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National Mystery Letterbox Project - KY LbNA #3170 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Nov 24, 2002
Location:
City:???
County:Mystery
State:Kentucky
Boxes:1
Found by: Not yet found!
Last found:N/A
Last edited:Nov 24, 2002
In the county where the monument to the President of the Confederacy stands and the birthplace of the first Poet Laureate of the United States has a museum, is a town with a somewhat musical name. Despite its fast tempo, this town only has two roads. When you arrive at this intersection there will be: On the Northeast corner are some woods, on the southeast corner is a cow pasture, on the northwest corner is a house next to a ceramics shop, and on the southwest corner is a house next to Jordan's Crossroads Grocery.

Take the highway west between the two houses (the ceramics shop and the grocery). Follow this long and winding road 4.3 miles and you will see a wide spot in the road and a very tall rock shooting up into the sky. It is best to pass the wide spot and go another 10th of a mile into the parking lot and then walk back to the wide spot to climb the steps.

There are many ways up the rock and you can choose any, depending on how adventurous you are. You just have to get to the top. The directions here are to go up the stairs, some of which are smoothed out rock and others are cement blocks placed there. These stairs, which are visible from the highway, go up about 60 feet. At the top, turn left and keep going up. This is where it gets hard. There are no steps here but there are some blocks of wood placed into the slope for gripping. For those of you who bring small children or dogs, there is a five foot ladder in this section, so they may
need a boost up. (Always a pleasure with our 90 pound Lab.) When you get to the top, you can see off to the left the remains of a ranger tower. This is the highest point in three counties and was used for decades as a fire watch tower. I recommend walking around the entire rock and taking in the view, but if you are intent on getting to the box read on.

At the top of the stairs/climb, turn right and head across the rock. A dirt path develops very quickly. Follow it heading north and west. At one point you will have to jump down abut a foot and a half to stay on the path. It will begin to curve to the left and open up into a large flat area. At the far end of the flat area is a tree with a big hole in it and a rock painted like an alligator. The tree is perfect for tying off your ropes to rappel back down. Well, I guess you could take the stairs.

So now you are at Alligator Rock. Reach in his mouth. On the right side are two rocks with a gap between them. The letterbox is behind the forward of the two rocks.

Warnings: There is a 90 foot drop about 15 feet from the alligator. Please stay away from the edge. This area is also ripe for clean up. Bring an extra garbage bag and help haul someone else's mess out. If you come in the summer bring plenty of water. The humidity is very high here and you can dehydrate quickly.

Happy Hunting - John, Helen, and Ian

PS - If you email me before you go, we will be happy to join you and teach you how to rappel - celticrelics@commandnet.net