After
fumbling with our compass (at this point we still hadn't really sat down
with the thing to figure it out yet), we finally were on our way. We were looking for a path into the woods.
The first path wasn't it…we read the clues again.
That's what was wrong, we needed to go to that intersection, not this
intersection! Okay, we tried it again.
So many paces, the path into the woods.
There was no path here, oh wait, a little further up was a path.
And look, there was the log that was supposed to be covering the
path! So we searched, and we
searched, and not being sure how to use that compass didn't help us, and
finally we determined that it wasn't there.
We decided to search for Box Two instead.
Box Two
was much easier to find. We also
found Box Three with success, and as we stared at the stamps trying to figure
out what they were and how they worked, we realized that we really needed Box
One. So we went back to the start.
So many
paces, path into the woods. We
walked, step step step step step. We
turned. There was the path
into the woods. It didn't look like
much of a path, but we followed it, and sure enough it led us to Box One.
What
We've Learned While Letterboxing, Item 2: Don't
second-guess the clues. The
majority of the time, they mean what they say (we had this problem at the On a
Clear Day box, too).
So after
procuring Stamp One, we went back to Box Two and Box Three to get those stamps
again. Now it was off to Box Four
and the Pine Tree Letterbox. We
were supposed to get back on the bridal trail.
Doodle started off in one direction, and then Deedle said, "Wait a
minute, are we supposed to head this way, or that way?"
We consulted the clues, it didn't really say, and so we finally went the
way Deedle thought we should go. We
were walking along the bridal trail just fine, and then we came to the muck.
It WAS a bright sunny day, but the day before had been rainy, and this
part of the bridal trail was not dried out yet.
Plus, it WAS a bridal trail, so that wasn't all mud…but we were
determined, so onward we pressed, looking for the drier spots and the higher
ground. The muck tried to steal
Doodle's sneaker at one point, but finally we came through it.
We walked a little further, and then Doodle turned to Deedle.
"I don't think this is the way we wanted to go."
Rather than travel back through that mud and, well, other stuff, Deedle
stated that we could get back through the woods and began to lead us along a dirt
trail among the trees.
We went
on this way for about fifteen minutes, quickly losing sight of the bridal trail
that Doodle thought we'd be paralleling. When
we rounded a bend Doodle became convinced we were lost. She started to get snippy.
We were lost, she was tired, the coolness to the air was long gone, we
had no water and she was thirsty, and despite not having had any water she
really
needed to use a bathroom! But
we were already this far into the woods, Deedle tried to reassure her that
everything was okay, and she followed him on, swatting his hand away when he
tried to help her over a hole. And
low and behold, we finally made it back to the bridal trail.
A different part of the bridal trail, but it was still a nice, marked
trail. We stopped to regroup and
pulled out the clues. As we read,
Doodle's eyes grew wide. "We
were right were we needed to be!" she cried.
As we read the clues, she remembered seeing some of the landmarks.
We had walked right past where the boxes had been planted, because we
came a different way. She threw her
arms around Deedle. Her snappiness
was now replaced with joyful exclamations and many kisses.
Deedle
wanted to be sure, though, so we walked back up the bridal trail to see if we
could find where Box Three was, and sure enough we did.
Confirming that we were back on track, finding the last two boxes was a
snap.
What
We've Learned While Letterboxing, Item 3: Always,
no matter how short you think the search will be, ALWAYS bring water with you.
Needless
to say, by the time we got back to the car, we were parched. And our shoes had seen better days.
Take
me back!