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Little Surprise Boxes - RETIRED LbNA #8706 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Sojourner
Plant date:Jun 16, 2004
Location:
City:Ansonia
County:New Haven
State:Connecticut
Boxes:5
Found by: DevilinDog (5)
Last found:Jan 26, 2012
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFr
Last edited:Jun 16, 2004
For some of you, this may be your first experience with Letterboxing, so before you begin your search today, I’d like to convey to you some aspects of Letterboxing that I personally feel are important.
#1 – STEALTH:
Be discreet while searching for a letterbox if other people are around. You may need to postpone retrieving a box if you can’t do it without being seen. Remember - not everyone is “letterbox-friendly” and you should not jeopardize someone else’s letterbox for the sake of getting a stamp! When you have successfully retrieved it, carry the box away from its hiding place to stamp-in so as not to reveal the hiding place to passers-by or to draw attention to what you are doing. Make sure you are discreet when unpacking the contents of the box and stamping-in. Discretion and stealth are also required when you return the letterbox to its hiding place.
#2 – LETTERBOXING WITH CHILDREN:
Children are often enthusiastic to “do it themselves”, but adults should always oversee their activities and that they close up the box properly and re-hide it well.
#3 – RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT:
Care must be taken in both finding and planting letterboxes. When looking for a letterbox, remember to leave the area just as, or better than you found it. If you look under a rock, replace the rock back where you found it. Don't pull out plants or rip up the ground looking for a letterbox. Avoid trampling vegetation while searching for the letterbox – if the box is off-trail, try not to create a “social trail” by following where previous boxers walked, it’s damaging plus it’s a dead giveaway to the location! Don’t tear apart that stone wall that has withstood hundreds of years of time to find the box.
#4 – RE-HIDE WELL:
After stamping-in and carefully closing up a letterbox, re-hide it as well or better than when you originally found it. Again, discretion at this time is very important. It is a good idea to cover the box with a handful of dead leaves, anchor the box with a flat rock so that an inquisitive animal can’t run off with it, and then sprinkle a few more leaves or twigs on top so it looks natural to passers-by. Look at it from different angles before you leave to make sure no plastic is showing. Never leave a letterbox out in plain sight! A well hidden letterbox helps ensure its longevity!
#5 – HAVE FUN!:
Letterboxing will take you to many new places – places that you may have never known about had it not been for letterboxing! It could be a short walk or a long, strenuous hike – there’s something for everyone’s preference and ability. Be sure to read the clues before you set off to ensure that it’s a suitable one for you.
Some clues are written simply and straightforward, some are more vague and require some thought and interpretation. Others are written in the form of puzzles and ciphers to challenge those who enjoy that sort of approach. Again, there’s something for everyone.
Whichever path letterboxing may take you, please respect it, enjoy it and have fun!
(taken from AQ and Letterboxing.info)

Thank you and now on with the clues! :-)

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Location: Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center
10 Deerfield Road
Ansonia, off Route 243.
Find driving directions at ansonianaturecenter.org/drivingdirections.html

Difficulty: Quite easy, with some rocky and muddy sections. Rocks and roots on the trail are slippery when wet. The stamps are geared more for children, but I’m sure adults will enjoy them too!! Trail terrain is not suitable for strollers. Please supervise children in locating and re-hiding boxes.

Time: Walking time is about 1 hour. Allow extra time for stamping and visiting the Nature Center.

Dogs: Leashed dogs OK.
Other: A few words of caution before you set off. There is some poison ivy and pricker bushes along these trails, so watch out!
Remember not to stick your hands into any rocky crevices, use a stick to pull out the box. We don’t want any “unplanned surprises”!
If you hear gunshots, they are coming from a nearby shooting range!
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UPDATED CLUES AS OF 12-05-2009:
There is now just 1 LOGBOOK and you'll find it in the last box.
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CLUES: From the north-east corner of the parking lot, begin the hunt by walking down the gravel road to the left of the Nature Center building and main playground. There’s often a wooden bar across it to block traffic and it passes between the ball fields and then a picnic pavilion on the left. The road comes to an end, but continue walking straight on the grass and into the woods where you see the large sign at the trail entrance, “Raptor Woods”.
It has recently been blazed with a WHITE DOT ON A GREEN BLAZE.
Continue walking through the woods on this trail until you come to a rock in the middle of the trail just before 2 trees that form a “V”. Take a reading of 334 degrees and walk 16 steps to find the first Surprise. (I can’t tell you the names of these Letterboxes, or they won’t be surprises!!) Remember, no logbooks until the last box.

A few yards ahead, the blazes direct you to turn right. Walk through an area of pine needle carpet followed by (seasonal) lush green ferns.
Pass through a broken-down stone wall and stop along side the large almost-dead pine tree that’s on your right. Look over your right shoulder for the “diving board” in the stone wall. Below is your 2nd prize.

Continuing on, passing the fenced horse field until the trail makes a 90 degree turn to the right. (On the left you’ll see a wire across the trail marking the boundary) Pass through a marshy area, where the trail can get muddy. (There's now a nice boardwalk) You’ll also pass a vintage(!) car. Further along, the blazes indicate the trail turns right. Instead, continue straight ahead (no blazes here), and before the trail exits the woods, look right for a large oak tree in front of a jumble of large rocks and boulders. A rusty metal fence post shows you where to find box #3! Be careful of some rusty fencing and barbed wire on the ground.

To find your 4th surprise return to the intersection where the the blazed trail turns westwards. Turn down that trail, passing 3 cut-off telephone poles on the left. Disregard the pale purple blazes, continuing to watch for white dot on green, and very soon take a small side-trail on the right. The trail twists and turns a few time, then look for a large, flat, split boulder on the right. Stand on top of it (Caution: this rock is slippery when wet....)
and take a reading of 278 degrees to a nearby small rock “wall” with a tree in its midst.

You’ll find your 5th and final surprise just before the end of the trail before it enters the open meadow. On a curve, before the trail starts going downhill to the meadow, stop beside a rough-barked tree on the right that's marked with a white dot on a green blaze. Take a reading of 200 degrees and walk 26 steps to a thigh-high rotten stump. Here you’ll find #5 with the LOGBOOK.

When you reach the end of the trail, turn right onto the mowed path. The meadow has been left uncut to allow various wildflowers to grow and wildlife to hide out. Turn right again on a narrow trail just before the picnic pavilion (what's left of it - it has burned down except for the chimney), cross the wooden bridge, (take a few minutes to look at the pond for any activity), then turn right uphill on the path that runs between the Nature Center building and the main playground. Take some time to play on the Leathers community-built playground and to check out the exhibits in the Nature Center building.


At each Letterbox, please remember to stamp-in discreetly and re-hide carefully - BETTER THAN YOU FOUND THEM -camouflaging box with leaves or debris so that it cannot be seen.

Enjoy the hunt, and please take a minute to send an e-mail letting me know how it went!
Please log your finds into LbNA and Atlasquest.com