I was walking this path this morning when I noticed a white cross a little ways into the woods. Curious, I walked over and saw that it was a memorial to a young man named Ethan who had apparently been the victim of a tragedy here, perhaps a drowning. Friends and family have signed the cross and painted messages to him on the nearby trees. A photograph rests against the cross.
I placed this cache to bring notice to this touching memorial.
Note: This is a "micro in the woods". If you don't care for that sort of cache, you may want to avoid this one.
Update: I learned that Ethan was one of several teenagers at a party down by the river. The party was "busted" by the police, and Ethan jumped into the river, hoping to evade the police. Instead, he got swept into the currents and drowned.
Update #2: It would appear that the high water of 2011 may have washed away any signs of the memorial. The area was a virtual lake for the entire spring, and early summer.
Update #3 9/3/14 - Log by dougfromm: My 14 year old son and I decided to hike back to this cache this evening. Clearly someone has fixed up the memorial. There are new looking pictures of, what I assume is, Ethan. When my son read one of the memorial service bulletins attached to the cross, and realized that Ethan was 14 when he died, he was quite moved. I took the moment to talk to my son about what happened to that young man and how to avoid his tragic fate.