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Locomotion, One Way or Another LbNA #33562

Owner:Calli-K
Plant date:Jul 29, 2007
Location:
City:Buxton
County:Washington
State:Oregon
Boxes:4
Found by: Gardenfly (2)
Last found:Apr 5, 2014
Status:FF
Last edited:May 3, 2016
Fees: $3 day-use parking fee
Hike/ride distance: A bit less than 5 miles
Difficulty rating: Parts of this trail will likely get you puffing.
Compass required, odometer helpful
“behind” = the side furthest away from the trail

NOTE 05/02/2016: From reports I've gotten over the years the trail to #3 might be much different from what it was when I placed these boxes. People say there is no Y. People say they've seen signs about trails being closed due to mudslides. Suit yourself if you want to look for #3, but I fear the terrain has changed enough that my clues just don't fit any longer. Thank you to Kurious Jo and Wood Aug for moving box #2 slightly and giving me new clues. If you happen to find #3, please write me a new clue for it! Use your map to figure out where #4 is - you should be able to find it working down from the day use area or possibly by following the trail for #3 all the way up the hill and watching for the trail names to match clues for #4.

These boxes are located at Oregon’s newest state park as of July 2007. This park has overnight camping, little cabins you can rent, is very horse-friendly, and has lots of trails of all sorts (gravel, paved, and dirt wide and narrow); in fact, there are so many trails, a person could “stub” their toe if they weren’t careful. You can bicycle, ride a horse, or walk the route I took today. Whatever form of locomotion you prefer, I hope you enjoy this 5-mile loop, although a word of caution: you begin at the top and descend approximately 500 feet over the first 3 miles or so, and then you have to go back up again. I did this on my bicycle but had to walk it much of the way back after box #3.

Pick up a map at the welcome center on the way in, and start at the day-use center on the “hilltop”. Being a new park, they have very good signage, but signs have a way of being vandalized, and I wouldn’t do this hike without a map from the park welcome center.

Box #1: Head generally north out of the parking lot onto the Boomscooter trail. Watch for Boomscooter Pond on the left, I’ve heard there are sometimes beavers there. Go right at the intersection of Boomscooter and B-V state trail, cross the bridge, and find a good-sized cedar tree back a ways from the trail. Between this cedar and the trail you should see 3 firs of similar size standing in a row. Box #1 is behind the cedar at its base. You are now at 1.2 miles.

Box #2: Go back the way you came, over the bridge, and stay on the pavement until I say to get off. Wheeeeeee! this part is fun! Pass the junctions for Catface and Bark Spud. Be careful of the 4-wheel locomotors. You need to get off the pavement to understand Holli’s point of view. As you meander along wondering how long it will take you to understand Holli’s point of view, look to the left for a very large stump with a prominent snag attached. To the left of the snag are several sets of trees. The box is behind the set with a very small snag attached to it. You are now at 2.2 miles.

Box #3: Go back to the pavement and continue on. Exit the pavement to the left where you might expect to find a lot of rabbits, a trail that says it is something it is not. Beings as there is no apostrophe, you probably won’t find any rabbits, but let’s not get nit-picky here. Fun fact: there was no sign marking this trail today, although there will likely be a nice one in the future. All I found today was a warning not to “stub” my toe. If you are on the correct trail you will quickly come to a Y; take the right fork and watch on your left for 4 trees growing out of a single base; these are positioned just before a horse-shoe turn to the right. Make your way up the hillside on foot until you are behind the 4 trees. When you are behind the trees and looking back down at the trail, the box will be found at the base of one of the trees. You are now at 3.3, and I’m afraid the fun is basically over unless you are on horseback.

Box #4: Head back to the Y and continue up, up, up (no I’m not stuttering) the canyon trail. Pass Brooke Creek, Jackstrawed Tarry, and Widowmaker Way on your way back to the day-use area. Not that anyone would be fool enough to go on a trail called “widowmaker” when given the choice... Now at this point I hope you have read ahead a little bit, because box #4 is on the canyon trail between the intersections of Brooke Creek and Jackstrawed Tarry, and if you missed it you will have to go back. Please don’t use any swear words (if you haven’t already). Watch for a sawed-off stump on your left that has lots of ferns around it and an eerie sort of bare-floor forest area behind it. This little forest area has no vegetation on its floor, and it doesn’t look like there is going to be any; the floor is just layer upon layer of needles from the branches overhead. Box #4 is behind this stump under a piece of its bark. You are now at 4.4 miles and should be able to follow the signs on up the hill back to the parking area.