World of Creve Coeur Park #3 LbNA #39934 (ARCHIVED)
Map
Nearby Boxes
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Add Location| Owner: | RandomChimp  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | May 19, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Maryland Heights |
| County: | St. Louis |
| State: | Missouri |
| Boxes: | 3 |
| Found by: | I dig toasters |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Aug 14, 2009 |
| Status: | FFFF |
| Last edited: | May 19, 2008 |
Note: I'm pulling whatever remains of this series to do repairs, replacement, etc. I'll try to have things back in place by autumn.
This series of boxes is planted in the part of the world where I spent my single and low-two-digit years of life. I may live a hundred miles away now, but I still consider Creve Coeur Park and surrounding woods part of my home.
I’ve hidden the world around this park. More specifically, I’ve hidden the seven continents… oh, and one “lost” continent. You can probably find all seven boxes on a good day’s outing. Most of the sites are suitable for sure-footed kids, but there are some steep spots. One in particular is noted as including an especially steep bit.
The main boxes are in three regions of the park so I’ve divvied the clues into three parts. The clues should be descriptive enough that you can plan out your expedition to find them all with minimal backtracking.
Along the way, you’ll encounter trees and birds and even some local history. You may also encounter snakes and poison ivy (although much less than I remembered) and mosquitoes. We found a 5-foot snake skin on the bonus box plant. I’m not sure it was the whole snake either…
Oh, regarding that “lost” bonus box… It’s got a different challenge to it. You probably won’t get it on your same outing unless you happen to have special resources available and a lot of luck on your side. You’ll also need the “Bonus Codes” from each of the main stamps. Because the bonus stamp is significantly more challenging, I’ve given it a listing to itself.
Some resources you may find handy…
Map of Creve Coeur Park trails: Here
Google Map centered on the “Trolley Trail”: Here
Park information: Here
Also, I found this document handy insofar as reaching concessions between my memory and historical fact when describing some of the sites. It won’t really help you with your quest, but it’s an interesting historical overview: Here
Oh, yeah… one of my steps is about 3 feet; maybe an inch or two shy.
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Set #3 of 3+
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The Americas and Australia can be found in the part of the park where I spent many hours of many days, adventuring and doing boyish things. We swung on vines across gorges and had expeditions along creeks like we were explorers of the Amazon. We caught frogs and lizards and saw snakes. We dared to step into the mouth of a mysterious tunnel. We saved each other from deadly quicksand and ponds full of muckety muck. We even found deer nests and, on occasion, teen-ager nests, though I won’t tell you what kind of literature we found in the latter. In the winter the creek would freeze and we’d “test the ice” until someone had to run home for new boots.
The path you’ll use for this journey is what we used to call the “Trolley Trail”. It’s the final stretch of where streetcars used to run from downtown Saint Louis into Creve Coeur Park, or, more specifically, to Electric Park, a turn-of-the-century amusement park. I’m told my great grandmother rode this line. As a kid, I’d find railroad spikes along the side of the trail. When biking along the trail, we’d have to watch out for the remains of railroad ties crossing the trail. That was 20 or so years ago. The ties are no longer evident. The only hint that this was a rail path is the composition of the trail itself, a large amount of which is still cinder. We used to find blackberries and sassafras saplings along the trail. Those seem to have been overcome by bush honeysuckle. On the plus side, much of the poison ivy seems to have been pushed out as well.
The trail itself runs from Rule Avenue (Wildflower/Springtree subdivisions) to the park maintenance building across Streetcar Drive from Corporate Site 1. Note that the trail entrance from Rule indicates “No Access to Park”, so I’m assuming there’s a magical kangaroo that will kick you out if you try to go in that way, though I’ve never met him.
I’d suggest you start by going into the park and heading to the tennis courts. You’ll see a clearing between the courts and a gravel parking lot. At the east corner of the clearing, you’ll find a trail entering the woods. (Note that while we were planting here, new-trail development was under way for a trail aimed primarily at mountain biking. That trail is not otherwise referenced in this clue.) There’s a concrete roller just off the trail inside the entrance. Follow the dirt trail down until you reach a triangular intersection. This is where you meet the Trolley Trail.
-----North America-----
At the triangle, turn right. Almost immediately off the left of the Trolley Trail is another trail, starting at a bunch of roots and heading down a bit. Follow this trail past a short rise where you’ll see a sharp tree trunk remnant on the left. The trail will branch. Turn right, up the hill. About twenty steps along the trail you’ll note a small trail dropping off to the right and revealing a large downed tree. Follow the tree towards what used to be its top. Along the way the tree will fork. Your quest is done; you can stick a fork in it. Actually, it’s stuck in the fork.
-----Australia-----
Now you can head down under. Well, definitely down. You’ll see what I mean. This part may be kind of challenging with kids, though, with some effort, my 4-and-a-half-year-old and 7-and-three-quarters-year old managed. Return to the triangle intersection where you first met the Trolley Trail. This time head eastish. Follow the cinder trail until you come to a tree which stands alone, closer in on the trail that the general tree line. You’ll see a white plastic capped pipe sticking out of the ground a couple inches (one of many). You will also note an orange sign a stone’s throw further down the trail. The world drops off the north side of the trail. Carefully descend the cindery slope here as I did so many times in my youth, to a concrete structure. When you make it down to stand on the concrete, you’ll be standing on the top of a tunnel which allows water to flow from the Pheasant Run Apartments lake into the creek. (This is “the creek” of my childhood.) If you stand facing off the end of the tunnel roof, look to your left and note a tree with a tangle of exposed roots. Find your way (the kid in me took the tree-bridge direct path; the parent in me took the roundabout way) to those roots, where Australia is stashed in a pocket facing the tunnel.
-----South America-----
To find South America, you’ll have to head east. Back in the day, you could climb up a trail to the next stop directly from the east side of the tunnel/creek. It seems too much tree debris has accumulated though, so you’ll probably want to climb back up to the cinder Trolley Trail. (Yeah, this is the tough part for the kids, but I did it hundreds of times when I was their age… sheesh!) Continue east on the trail past the ominous orange sign. I regard it simply as an indication that you are now entering the subdivision where I grew up (and where my parents still live in the same house). At any rate, you only need to go 40 snakes or so beyond the sign. Off the left of the trail you will see the “U-hill”. It’s not actually a hill, I suppose, more like the opposite of a hill. It’s like a dirt half-pipe where we kids used to do stunts on our dirt bikes. Well, except for me. I had a banana-seater. Still did the stunts though. The U-hill has widened a bit over the years. The “V-hill” next to it has filled in with foliage. (Yeah, the V-hill was beyond the capabilities of a banana-seater.) Run down-up to the other (north) side of the U-hill. Just to the west is a large oak. From its base, pointing almost due west, lays a fallen tree with a noticeably flat section. This long tree, laying between two less-supine trees, meets the bottom of another fallen tree. In that bottom is where you’ll find the bottom, er… southern American continent.
This series of boxes is planted in the part of the world where I spent my single and low-two-digit years of life. I may live a hundred miles away now, but I still consider Creve Coeur Park and surrounding woods part of my home.
I’ve hidden the world around this park. More specifically, I’ve hidden the seven continents… oh, and one “lost” continent. You can probably find all seven boxes on a good day’s outing. Most of the sites are suitable for sure-footed kids, but there are some steep spots. One in particular is noted as including an especially steep bit.
The main boxes are in three regions of the park so I’ve divvied the clues into three parts. The clues should be descriptive enough that you can plan out your expedition to find them all with minimal backtracking.
Along the way, you’ll encounter trees and birds and even some local history. You may also encounter snakes and poison ivy (although much less than I remembered) and mosquitoes. We found a 5-foot snake skin on the bonus box plant. I’m not sure it was the whole snake either…
Oh, regarding that “lost” bonus box… It’s got a different challenge to it. You probably won’t get it on your same outing unless you happen to have special resources available and a lot of luck on your side. You’ll also need the “Bonus Codes” from each of the main stamps. Because the bonus stamp is significantly more challenging, I’ve given it a listing to itself.
Some resources you may find handy…
Map of Creve Coeur Park trails: Here
Google Map centered on the “Trolley Trail”: Here
Park information: Here
Also, I found this document handy insofar as reaching concessions between my memory and historical fact when describing some of the sites. It won’t really help you with your quest, but it’s an interesting historical overview: Here
Oh, yeah… one of my steps is about 3 feet; maybe an inch or two shy.
--------------------------------------
Set #3 of 3+
--------------------------------------
The Americas and Australia can be found in the part of the park where I spent many hours of many days, adventuring and doing boyish things. We swung on vines across gorges and had expeditions along creeks like we were explorers of the Amazon. We caught frogs and lizards and saw snakes. We dared to step into the mouth of a mysterious tunnel. We saved each other from deadly quicksand and ponds full of muckety muck. We even found deer nests and, on occasion, teen-ager nests, though I won’t tell you what kind of literature we found in the latter. In the winter the creek would freeze and we’d “test the ice” until someone had to run home for new boots.
The path you’ll use for this journey is what we used to call the “Trolley Trail”. It’s the final stretch of where streetcars used to run from downtown Saint Louis into Creve Coeur Park, or, more specifically, to Electric Park, a turn-of-the-century amusement park. I’m told my great grandmother rode this line. As a kid, I’d find railroad spikes along the side of the trail. When biking along the trail, we’d have to watch out for the remains of railroad ties crossing the trail. That was 20 or so years ago. The ties are no longer evident. The only hint that this was a rail path is the composition of the trail itself, a large amount of which is still cinder. We used to find blackberries and sassafras saplings along the trail. Those seem to have been overcome by bush honeysuckle. On the plus side, much of the poison ivy seems to have been pushed out as well.
The trail itself runs from Rule Avenue (Wildflower/Springtree subdivisions) to the park maintenance building across Streetcar Drive from Corporate Site 1. Note that the trail entrance from Rule indicates “No Access to Park”, so I’m assuming there’s a magical kangaroo that will kick you out if you try to go in that way, though I’ve never met him.
I’d suggest you start by going into the park and heading to the tennis courts. You’ll see a clearing between the courts and a gravel parking lot. At the east corner of the clearing, you’ll find a trail entering the woods. (Note that while we were planting here, new-trail development was under way for a trail aimed primarily at mountain biking. That trail is not otherwise referenced in this clue.) There’s a concrete roller just off the trail inside the entrance. Follow the dirt trail down until you reach a triangular intersection. This is where you meet the Trolley Trail.
-----North America-----
At the triangle, turn right. Almost immediately off the left of the Trolley Trail is another trail, starting at a bunch of roots and heading down a bit. Follow this trail past a short rise where you’ll see a sharp tree trunk remnant on the left. The trail will branch. Turn right, up the hill. About twenty steps along the trail you’ll note a small trail dropping off to the right and revealing a large downed tree. Follow the tree towards what used to be its top. Along the way the tree will fork. Your quest is done; you can stick a fork in it. Actually, it’s stuck in the fork.
-----Australia-----
Now you can head down under. Well, definitely down. You’ll see what I mean. This part may be kind of challenging with kids, though, with some effort, my 4-and-a-half-year-old and 7-and-three-quarters-year old managed. Return to the triangle intersection where you first met the Trolley Trail. This time head eastish. Follow the cinder trail until you come to a tree which stands alone, closer in on the trail that the general tree line. You’ll see a white plastic capped pipe sticking out of the ground a couple inches (one of many). You will also note an orange sign a stone’s throw further down the trail. The world drops off the north side of the trail. Carefully descend the cindery slope here as I did so many times in my youth, to a concrete structure. When you make it down to stand on the concrete, you’ll be standing on the top of a tunnel which allows water to flow from the Pheasant Run Apartments lake into the creek. (This is “the creek” of my childhood.) If you stand facing off the end of the tunnel roof, look to your left and note a tree with a tangle of exposed roots. Find your way (the kid in me took the tree-bridge direct path; the parent in me took the roundabout way) to those roots, where Australia is stashed in a pocket facing the tunnel.
-----South America-----
To find South America, you’ll have to head east. Back in the day, you could climb up a trail to the next stop directly from the east side of the tunnel/creek. It seems too much tree debris has accumulated though, so you’ll probably want to climb back up to the cinder Trolley Trail. (Yeah, this is the tough part for the kids, but I did it hundreds of times when I was their age… sheesh!) Continue east on the trail past the ominous orange sign. I regard it simply as an indication that you are now entering the subdivision where I grew up (and where my parents still live in the same house). At any rate, you only need to go 40 snakes or so beyond the sign. Off the left of the trail you will see the “U-hill”. It’s not actually a hill, I suppose, more like the opposite of a hill. It’s like a dirt half-pipe where we kids used to do stunts on our dirt bikes. Well, except for me. I had a banana-seater. Still did the stunts though. The U-hill has widened a bit over the years. The “V-hill” next to it has filled in with foliage. (Yeah, the V-hill was beyond the capabilities of a banana-seater.) Run down-up to the other (north) side of the U-hill. Just to the west is a large oak. From its base, pointing almost due west, lays a fallen tree with a noticeably flat section. This long tree, laying between two less-supine trees, meets the bottom of another fallen tree. In that bottom is where you’ll find the bottom, er… southern American continent.