Three Mice LbNA #15655
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | N/A |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 4, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Sterling |
| County: | Cayuga |
| State: | New York |
| Boxes: | 3 |
| Planted by: | Craftymouse
  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | T-N-T (3) |
| Last found: | Nov 9, 2011 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Jun 4, 2005 |
NOTE: This series used to be known as "Three Mice and a Cat", but we have retired the cat letterbox. Now it's just three happy mice!
This series of letterboxes can be found at the Sterling Nature Center in Sterling, NY. Directions to the Center can be found at http://cayuganet.org/sterlingpark/directions.html
We have another series here called "Sterling Nature Center". If you'd like to make a day of it, bring both sets of clues. "Three Mice" picks up right where "Sterling Nature Center" leaves off. The first thing you'll want to do is pick up a map from the kiosk at the entrance of the parking lot. It will be helpful!
“Three Mice” are hidden on trail 4. Looking at your map, there are two ways that you can get to trail 4. You can park in the parking lot at the Nature Center and walk along the Dogwood Extension until it intersects with trail 4. It looks kind of far on the map, but it’s only a 15-20 minute walk.
Or, for a shorter but bumpier way, you can park on Dogwood Road and enter from the other end of the Dogwood Extension. To get to Dogwood Road from the nature center parking lot, drive back to the 5-way intersection with 104A. Turn left onto Irwin Road, then take the next left onto Dogwood Road. Dogwood is an unmarked road that starts out as paved, but quickly becomes a dirt road. (There is a small brown home on the left where you turn onto Dogwood.) This road is not maintained and is therefore the home of countless ginormous potholes! Drive at your own risk. We have a jeep and it was still pretty rough! Dogwood Road will eventually take a 90 degree turn to the right. This is where you want to park! You’ll see that there’s a gate and a trail leading off into the woods. This is the end of the Dogwood Extension. Go around the gate and follow the trail until you see the sign for trail 4.
At the entrance of trail 4, choose the right path. After a while you’ll pass a random stack of chopped logs on the right. You’ll reach a place where the path goes up onto a mossy little hill. There is a 3-ft stump on the immediate right of the path and the tree that used to belong to the stump has fallen across to the left of the path. The fallen tree has a red circle on it. From the stump, continue on the path for about 16 paces, to a smooth beech tree on the left. Four feet away from it is a 4-inch diameter beech tree with an orange-ish dot. Between these two trees is a small rotten stump. Your first mouse lives here. Please take care to cover the mouse back up with rocks, leaves and bark.
When you’re ready, continue on the path. When you see double red marks on a tree, it means the trail is about to make a turn. (If you have a map with you, you’ll see that trail 4 forms 2 loops.) At the place where trail 4 meets itself at an intersection, there will be a whole family of beech trees on the left. One tree has a red triangle and circle on it and another tree has just a red circle. On the right is an orange wildlife safety zone sign on a stick. Instead of turning left to follow the red-marked path, follow the orange signs. You’ll see lots of them, and they form a line along a rustic, barely-there trail. It’s kind of rough terrain, but it’ll pay off. There will soon be red diamonds marking the way, in addition to the orange signs. When you see the large boulder on the right (there’s only one!) stop. Check out what lives behind it. It’s your second mouse.
When you’re done, continue on this rustic path. It brings you to the back of the Heron Rookery that you saw while searching for “Sterling Nature Center”. Quietly sneak a peak at these awesome birds, but don’t disturb them. Continuing on, the trail circles back and up a little hill, going away from the rookery. At an intersection, you’ll see a yellow sign saying “Wetland Loop” on your left. You want to go straight. Don’t follow the next yellow sign for the trailhead, take the right fork instead. Your trail is marked with red circles again. You’ll pass a giant empty beech tree on the right. Soon you’ll walk through the gap in a giant blowdown. The roots have pulled out a section of dirt about 10-ft tall. From between the pieces of this tree, go 30 paces further down the path. You should end up between two trees. The one on the right with the red dot has an open basement. A little too open! You’ll need to use the rear entrance, behind the fern and stone door to find your third mouse.
Continuing on, you’ll reach the intersection with trail 5. You want to go left, continuing on trail 4. Eventually, you’ll see a park boundary sign on the right. Continuing from there, you’ll soon reach the end of the trail at the intersection with the Dogwood Extension (the way you came in). Turn right to follow Dogwood back to your car. If you’re parked at the nature center, go left onto Dogwood and it will end at the building and the parking lot where you started.
We hope you enjoy this series! These stamps are ones that I made of my favorite subjects: cats and mice! Special thanks to Mr. Pigeon!
This series of letterboxes can be found at the Sterling Nature Center in Sterling, NY. Directions to the Center can be found at http://cayuganet.org/sterlingpark/directions.html
We have another series here called "Sterling Nature Center". If you'd like to make a day of it, bring both sets of clues. "Three Mice" picks up right where "Sterling Nature Center" leaves off. The first thing you'll want to do is pick up a map from the kiosk at the entrance of the parking lot. It will be helpful!
“Three Mice” are hidden on trail 4. Looking at your map, there are two ways that you can get to trail 4. You can park in the parking lot at the Nature Center and walk along the Dogwood Extension until it intersects with trail 4. It looks kind of far on the map, but it’s only a 15-20 minute walk.
Or, for a shorter but bumpier way, you can park on Dogwood Road and enter from the other end of the Dogwood Extension. To get to Dogwood Road from the nature center parking lot, drive back to the 5-way intersection with 104A. Turn left onto Irwin Road, then take the next left onto Dogwood Road. Dogwood is an unmarked road that starts out as paved, but quickly becomes a dirt road. (There is a small brown home on the left where you turn onto Dogwood.) This road is not maintained and is therefore the home of countless ginormous potholes! Drive at your own risk. We have a jeep and it was still pretty rough! Dogwood Road will eventually take a 90 degree turn to the right. This is where you want to park! You’ll see that there’s a gate and a trail leading off into the woods. This is the end of the Dogwood Extension. Go around the gate and follow the trail until you see the sign for trail 4.
At the entrance of trail 4, choose the right path. After a while you’ll pass a random stack of chopped logs on the right. You’ll reach a place where the path goes up onto a mossy little hill. There is a 3-ft stump on the immediate right of the path and the tree that used to belong to the stump has fallen across to the left of the path. The fallen tree has a red circle on it. From the stump, continue on the path for about 16 paces, to a smooth beech tree on the left. Four feet away from it is a 4-inch diameter beech tree with an orange-ish dot. Between these two trees is a small rotten stump. Your first mouse lives here. Please take care to cover the mouse back up with rocks, leaves and bark.
When you’re ready, continue on the path. When you see double red marks on a tree, it means the trail is about to make a turn. (If you have a map with you, you’ll see that trail 4 forms 2 loops.) At the place where trail 4 meets itself at an intersection, there will be a whole family of beech trees on the left. One tree has a red triangle and circle on it and another tree has just a red circle. On the right is an orange wildlife safety zone sign on a stick. Instead of turning left to follow the red-marked path, follow the orange signs. You’ll see lots of them, and they form a line along a rustic, barely-there trail. It’s kind of rough terrain, but it’ll pay off. There will soon be red diamonds marking the way, in addition to the orange signs. When you see the large boulder on the right (there’s only one!) stop. Check out what lives behind it. It’s your second mouse.
When you’re done, continue on this rustic path. It brings you to the back of the Heron Rookery that you saw while searching for “Sterling Nature Center”. Quietly sneak a peak at these awesome birds, but don’t disturb them. Continuing on, the trail circles back and up a little hill, going away from the rookery. At an intersection, you’ll see a yellow sign saying “Wetland Loop” on your left. You want to go straight. Don’t follow the next yellow sign for the trailhead, take the right fork instead. Your trail is marked with red circles again. You’ll pass a giant empty beech tree on the right. Soon you’ll walk through the gap in a giant blowdown. The roots have pulled out a section of dirt about 10-ft tall. From between the pieces of this tree, go 30 paces further down the path. You should end up between two trees. The one on the right with the red dot has an open basement. A little too open! You’ll need to use the rear entrance, behind the fern and stone door to find your third mouse.
Continuing on, you’ll reach the intersection with trail 5. You want to go left, continuing on trail 4. Eventually, you’ll see a park boundary sign on the right. Continuing from there, you’ll soon reach the end of the trail at the intersection with the Dogwood Extension (the way you came in). Turn right to follow Dogwood back to your car. If you’re parked at the nature center, go left onto Dogwood and it will end at the building and the parking lot where you started.
We hope you enjoy this series! These stamps are ones that I made of my favorite subjects: cats and mice! Special thanks to Mr. Pigeon!