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The Happy Squirrel LbNA #24305

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 2, 2006
Location:
City:Austin
County:Travis
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Planted by:Lore
Found by: Lore
Last found:May 3, 2017
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFO
Last edited:May 4, 2017
*** So, I tried to check on this box in late April, 2017, but was unable to find it. Since I'd hidden it, and moved away from Austin, the trail has been majorly reworked. All of the landmarks I noted along the trail are gone. However, due to knee problems I wasn't able to climb the hill to see if the rock is still there.

It doesn't look to me as if trail renovations would have gone far enough up the hill to disturb the rock, but I can't say for sure.

I'm going to leave this box listed, with clues visible, in hopes that someone more agile than me could climb that hill and see if it's still there. If you do, please let me know, so that we can re-write the clues accordingly.

But if you're not up for the possibility of a wild goose chase, you might not want to look for this box. Consider yourself warned.

-- Lore***

The idea behind "The Happy Squirrel" came from an episode of "The Simpsons", via a piece of collage art from The Victoria Regina Tarot.

I planted this box quite some time ago, and no longer live in the area. I've been told that the landmarks have changed as work has been done on the trail, so you may not find the signs and manhole cover in the places noted. But apparently the box is still findable based on counting your steps. If you have any trouble, or suggestions on how to update these clues, please let me know!


Directions to the letterbox:

From I-35 take the Martin Luther King Blvd. exit (the signs call it "MLK"). Go west on Martin Luther King until it dead ends on Lamar, then turn right.

A couple of blocks down, north of 25th street but south of Gaston, turn left on Shoal Creek Boulevard and park in the parking area for the Shoal Creek Greenbelt.

Walk back down Shoal Creek Blvd. toward Lamar, then turn right onto the path before the bridge.

Approximately 75 steps down the path you'll see an informational kiosk. Approximately 100 steps later (maybe slightly fewer) you'll see a manhole cover to the right of the path.

Stand on the manhole cover and look due north, past a flat rock with green paint on it. (NOTE: Recent finders haven't seen that rock, so it may have been washed away.) Walk approximately 17 steps due north to the big lumpy rock on the hill.

Walk around the downhill side of the rick, then start to curve back uphill to its right. There is an indentation in the side of the rock, with a big vertical crevice. The crevice is concealed by several rocks wedged tightly into the opening. The Happy Squirrel is hiding inside.

When you're done with the box please wedge the rocks back into the opening tightly to conceal the box well.

I believe that this is the location where the "Texas Size Letterbox" was hidden, but it has been declared missing. This is also near the "Bevo" letterbox, and a number of other really nice hiding spots for future boxes. Maybe you'd like to hide one yourself!

This area of the park is an off leash play area for dogs, and there is a disc golf course further south in the park, so if the day is nice you may want to spend some time here!