The Not-So-Elusive Alpha Male

Ned was clean and dry and ready to head so we headed back over to his Aunt Ruth's favorite area. This time I brought reinforcements (gloves and spade). 

Again I followed the clues and again they brought me to the same scene. I dug until I found a few suspicious rocks and what-do-you-know, there was the Alpha Male in all of his glory! 

He was also wet and dirty so I invited him over for some R&R. He was anxious to get back on the road so he headed back out the very next day. 

I am thrilled to have met Ned, especially after all this time. What made it even better is meeting him in Cape Cod in the fall. It's sublime. Just ask Ned, Nancy, and Aunt Ruth!

Meet Up with Ned

 

The meeting almost didn’t happen. The Alpha Male was elusive. But we persevered and found him having Midadventures with Nancy. 

Some care was needed so I invited Ned to come over for some R&R. I will drop him back off in a few days once he’s clean, dry, and buttoned up ready for some more misadventure. I also plan to return with reinforcements to look for that alpha male.

The mystery continues…

Shootflying Hill

 

Bill-lay and I wanted a quick outing and decided to check out this friendly hike where we looked for a fox, a whale, dolphin, and shark, and a friendly contest over baked goods. 

It was a blustery day but the sun was smiling on us. We enjoyed all of our finds, but came up short on the shark. But overall it was a great little walk in the off season.

Remembering

This was the perfect walk on a beautiful Cape day with Cubed, Hot Lava, and Joe Money! I read the comments from challenged "In Memory of" finders. After some deep searching, we found it.

It's in great condition but the logs which it was under have rotted. We moved it just a little bit under two small fallen limbs between two standing live oaks that are beyond the large pine referenced in the clues. 

It's such a great carve, we don't want it to be impossible for others to enjoy it as well. 

D.e.n.i.e.d.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! 'Nuff said!

Much Needed Maintenance

Blue Delft and I met at one of my favorite spots, Nixon Park. We began by bundling up (it was very chilly) and heading down the connecting trail for TNT’s self-portrait. Recent finders had commented that there were trees down in the area and much overgrowth. But I was bound and determined to find it. Blue Delft was very patient as it took some doing. Two large trees had fallen over the exact spot where the self-portrait lay. I poked and strained and dug and pulled and came up successful! 

Next, we headed over to take a peek at Hop Along Home (doing fine) and headed up the steps to the Geology Trail.  From there we tucked our boxes in for the winter and checked on some others too: Oh Fudge, Way to Go, 3rd on the 6th, a delft tile and Nixon (weird… I felt like I was being watched...). We also found a new spot for the self-portrait.

After crossing over to the other side of the park we found and pulled Blast Off. I believe this was the first box that E man and I planted together, nearly 8 years ago. It was badly in need of repair. The stamp itself as well as the logbook were both completely rotten. Ick.

The sorry state of Blast Off! Definitely time to retire!

Then we looped around and enjoyed 37. It had been a while since I visited so I was rewarded with some new images for my logbook. Next, we tried to find the rebel base. We came up short with Luke as well as with Darth.

A fun, cold, and very productive day. All safe and sound for the winter.

Rising

It was the perfect day to visit the falls.  It had been 7 years since we were here before. Hard to believe. No wonder the boys didn't remember it well.

We saw loads of warty little toads and even found a tiny snapping turtle.  It was almost cute.

I checked in on the feather spirit but the tall stump it had been languishing in had rotted and fallen away. It was no where to be found. But thanks to bones, who found it last week (prior find was 2011!), I persevered and located the rising spirit.  After watching the family frolic in the falls and slide down the rock slide, I found a new place for it.  One that is much more accessible.

It's a cool little park.  Really enjoyed it today!

Cold Enough for Snow

The turkey was cooking, the Turkey Trot was run, but football wasn't on yet so we decided to make our own snow scene.  There was no snow but it was surely cold enough for it!

We had a nice little hike through the woods.  Had trouble finding the snowman. (We never did.) But found another that was cleverly hidden!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A Tribute to Pappa Bear

My very first letterbox find was Pappa Bear's Woody on January 1, 2007. I was hooked. I loved everything about the hike, the box, and the carving. I soon found most all of Pappa Bear's other hidden gems and became a big fan of his. Through finding his boxes,  he inspired me and taught me a lot about letterboxing. 

Back in 2011, Pappa Bear posted to his blog that he was moving and pulling all of his letterboxes in the area. I didn't want to see this happen since his boxes meant so much to me. So I asked if I could adopt his letterboxes along the rail trail and in Codorus State Park. He agreed!

Since then these boxes have needed some attention. I was able to band-aid things here and there in Codorus State Park but lately a complete overhaul seemed to be in order.  I hated to just retire all of his boxes. They were along a great stretch of trail, in a beautiful park, and I wanted to salvage what I could. So I came up with a plan and enlisted some help. 

An original Pappa Bear box in need of repair

My local hiking pal, Blue Delft, makes beautiful logbooks. She eagerly agreed to help out. Several boxers, even a few not from our area, stepped up to help too by carving some wonderful images.  Thanks Chunna, turkeyfeathers, Bungalow Boxer, and Janila!

Finally,  the plan was in place and Blue Delft set out with me to salvage what we could while weaving a tribute to Pappa Bear around his trail and clues, trying to stay true to his theme, original clues, trail, and carvings. 

Looking stunning in our blaze orange

Blue Delft did an amazing job with the logbooks.  Just wait until you see what she did with the logbook at the Thanks box.  Such a nice tribute.

I ended up retiring the I'm Hungry When Camping series and salvaging the Camp Coffee stamp.  With a new logbook, box, and location, I listed it along with the new series.  I know that this isn't technically correct since the carving already existed under a different listing but it seemed like the simplest and most logical way to do it.  

A final word to Pappa Bear: Thanks for the inspiration and entertainment you have provided to all of us central PA boxers over the years.  We hope that someday you can come back to visit, camp, and experience the tribute. We give thanks to you!  A surprise that's appropriate for this Thanksgiving 2013!  Enjoy!

No Luck in Lancaster

One of my kids had day camp at Millersville University so I decided to seek out the highly recommended (and anticipated) Safari Man attractions while I had a few hours to kill.  I found the cemetery with no problem and located the Viet Nam Memorial immediately.

But then things weren't so easy....

I followed the clues but it was obvious that some major pruning and landscaping work had been done very recently.  There was a finder just 10 days ago.  Unfortunately for me, looks like I just missed it.

The box must've gone missing with all of the recent landscaping.

I quickly texted Blue Delft who confirmed along with her partner in crime, idlemoon, that they remembered the box being hidden under some large arborvitae type of bushes.  Now only two small bushes remain at the back of the circle around the memorial.

Bummer.  I heard it was superb.






And between that, the fresh grave a worker had just begun to dig, the creepiness of being (kind of) alone in a very large graveyard, and the promise of stinging nettles and poison ivy guarding the other boxes, I decided to move on.

I'll be back in the off season to catch up to the ones I passed on today.

Thanks for planting, Safari Man.

Here's a 2008 photo I found of the memorial from online.
 I can see many other bushes that are no longer there.

The adventure was an interesting one none-the-less!  

Rail Trail

The natives needed some physical activity so we headed to the rail trail.  We usually head south when we ride so this time we decided to change things up and headed north.  We took a quick pit stop and I rummaged through the woods to find Breakwater, Grrrr!  We were very disappointed to come up short on the banana.  Maybe someone did steal it.

We were concerned about all of the sounds of gunshots, especially when we saw what we assumed to be a hunter's truck parked there, reminiscent of the thwarted unusual cape characters hike.

But shortly we saw a man come by with his dog.  When we asked him about the gunshots he explained that a firing range was nearby.

Retirement for Pappa Bear's Dutch Oven

I have decided to retire Pappa Bear's Dutch Oven.  I got a note from a finder, 3BOYS4DOGS that yesterday they found the box destroyed and two torn ziploc bags in the vicinity but no logbook or stamp.

It makes me sad to retire such a great box but it seems like the right thing to do under the circumstances.  Pappa Bear's stamps really are neat.  His Woody was my very first find and holds such a special place in my heart.  Many of his are hidden in the beautiful Codorus State Park.  Check 'em out while they're still there!

The End

On our way to Ptown for some Black Friday finds, we stopped to find the End of Days.  Again, I didn't have much time to search so we ran the clues a couple of times, coming up empty each time.  There has been a lot of clearing in the area.  I have to say that as we draw nearer to that end date of 12/21/12 the adventure seems more and more interesting.  

The Rebel Base

The Caped Coder, Mip, Zip, Hot Lava, and I went to find the Rebel Base at our favorite place, Nixon Park.  We found Luke Skywalker but Darth Vader had apparently been abducted.

I was lucky enough to find a Woozy, though.  Beware!

Penniman and Fort Hill

We began our day's adventure at the Penniman House in Eastham.  Cool place to walk around and check out.  From there we set out to see the sights of the Fort Hill Trail, exploring and avoiding poison ivy.  We loved the views from Skiff Hill and the Indian Rock was pretty cool too.  Unfortunately, the "old" adventure eluded us but we enjoyed the poem and the trek anyway.

After Easter brunch

After Easter brunch, we needed a break so off to yet another cemetery we did go.  This time we met Betsey and learned about her hobby.

From there we headed over to Ridgevale Beach where we were not successful.


Then the Caped Coder wanted to check out the lighthouse.  Unfortunately, the whole area around the memorial rock has been recently landscaped.

Thwarted

This morning Hydeezmom and I set out for a little shopping and boxing.  We hit two of my favorite places, the PB Boulangerie in Wellfleet and the Atlantic Spice Company in Truro.  I highly recommend both places.  Perhaps I should've had a clue when the Boulangerie sold out of what we came for when the people right behind us ordered and their waiter was quicker to fill their order than our waiter filled ours.  Didn't seem right since we were in line first but c'est la vie, I guess.  Anyway, we stopped by the Truro Vineyards only to find new landscaping and new construction going on in the area of the box.  Darn.

On our way back we swung by Uncle Tim's Bridge in hopes of catching the butterfly but the road was closed off, people were everywhere, and there seemed to be an egg hunt going on.

Not a good letterboxing start to the day...

Missing Tile

I absolutely love Krap Ytnuoc Noxin. It is one of the best little gems that York has to offer, IMHO.  I gathered up a car-full and headed over to enjoy the beautiful day. I wanted to check out a tile that promised to be awesome. We struggled a bit to find the tree with the baby tree growing out of it.  Seems like a weird thing, why would a tree have another tree growing out of it?  But when we saw it we knew. 

I've had compass problems in the past (aka operator error - sometimes I do better without relying on that thing) so I checked a 9 step radius around the tree with the baby tree.  No luck.  We did find this cool tree with a metal "tongue" sticking out like it was mocking me.  Ha!  We headed back empty handed but thoroughly enjoyed the walk. 

I heard later that the box was missing after all.  Bummer.  I hope Blue Delft replaces it.

Missing: The Cure for Scurvey

I just got a message from Little Louie that the Cure for Scurvey's stamp is separated from its logbook and is missing. 

Apparently, it was last seen in West Virginia where it was picked up at a rest stop.  LL said that the logbook was wet in a baggie but the box it was in was not wet.  Strange...

Any information on the whereabouts of the stamp would be appreciated. Many thanks!  And shout out thanks to Little Louie for contacting me!

No Apple Pie in the Dutch Oven today

From the Nut we headed over to the Dutch Oven, also in Codorus State Park.  The box was hidden in the best hidey hole.  And there was the cutest little toad hopping all around. I was afraid that I was going to step on him.  But he hopped up behind the bark of the hidey hole tree for safety.  I tried to get a picture of him but he was too fast.

As recent finders had been reporting, the stamp from the Dutch Oven was missing.  I looked all around the area thinking that maybe it was among the leaves and bark but I was not able to find it.  I've decided to keep the Dutch Oven active even though it is missing its stamp.  Hopefully between Pappa Bear and myself, we can get a replacement there soon. 

From the Dutch Oven, we went to find the Apple Pie but I looked all around and it is definitely missing.