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Two Friends LbNA #10340

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 22, 2004
Location:
City:Neptune
County:Monmouth
State:New Jersey
Boxes:1
Planted by:JerseyGirls4Life
Found by: Arf!
Last found:Oct 7, 2013
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFaFFaa
Last edited:Aug 22, 2004
(This box has been adopted by JerseyGirls4life we altered the instructions because the terrain has changed significantly since this clue was originally written) but tried to change the clues as little as possible to retain the spirit of the box) This is a hand carved linoleum block have fun finding it.

This letterbox recalls one of my first "independent" walks through Shark River Park. When I was 5 years old, my pal, Pete, and I gained permission to hike into the woods adjacent to our neighborhood and have lunch on the trail -- by ourselves! We felt like big adventurers, even though we were only about 150 yds. from Pete's house (as the crow flies). A very old, craggy oak along the trail was our destination, and that is true for this letterbox hunt as well.
To get to Shark River Park:
State Hwy. 18 to Exit 8 (Rt. 33 west to Schoolhouse Rd.) Turn left onto Schoolhouse Rd. Follow to Park.

· Garden State Parkway to exit 100 (Hwy. 33 east). Continue on Hwy. 33 to Schoolhouse Rd. Turn right onto Schoolhouse Rd. Follow to Park.

· State Hwy. 35 to Hwy. 33 west to Schoolhouse Rd. Turn left onto Schoolhouse Rd. Follow to Park.

Start at the ranger's cabin in Shark River Park. Follow the Green Trail, which is known as the Bridge Loop, away from the cabin. Cross over the Shark River using the foot bridge and proceed up the hill, do not turn left to follow trail maker. At the top of the hill you will head into the woods and you will find yourself at a fork, go left. (the direction on your compass will be north), At next fork go straight. Your direction is consistently north and you will parallel a small creek on your right (to the east). Continue on this footpath for about 10 minutes. When you see a large oak off to the left of the trail, you're almost there. This oak sits along a forgotten path, but do not take that branch of the trail. Continue north for another 40 yds. or so and you will see the remnants of a swampy area. (This area looks like a giant circle of fallen logs) Walk through the circle and you will pickup another faint trail at the back.(this is a westward jog in the trail). Up ahead, the path will become clearer, so keep walking back towards the creek and Route 33 (northeast). When you pass a giant hole in the ground your almost there. (probably one of the forts he talks about)
Note that there is some brush here so that you might have to side-step a small tree or bush in the process, but the terrain is not difficult.

You will notice that there are numerous trees in this area that have trunks with two or three trees growing out of them, but four is fairly unusual.
The letterbox is under some leaves in the trunk at the center of the four trees. Please re-cover when finished.
I hope you enjoy this very modest walk (30-40 minutes, round-trip). I certainly liked traveling back in time to the place where I spent many, many hours of my youth, playing all sorts of adventure games. By the way, if you want a bit more of a hunt, try to find the "earthworks" of an underground fort that my friends and I built about 25 years ago. From where the oak tree on the trail is, look northeast and you will see a mostly dry creek bed. Cross this and look on the other side, and you will see a two-chambered hole. We used to dig these forts, cover them with ply wood, and then dirt. We'd line the rooms with ferns and leaves and bring candles in there for our secret meetings -- not too smart. Fortunately, the park rangers would always find us out pretty quickly and cart off the wood -- no roof, no underground fort.
Happy hunting, and I'd love to hear from you!
Tony C. (adopted by JerseyGirls4life)