The two boys approached the wooden fence surrounding The Jones Salvage Yard. The front portion of the fence was painted with trees, flowers, lakes, and even an ocean scene. Passing the front gate the boys continued another 100 yards and stopped near the corner where the fence showed a green ocean with a masted sailing ship foundering in an ocean storm. With a quick glance to make sure no one was looking, the taller of the two boys pushed on the eye of a fish in the ocean scene and two boards swung quietly upward. Ducking inside, they found themselves in a workshop beneath an awning that ran the length of the fence. Without hesitating, they then lowered themselves behind an old battered and forgotten printing press and crawled into a piece of large corrugated metal pipe. Fragments of carpet ran along the bottom of the pipe to make the journey smoother. Within a minute the two boys pushed up a trap door and stepped upwards into an old travel trailer. Waving a newspaper they exclaimed, "Hey Jupe, you gotta read this!".
"Where have you been? I've been waiting here for hours," Jupiter Jones remarked as he glanced at his watch.
"You'll see that it's worth it when we show you what we found" said Pete. He thrust the newspaper onto the desk in front of Jupiter.
Jupiter glanced at the paper, reading for a moment, before looking up at Bob and Pete. "This is fascinating," remarked Jupiter, "But what does it have to do with us? This ghost is apparently based in North Carolina and we are on the opposite coast, here in Rocky Beach."
"We knew you would ask that," Pete grinned. "My dad is shooting a movie in North Carolina and he asked us if we wanted to go. I wasn't so sure until he showed me this paper that he was reading on the plane. But we have a couple of weeks off from school because of spring break and my dad said the place this ghost inhabits is within an hour of where they are shooting!"
Jupiter stood up from behind the desk, "This looks like a case for the Three Investigators!"
Attention Mystery Seekers!
You cannot solve the mystery and find the cache without reading the story. The coordinates on this page take you to the parking area only.
Go to the following to download the PDF which contains the clues to solve the mystery:
Mystery of the Birkhead Ghosts
The hike for this cache will be approximately 4 miles round trip. There are no great elevation changes but it isn't entirely flat either(see profile image). I would make a water bottle a required part of my equipment especially during warmer months.
If you would like an alternate hike, consider parking at the Thornburg Trailhead. You will add a few (4?) miles to the hike but you will add a nice stream hike along Robbins Branch. To hike this trail park at: N 35 37.202 W079 56.705. Start the hike behind the farm house. You will enter the forest at N 35 36.929 W 079 56.605. Even if you don't hike this trail consider a visit to the farm, a nice piece of history.
Thanks for playing.
adventuretom