1890. He was just this little kid ; you know how grammar school kids are - if they like you they will tease you – and every so often he would find a customer whom he liked and just run them around the track.”
One morning a guest came down to breakfast and asked, “Is this house haunted?” “You tell me!” I told him. “You stayed here last night.”
The man told her that he had lost the lens cap of his camera and spent 45 minutes turning the room upside down looking for it, only to find it lying in plain sight in the middle of the floor. As the guest threw his hands up in exasperation, Scudi told him, “I think you met Clancy. He likes you.”
Besides the rambunctious Clancy, there was a small gray dog named Two Bits who watched over Lizzy’s. Two Bits is buried in the garden outside, but frequently made rounds through the inn making sure everything was in order. He was seen by more than one person, napping next to Scudi’s dog, Brenda, underneath the grand piano in Lizzy’s parlor.
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Stop # 2
N 48 06.882 W 122 45.768
Find the third digit of the street address =B
Marlii Lockwood and Paul Wein, former owners of this B & B, tell the story of hearing children’s voices chattering in the inn one night after they had unpacked a box of dolls belonging to a visiting innkeeper.
“It was wintertime and I arranged them on a bed in one of the vacant rooms along with several of my own dolls,” Lockwood says. “In the morning Paul asked me why I had rented a room to ‘that family with the noisy kids.’ I said: ‘I didn’t rent a room to anyone with kids! I thought you did!’ We finally decided it must have been the dolls getting acquainted down on the second floor!”
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Stop #3
N 48 06.813 W 122 45.672 The coordinates will take you to a plaque that lists the year this house was added to the National Historic Register. Find the month it was added and subtract 3 = C
Lowell Bogart, former owner of this B & B, told of one out-of-town couple, who, when returning to town for an extended visit, insisted on renting the same accommodations they had on a previous trip, even though Bogart could offer them a different room at a better price. “They were insistent on having that same room”, Bogart says, “and it wasn’t until they were ready to leave that I found out why.” It seems that room adjoins what is now known as the bridal suite, and during the night of their first visit both husband and wife encountered a vision of a woman in bridal attire.
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Stop # 4
N 48 07.196 W 122 45.428
Divide the last digit of the street address by 2=
D
Linda LeBrane, former owner of the Elias De Voe house, had a vivid encounter with four elderly people sitting around a table in the living room playing cards. “I was on the couch and saw a dream-like image. I had a very strong sense of their presence.” Le Brane says another former occupant of the house experienced a similar image of the four cardplayers.
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Stop #5
N 48 07.192 W 122 45.770
Look for the street address on the mailbox. The second digit=E
Rose and Ron Nowak, former owners of this B & B, raised their five children here. They rescued the picturesque Queen Anne style mansion from the city, which had planned to burn it down in 1962.
A woman clad in Victorian clothing has appeared to Rose. The first time the statuesque lady appeared to Nowak, her house was on fire. “I did not know it at that moment.,” she says,. “I saw this creature standing at the end of my ironing board. I felt a presence, looked up and saw this woman standing there. And my mind said to her ‘I love your home and I’m taking good care of it.’ Why I said that, I don’t know." A short while later a man pounded on her front door and told Nowack her house was on fire. Smoke was pouring from the third floor bedroom window where the sun passing through a crystal decanter on the window ledge had set the room on fire.
The second time Nowack saw the woman was one evening during a party in their large yard. “I walked out the front door and she was standing under the willow tree. Didn’t think anything of it, and went back to the group where we were all having a good time.”
A short while later, one of Nowack’s friends came out of the house and said “I just saw this Victorian woman under the tree out there!” Nowack says she had not previously told her friend about the apparition. Later, they found that another friend had drowned while white water rafting that evening.
A side note about this location - notice the large gazebo in the side yard. This came from the set of Rose Red, the Stephen King mini-series that was filmed at Tacoma's Thornewood Castle; which is (of course) also haunted!
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Stop # 6
N 48 08.062 W122 46.122
Look for the building number below the right front edge of the porch. Subtract 1 from the first digit=F
This unretouched photo was taken at Fort Worden's guard house, where a lonely soldier on duty shot himself. It is not known whether it was an accident or not. He's apparently still on duty.
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Now it's time to go find the cache. I don't want it to be hard from here, and the trailhead is a bit off the beaten path. Take Jackman to 45th and turn (you can only turn one way), then wind your way up to the trailhead.
The trail starts out as wide as a one lane road, but don't drive down it. Park at the trailhead sign. There are a number of trailheads up through this neighborhood, but you'll know you're at the right one by the width of it at the start. Also, you might hear the (teeny tiny yippy-yappy) hounds of hell that live at the nearby house. Don't worry, they're penned, and won't be nipping at your heels.
It's an easy hike to the cache. When you replace and cover it, please step back and make sure it can't be seen from any angle. That will keep it safe. Thanks.
Daytime hours only, please. Two of the homes are private, and although they are listed on historic walking tour sites, it would be entirely different to have someone shining flashlights at your house after dark.