Letterbox: Smokey Bear
Date Found: November 8, 2009
Type: Traditional
Status: Attempted
Message from Finder:
VERY frustrating. First off this is more than 10 miles from __________. It should be listed as ____________. It is 5 miles from _______ and the directions are so vague that mileage would sure help. We ended up on the ____________ Trail ___. ____________________. If you could at least add that we wouldn't have hiked over an hour in the wrong place. Please note this is _____________________ so from the gate it adds another mile to the walk. It is a fee area. Couldn't tell if hikers have to pay a fee or not. Finally we did find the homestead but after over half an hour and just my compass we got too cold to continue searching. How far is "within 100 meters"? Looked inside and out of the homestead. Is it north or south of the trail? Inside or out of the ruins? Very frustrating to search and search and know it had to be within walking distance but with snow on the ground in places it got cold after 4 pm. We had to give up. Now it will be spring before we can try again. Because we went to _______ first we wasted a lot of time backtracking. Directions could say how to get to ______________ from ________. The _______ box was awesome and at least we had that but we had planned a lot more for the day. PLEASE write to me and give me some feedback. I hate giving up....
This really upset me. I remember when I first started out in letterboxing and had some trouble finding boxes. I would write to the placers and most often I would get back an email stating that they didn't give hints or help out with the clues. It was pretty discouraging. I made a decision that I would help people when they asked for it. We all have to learn and need a little help along the way. There were times I thought about not participating in this hobby because I felt that the 'old timers' felt threatened by 'newbies' - like it was going to ruin their hobby. But instead of quitting I decided to just teach myself how to letterbox better and to avoid certain types of clues since it wasn't something I was interested in. 1500 boxes later I know what I like and I know what boxes I want to look for - so those are the ones I go for and I leave the others for the people who can solve those types of mysteries or interpret someone's vision as they placed the box. This has made letterboxing really enjoyable for me.So when I get notes that someone had trouble finding my box I usually try to find out where they went wrong and offer hints so that they can try again. But this just felt wrong when I read it. The box is meant to be a mystery and you need to do a little work to find it. I realize this isn't the easiest box to find and I would be willing to provide some help but not when I receive notes like this. It made me feel like I should have giant blinking arrows directing people to this box with a large red flashing light sitting on the box. Well I just wanted to vent a little - thanks for listening.
8 comments :
I'm so sorry you ever got that message. What a damper on an otherwise good day that must have been. ;-(
Mark, did you think of sending your comments here to the sender of that whining e-mail?
I understand where you are coming from, lionsmane. I got a similar email recently:
This box needs to include hike in the description as it was not described as to exactly how far it really was down the trail. And we searched for quite a while to no avail.
I just chose to ignore it and not even respond.
Lucy Locket
Too bad about that email. The finder was clearly frustrated and I know I have certainly felt like he did before. But - your clues looked great to me, I just read them. Sounds to me like they were real close, they just didn't understand how to do that last part. Too bad they had to whine about the rest of your clues though. They are probably just used to very specific directions and don't get that you are TRYING to not spell it all out for them.
-D
Too many people forget:
They're called "Clues" NOT "Directions".
If the 'boxer is new, perhaps he or she just needs some gentle instruction about how things work. It isn't hard for me to remember the nature of my expectations when I was starting out.
I'm so sorry, Mark. We've only been letterboxing for about 3 years, but with 230 boxes, I have learned, like you, what boxes I'll try looking for...or not.
I really appreciate the new labeling that Atlas Quest uses now showing whether a hike is a short hike that families can do together, one with 1-3 miles, 3-5 miles or extreme. I know what I'm capable of (and my kidlets, too) and at this point in our letterboxing journey, we have to pick and choose according to our abilities.
Most letterboxers, including some of the 'oldies' have been very accomodating to us, but when it comes to Mystery boxes, I never expect alot of details. I'll sometimes ask, only if I've already done a lot of research beforehand, just to kind of get an idea if I'm on the right track, but I don't expect the letterboxer placer to give up too many details.
On the other hand I like to help any letterboxer who contacts me politely to get help finding my boxes as much as I can because, quite honestly, I didn't prepare a box, logbook and carve a stamp and then hunt for a great location just for it to sit for years with noone finding it (hopefully appreciating all the work and time put into it, too).
That letterboxer seemed very upset and distraught and I've felt like that before, too. But she should have probably waited a while before sending you that message just to give herself some time to cool-off.
It's frustrating to have to 'give-up' on a letterbox that you know is so-close, but it's also an opportunity to do more research and to look forward to hunting for it later...and then the find will only be that much sweeter. :)
Mark, you've always been helpful and generous to our family with tips and clues and advice on letterboxing. We do appreciate how you share your experiences, so please don't let one discouraging experience change the way you relate to other letterboxers (newbies and oldies alike). :)
Have a great day,
~Lisa
Twinville Trekkers
Oh and I reread the message again and got to thinking that this person missed part of the reason that letterboxing is so enjoyable. It gets you outside exploring new places. Instad of complaining that they had to hike over an hour on some other trail, they might have tried to appreciate the hike and the outdoors a little bit more. I don't letterbox just for the prize (and I know you don't either)....the journey is a wonderful part of the fun, too.
~Lisa
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