Bikini Bottom in Buffam Falls LbNA #10937
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Sep 4, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Pelham |
| County: | Hampshire |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 5 |
| Planted by: | The L Troop  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | thewalrus (4) |
| Last found: | Oct 5, 2020 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Sep 4, 2004 |
Bikini Bottom in Buffam Falls Letterbox Series (5)
Pelham, MA (Hampshire County)
Location: Buffam Conservation Area, Pelham, MA
Date Placed: 9/4/04, by The L Troop
Time: 1 – 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy, with some short sections of moderately steep trail. Some vagueness in the clues, though :)
Directions to Starting Location: From the center of Amherst, take Main St. east, cross the traffic lights at North East St., continue into Pelham. About .5 miles past the Pelham Elementary School , take a left onto North Valley Rd. Drive .5 miles to the parking area underneath the power lines on the left.
Clues: Time for some nautical nonsense! The trailhead is about 270 paces up the road, opposite a white house. You should see some white blazes, denoting the Metacomet-Monadnock (M&M) Trail. Head down the trail and immediately cross a bridge over Buffam Brook. Take a right, following the M&M trail along the falls. When the M&M trail goes left “uphill”, go straight down the steps onto the “peninsula”. Follow this unmarked trail until you are at the confluence of Buffam Brook (on the right) and Harris Brook (on the left), forming Amethyst Brook. Do you hear the clarinet music? Take a reading of 165 degrees magnetic on your compass, and head in that direction. You should find the source of the music on the far side of a large boulder at the top of the hill.
Return back to the steps, bear right onto the M&M trail (white blazes). Harris Brook will be on your right . At a small dip in the trail, where several trees have crashed into the brook, start counting paces. When you reach 30, there should be a flat rock to your left. Argh! Take a look under the closest side, mate (and be discrete!)! Take care when rehiding....keep it to the back and left.
Continue along the M&M Trail. Eventually, it climbs out of the ravine to the left. At a junction with a blue-blazed trail, bear right, staying on the M&M trail. At an old woods road that doubles as a stream bed, the M&M takes a right downhill, and then left before the brook. After another stretch along the Harris Brook,
the trail heads up and out of the ravine to the left again, away from a dam and reservoir (both of which are off-limits to hikers, according to the signs)...watch the blazes. Cross the remains of a stone wall, and then follow the M&M to the right. Cross a second stone wall. Before the third wall crossing, stop and take 10-12 paces along the wall to the right. You might find somebody who likes living under rocks in the vicinity.
Turn around, and retrace your steps along the M&M until you reach the old woods road/streambed mentioned above. Head uphill, but stop where the M&M leaves the road/streambed to the left. Go right on the trail *through* the stone wall, and follow the “slime” 10 paces left along the wall to the obvious hiding spots.
Afterwards, return to the woods road/streambed and head uphill along it . Soon, it turns into a more passable, level trail. Note that the same wall you just explored is still on your right. Soon, notice a large, two-trunked maple tree growing out of the wall. About 30 yards past this, there is a large pine tree that is also on or near the wall. As you approach the far side of said tree, you may detect the scent of pineapples.
A couple of options to get back to the road:
1. You can retrace your steps back down to the woods road and take a right on the white-blazed M&M Trail. You can stay on the M&M, or take the blue-blazed trail. Either will bring you back down to the steps near the confluence of the brooks (where the music was). At that point, you can follow the M&M trail uphill along Buffam Falls back up to the bridge.
2. On the trail adjacent to the pine tree, go about 65 paces further along . There should be a trail coming in on the left. (You might notice some faint yellow blazes in the area, but I do not believe these trails are maintained...they seemed in good shape, though). Take this trail on the left, and keep left at the next trail junction. You will en up at the bridge over Buffam Brook that you crossed when you started.
Pelham, MA (Hampshire County)
Location: Buffam Conservation Area, Pelham, MA
Date Placed: 9/4/04, by The L Troop
Time: 1 – 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy, with some short sections of moderately steep trail. Some vagueness in the clues, though :)
Directions to Starting Location: From the center of Amherst, take Main St. east, cross the traffic lights at North East St., continue into Pelham. About .5 miles past the Pelham Elementary School , take a left onto North Valley Rd. Drive .5 miles to the parking area underneath the power lines on the left.
Clues: Time for some nautical nonsense! The trailhead is about 270 paces up the road, opposite a white house. You should see some white blazes, denoting the Metacomet-Monadnock (M&M) Trail. Head down the trail and immediately cross a bridge over Buffam Brook. Take a right, following the M&M trail along the falls. When the M&M trail goes left “uphill”, go straight down the steps onto the “peninsula”. Follow this unmarked trail until you are at the confluence of Buffam Brook (on the right) and Harris Brook (on the left), forming Amethyst Brook. Do you hear the clarinet music? Take a reading of 165 degrees magnetic on your compass, and head in that direction. You should find the source of the music on the far side of a large boulder at the top of the hill.
Return back to the steps, bear right onto the M&M trail (white blazes). Harris Brook will be on your right . At a small dip in the trail, where several trees have crashed into the brook, start counting paces. When you reach 30, there should be a flat rock to your left. Argh! Take a look under the closest side, mate (and be discrete!)! Take care when rehiding....keep it to the back and left.
Continue along the M&M Trail. Eventually, it climbs out of the ravine to the left. At a junction with a blue-blazed trail, bear right, staying on the M&M trail. At an old woods road that doubles as a stream bed, the M&M takes a right downhill, and then left before the brook. After another stretch along the Harris Brook,
the trail heads up and out of the ravine to the left again, away from a dam and reservoir (both of which are off-limits to hikers, according to the signs)...watch the blazes. Cross the remains of a stone wall, and then follow the M&M to the right. Cross a second stone wall. Before the third wall crossing, stop and take 10-12 paces along the wall to the right. You might find somebody who likes living under rocks in the vicinity.
Turn around, and retrace your steps along the M&M until you reach the old woods road/streambed mentioned above. Head uphill, but stop where the M&M leaves the road/streambed to the left. Go right on the trail *through* the stone wall, and follow the “slime” 10 paces left along the wall to the obvious hiding spots.
Afterwards, return to the woods road/streambed and head uphill along it . Soon, it turns into a more passable, level trail. Note that the same wall you just explored is still on your right. Soon, notice a large, two-trunked maple tree growing out of the wall. About 30 yards past this, there is a large pine tree that is also on or near the wall. As you approach the far side of said tree, you may detect the scent of pineapples.
A couple of options to get back to the road:
1. You can retrace your steps back down to the woods road and take a right on the white-blazed M&M Trail. You can stay on the M&M, or take the blue-blazed trail. Either will bring you back down to the steps near the confluence of the brooks (where the music was). At that point, you can follow the M&M trail uphill along Buffam Falls back up to the bridge.
2. On the trail adjacent to the pine tree, go about 65 paces further along . There should be a trail coming in on the left. (You might notice some faint yellow blazes in the area, but I do not believe these trails are maintained...they seemed in good shape, though). Take this trail on the left, and keep left at the next trail junction. You will en up at the bridge over Buffam Brook that you crossed when you started.