Ben left for work around 10:30 and I got up and started
getting ready and mapping out the caches we were going to go get. I left here around noon and headed to mom and
dad’s house. I hope she was read y to go
so we could just go when I got there.
She wasn’t. I asked if she wanted
me to make her some food and she said no.
Later she regretted that but she said she thought I was making it for
her to eat before we left.
We didn’t leave until almost one.I had to get some gas before we continued on so we stopped at the Arco and topped off.
We were on our way to our first cache via Hwy 702 and then
got onto Hwy 7 and then onto the Kapowsin Highway. I didn’t realize at the time why these two
caches were called Batman and Robin # 1 (GC5GNPV) and #2 (GC5GNPX) until I
realized we were near Lake Kaposwin, the “Kapow” sound in the comic books. Clever.
They were both guard rail caches.
Our next stop was the small unincorporated town of Electron,
a place I have not been to yet. Electron
sits along the Puyallup River just northeast of Lake Kapowsin and is the site
of the Electron Hydroelectric Project, a power plant operated by Puget Power. Above the plant, 10.1 miles upriver, is the
Electron Diversionary Dam, which runs water to the power plant via a wooden
flume. The dam and power plant project
was constructed in 1903-04 and began operation on April 12, 1904. Electron was the site of a Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the 1930’s.
A mudslide destroyed the original powerhouse in 1936; rebuilding was partially
completed in 1937 and fully rehabilitated in 1941. There is a small park in Electron. Today the place is operated and maintained by
7 people. The powerhouse generates 26
megawatts of electricity. This can
provide power to about 20,000 homes.
There was literally one road that took you to the town/park. The other road was restricted to Puget Sound Energy
employees only. Right there on the
corner was where the coords took us. It
was the remains of a cement structure used by the CCC in the 30’s. Only a little part of it still stands. The cache, Rainier100 2: Electron (GC63A78) was hidden in a hole
underneath a section of the cement. We
found it pretty quickly. I sat in the
alcove and wrote our names down. We put
it back, took a few pictures and headed up the hill to the small park. I wouldn’t even know this was out here
without geocaching.
I had to go get Electrifying (GC4C98) it was the closest old one besides the one I still have to get in Steilacoom, Scooby Doo’s Sister Stash (GC589). I recently found out that it’s been archived because the owner neglected it. We will see if they fix it soon. We found the small out-of-the-way-park, parked in the lot and walked over to the tree the ammo box was hiding next to. There is just something satisfying about finding a cache that has been around since 2002. I took the coins out of it just so they wouldn’t rust if the container was compromised. I signed the book and then mom and I spent some time admiring the viewpoint of the small dam and river. I had to climb on top of the fence to see because the sticker bushes and brush had overgrown making it difficult to see over. We also looked at some of the old vehicles and buildings in the area before heading back down the hill onto the main road.
We drove the back way towards Buckley but took Hwy 165 towards Wilkeson, a town Bob and I have geocached the crap out of, over the last five years. Rainier100 3: Wilkeson (GC6HZVV) took us to a really cool building. One of the two cool sandstone buildings in town, the city hall and the other was the old elementary school. We got to go to the elementary school. We just parked in the parking lot and walked over towards the cache. We noticed three girls wandering around the area and had to kinda be sneaky about looking for it, plus across the street was an ambulance and some EMT’s responding to some sort of call. We hoped that person was okay. In the meantime, we found the location, used the code to open the lock and out came the cache. I signed our names, took some pictures, locked it back in its hiding spot and we headed back to the Escape.
I figured since we weren’t that far from the coke ovens I
wanted to take mom over there to see them.
The coke ovens were also a part of the Rainier100 series but Ben and I
got this cache over a year ago after our Mowich Lake/Tolmie Peak adventure.
There was one more nearby and we picked up Wilkeson Creek (GC6MPXW)
before we left town. I should have found
it right away but where it was hidden, someone had shoved it really far inside
the stump. I walked down to the creek
and then came back to the spot. I
reached as far as I could and touched the container. Lame.
I have actually never
been inside the town only to the sign next to the road to grab a cache a few
years ago. We drove the back way to town
via the coal miner’s cemetery. I told
mom about the last time I was here with Bob, we had gotten a first to find with
some guys from Seattle. I also told her
that there are bits of coal in the area too.
Rainier100 2:
Carbonado (GC63JF9) was on the edge of town near the old historic
Carbonado Saloon that was established in 1889.
Wow, that’s when Washington became a state! We parked next to the road near a pullout and
walked the short distance to the cache.
It was next to some trees near some more old ruins of what used to be. We weren’t sure what used to be here but we
found the cache quickly, took some pictures and moved on to the next one.
We continued on up Hwy 165 and towards the Fairfax Bridge. In the last few years I have been across the bridge at least 6 times and before that never. Yay geocaching! We parked at the suggested coords, grabbed the stuff we would need and walked across the bridge to where the “trail” started. We had to jump/step over the guardrail and make our way down the steep hill next to the structure. Luckily there was a rope you could grab on to so you weren’t as nervous repelling down the hill. I didn’t have any problems and neither did mom. We got down to the bottom and realized that there was an actual trail down here. I thought we would have to bushwhack our way to the cache. It was well used and you could tell a lot of three wheelers and quads run up and down this road quite often.
An Asian family followed us down about 10 minutes later and they
had previously asked us about the trail and the ghost town earlier up on the
bridge. Mom and I made our way to the
first cache, Just Another Rock in the Wall (GC64ZRG), indeed…it was hard to
miss! It was also a really cool location
for a cache. We walked along it admiring
its test of time. I found the location of
where the cache could be and found it quickly.
The Asian family saw us down there and wondered what we were doing. I explained geocaching to them and they were
very intrigued. I told them stories,
places I’ve been, the different kinds, the events, power trails, caching etiquette,
the cool people you meet, etc. They were
on vacation from Arizona spending time around Mount Rainier. They said they even might start doing it once
they got home and could do research on it.
I put it back in the way and we continued towards our next cache.
Rainier100 2: Melmont
Ghost Town (GC63JF8) was near an old abandoned dynamite shelter. I looked at some spoiler pictures so I knew
which group of trees to look near. Sure
enough it was right where it was suppose to be.
I showed the Asian muggles the cache because the size and content
differed from the first container. This
one even had a trackable inside so I could explain their significance. They
were pretty stoked. We took our
pictures, signed the log and put the cache back. Mom and I decided to walk to the end where
the rest of the old buildings were plus there was one more cache left to get.
We walked by several groups of hikers and asked where the
rest of the ruins were. They said when
you got to the fork take the upper portion.
Good to know. When we did get to
that said fork, I took the lower one that led us to a steep hill of where the
main part of the town was before it burned down, that is where the last cache
was. Mom decided to stay behind and I
went down really quick. The cache,
Skeleton in a Ghost Town (GC5N9HH) was hidden near an uprooted log and I found
a glass jar container. I rarely find
these…mostly because they can break so easily.
I signed it, put it back and found a place to pee. I went back up the hill and followed mom to
the rest of the Melmont ruins.
We spent about a half hour up here taking pictures and admiring
the history. We discussed how we thought
the town was oriented and what these buildings were used for. We started heading back towards the bridge. It didn’t take us long to walk down the
trail.
We got to the bridge and noticed
that someone had untied the rope and mom complained. I told her to go up slow and I will help her
from behind. She actually did alright
getting up the steep hill. We stepped over the guardrail, walked back over the
bridge and to the Escape. I was hungry
so I ate some of my sandwich and chips on the way to the next couple of
caches.
We followed the road to the Carbon River Entrance to Mount
Rainier. I can’t recall if I have been
to this area before. We were here to do
the earthcache, Rainier100 2: Carbon
River Aggradation (GC63Q1E).
We got out and answered the questions and took some
pictures. The cache was pretty
easy. We measured how long the bridge
was with our odometer and then found one more by the gate, Carbon River
Entrance Cache (GC2K7DR). We headed back
towards Orting to look for something to eat.
Mom wanted some food. I really
didn’t because I had eaten my sandwich not too long ago. Then I saw Herfy’s, a place I’ve seen so many
times but never had a chance to try. I
even made fun of the name. We went
inside and had the burger and fries. The
food was pretty good but I think I may have made a mistake by eating my
sandwich and my burger and fries. Time
will tell.
We went the back way home on the Graham-Kapowsin Highway and
I had to pull over to go potty. We got
to Hwy 7 and then Hwy 702 to McKenna. I
dropped mom off at home, helped her put the chickens and ducks away and then
headed home to shower and relax a bit. I
logged some of the caches, posted some pictures and called it a night. I hope to go and get some more of this series
soon before the snow starts falling.
Next Adventure: Hosting
Game Night
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