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Leap Frog LbNA #23606

Owner:Pink Panther
Plant date:Sep 22, 2004
Location:
City:Lancaster
County:Lancaster
State:Pennsylvania
Boxes:1
Found by: Footprints in PA
Last found:Aug 14, 2008
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaa
Last edited:Sep 22, 2004
This box is still active and being watch by Pink Panther & Black Swan (at Thumbs Up! request)

Location: Lake Grubb Nature Park near Mountville, Pennsylvania
Planted By: Thumbs Up
Date Planted: September 22, 2004
Terrain: hilly, well maintained, well-marked trail
Estimated Time: 30 minutes


Directions Beginning at Marietta Pike (Route 23) near Centerville Road continue west to Hempfield Hill Road which is just west of Silver Spring Rd. Turn left on Hempfield Hill Road. Lake Grub Nature Park is eventually on your right. Park in the parking lot and walk down the path past the first pavilion towards the lake. When you reach the lake turn left and look for the trailhead where you will find a post with blue letters that say "start". (Yes, really!)

Notes: Lake Grubb used to be a quarry which was mined for iron ore as early as 1837. The iron ore was refined into anthracite coal in foundries along the Susquehanna. The Chestnut Hill Iron Ore company closed their mining of the quarry in 1907 when better iron ore was located in other sites in Pennsylvania. Later the quarry was filled with water. By 1955 the reservoir became Mountville Borough's only water supply. Circling the lake is a one mile nature trail. Be aware that there is no swimming or boating allowed because being an old quarry, there are places where the bottom drops significantly and quickly.

Clues: Well, here's the problem. There are so many great places to hide a letterbox here, that I could not make up my mind about where to put it.

So... I'll tell you about three possible places it could be. The box will "leap" from location to location whenever I get a chance to check on it. When I move it, I will also change the stamp so if you decide to do this hike again later you might luck out and find the letterbox in a different position with a new stamp.

Position One: This is a jagged tree stump that begs to have a letterbox hidden in it. It's on the left of the path 38 paces* (see below) before you come to the small dam (cement culvert). The neat thing about this site is beside the tree stump is a large iron ore boulder. The letterbox is behind the stump and beside the boulder.

Position Two: (If you happen to find the letterbox at the first position, it's worth continuing down the trail to see the view of the lake from this vantage point.)
Follow the trail to the scenic overlook. There you will find a small pine tree. Behind the pine is a gray rock partially hidden with leaves. The letterbox is under that rock. Please "naturalize" the rock with leaves after putting the letterbox in the hole. Some children who like to throw rocks over cliffs, tossed my last rock into the gully. Doing this exposes the letterbox (Yikes!!!). So please partially cover the rock with leaves to help it to blend into the soil and surrounding area.

Position Three: Continue on the main trail until you reach the 3/4 mile marker. Near this point you will see a hollow log laying on the right side of the trail. The letterbox is in the hollow log.

Other neat stuff: At the 1/2 mile marker look up to your left and you will see a tree with an interesting root system. But to reach it you have to scramble though lots of thorny stuff, so as interesting as that is, I didn't put the box there (lucky you). Don't miss it, though.

The last time I was in the park there were some children catching salamanders and frogs at the dam. If you have kids who like to muck in mud that swallows tennis shoes while looking for amphibians, this is just the spot.

You can often see turtles sunning themselves on the logs at the edge of the lake.

It's a fun trail to do as a run. You almost fly down the hills and around the curves.

This park is popular on Sunday afternoons. Before checking out the letterbox, be discreet and wait until other people pass you and cannot see what you are doing.

*Paces: Different people count paces different ways. For the purpose of this hike, a pace is a single footfall. Right, left, right, equals three paces.

Before you set out, please read the LBNA waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.