Poet's Seat Tower LbNA #3443
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Nearby Boxes
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Add Location| Owner: | N/A |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jul 15, 2002 |
| Location: | Mountain Rd |
| City: | Greenfield |
| County: | Franklin |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 4 |
| Planted by: | Adam
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|---|---|
| Found by: | Rock Island (4) |
| Last found: | Oct 18, 2018 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaF |
| Last edited: | Jul 15, 2002 |
Updated May 2015
Boxes 1 & 2 carved and planted by Adam.
Boxes 3 & 4 carved and re-planted by LadybugsMom.
Many of these boxes have gone missing over the years. So, please hide them carefully after you find them. Please contact LadybugsMom if you find one of the boxes to be missing!
OK, here are the clues:
Hidden away in western Massachusetts is the sleepy town of Greenfield. Once an industrial giant known as "Tap Town," Greenfield's modern claims to fame include its rejection of Wal-Mart, a damn fine community pub called The People’s Pint, and a great place to hear live music outdoors called The Greenfield Energy Park. One of Greenfield’s most visible landmarks is Poet's Seat Tower, which stands on cliffs overlooking the town. In times gone by, residents used to hike up there to write poetry.
Now, you can too, thanks to the four boxes I've hidden along one of the many trails near the tower. You can bring poems with you -- as I did -- or trust to inspiration. Either way, please leave something for others to read.
The tower is at the east end of town, accessible from Interstate 91 by taking exit 26, entering the rotary and heading east on Route 2A. This takes you though a traffic light, into lovely downtown Greenfield, through a second traffic light, past the YMCA and the post office and to the end of Main Street. Here the road splits, bear right. You will drive a winding path but stay on the main road and then climb upward to a stop sign and Mountain Road. Take a right and then prepare for an almost immediate left into the bottom parking lot for Poet's Seat Tower. There is a paved road that will take you right up to the tower, but that's cheating. Park and get out. In winter and at night the gate is locked.
If you keep a steady pace, it should take you about an hour to find all four boxes and get back to your car. Also, bring bug repellent. Unless it's winter, you'll need it.
Box No.1
Proceed through the gate on the paved road that goes up to the tower. Just walk up the paved road a ways and look for a wooden trail sign on your right, nailed to a tree. You should also see a white diamond blazed on a tree marking the trail. (Note: A trail leaves the road just past the main gate at the parking lot. This is NOT the one you want. Keep walking uphill to the second trail, which has a sign that is split and on its last legs.)
Head down the White Diamond Trail. It will descend a ways, and then bend to the left. After the bend, you'll see a two trunked tree which leans into the path from the right. Shortly after, you'll see a large three trunked tree uphill of the path. Once you pass this tree, keep a lookout for a cairn under some trees, about 12 steps downhill of the path. On what side of the trail, you ask? Well, again, there's only one right answer to that!
Box No. 2
Having found the first box, head on down the trail. It will seem to go on forever. It doesn't. You might notice passing a side trail headed uphill. Ignore it and stay on the main trail. You'll likely hear the river and get scolded by chipmunks along the way. Ignore them. They have no idea where the boxes are. There will be some uphill parts. You're looking for a stonewall that crosses the trail. The box is hidden in the wall, on the uphill side. But, on which side of the wall, you ask? Remember that right answer last time? Well, that answer won't do this time.
Be careful. There's a section of old barbwire near the wall on the opposite side from the box.
Walk uphill along the wall until you're halted by a clump of small trees growing near the wall. You are hot, very hot. You’re also likely being eaten alive by mosquitoes. The box is in a cavity in the wall. (Note: This box went missing for a while because somebody hid it farther up the stonewall. A diligent letterboxer found it after I'd given up on it. So, please put it back where you found it.)
Box No. 3 (Another Brand-new location)
Having found the second box, walk over the wall and head uphill along it. You are now on a trail blazed with yellow. Continue up this trail heading to your left and crossing the wall again. After a while, you'll hit a trail that looks like a highway in comparison. This is the Blue Trail. Take a left on to it. Proceed up the trail until you come to a large fallen tree resting against a rocky ridge to the right of the path. Look left, and up ahead, you'll see a tree Woody Woodpecker took a liking to. Continue up the trail until you are level with the pecked snag. Walk straight to it, and you'll notice a pocket of bark pushed out from the tree. Under loose bark is the box.
Box No. 4
The fourth box is in the tower itself. At this point, go whichever way you like. LadybugsMom is partial to climbing up the rocky ridge, but continuing on the blue trail, which veers left at the ridge will get you there too. The box is very small and can be retrieved without climbing the stairs. It cannot be seen from any vantage point. Please make sure you put it back exactly the way you found it! The design of the stamps it contains honors the day the original No. 4 was hidden: July 4, 2003. Every year, Greenfield has fabulous Fourth of July fireworks and they are launched from and around the tower. If you haven’t seen them, you should check them out.
Once you find the fourth box, I suggest you brave the climb to the tower's top level. The view is great, particularly at sunset!
Once on the ground again, walking down the paved road that leaves the tower will bring you back to your car.
Thanks for the poems!
Boxes 1 & 2 carved and planted by Adam.
Boxes 3 & 4 carved and re-planted by LadybugsMom.
Many of these boxes have gone missing over the years. So, please hide them carefully after you find them. Please contact LadybugsMom if you find one of the boxes to be missing!
OK, here are the clues:
Hidden away in western Massachusetts is the sleepy town of Greenfield. Once an industrial giant known as "Tap Town," Greenfield's modern claims to fame include its rejection of Wal-Mart, a damn fine community pub called The People’s Pint, and a great place to hear live music outdoors called The Greenfield Energy Park. One of Greenfield’s most visible landmarks is Poet's Seat Tower, which stands on cliffs overlooking the town. In times gone by, residents used to hike up there to write poetry.
Now, you can too, thanks to the four boxes I've hidden along one of the many trails near the tower. You can bring poems with you -- as I did -- or trust to inspiration. Either way, please leave something for others to read.
The tower is at the east end of town, accessible from Interstate 91 by taking exit 26, entering the rotary and heading east on Route 2A. This takes you though a traffic light, into lovely downtown Greenfield, through a second traffic light, past the YMCA and the post office and to the end of Main Street. Here the road splits, bear right. You will drive a winding path but stay on the main road and then climb upward to a stop sign and Mountain Road. Take a right and then prepare for an almost immediate left into the bottom parking lot for Poet's Seat Tower. There is a paved road that will take you right up to the tower, but that's cheating. Park and get out. In winter and at night the gate is locked.
If you keep a steady pace, it should take you about an hour to find all four boxes and get back to your car. Also, bring bug repellent. Unless it's winter, you'll need it.
Box No.1
Proceed through the gate on the paved road that goes up to the tower. Just walk up the paved road a ways and look for a wooden trail sign on your right, nailed to a tree. You should also see a white diamond blazed on a tree marking the trail. (Note: A trail leaves the road just past the main gate at the parking lot. This is NOT the one you want. Keep walking uphill to the second trail, which has a sign that is split and on its last legs.)
Head down the White Diamond Trail. It will descend a ways, and then bend to the left. After the bend, you'll see a two trunked tree which leans into the path from the right. Shortly after, you'll see a large three trunked tree uphill of the path. Once you pass this tree, keep a lookout for a cairn under some trees, about 12 steps downhill of the path. On what side of the trail, you ask? Well, again, there's only one right answer to that!
Box No. 2
Having found the first box, head on down the trail. It will seem to go on forever. It doesn't. You might notice passing a side trail headed uphill. Ignore it and stay on the main trail. You'll likely hear the river and get scolded by chipmunks along the way. Ignore them. They have no idea where the boxes are. There will be some uphill parts. You're looking for a stonewall that crosses the trail. The box is hidden in the wall, on the uphill side. But, on which side of the wall, you ask? Remember that right answer last time? Well, that answer won't do this time.
Be careful. There's a section of old barbwire near the wall on the opposite side from the box.
Walk uphill along the wall until you're halted by a clump of small trees growing near the wall. You are hot, very hot. You’re also likely being eaten alive by mosquitoes. The box is in a cavity in the wall. (Note: This box went missing for a while because somebody hid it farther up the stonewall. A diligent letterboxer found it after I'd given up on it. So, please put it back where you found it.)
Box No. 3 (Another Brand-new location)
Having found the second box, walk over the wall and head uphill along it. You are now on a trail blazed with yellow. Continue up this trail heading to your left and crossing the wall again. After a while, you'll hit a trail that looks like a highway in comparison. This is the Blue Trail. Take a left on to it. Proceed up the trail until you come to a large fallen tree resting against a rocky ridge to the right of the path. Look left, and up ahead, you'll see a tree Woody Woodpecker took a liking to. Continue up the trail until you are level with the pecked snag. Walk straight to it, and you'll notice a pocket of bark pushed out from the tree. Under loose bark is the box.
Box No. 4
The fourth box is in the tower itself. At this point, go whichever way you like. LadybugsMom is partial to climbing up the rocky ridge, but continuing on the blue trail, which veers left at the ridge will get you there too. The box is very small and can be retrieved without climbing the stairs. It cannot be seen from any vantage point. Please make sure you put it back exactly the way you found it! The design of the stamps it contains honors the day the original No. 4 was hidden: July 4, 2003. Every year, Greenfield has fabulous Fourth of July fireworks and they are launched from and around the tower. If you haven’t seen them, you should check them out.
Once you find the fourth box, I suggest you brave the climb to the tower's top level. The view is great, particularly at sunset!
Once on the ground again, walking down the paved road that leaves the tower will bring you back to your car.
Thanks for the poems!