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Bun-Bun's Weary Old Bones LbNA #47173

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 3, 2009
Location:
City:Ukiah
County:Mendocino
State:California
Boxes:1
Planted by:Prahlada
Found by: Baqash
Last found:May 13, 2009
Status:FFa
Last edited:May 3, 2009
This letterbox is dedicated to my erstwhile companion and lagomorph, Bun-Bun, who once lived around here and now her weary old bones rest in peace nearby.

There are two different ways of getting to this letterbox: one involves driving most of the way and then walking a short distance along a gravel road, the other requires a moderately difficult hike of about a mile one way along Lake Mendocino's Kaweyo Trail. Take note that the hike-in method may not be passable during the rainy season.

HIKE-IN METHOD:
From HWY 101, take the Lake Mendocino Dr. exit and go east until you reach North State St where you'll turn north, but then turn east again right away onto Lake Mendocino Dr. which will lead you all the way out to the dam and the lake. You can park in the small lot right at the top of the large earthen Coyote Dam or continue down to the larger lot at the lake level, but either way you'll be heading across the dam.

Head across the dam.

Once you've reached the far side of the dam, you'll pass a restroom and then the path will split with one branch going uphill to your right and the other going down, this second fork is Kaweyo Trail which will take you all the way around the lake if you follow it long enough. Take Kaweyo Trail and follow it as it rises and falls through this beautiful densely forested section of the lakeshore (sections of this part of the trail may be impassable during the rainy season). After about a 1/4 mile of hiking, you'll emerge at the top of a hill with noticeably lighter vegetation characteristic of the oak-manzanita woodlands in this area.

Continue following Kaweyo trail as it bends quickly to the left and then the right. Don't take either of the paths that branch off at these turns, stay on the main trail. At the third branch, though, a marker with a number 1 on it will show you that Kaweyo Trail heads off to the left, but here is where you'll leave Kaweyo and continue on to the right. Follow the trail down and through a gate just a little beyond the fork where you left Kaweyo Trail. After a minute or two of hiking you will reach a seasonal gully (crossing here may be difficult when it's wet, too). Immediately on the other side of the gully, you'll find yourself at a bend in a little-used gravel road. Follow the road to uphill to the right. As you're climbing up the road, be sure to turn around and enjoy the clear view of Lake Mendocino to the north. After a short but steep climb up this road, the terrain will level out briefly (though you can see that you haven't reached the top yet) and just as it does you should find a very little-used trail joining the road from behind you and to the right. This small trail heads back following along the ridgetop. (Skip down past the directions for the drive-in method and do directly to the instructions for finding the box below.)


DRIVE-IN METHOD:
From HWY 101 take the Perkins Street exit and go east on Perkins toward the hills. Shortly, the road will curve around to the north and at some point around here turn into Redemeyer Drive. Continue on Redemeyer past the Vichy Springs, Deerwood and El Dorado exits. Just when you see that you're entering a residential neighborhood on Redeyemer, look for a street sign indicating Hulda Drive with herd of mailboxes clustered beneath it. If you reach the dead end of Redemeyer, you've gone too far: turn around and look again for Hulda--this time on your left!

Turn onto Hulda and drive out until you reach the first fork with Rafello Drive going up to the right. Please note that these are private roads, so be respectfuland drive carefully when using them. Take Rafello up and around past Elsie Way and then the Trio-Marguerite Vineyards both on the right and then Hulda Drive coming back in on your left, but all the while continuing on as far as Rafello will take you. Finally you'll reach a cable that crosses the road, blocking the way. Park here and continue the rest of the way on foot.

A little way past the cable, you'll come to another gate that's open on one side indicating that you're entering the Lake Mendocino Recreation Area. Just past this gate, the road will split with the right fork going steeply downhill and the left one going up. Take the left fork and walk up to the top of this small hill. Once you reach the top, you should have a beautiful view of Lake Mendocino ahead of you to the north and be surrounded by an oak-manzanita mixed woodland. Continue on, admiring the view, as the road goes downhill a bit. Watch for a clearing in the vegetation to your right where you can catch a glimpse of some kind of engineered stream bank far below. Just beyond this, you'll see a VERY little-used path branching off the road to the left and running along a ridgetop.


FINDING THE BOX:
Join this ridgetop trail and go just a few steps, then look to your left (southwest) by the side of the trail and you should find a twisty olde oak with a semi-circle of manzanitas (scrubby trees with dark red trunks) around it. If you approach this oak and inspect it, you'll find that the entire lower portion of the trunk is hollowed out. On the north side of the trunk and about 6' up from ground level is the collar of a long-lost limb. Reach in here and remove the pieces of mossy wood covering the opening and find the Bun-Bun's Weary Old Bones letterbox underneath.

After stamping, close the box tightly to keep out ants and water and rehide it the way you found it. Be careful putting it back in the hole as there's a rock shoved in behind to keep the box from falling all the way through in to the heart of the trunk. Thanks for playing along!


A WELL-TRAVELED BUNNY HITCHHIKER:
This letterbox has a unique hitchhiker stamp associated with it named "A Well-Traveled Bunny." This hitchhiking bunny is starting off in Pennsylvania and--with a little help from her friends--hoping to make her way back across the country to the peace and lazy quiet of this spot at Lake Mendocino and the "Bun-Bun's Weary Old Bones" box, which is her true home. If you've found the Well-Traveled Bunny and can help bring her a little closer to home, thanks in advance! If you're not coming this way, just take her wherever you want. She's a bunny who wants to see the world. Send me an e-mail, though, to let me know where she is out there in that wide world.

Thanks again!