Sign Up  /  Login

Lightening My Load LbNA #16996

Owner:the lazy letterboxer
Plant date:Jul 30, 2005
Location:
City:Athol
County:Worcester
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:7
Found by: Nairon (7)
Last found:Jun 25, 2020
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jul 30, 2005
Lightening My Load Letterbox Series

Bearsden Conservation Area
Athol, MA

To get to Bearsden: From Rte 2A in Athol look for Bearsden Rd., almost directly across from Athol Hospital. There is a big sign at the beginning of the road for the conservation area. It states that the conservation area is 2 miles but actually it is 1.6 miles. At about 1 mile you must make a right turn to stay on Bearsden Road.
Look at the trail map before setting out, you will be taking the main trail, turning left to get to Sheep Rock, from there to the Duck Pond and then back to main trail.

As always, please oh please rehide carefully.

On a very warm day I decided to plant a letterbox at the Duck Pond at Bearsden Conservation Area. I told the letterboxing ham that it was dedicated to our fellow Bakers Dozen member, Rubaduc. She certainly made quite an impression on the Dartmoor letterboxers!
Well, we started off and, like I said, it was a very warm day. Not long into our hike I decided to take a rest and leaned against a large rock that was on the left side of the trail in front of the first of several downed trees with a log in front of it, just before the trail bends to the left. At that point I decided to leave my sunglasses there because I didn’t need them and didn’t feel like carrying them, did I mention that I’m lazy? I hid them behind and under the rock so I could pick them up on the way out.
We kept on walking and saw a trail that went off the main trail to the right. It looked shady so we took it but guess what, it was an uphill trail. After about 65 steps we decided to turn around and go back. I had taken my favorite letterboxing hat off and I think I left it behind a rock that was on the right side of the trail before we turned back. You’ll know you’re in the correct spot if you see a sawed off trunk directly opposite the rock on the left side of the trail.
Now, you walked back to the main trail, right? We kept on walking and then came to a juncture where a trail goes off to the left. There was a wooden bench there and I sat down and decided it was time to get rid of some of the stuff I was carrying in my backpack, did I mention I’m a packrat also? Well anyway, I looked in my backpack and decided to leave the gingerbread man doll that I carry in case I run into bored looking kids. Did I mention that I can’t stand the sight of a bored looking kid? There was a big rock there on the side of the bench so I left the doll there, with the intention of picking it up on the way out, of course.
We kept on going and then came to a picnic area on the left. My backpack still felt pretty heavy so I decided to see what else I could leave behind. Oh, there’s the old-fashioned alarm clock that I carry in case I need to get out of the woods at a certain time, not only does that thing tick loudly, those bells ring really loud too. Well, I didn’t have any super important meetings to get to that day, so I entered the picnic area and looked left and saw a birch tree hugging a hemlock tree. Behind them a few steps away there was a small ledge at ground level that just seemed to be the perfect place to leave an alarm clock in the woods, did I mention I’m illogical?
We kept on walking and finally came to the Deep Cut. If you checked out the trail map at the beginning you probably saw the pictures of the Deep Cut, pretty cool huh? Well we walked through that and came to the sign that pointed left to Sheep Rock. I could tell that was another uphill walk so I decided to get rid of something else. I climbed up behind the sign and found the perfect hiding spot in the rocks. I reached in my backpack and pulled out my Magic 8 Ball. Now, if you’re like me you always carry a Magic 8 Ball in case you come upon a situation where you need to make a decision fast….like, should I take this trail? Check with the Magic 8 Ball and it will give you the answer you seek, like “all signs point to YES”. I figure I didn’t need it at today so I left it in a cubbyhole protected by a white rock.
I figured we might as well check out Sheep Rock, did I mention I'm an animal lover? We walked the path up the hill. When we got to Sheep Rock there was an observation tower which I avoided, did I mention I’m clumsy? Looking around at ground level I saw rocks everywhere. At 280 degrees I saw a rock that I thought would be perfect for hiding my lucky 4 leaf clover paperweight that I carry in case it’s windy. Don’t want my clues flying around while I’m stamping in. So I walked about 16 steps over to it, climbed down and hid the paperweight there under the end of that pointy rock.
I noticed that I could get to the Duck Pond from there so I decided to take that yellow blazed trail. Boy, was I glad I carried my walking stick, that trail is a very steep downhill walk. I would not advise anyone to try it if conditions are icy. We finally got to the bottom and there was the Duck Pond. Just perfect for hiding the box. We turned right and walked about 50 steps when we noticed an interesting looking stump on the right side of the trail. We hid the box there and chuckled thinking of all the fun we had in England with Rubaduc.
We kept on walking on the trail and came to a point where a trail joined in on the right, we took that and walked until we reached another trail crossing and once again went right. We knew we were headed in the right direction (no pun intended) because the trail led us on an uphill walk until we reached the point on the main trail where we turned left to get to Sheep Rock. We walked out the way we came but I was so tired that I forget to collect all the stuff I left along the way. Oh well………………..