Furry as in Freedom LbNA #19039 (ARCHIVED)
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Oct 31, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Apex |
| County: | Chatham |
| State: | North Carolina |
| Boxes: | 7 |
| Planted by: | n1101010  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | turtlelove (7) |
| Last found: | May 20, 2007 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Oct 31, 2005 |
Update History:
2006/01/21: All boxes back in place. Tree thinning not as imminent as i thought. More word on this as it unfolds. Clue update on box 4.
2006/01/13:
********* IMPORTANT Notice ********
- Friday the 13th indeed! Boxes 1-4 have been pulled due to impending tree-cutting (from the blazes it looks a little more drastic than "thinning"). After the operation is over i will evaluate whether to rehide or completely relocate.
- Boxes 5-7 should be fine, but for 2 months starting around Feb 1 the parking lot will most likely be blocked off and used as the tree processing and loading area.
2006/01/11:
- A finder informs me there will be tree-thinning in the area. Box 1 will probably have to be moved. Also, it may be difficult to tell the blue-blazed tree in box 4 for all the thinning marks, but you should still be able to find the rest of the landmarks. Some of the other boxes may also need to be taken out of commission temporarily. I'll hopefully survey this weekend and provide an update.
- Added parenthetical alternate degree bearings in some clues due to finder feedback.
2005/11/20:
- Box 6 Clue updated due to first finder feedback.
- Interpretive trail maps should now be available in the box at the fork in the trail.
Scanned PDF is here.
This 7-box series celebrates the animal mascots of various Open Source software projects. At first it might seem odd for a software project to have a mascot, but these projects inspire a devotion and enthusiasm in their development and user communities to rival that of the players and fans of any sports team. Unlike with sports, though, on Open Source Software projects there is no clear line between player and fan (developer/contributor and user). In fact, the team almost always has positions open that can be filled by any member of the fan base. These could range from just using the product and reporting bugs to writing documentation, to actually fixing bugs in the code or adding new features. The developers and users are all part of one community and working toward the common goal of a usable product. The mascot serves not only as a brand for the product, but also, similar to sports mascots, as a representation of common identity for the community.
The boxes are hidden along the ~1.5 mile loop trail in the Indian Creek Wildlife Observation Area near Jordan Lake. This area is jointly managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NC Wildlife Resource Commission, and the New Hope Audubon Society. In the middle of the loop is an observation platform looking out over the lake. From this platform many birds can be observed, including bald eagles. The area is technically on NC Gamelands, so blaze orange should be worn during hunting seasons (hunting season info available at http://www.ncwildlife.org under "Hunting/Trapping"). Practically, though, the area gets enough traffic as a recreation area that hunters should not be a factor.
*NOTE* To reach a few of these boxes, you will need to leave the trail and pass through some moderate undergrowth which may include poison ivy and briers. Nothing worthy of a machete, but i recommend long pants.
The parking area for Indian Creek is on NC Highway 751, ~6.5 miles north of Highway 64, ~4.25 miles south of Fayetteville Road, and just north of the intersection with New Hope Church Road. Look for the brown "binoculars" sign and turn West into the otherwise unmarked gravel drive. The parking area is quite large and you should see a bulletin board near the southwest corner.
Box #1: The Busy Builder
Start at the trailhead by the bulletin board and continue to the fork with the map holder. It should now be stocked with interpretive maps. If there are no maps, please "contact the placer" and let me know. Take the fork to the right. Pretty soon you will skirt a large depression in the middle of the trail and immediately following this will find the #1 marker for the interpretive maps. From the #1 post, continue down the trail about 39 steps to a large pine tree not far off the trail on the left. On a bearing of about 210 degrees and 10-15 feet from this pine tree is a cluster of sweet gum trees. Box #1 is hiding in one of the holes in this cluster. It is covered in leaves. Please cover with leaves again when rehiding.
Box #2: The Prowling Provider
Continue down the trail to interpretive marker #2. From this marker, enter the brush at approximately 20 degrees for approximately 20 steps (in reality there is a slight trail so this will not be a straight vector), past a blackened tree on the right, until you are standing on a flat arrow-shaped stone. The arrow of the stone points roughly 30 degrees past a mound and toward another blackened pine tree. The box is hiding under some bricks on the side of the mound at a bearing of due north from the arrow-shaped stone. From the treasure to the second large, blackened pine tree it is approximately 100 (at least one finder has said 90) degrees compass bearing. Please be sure to cover the box back with bricks and sprinkle the bricks with some pine needles, etc.
Box #3: The Crimson Communicator
Pause at marker #4 and sight 145 degrees past a double, leaning river birch to a cluster of beech trees. From this angle there appears to be nothing extraordinary about the beech trees, but as you approach them (carefully!) across the undergrowth and work your way behind them from the right, you will notice their unique beauty. Hidden in the roots, at the SE end of this formation is box #3. When rehiding, please cover it with leaves again.
Box #4: The Azure Envoy
From the platform, continue down the trail in the original direction and enter a pine forest. Eventually you will find marker #8. From this marker take 9 steps back the way you came. Here you will find a pine tree with a round blue trail blaze in addition to some tree-thinning blazes. It's the first blazed pine on the left when walking back from #8. From this tree, take 13 steps due south and enter a clearing. Follow the clearing for 13 steps at 250 degrees and on your left you will see a mound in front of two large pine trees and a small oak. Approach the trio of trees from the left and look in the needles between the two pines for box #4. Make sure some pine needles are on top of the box when rehiding.
Box #5: The Rising Contender
Between markers #10 and #11, you will cross a dry creek bed (more pronounced up the hill to the left than down to the right) with a fairly thick ~10ft stump of a tree just to the left of the trail and a small blue-blazed maple just to the right. From the 10ft stump, go about 32 steps at 50 degrees to a large beech stump with only a small trunk rising from it on the right. There are some nice nooks, crannies and tunnels on this tree, but none of them contain a letterbox. From here go due North, 20 steps to the stump of a double tree which also has a small trunk rising from it on the right. In the hollow left by what was once the large trunk on the right lies box #5. When rehiding, just put it back and cover with some dead leaves.
Box #6: Ancient but Agile
[clue updated 2005/11/20]
After marker #11 (found in a dip that might sometimes be a creek), the trail will rise and then fall to another (dry?) creek bed, with a plank to cross on. From here you will go up the hill, around a turn to the left, and then to a place where the trail dips and then rises in a slight curve to the right. From the low point of this dip, there is a large beech tree about 22 steps off to the right. Box #6 is hidden in the roots of this beech tree at 130 (some finders have found it more like 160 to 170) degrees from the center of the tree. Please cover again with leaves when rehiding.
Box #7: Free as in Freedom
Return to the trail and continue to marker #12. This marker is almost certainly pointing out the marvelous beech tree to the right of the trail. From that beech tree, at a bearing of 110 degrees and about 40 steps is another interesting tree. This one is an oak, with a huge base that is apparently hollow, with several fairly small openings. It's interesting to look at and probably worthy of a picture, but to find box #7 you'll need to keep going about 18 more steps on the same heading. Here you'll find two oak trees and the base of a fallen (cedar/juniper, i think) tree. Behind (as you approach) the roots of the fallen tree, and partially tucked under a raised root from one of the live trees is the final box. When rehiding, please cover with some leaves so the box isn't visible.
2006/01/21: All boxes back in place. Tree thinning not as imminent as i thought. More word on this as it unfolds. Clue update on box 4.
2006/01/13:
********* IMPORTANT Notice ********
- Friday the 13th indeed! Boxes 1-4 have been pulled due to impending tree-cutting (from the blazes it looks a little more drastic than "thinning"). After the operation is over i will evaluate whether to rehide or completely relocate.
- Boxes 5-7 should be fine, but for 2 months starting around Feb 1 the parking lot will most likely be blocked off and used as the tree processing and loading area.
2006/01/11:
- A finder informs me there will be tree-thinning in the area. Box 1 will probably have to be moved. Also, it may be difficult to tell the blue-blazed tree in box 4 for all the thinning marks, but you should still be able to find the rest of the landmarks. Some of the other boxes may also need to be taken out of commission temporarily. I'll hopefully survey this weekend and provide an update.
- Added parenthetical alternate degree bearings in some clues due to finder feedback.
2005/11/20:
- Box 6 Clue updated due to first finder feedback.
- Interpretive trail maps should now be available in the box at the fork in the trail.
Scanned PDF is here.
This 7-box series celebrates the animal mascots of various Open Source software projects. At first it might seem odd for a software project to have a mascot, but these projects inspire a devotion and enthusiasm in their development and user communities to rival that of the players and fans of any sports team. Unlike with sports, though, on Open Source Software projects there is no clear line between player and fan (developer/contributor and user). In fact, the team almost always has positions open that can be filled by any member of the fan base. These could range from just using the product and reporting bugs to writing documentation, to actually fixing bugs in the code or adding new features. The developers and users are all part of one community and working toward the common goal of a usable product. The mascot serves not only as a brand for the product, but also, similar to sports mascots, as a representation of common identity for the community.
The boxes are hidden along the ~1.5 mile loop trail in the Indian Creek Wildlife Observation Area near Jordan Lake. This area is jointly managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NC Wildlife Resource Commission, and the New Hope Audubon Society. In the middle of the loop is an observation platform looking out over the lake. From this platform many birds can be observed, including bald eagles. The area is technically on NC Gamelands, so blaze orange should be worn during hunting seasons (hunting season info available at http://www.ncwildlife.org under "Hunting/Trapping"). Practically, though, the area gets enough traffic as a recreation area that hunters should not be a factor.
*NOTE* To reach a few of these boxes, you will need to leave the trail and pass through some moderate undergrowth which may include poison ivy and briers. Nothing worthy of a machete, but i recommend long pants.
The parking area for Indian Creek is on NC Highway 751, ~6.5 miles north of Highway 64, ~4.25 miles south of Fayetteville Road, and just north of the intersection with New Hope Church Road. Look for the brown "binoculars" sign and turn West into the otherwise unmarked gravel drive. The parking area is quite large and you should see a bulletin board near the southwest corner.
Box #1: The Busy Builder
Start at the trailhead by the bulletin board and continue to the fork with the map holder. It should now be stocked with interpretive maps. If there are no maps, please "contact the placer" and let me know. Take the fork to the right. Pretty soon you will skirt a large depression in the middle of the trail and immediately following this will find the #1 marker for the interpretive maps. From the #1 post, continue down the trail about 39 steps to a large pine tree not far off the trail on the left. On a bearing of about 210 degrees and 10-15 feet from this pine tree is a cluster of sweet gum trees. Box #1 is hiding in one of the holes in this cluster. It is covered in leaves. Please cover with leaves again when rehiding.
Box #2: The Prowling Provider
Continue down the trail to interpretive marker #2. From this marker, enter the brush at approximately 20 degrees for approximately 20 steps (in reality there is a slight trail so this will not be a straight vector), past a blackened tree on the right, until you are standing on a flat arrow-shaped stone. The arrow of the stone points roughly 30 degrees past a mound and toward another blackened pine tree. The box is hiding under some bricks on the side of the mound at a bearing of due north from the arrow-shaped stone. From the treasure to the second large, blackened pine tree it is approximately 100 (at least one finder has said 90) degrees compass bearing. Please be sure to cover the box back with bricks and sprinkle the bricks with some pine needles, etc.
Box #3: The Crimson Communicator
Pause at marker #4 and sight 145 degrees past a double, leaning river birch to a cluster of beech trees. From this angle there appears to be nothing extraordinary about the beech trees, but as you approach them (carefully!) across the undergrowth and work your way behind them from the right, you will notice their unique beauty. Hidden in the roots, at the SE end of this formation is box #3. When rehiding, please cover it with leaves again.
Box #4: The Azure Envoy
From the platform, continue down the trail in the original direction and enter a pine forest. Eventually you will find marker #8. From this marker take 9 steps back the way you came. Here you will find a pine tree with a round blue trail blaze in addition to some tree-thinning blazes. It's the first blazed pine on the left when walking back from #8. From this tree, take 13 steps due south and enter a clearing. Follow the clearing for 13 steps at 250 degrees and on your left you will see a mound in front of two large pine trees and a small oak. Approach the trio of trees from the left and look in the needles between the two pines for box #4. Make sure some pine needles are on top of the box when rehiding.
Box #5: The Rising Contender
Between markers #10 and #11, you will cross a dry creek bed (more pronounced up the hill to the left than down to the right) with a fairly thick ~10ft stump of a tree just to the left of the trail and a small blue-blazed maple just to the right. From the 10ft stump, go about 32 steps at 50 degrees to a large beech stump with only a small trunk rising from it on the right. There are some nice nooks, crannies and tunnels on this tree, but none of them contain a letterbox. From here go due North, 20 steps to the stump of a double tree which also has a small trunk rising from it on the right. In the hollow left by what was once the large trunk on the right lies box #5. When rehiding, just put it back and cover with some dead leaves.
Box #6: Ancient but Agile
[clue updated 2005/11/20]
After marker #11 (found in a dip that might sometimes be a creek), the trail will rise and then fall to another (dry?) creek bed, with a plank to cross on. From here you will go up the hill, around a turn to the left, and then to a place where the trail dips and then rises in a slight curve to the right. From the low point of this dip, there is a large beech tree about 22 steps off to the right. Box #6 is hidden in the roots of this beech tree at 130 (some finders have found it more like 160 to 170) degrees from the center of the tree. Please cover again with leaves when rehiding.
Box #7: Free as in Freedom
Return to the trail and continue to marker #12. This marker is almost certainly pointing out the marvelous beech tree to the right of the trail. From that beech tree, at a bearing of 110 degrees and about 40 steps is another interesting tree. This one is an oak, with a huge base that is apparently hollow, with several fairly small openings. It's interesting to look at and probably worthy of a picture, but to find box #7 you'll need to keep going about 18 more steps on the same heading. Here you'll find two oak trees and the base of a fallen (cedar/juniper, i think) tree. Behind (as you approach) the roots of the fallen tree, and partially tucked under a raised root from one of the live trees is the final box. When rehiding, please cover with some leaves so the box isn't visible.