Herbert Gilley yelled through the door. "This is your last chance.  For God's sake get out of that room, woman,"  His wife refused to budge.  She loved her home and her neighbours.  It was over her dead body that she would relocate. Barricaded in her bedroom parlour for a week, she refused to accept any nourishment with the exception of tea and scones.  "Then stay if it pleases you -- you stubborn old trout"  Mr. Gilley barrelled down the stairs and slammed the front door in a huff.  It was then he ordered the workmen to begin the task at hand and within minutes his house was lifted off its foundation and began to rumble and roll down Queens Avenue -- with Mrs. Gilley locked inside shrieking in terror all the way.

That is the urban legend.  The truth of the matter is that Herbert Gilley was not yet married at the time his house was moved several blocks down the street.  Placed directly beside a house he bought from Henry Hudson in 1912, the two structures were joined with a brand new entrance hall.  The result was a most impressive mansion.  It mattered little to Herbert Gilley that one half of his new residence was designed in the Queen Anne style while the other half was Victorian Italianette.  The architectural mix was just another symbol of Herbert Gilley's diverse and colourful life.  The house still stands today.
 
 

Herbert Gilley emigrated to the area when British Columbia was nothing more than forest and pioneers.  Making his first fortune in the timber trade, he later expanded his business to include everything from stables to tugboats. The photograph on the left shows the size of trees the lumberjacks cut by hand.  The numbers written on its side indicate that it had a diameter of over 12 feet.  Toppling these massive trees generated a sense of pride and it was common to bring in photographers to document the event.  Old maps show that a 12 foot diameter tree was cut down just east of Pole Line Road north of the east/west logging road (present day Kensington and Curtis).

The Gilley lands stretched from what is now Broadway up to Hastings including much of Burnaby Mountain.  While logging the area, he was a hands-on employer who personally took charge of his employees' safety.  In 1905 alone, Gilley shot 13 bears after an employee was mauled.  The bear hides were proudly displayed in his lumber office.

Gilley was also impressed with the new machines available to the lumber industry and his company was one of the first in British Columbia to own a Steam donkey.  Still, much of the hauling was accomplished by beasts of burden.
 

After the south slope of Burnaby Mountain was cleared, the lands were zoned for use as a cemetery.  But the Vancouver City Cemetery remained unused with the exception of eleven "indigents" that were buried during the Great Depression.  No other burials took place and the existing graves were forgotten until the property went up for sale.  The interesting thing is that city records document that ten bodies were exhumed in 1960 before the property was sold to the Province four years later.  But just what happened to the eleventh body?  Perhaps the people living in the condos of Forest Grove know.  Has your dog come home with a strange looking bone? Today, there is no evidence that the cemetery with its distinctive art noveau spider gate ever existed.

The parkland has remained more or less unchanged since it was logged almost a century ago.  The area once occupied by the cemetery is so dense with scrub and bush it is virtually impassible.  There are a few nice walking trails, however.  One of which is a ravine trail deep in the middle of the park.  The cache can be found along this trail.

When visiting this cache, keep in mind that the surrounding creeks were used by the workers involved in local logging operations.  The creek right beside the intersection of Underwood and Broadway was the site of Sam Conner's Logging camp.  Broadway was one of the first roads cut in the area to haul lumber.

Because the parkland has remained largely undeveloped, traces of these logging camps can be seen in the form of garbage heaps.   Storm lanterns, straight edged razors and broken teacups from the era have been found but most of the garbage is in the form of rusty tin cans.  These middens have remained largely unmuggled due to the fact that most people don't know they exist and 100 years of forest growth have hidden them well.

The one thing that is not in abundance along these creeks is quartz.  At the time everyone knew that quartz sometimes contained gold and any gold bearing rock was a hint that the mother load could be close by.  Because of this, the  white stone was collected by everyone.

This cache may be considered a mini-multicache.  There is only one stop before the final destination and it is directly along the route.  The first waypoint is close to where the entrance of the long lost Cemetery once stood and along the same creek where Sam Conner's loggers once camped.  The camp was most likely about 200m south where there is now a large parking lot, however.  The cache is located at the edge of the park where the creek disappears under Lake City.  Herbert Gilley's Logging camp was located Northwest at N49 15.934 W122 56.177 in what is now a housing development.

The closest street parking is along Underhill Avenue just south of Broadway.  Along a dirt road that borders the south end of the park you will see several trails leading into the bush.  The smaller trails do not join up and impatient people looking for a shortcut may find themselves backtracking.

This hunt is great for dogs but small children may need help along certain sections of the trail.  If you've found the right trail you will notice a major drop in GPS reception.  It should get better as you head north.   Depending on the weather the stream can go from a trickle to a torrent.  Plan on getting your feet wet if you visit the cache during heavy rains.

The cache can be found where the creek makes a sharp S turn around a tree with its roots hugging a boulder.  If you find the area shown in the photograph (right) you are very close.

This area of the park is not busy but many children play in the area.  Please rehide the cache well. 

Enjoy your visit.
 

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