Memorable Moments at Myles LbNA #5566 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Mary Manatee  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Sep 1, 2003 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Carver / Plymouth |
| County: | Plymouth |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 4 |
| Found by: | The 2 Bikers (2) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | May 11, 2008 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFaFFFaFFFaaaa |
| Last edited: | Nov 9, 2015 |
Memorable Moments at Myles
This is a series of 4 letterboxes placed in various parts of Myles Standish State Forest in Carver/Plymouth Massachusetts by The Yachtsman and Mary Manatee. Each spot represents an event or recurring events in our lives. Since we live within 10 - 15 miles of the forest, this seemed like a good location to place boxes commerating those events. If you stop in at the forest headquarters on Cranberry Road, you can get a very thorough forest map, showing trails for both summer and winter use. Be aware, however, that it is not recommended to use any of the off road trails during the shotgun or deer hunting seasons in the fall. Although the trails are not closed, you would need to wear blaze orange and be very careful.
1. Bridge to Nowhere Letterbox:
Clues: easy
Terrain: easy
Distance: a short walk
Placed 08/31/2003
NOTE: THIS BOX LOCATION HAS BEEN CORRECTED -- THERE WAS A MISTAKE IN THE COMPASS HEADING! -- SORRY (4/25/04)
This letterbox was placed “in memory” of the bridge across the mouth of the East Head Reservoir connecting Cranberry Rd to Fearing Pond Rd. Until a few years ago, this bridge was paved, and cars could flow freely from Cranberry way east toward Camp Cachalot, Camp Squanto, Fearing Pond campground and Plymouth. We traversed this bridge many times on our way to boy scout camp with our son, to camping adventures, or on the way to doctor’s appointments or jury duty in Plymouth. We also have launched our canoe at this site and paddled out onto the reservoir. Then one evening some years back, a couple drove their car across the bridge, and a section collapsed (because of neglect) and the car wound up in the water. The couple was rescued, but the bridge was never repaired. Now there is a “dirt” portion of the bridge, a paved section (collapsing at the edges), and the bridge is only open to foot traffic. A metal gate now bars the way for motorized vehicles. The “way to Plymouth” now winds up past the forest headquarters around the reservoir, in a much more circuitous way than before. So far talk of repairing the bridge has not led to any action, thus the “bridge to nowhere”.
The box is placed just off of the East Head Reservoir hiking trail. If you park in the lot next to the forest headquarters (and in front of the Interpretive Center), walk back to the road on which you entered the lot, and continue walking east across the bridge. The hiking trail begins to your left after the bridge, and is marked by blue triangles. Another series of letterboxes --3 Myles of Letterboxes can also be found along this trail, and at one point the East Head Letterbox of the Bike It or Hike It group also meets this path. So you could potentially visit 5 letterboxes if you traverse the entire path.
Our box can be found quite close to post #1. At that post, there is a pitch pine at a bearing of about 250 degrees. The box is located to the left of the pine under some bark and branches.
2. Edaville RR Letterbox:
Clues: easy to moderate
Terrain: moderate
Distance: 1.5 to 2 miles around the “loop”
Placed: 09/01/2003
NOTE: THIS BOX HAS BEEN MOVED BECAUSE OF CLEARING IN THE AREA WHERE IT WAS ORIGINALLY PLACED. (4/10/04)
This letterbox is placed “in memory” of the old Edaville RR, which faded into memory after 1992 when the original steam engines and most of the cars were sold to Maine Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland, Maine. During the years when our son and his cousin were young, we visited the railroad every year at Christmas as a family. We usually were able to stake out the “caboose” as our preferred car to ride the train, and sang Christmas carols the whole way around. The boys had a wonderful time on the train, and really enjoyed the petting zoo, the Christmas village, the fire museum, and climbing on the display engines outside. It was one of the highlights of our Christmas experience. The first time that Edaville re-opened, we visited, but never got to ride on the train before the closed a second time. Two years ago we revisited again at Christmas with our younger nephew, but it wasn’t at all the same. For us, the magic was gone. Nevertheless, we understand that much rebuilding has happened since then, and we wish the new owners luck in their enterprise. The box is placed in the part of the park which is in the town of Carver, and the Edaville RR can be found a few miles west of here off Rt 58. When the wind is from the west, you may hear the whistle blowing as the train wends its way around the cranberry bogs and into the woods!
To reach the letterbox, it is easiest to park in the Equestrian Parking Lot. From Forest Headquarters head up Lower College Rd, which winds past the East Head Reservoir, and turn left onto Halfway Pond Rd at the first fork. (The road is dirt to the left, paved to the right). At gate 71 you will see the large Equestrian Parking lot. Follow the trail out the N corner of the lot. It is sandy and rolling, and passes through a scrub forest with pitch pine, bayberry, sweet fern and scrub oak on either side. Soon you will cross Jessup Rd (dirt). The well-defined path continues into the woods on the other side of Jessup Rd just to the left of a red arrow. As you continue there will be large stands of bearberry, full of fruit in late August and early September. Soon the path turns sharp left, and climbs a hill through a sandy gully. It then passes through a relatively flat stretch for awhile. You will pass a fallen log on the right side of the path. Just before you reach an intersection with a wide dirt path (Lunxus Rd, showing evidence of recent tree cutting), spy a double-trunked pitch pine to your right. Find your treasure on the NE side under pine needles, a rock, and branches.
To complete your hike, turn right at the intersection onto Lunxus Rd. At the intersection with Dunham Rd, turn right and walk back to Halfway Pond Rd. A right turn here will take you back to the Equestrian parking lot.
If you are approaching this letterbox by bicycle, the paved bike path intersects with Halfway Pond Rd soon after crossing Lower College Rd if you are headed north.
3. Cranberry Scoop Letterbox:
Clues: easy
Terrain: moderate, with a little bit of bushwacking.
Distance: about ½ mile round trip
Placed: 09/01/2003
This letterbox commerates how our lives have been affected by the cranberry industry since moving into this area of Massachusetts 25 years ago. Little did we know when we built a house next to a cranberry bog back then, that bogs get mixed reviews as neighbors in residential areas. To us it was a pretty scene, green in spring and summer, red in autumn, and a place to skate in the winter. We hadn’t been in our house one week when we woke up to the sound of low helicopter traffic several hundred feet from our back door, and found out abruptly that in those days spraying of pesticides by helicopters was routine on these bogs — and it always happened at 6 AM! Fortunately for us, times have changed, helicopter spraying of pesticides is not allowed in Massachusetts anymore, and we have learned to live with the mixed blessing behind us. This letterbox is in memory of a simpler day when cranberry bogs were harvested by hand with scoops, and before the chemical industry convinced growers that they needed to spray their bogs to increase profits.
To reach the Cranberry Scoop Letterbox, drive from Forest Headquarters up Lower College Pond Rd, and take the left fork onto Bare Hill Rd, following signs toward Curlew Pond. Just after you pass under the electric highlines, turn left into the small Rocky Pond Parking area. After reading the sign that tells you about the history of the bogs and their present use, take the trail to the bogs. At the bottom of the trail, turn left on the dirt access road, keeping the bog to your right. At the far end of the bog, continue on the road to the second bog. Turn right, keeping the second bog on your left. When you pass a large sand quarrying operation on the left, turn right towards a large “snag” that contains the remnants of a tree house. Just after leaving the bog, turn north onto a well-defined, small path with bushes on either side. Walk up the path some distance, looking down (right) toward rocky pond. Soon you will see a prominent group of 3 stumps between you and the pond. (Depending on how tall you are, these may come into view sooner or later). When you are reach the spot on the trail where you have a large white pine about 10 feet to your right, walk about 35 paces further, and the stumps will be at 100 degrees. You need to find the easiest way to reach those stumps. Your prize lies beneath some bark, under the easternmost of the stumps. Please rehide carefully.
On your way back to the parking lot, you can explore a bit more, and see the evidence of two old cranberry bogs on your left before you reach the large cranberry bog next to the parking lot.
4. White - Tailed Deer Letterbox:
Clues: moderate
Terrain: moderate (heavy sand in places makes the going rough)
Distance: 1.5 miles or so round trip
Placed: 09/01/2003
This letterbox doesn’t really commemorate any one moment in our lives in this area as much as it is in honor of all the deer that we have seen over the years in the bogs, meadows and forests about us, as well as in our own backyard. We chose a spot in the forest which is part of the wildlife management area, and where hunting takes place in the fall and early winter. Please check at forest headquarters as to when it is not recommended to hike in this area, and of course make sure to wear blaze orange from the second week in October till the end of hunting season in January.
From forest headquarters, head up Lower College Pond Road, turning right on the first paved road which is Halfway Pond Rd. Turn left onto Upper College Pond Rd, and proceed to the hiking/biking parking lot on your left. You might want to bring along the clues to the Bike It or Hike It group’s “College Pond Letterbox” on this excursion.
From the northern side of parking lot, take Three Cornered Pond Rd to your left. You’ll pass one large dirt road coming in on the left, and one going out on the right. Proceed generally downhill to the hiking trail marked with blue triangles. It crosses Three Cornered Pond Rd. Turn right (340 degrees) onto the path, and continue past a smaller trail coming in from the right. Soon you will pass a large meadow on your right, which looks very much like prime deer habitat. You can walk along the left edge of the meadow looking for wildlife if you like. At its far end, return to the main path. Eventually you will come to an intersection. A blue marker with a pine tree on it point right. Jog right, then left between to blue “arrows” with pine trees. (Don’t take the trail that goes left to the pond).
Walk down this trail past one blue pine tree marker on the right, and a second one on your left. Ahead is a “snag” on your left. From the second marker, walk about 25 paces to a fallen log on the left side of the trail. Your treasure lies behind (and under) the log about 5 feet from its southwest end.
You can return to the parking lot as you came, or if you prefer a much longer hike, continue along the trail towards College Pond, and then eventually back to the hikers parking lot. (Make sure you have a forest map if you attempt the longer route, as there are many unmarked trails out here and its easy to get turned around!) We explored the shoreline of Three Cornered Pond, which appeared to us to be likely white-tail country!
This is a series of 4 letterboxes placed in various parts of Myles Standish State Forest in Carver/Plymouth Massachusetts by The Yachtsman and Mary Manatee. Each spot represents an event or recurring events in our lives. Since we live within 10 - 15 miles of the forest, this seemed like a good location to place boxes commerating those events. If you stop in at the forest headquarters on Cranberry Road, you can get a very thorough forest map, showing trails for both summer and winter use. Be aware, however, that it is not recommended to use any of the off road trails during the shotgun or deer hunting seasons in the fall. Although the trails are not closed, you would need to wear blaze orange and be very careful.
1. Bridge to Nowhere Letterbox:
Clues: easy
Terrain: easy
Distance: a short walk
Placed 08/31/2003
NOTE: THIS BOX LOCATION HAS BEEN CORRECTED -- THERE WAS A MISTAKE IN THE COMPASS HEADING! -- SORRY (4/25/04)
This letterbox was placed “in memory” of the bridge across the mouth of the East Head Reservoir connecting Cranberry Rd to Fearing Pond Rd. Until a few years ago, this bridge was paved, and cars could flow freely from Cranberry way east toward Camp Cachalot, Camp Squanto, Fearing Pond campground and Plymouth. We traversed this bridge many times on our way to boy scout camp with our son, to camping adventures, or on the way to doctor’s appointments or jury duty in Plymouth. We also have launched our canoe at this site and paddled out onto the reservoir. Then one evening some years back, a couple drove their car across the bridge, and a section collapsed (because of neglect) and the car wound up in the water. The couple was rescued, but the bridge was never repaired. Now there is a “dirt” portion of the bridge, a paved section (collapsing at the edges), and the bridge is only open to foot traffic. A metal gate now bars the way for motorized vehicles. The “way to Plymouth” now winds up past the forest headquarters around the reservoir, in a much more circuitous way than before. So far talk of repairing the bridge has not led to any action, thus the “bridge to nowhere”.
The box is placed just off of the East Head Reservoir hiking trail. If you park in the lot next to the forest headquarters (and in front of the Interpretive Center), walk back to the road on which you entered the lot, and continue walking east across the bridge. The hiking trail begins to your left after the bridge, and is marked by blue triangles. Another series of letterboxes --3 Myles of Letterboxes can also be found along this trail, and at one point the East Head Letterbox of the Bike It or Hike It group also meets this path. So you could potentially visit 5 letterboxes if you traverse the entire path.
Our box can be found quite close to post #1. At that post, there is a pitch pine at a bearing of about 250 degrees. The box is located to the left of the pine under some bark and branches.
2. Edaville RR Letterbox:
Clues: easy to moderate
Terrain: moderate
Distance: 1.5 to 2 miles around the “loop”
Placed: 09/01/2003
NOTE: THIS BOX HAS BEEN MOVED BECAUSE OF CLEARING IN THE AREA WHERE IT WAS ORIGINALLY PLACED. (4/10/04)
This letterbox is placed “in memory” of the old Edaville RR, which faded into memory after 1992 when the original steam engines and most of the cars were sold to Maine Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland, Maine. During the years when our son and his cousin were young, we visited the railroad every year at Christmas as a family. We usually were able to stake out the “caboose” as our preferred car to ride the train, and sang Christmas carols the whole way around. The boys had a wonderful time on the train, and really enjoyed the petting zoo, the Christmas village, the fire museum, and climbing on the display engines outside. It was one of the highlights of our Christmas experience. The first time that Edaville re-opened, we visited, but never got to ride on the train before the closed a second time. Two years ago we revisited again at Christmas with our younger nephew, but it wasn’t at all the same. For us, the magic was gone. Nevertheless, we understand that much rebuilding has happened since then, and we wish the new owners luck in their enterprise. The box is placed in the part of the park which is in the town of Carver, and the Edaville RR can be found a few miles west of here off Rt 58. When the wind is from the west, you may hear the whistle blowing as the train wends its way around the cranberry bogs and into the woods!
To reach the letterbox, it is easiest to park in the Equestrian Parking Lot. From Forest Headquarters head up Lower College Rd, which winds past the East Head Reservoir, and turn left onto Halfway Pond Rd at the first fork. (The road is dirt to the left, paved to the right). At gate 71 you will see the large Equestrian Parking lot. Follow the trail out the N corner of the lot. It is sandy and rolling, and passes through a scrub forest with pitch pine, bayberry, sweet fern and scrub oak on either side. Soon you will cross Jessup Rd (dirt). The well-defined path continues into the woods on the other side of Jessup Rd just to the left of a red arrow. As you continue there will be large stands of bearberry, full of fruit in late August and early September. Soon the path turns sharp left, and climbs a hill through a sandy gully. It then passes through a relatively flat stretch for awhile. You will pass a fallen log on the right side of the path. Just before you reach an intersection with a wide dirt path (Lunxus Rd, showing evidence of recent tree cutting), spy a double-trunked pitch pine to your right. Find your treasure on the NE side under pine needles, a rock, and branches.
To complete your hike, turn right at the intersection onto Lunxus Rd. At the intersection with Dunham Rd, turn right and walk back to Halfway Pond Rd. A right turn here will take you back to the Equestrian parking lot.
If you are approaching this letterbox by bicycle, the paved bike path intersects with Halfway Pond Rd soon after crossing Lower College Rd if you are headed north.
3. Cranberry Scoop Letterbox:
Clues: easy
Terrain: moderate, with a little bit of bushwacking.
Distance: about ½ mile round trip
Placed: 09/01/2003
This letterbox commerates how our lives have been affected by the cranberry industry since moving into this area of Massachusetts 25 years ago. Little did we know when we built a house next to a cranberry bog back then, that bogs get mixed reviews as neighbors in residential areas. To us it was a pretty scene, green in spring and summer, red in autumn, and a place to skate in the winter. We hadn’t been in our house one week when we woke up to the sound of low helicopter traffic several hundred feet from our back door, and found out abruptly that in those days spraying of pesticides by helicopters was routine on these bogs — and it always happened at 6 AM! Fortunately for us, times have changed, helicopter spraying of pesticides is not allowed in Massachusetts anymore, and we have learned to live with the mixed blessing behind us. This letterbox is in memory of a simpler day when cranberry bogs were harvested by hand with scoops, and before the chemical industry convinced growers that they needed to spray their bogs to increase profits.
To reach the Cranberry Scoop Letterbox, drive from Forest Headquarters up Lower College Pond Rd, and take the left fork onto Bare Hill Rd, following signs toward Curlew Pond. Just after you pass under the electric highlines, turn left into the small Rocky Pond Parking area. After reading the sign that tells you about the history of the bogs and their present use, take the trail to the bogs. At the bottom of the trail, turn left on the dirt access road, keeping the bog to your right. At the far end of the bog, continue on the road to the second bog. Turn right, keeping the second bog on your left. When you pass a large sand quarrying operation on the left, turn right towards a large “snag” that contains the remnants of a tree house. Just after leaving the bog, turn north onto a well-defined, small path with bushes on either side. Walk up the path some distance, looking down (right) toward rocky pond. Soon you will see a prominent group of 3 stumps between you and the pond. (Depending on how tall you are, these may come into view sooner or later). When you are reach the spot on the trail where you have a large white pine about 10 feet to your right, walk about 35 paces further, and the stumps will be at 100 degrees. You need to find the easiest way to reach those stumps. Your prize lies beneath some bark, under the easternmost of the stumps. Please rehide carefully.
On your way back to the parking lot, you can explore a bit more, and see the evidence of two old cranberry bogs on your left before you reach the large cranberry bog next to the parking lot.
4. White - Tailed Deer Letterbox:
Clues: moderate
Terrain: moderate (heavy sand in places makes the going rough)
Distance: 1.5 miles or so round trip
Placed: 09/01/2003
This letterbox doesn’t really commemorate any one moment in our lives in this area as much as it is in honor of all the deer that we have seen over the years in the bogs, meadows and forests about us, as well as in our own backyard. We chose a spot in the forest which is part of the wildlife management area, and where hunting takes place in the fall and early winter. Please check at forest headquarters as to when it is not recommended to hike in this area, and of course make sure to wear blaze orange from the second week in October till the end of hunting season in January.
From forest headquarters, head up Lower College Pond Road, turning right on the first paved road which is Halfway Pond Rd. Turn left onto Upper College Pond Rd, and proceed to the hiking/biking parking lot on your left. You might want to bring along the clues to the Bike It or Hike It group’s “College Pond Letterbox” on this excursion.
From the northern side of parking lot, take Three Cornered Pond Rd to your left. You’ll pass one large dirt road coming in on the left, and one going out on the right. Proceed generally downhill to the hiking trail marked with blue triangles. It crosses Three Cornered Pond Rd. Turn right (340 degrees) onto the path, and continue past a smaller trail coming in from the right. Soon you will pass a large meadow on your right, which looks very much like prime deer habitat. You can walk along the left edge of the meadow looking for wildlife if you like. At its far end, return to the main path. Eventually you will come to an intersection. A blue marker with a pine tree on it point right. Jog right, then left between to blue “arrows” with pine trees. (Don’t take the trail that goes left to the pond).
Walk down this trail past one blue pine tree marker on the right, and a second one on your left. Ahead is a “snag” on your left. From the second marker, walk about 25 paces to a fallen log on the left side of the trail. Your treasure lies behind (and under) the log about 5 feet from its southwest end.
You can return to the parking lot as you came, or if you prefer a much longer hike, continue along the trail towards College Pond, and then eventually back to the hikers parking lot. (Make sure you have a forest map if you attempt the longer route, as there are many unmarked trails out here and its easy to get turned around!) We explored the shoreline of Three Cornered Pond, which appeared to us to be likely white-tail country!