Letterboxing in Wendell State Forest

After sleeping in and then a good breakfast Deanne, Dave, Thomas and I packed some sandwiches and snacks and then headed for Wendell State Forest. Deanne had planned for us to do some letterboxes near Ruggles Pond. After driving for about 30 minutes we arrived and parked near the pond and then decided where we were headed first. Thomas and Dave decided to stay near the pond while Deanne and I hit the trails. We headed for the trail head at the far end of the lot for the Metacomet Monadnock Trail. We started following the white blazes and started searching for boxes. We were going to look for a letterbox at a shelter we passed but there was a park employee working there so we just continued on. Not too far up the trail we stopped and here I searched for the very first letterbox planted in Massachusetts - El Corazon originally placed by Bonita and currently owned by BlackA. This box holds the only original carve done by Bonita. There are two other boxes on this trail originally placed by Bonita but at some point they had to be replaced and now hold new carves. But back to El Corazon - this box was presumed lost after a hurricane but thankfully the lazy letterboxer and the letterboxingham were able to find the box by digging through a large pile of branches, uprooted trees and brush. They replanted it and today I found the box hidden behind a large boulder on the side of the trail. It was exciting finding the first box placed in the state. After stamping in we replaced the box and continued down the trail. I am not sure how far we walked but along the way we found the second and third boxes placed in Massachusetts - Antoine de Saint Exuprey and Letterbox Vincent. After stamping in and replacing Vincent we turned around and headed back to the parking area. Along the trail we tried for a couple of other boxes in the It's A Myth-Story series. We only found the first box which was the one at the shelter we passed early on.


Back at the car we met Thomas and Dave and then took our sandwiches and snacks to a shelter and enjoyed a nice little lunch. Then we all decided to go in search of the next boxes. First we headed up the road and took a blue blazed trail to look for Dr. Ned by the lazy letterboxer. Unfortunately we didn't find the box and Deanne said she would have to replace it. So we returned the way we came and then took the trail that loops around Ruggles Pond. Along this trail we looked for and found Spring Peepers of Ruggles Pond and Oft She Goes placed by BlackA. This was a great walk and I enjoyed it immensely. When we finished the loop we went to the car and drove up the road deeper into the park and turned on to Jerusalem Road. We parked near a sign for lookouts and Deanne and I took the very short walk to find Oh the PUNishment! #5 by Epicus Ratticus. This was an easy find and we quickly stamped in and then returned to the car.

At this time we left the park and made the drive back to Orange and the camp - we needed to get ready for a dinner reservation. It was a great time at Wendell and I hope to get back there sometime to find more boxes.