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TRAX AND STAX I LbNA #62811

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 11, 2012
Location:
City:Stevenson
County:Fairfield
State:Connecticut
Boxes:4
Planted by:Skip & TJ
Found by: Trailhead Tessie
Last found:Jun 17, 2017
Status:OFFFF
Last edited:Nov 30, 2015
TRAX AND STAX

This series of letterboxes is all about trains and cairns (stacks of rocks that hikers build to mark their trails, and sometimes confused with SPORs, “suspicious piles of rocks.”). You might consider doing this one during the height of “tick season” as very little of the trail brings you into contact with woods or brush. COMMON SENSE AND CAUTION are advised: When you walk along a road, you watch for cars; when you walk along train tracks, you watch for trains. Right? (Please note that the TRAX BOX and STAX BOXES are all located in one place!)

The boxes and clues will lead you on a hobo journey, marked with authentic hobo signs and ending with an appropriate and well-earned hot meal. Finding the boxes in the recommended sequence should make the trip an enjoyable one. (Out of sequence will give you a challenge.)

TRAX AND STAX I


TRAX #1

Take RT111 in Monroe toward the intersection with RT34. Before you come to the end of the hill or go under the railroad bridge, take a right onto Cottage Street. LOOK FOR THE STEVENSON POST OFFICE SIGN ON THE LEFT. Pull into the gravel area to the right of the Post office, and alongside of the tracks. Park here. Facing the tacks and to your right, you will see abandoned tracks, leading off into the woods. Follow them as they wind between Lake Zoar on your left, and Cottage Street on your right. When you come to a long concrete wall with a fence on top on your right, slow down and look for the lone hemlock tree on your left. Behind it, you should see a stack of rocks. TRAX #1 LETTERBOX (“Good Food, But You Have To Work”) is hidden under the capstone of the stack.

Inside of the logbook cover, you will see the trax imprint, and the three HOBO SIGNS stamped on top of the trax imprint. Each hobo sign has a letter on its opposite face. Those letters, in the correct sequence, give a clue to the location of the DESTINATION LETTERBOX.

STAX #1

Continue following the tracks, noticing the great views of the lake on your left. After passing the first pile of stacked railroad ties on your left, you will walk past the spot where the Paugusett Blue Blaze Trail crosses the tracks. After two more piles of railroad ties on your left, you will come upon a section of ledge on your right. Stop and look to your left. You should see an obvious “saddle” or cut in the hill, with a path leading through it. Walk through the saddle and stop at the lone oak tree that is sitting on top of two large stones on the right side of the path. On the back side of this tree, and below the stones is another stack of smaller rocks. HOBO SIGN #1 (“Camp Here”) is hidden under the capstone of the stack. Be sure that you are stamping the letter in the right location on top of the TRAX #1 imprint, and that you stamp BOTH SIDES.


Continue following the tracks. There are great views of the Stevenson Dam and Hydro-electric Plant on your left. If you are walking with the tracks to your right, you will come upon a large flat boulder in your path. A little farther on, you will find two more large boulders in your way. Walk on just a little more, and you will see an obvious pile of jagged rocks on your left. HOBO SIGN #2 (“Kind Woman”) is hidden under the capstone of this stack. Be sure that you are stamping the letter in the right location on top of the TRAX #1 imprint, and that you are stamping BOTH SIDES.

Continue following the tracks to the next ledge on your right. Stop and look to your left for a lone MOUNTAIN LAUREL BUSH. Behind the bush is another stack of rocks. HOBO SIGN #3 (“No Alcohol In This Town”) is under the capstone of the stack. Be sure that you are stamping the letter in the right location on top of the TRAX #1 imprint, and that you are stamping BOTH SIDES.

By now, you have noticed that there were several spots along the track where roads and trails met the railroad. You can go back to any of these connections and walk back to your car. Or you can return, as a real hobo would, by following the tracks back the way you came.