Wyvern's Weekend
This past weekend, (07/15-16/06), I went letterboxing with jackbear from Rochester who was up for a visit. We did a couple on Sat. AM then on Sunday AM we added LOSTGIRL and Cocoacuckoo into the mix and did a few more. Though, they were all boxes I had planted, I had a great time supervising and holding my hints and comments in check!
On Sat. AM, we were supposed to be at a scrapbook workshop/picnic at 10:00 AM so jackbear and I went out early to get him a few boxes. But the first one took a little longer than expected since we took our time with it. That wasn't a bad thing, though. Sometimes I get so into "how many" I can get in an area that I forget to really sit down and enjoy the one I'm at. It was nice to have that refresher course in "how you really should letterbox". Then, we went after "A Picture is Worth A Lot of Words". By that time, it was 9:20 and it was a mile in and a mile out. We booked. I also knew there was a bonus box on this one and that would take some time, too. But I hoped our sister (who was having the scrapbook picnic) wouldn't be too upset. She told me before we left, "Watch the time!"
But jackbear found the box without difficulty and enjoyed the picture clues that got him there. I admit that you have to make a few assumptions with the pictures and in spots, there can be a length of hiking between the photos, but I don't think it's too much to ask of a good letterboxer. On the way out, we were still rushing, but took the time to find the bonus box, Bones of Stone. I found out just how vague my clues seemed to be on that one but we were also rushing and hurrying, so jackbear didn't really have the time to consider all the hints and clues and possible locations. I gave him a little nudge but he would have looked there anyway...and we couldn't wait. As he stamped in, it was 10 AM. We're going to be late!
Thank goodness everybody was late to this scrapbook picnic and our sister wasn't too upset. It was so hot that we decided to sit and scrapbook the afternoon away rather than go after more boxes. And we managed to con, Cocoacuckoo, into joining us on Sunday AM.
So, in case, you're confused at this point, I'm Wyvern. My letterboxing brother is jackbear and my letterboxing sister is LOSTGIRL. We recently got my other sister involved with letterboxing and she is going under the name Cocoacuckoo (I'm not even sure if I'm spelling that right). We're trying to gradually work Cocoacuckoo up to some longer hikes. Right now, she's at drive-by level. So when we told her we were boxing on Sunday morning (when it would be cooler) and they were all a drive-by, she agreed to join us. I was so excited!
So Sunday AM, we piled into a car and went out. We did what I like to call the 56 Route. We went up to the reservoirs in South Colton to find Rainbow Butterflies first. Jackbear drove us right to it without much problem. Everybody got a laugh out of me crossing the creek. I slipped on the middle rock and my right shoe hit the water with a loud splash followed by, I'm sure, a curse word. But fortunately, I had my hikers on and they're fairly waterproof. I didn't even get my socks wet. They all thought it was funny since I planted the box and couldn't even get across the creek.
After that, we got back on the road to do Wyvern's Wyrm at Haystack Rock. That too was fairly easy though the grass and weeds near the rock were quite overgrown with some pricker bushes mixed in them. LOSTGIRL and I decided to watch the road for traffic and I held my camera up once in awhile to make it look like I was taking some photos of the big rock. Jackbear and Cocoacuckoo braved the prickers and weeds to get the box. Then, they went back to the car and stamped in. I was amazed once again at the rock and how much it has changed and yet not changed. The graffitti on this trip included a lovely series of herons taking to the air.
Back in the car, we headed further up the road to find a place to plant jackbear's Adirondack Letter. That was a bit more of a hike but we all made it and Cocoacuckoo did okay for a hilly, rooty trail.
Then, we were off to the stop for Wyvern's Dice. This letterbox is a little more mysterious than the others. You can do a little research and it might make the search a little easier but it's not that tough either way. We stopped and checked it all out. Though we hardly had to walk any farther than 10 feet from the car, it took longer to find this box than the others. They weren't quite sure what they were looking for, and I think that through them off some. But LOSTGIRL's sharp eyes finally caught a likely spot and she pulled it out of its hiding place. Everyone stamped in and played the game in the car. Cocoacuckoo discovered that you could use the small empty box to roll the dice in, just like Boggle. I had never even thought of that! But she didn't roll well and all their scores are posted in with the clue. They had fun using jackbear's markers to make each face of the die a different color.
So we had a fun letterboxing day and though I didn't score any finds, I had a great time helping. Watching how other people box (even if they're family) gives you a new perpective on how your clues are interpreted, and how many different possiblities of hiding places there really are in a "spot". It has refreshed some of the ideas I had been stuck on and now the next time we go boxing, there will be even more to do!
On Sat. AM, we were supposed to be at a scrapbook workshop/picnic at 10:00 AM so jackbear and I went out early to get him a few boxes. But the first one took a little longer than expected since we took our time with it. That wasn't a bad thing, though. Sometimes I get so into "how many" I can get in an area that I forget to really sit down and enjoy the one I'm at. It was nice to have that refresher course in "how you really should letterbox". Then, we went after "A Picture is Worth A Lot of Words". By that time, it was 9:20 and it was a mile in and a mile out. We booked. I also knew there was a bonus box on this one and that would take some time, too. But I hoped our sister (who was having the scrapbook picnic) wouldn't be too upset. She told me before we left, "Watch the time!"
But jackbear found the box without difficulty and enjoyed the picture clues that got him there. I admit that you have to make a few assumptions with the pictures and in spots, there can be a length of hiking between the photos, but I don't think it's too much to ask of a good letterboxer. On the way out, we were still rushing, but took the time to find the bonus box, Bones of Stone. I found out just how vague my clues seemed to be on that one but we were also rushing and hurrying, so jackbear didn't really have the time to consider all the hints and clues and possible locations. I gave him a little nudge but he would have looked there anyway...and we couldn't wait. As he stamped in, it was 10 AM. We're going to be late!
Thank goodness everybody was late to this scrapbook picnic and our sister wasn't too upset. It was so hot that we decided to sit and scrapbook the afternoon away rather than go after more boxes. And we managed to con, Cocoacuckoo, into joining us on Sunday AM.
So, in case, you're confused at this point, I'm Wyvern. My letterboxing brother is jackbear and my letterboxing sister is LOSTGIRL. We recently got my other sister involved with letterboxing and she is going under the name Cocoacuckoo (I'm not even sure if I'm spelling that right). We're trying to gradually work Cocoacuckoo up to some longer hikes. Right now, she's at drive-by level. So when we told her we were boxing on Sunday morning (when it would be cooler) and they were all a drive-by, she agreed to join us. I was so excited!
So Sunday AM, we piled into a car and went out. We did what I like to call the 56 Route. We went up to the reservoirs in South Colton to find Rainbow Butterflies first. Jackbear drove us right to it without much problem. Everybody got a laugh out of me crossing the creek. I slipped on the middle rock and my right shoe hit the water with a loud splash followed by, I'm sure, a curse word. But fortunately, I had my hikers on and they're fairly waterproof. I didn't even get my socks wet. They all thought it was funny since I planted the box and couldn't even get across the creek.
After that, we got back on the road to do Wyvern's Wyrm at Haystack Rock. That too was fairly easy though the grass and weeds near the rock were quite overgrown with some pricker bushes mixed in them. LOSTGIRL and I decided to watch the road for traffic and I held my camera up once in awhile to make it look like I was taking some photos of the big rock. Jackbear and Cocoacuckoo braved the prickers and weeds to get the box. Then, they went back to the car and stamped in. I was amazed once again at the rock and how much it has changed and yet not changed. The graffitti on this trip included a lovely series of herons taking to the air.
Back in the car, we headed further up the road to find a place to plant jackbear's Adirondack Letter. That was a bit more of a hike but we all made it and Cocoacuckoo did okay for a hilly, rooty trail.
Then, we were off to the stop for Wyvern's Dice. This letterbox is a little more mysterious than the others. You can do a little research and it might make the search a little easier but it's not that tough either way. We stopped and checked it all out. Though we hardly had to walk any farther than 10 feet from the car, it took longer to find this box than the others. They weren't quite sure what they were looking for, and I think that through them off some. But LOSTGIRL's sharp eyes finally caught a likely spot and she pulled it out of its hiding place. Everyone stamped in and played the game in the car. Cocoacuckoo discovered that you could use the small empty box to roll the dice in, just like Boggle. I had never even thought of that! But she didn't roll well and all their scores are posted in with the clue. They had fun using jackbear's markers to make each face of the die a different color.
So we had a fun letterboxing day and though I didn't score any finds, I had a great time helping. Watching how other people box (even if they're family) gives you a new perpective on how your clues are interpreted, and how many different possiblities of hiding places there really are in a "spot". It has refreshed some of the ideas I had been stuck on and now the next time we go boxing, there will be even more to do!
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