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Rocky (Tracking Series) ***RETIRED LbNA #14849 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:trailtracker
Plant date:May 1, 2005
Location:
City:Logan
County:Hocking
State:Ohio
Boxes:1
Found by: snuggNcudd
Last found:Jul 31, 2007
Status:FFFFFFFFFaFa
Last edited:May 1, 2005
Location: Hocking Hills State Forest
Bring: pen or pencil, compass, water and stamp pad
Difficulty: This is a tougher letterbox. The path, the climb and the compass work will be a little more difficult than most hunts. The trail is rugged, rocky and you will feel it, but the view is WORTH it and you will feel like a mountain goat when you are done!!!
Time: This will take you longer than many letterboxes. I'm guessing an hour if you stop and look at all.
One pace = two steps

One of my other passions in life is to study animal tracking. It seems to be unending in the small details that can tell so much. Each letterbox in this series will hopefully share at least one bit of new information. If you collect these tracks, take time to compare them and you will learn from simply that.

Rocky Mountain Goat
Remember in "The Sound of Music" where the Captain's children put on the marionette show for the Baroness? Those were Rocky Mountain Goats that were dancing around on stage. We used to have the animals in the Hocking area at one time and they loved to climb on the rocks. These white true mountaineers could withstand bitter, gusty winters like we had this past year on high peaks. One advantage they have is their hooves. They are often called "rubber heels" and what is interesting is that they actually have 4 hooves on each foot but only two register. That means that only two show in their track. Their rubber heels almost serve as suction cups which allow them to climb and stand on peaks with confidence. When these guys got frustrated with insects bothering them, they would roll around in the dust and sand. The marks this would have left on the ground would have been another indicator if you were tracking these rocky mountain goats!

Locate and park in the small gravel parking lot designated for the rockclimbing and rappelling area. To find this, locate Conkles Hollow which is on Big Pine Road and very near the intersection of Big Pine Road and St. Rt. 374. The gravel parking lot you are looking for is .7 miles northeast of the Conkles Hollow parking lot and it is on the north side of the road. (Additional note: there are no facilities at this area. There are, however at Conkles Hollow.)

Clues
*Begin at the registration kiosk in the parking lot.
*Cross the street and cross the footbridge.
*Turn left immediately after the bridge.
*Go through a 45* left hand turn in the path where there is a fence corner and a pile of rocks.
*See a cabin on your left.
*From this cabin count approx. 50 paces and on your right you should see a huge boulder in the shape of a triangle of sorts.
*Climb up and around the left of this boulder and look for another smaller rock/boulder behind it. See that patch of lighter white-ish urchins growing on the pointed tip? Turn and stand so that this spot is right behind you.
*Go 30 paces to a large boulder with moss on the low or N side. Climb to the high side of this boulder.
*If you look up and between two trees you should see a standing 12-ft tree trunk. Use that as your mark but stop at only 10 paces. That should put you right on a trail. Stop on that trail.
*Go right along that trail for 7 paces to a tree with a hollow trunk at the bottom.
*Go 12 paces at 230* to a double-trunked beech tree.
*Go 17 additional paces at 230* to a huge tree with a hollow trunk large enough to fit a 3-year old child inside?!
*Stand with back to hollow and look straight up (170*) to see a larger tree with a smaller one beside it on top of this massive rock formation. Up on top of that rock formation is an old stump that has a hole in the center and is very worn from many people using this as a seat. You need to climb up to the top of this rock formation and have a seat.
*From your sitting position you should be looking at yet another rock formation up the hill which has these massive roots wrapped around the boulder. Go 8 paces at 170*.
*Look to your left. On the ground leaning up against the boulder and a large root is a triangular moss-covered rock. Behind there, Rocky is hiding. Please be descrete and rehide well.

One final note: This letterbox is placed off the same trail as Safari Man's Trail Rider box and is after his. After this box, if you continue along the original trail, you can find Poppin' Fresh! There are additional letterboxes in this section of Hocking Hills as well. (Cliff Hanger-which is the second one included with Trail Rider; Belay On!; Carabiner; and Ram-Touch is off Long Hollow Trail from the back of the parking lot.)