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Signpost Series LbNA #19345

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Nov 5, 2005
Location:
City:???
County:Mystery
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:6
Planted by:SapphireBerry
Found by: ???
Last found:Nov 24, 2017
Status:FFFFFrF
Last edited:Nov 5, 2005
Signpost Series Letterboxes
Mystery

Planted 11/5/05 by SapphireBerry and Daring Dragonfly

Note: Moderate hiking terrain and elevation change. Expect about 3 hours to complete the loop (includes stamping in time). Bring your own ink (some boxes do have ink though) and a compass. Logbooks are located in boxes #1, #4 and #6. Bring bug repellent in summer months. Great views from summits. Blueberries are nice too!

Clues: Head to the mountain that holds you up to meet the sky at elevation 1,832 ft. This dual-summit mountain is an excellent spot to observe the hawk migration.

#1 Detour! Planted 9/16/07 just to drive you to distraction.

#2 Explore! SapphireBerry said to Daring Dragonfly, “Hey, the weather’s looking fine, let’s go Letterboxing!” Daring Dragonfly immediately knew the best place to go for some excellent views of the surrounding lands of their homes but noted that, alas, no known letterboxes were in the area. “No problem!” said SapphireBerry. “I’ve carved a whole bunch of stamps and have been looking for just the right spot to plant them. Let’s go exploring!” So the two began hiking on the nice, level trail until it began to go up and they came upon their first signpost. “Say, Daring Dragonfly, which way should we go?” SapphireBerry inquired, not having visited this area before. “Seems to me that we can go up the Midstate/Wapack or take the State Line trail?” Daring Dragonfly described the merits of each trail, while SapphireBerry was thinking about State Line potato chips and how good they were, and why did they stop making those chips anyways? “All this talk of food is making me hungry, so let’s go find some chips!” At this Daring Dragonfly shrugged and led the way up up up the rocky trail until the trail leveled out and they came to a T intersection. “Let’s not go right to the summit, but instead we can go explore the other direction!” said SapphireBerry. “What’s down this way, exactly?” she inquired as they passed through a somewhat muddy area. “Well, there certainly are a lot of stone walls!” said Daring Dragonfly as they noted twin walls flanking the path. After passing one trail intersecting on the right, they continued slightly uphill for a short distance and came upon another break in the stone wall to the right, with a little path that seemed to drop straight down in the distance. There was a half-torn nutty sign on their left. “I’m going to check this out, Daring Dragonfly,” said SapphireBerry, and her friend came along to explore this new trail also. “Hey, look at that weird elbow tree over there to the right!” exclaimed SapphireBerry. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Daring Dragonfly nodded. That tree was definitely worth exploring!

#3 Fun! The pair headed back towards the main trail and took a left, noting the nutty signpost again. They stayed straight on the trail, passing by where they’d previously come from, and soon came upon a bald granite spot. "Hey, Daring Dragonfly, this is fun! Now we're getting somewhere!" exclaimed SapphireBerry. "Mmmph, mmmph" said ddfly as she scoured the terrain for blueberries. "Hey! That's my namesake you're eating! How's about we take a little rest further up the trail?" suggested SB. The two continued until they came to a stone wall intersecting the trail. Looking right they saw a curious vertical rectangular stone marker. "That looks like a sign to me, so I'm going to have some fun hiding in the wall near it!" When they were done playing hide and seek, they continued up the trail.

#4 Wonder! “Well, all this fun is making me hungry,” said SapphireBerry. “Let’s go to the summit now so we can eat our lunch as we wonder at the view.” They climbed until they felt they were meeting the sky. After some huffing and puffing, they arrived at a granite marker that told them so, in fact. They wondered at the marvels around them, and crossed the saddle between summits where they had an even better view of Mt. Wachusett. They looked around for a good lunch spot on the southwest side of the second summit. Looking down at the rock, they noticed a sign engraved with the date, "2001". This they wondered at, and looked around. At 290 degrees they saw a dwarf spruce and grey-silver birch pair. Walking over to it, they sited some nearby rocks layered over each other in such a way as to form a small cave. Here they shared their Wonder at the view as they munched their PBJs. "Look at all the blueberries!" exclaimed ddfly. "Just be careful of the red ants!" said SB. When they had eaten their fill, they trod lightly back to the first summit and, by bearing left and following the little yellow triangles, took the Midstate trail downward.

#5 Relax! “The way down is a little steep,” warned Daring Dragonfly. “But there are some interesting things to see along the way.” “Oh?” SapphireBerry replied. “Like what?” Daring Dragonfly explained that this place used to be a ski area, and you can still see signs of the old lift tower and electric lines, not to mention there was a dilapidated lean-to not far down this trail, which the two arrived at presently. SapphireBerry noted the date it was constructed, and as she stood looking at the signpost she decided it was a good time to rest a bit. So she took about 30 steps to an interesting-looking 3-trunked tree. ‘No, this wouldn’t do as a resting spot, no place to sit,’ she thought. Having fun with math, she added up the digits of the date of the lean-to construction, multiplied by two, then subtracted the number of steps she took to get to the 3-trunked tree. ‘Think I’ll head the remainder of steps northeast and see where I end up.’ SapphireBerry found herself at a giant deer’s antler. ‘Wow, pretty cool. But still, there’s no place to rest here. What if I take a compass bearing of 340 degrees and see where that gets me?’ So she took 30 steps in that direction and stopped. ‘Now I’m just getting myself lost in the middle of this pretty hemlock forest…but wait! If I go due north only about 13 steps, then 5 steps at 40 degrees, I will find a nice place to relax!’ thought SapphireBerry. She called Daring Dragonfly over to join her, giving her the directions from the lean-to. She found the spot without much trouble and they stopped to relax for a bit. Unfortunately, reports from friends say this special spot is a bit tricky to find. Look for an inviting rock bench and take a seat. You should see the top of the lean-to. Check out a little rock niche within 5' of your resting spot.

#6 The Way Home! After relaxing, the two headed back down the mountain following the little yellow triangles. They passed through a break in a stone wall and emerged at a bald overlook. “You can see where they are building a new house down there, “ said Daring Dragonfly. “They are putting a development in, and we Friends of the Wapack are trying to save some green space for everyone to enjoy. It is a difficult task, though, as the private landowners are opposed to sharing their land with the public.” ‘What a shame,’ thought SapphireBerry.
It was time to head for home, so the two continued on down the mountain. Not far at all from the lookout, they noted that the stone wall on their right took a right-angle turn into the woods. From that spot, they continued on a very short ways until they noticed that the trail turned to the left and downhill, away from the stonewall opposite. At this point they spied an interesting multi-trunked pine growing right between the stone wall, and it had one strange-looking root!
“I should leave a record of our journey here, for others to find, and directions so people can find their way home,” said SapphireBerry. “We can share this place with other like-minded folk, so they can come to care for this area and enjoy the green spaces we have left.” They placed it beneath an overhanging rock on the back side of the tree. This was a fun day, they agreed as they made their way home following the trail through a boulder field then turning left back to the parking lot.

Note 1: As part of "Plant a Mystery Box Day" 2006, an additional box was created that may be considered an extension to this series. It is listed separately as the "Mohawk Mystery".
Note 2: As part of "Plant a Mystery Box Day" 2007, an additional box was created that may be considered an extension to this series. It is listed separately as the "Weekend Down the Cape".