Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Letterboxing Anyone?

Thanks to my friend Greg's advice, I have been doing some letterboxing recently. He talked about letterboxing in his blog. You can visit either letterboxing.org or read his blog for more insight about this wonderful hobby so I won't bother to repeat the details here. What I will talk about is my own experience with it.

I haven't made my own (or purchased) letterboxing stamp yet, so I am only stamping my own log book with the stamps on the trails. I will eventually make or get one, though. Greg had such a glowing report of his family's hike around Wadsworth Mansion that I decided to make that my first excursion. As I was going by myself, I didn't want to be some place that was too remote, either.

The Wadsworth trails are really extensive and this letterboxing hike really only scratches the surface. The boxes are all related to different sites - they may once have been sights, but are long gone - around the grounds. I was pretty impressed with the detail carved into these stamps! The last of the six is carved to resemble a Revolutionary War minuteman.

I am only sorry that I didn't start this hobby sooner. Sure, I can still get some great hikes in before the weather turns too bad, but I would really have enjoyed spending more of my summer doing it.

Take a look at letterboxing.org and find some trails near you. They are all over the country!