Event #1627

. ~ Happy Trails! ~ . (& 26,000 (S)miles!;-) (Wanda & Pete's Letterboxing Farewell)

Browning Mill Pond, Exeter, RI

Registered Boxes: All Traditional HH/Cootie/Flea Postal LTC Event Box Traveler Other

Starts	Sun May 16, 2010 12:00pm
Ends	Sun May 16, 2010 5:00pm
Owner	wandaandpete
Admins	wandaandpete
Signups	27/30
Location	Browning Mill Pond, Exeter, RI View Map
Add to Calendar	Google calendar ICS file (e.g. Outlook, iCal, etc.)

Description

Update 5/14/10:
Back from my "month in the southern mountains" to a pile of boxes that we've been planting like crazy the past few days! A marvelous collection of stamps from all around the country and - hurray - we managed to get the little pavilion reserved for Sunday afternoon as well! (We've put a couple of photos of the area in the View Photos section, and directions on how to get there are given below.) We did, however, just find out today that a relatively new RI turkey hunting season regulation requires people venturing beyond the pond and picnic area to wear something orange between April 25 and May 30, so please bring an orange vest or whatever if you plan to do "Wanda's Wanda-rings", or wait until after 1PM on Sunday for when hunting is no longer allowed, or, better yet, wait until June for doing that particular series, which may still require some "fine tuning", and possibly a few more boxes! Anyway, here are the driving directions:

From Providence and points north take Interstate Rt. 95 South, to State Route 102 South (exit #5A). Follow 102 south .8 miles to State Route 3 South. Then follow route 3 south 1.2 miles, and turn right onto State Route 165 West. Follow route 165 West approximately 1.4 miles to Arcadia Road . Turn left and follow Arcadia Road a couple of miles to Browning Mill Pond Recreation Area on your right. We will be meeting at the pavilion in the upper picnic area which is accessed via a dirt road north of the pond.

If heading north on I-95 from CT, take exit 4 (route 3) north a few miles, turn left (west) on route 165, and then follow directions above. Anyone coming from the Norwich area of CT could also get onto route 138 through Voluntown, and head straight onto route 165 to cross Beach Pond and come into Arcadia that way, taking a right turn onto Arcadia Road after the little white church at "Appie Crossing" to get to the pavilion.
Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday!

Update 4/4/10
Now we're back from our annual desert trip and in the midst of a flood that has left us stranded here on our little "road island", but we're still going ahead with plans for "Happy Trails" for after I get back from the Smokies in May. A quick add-up of my backpacking mileage for planting purposes shows that it is actually well over 30,000 miles!!! (All these years I've been used to saying I backpacked 26,000 miles obviously included only the "big trails" generally acknowleged by ALDHA, but since I'm now including my backpacking miles for shorter trails, to give folks more stamp carving opportunities, I'll have to extend the letterboxing mileage a wee bit, too! (although I don't immediately feel the need to go out and collect another 4000 letterboxes just to make the numbers match!;-) Anyway, we'll probably make a double loop of it for those folks who might want to split the "Wanda's Wanderings" series in half and not do the whole 30,000 plus feet at once. However, it does tickle me to remember just how much backpacking I really did back in those years, and to consider that in the same amount of time that it might take an average backpacker like Ryan, still just at the beginning of his "backpacking career", to go from hiking his first AT to starting on his first PCT, I actually managed, in just that same time interval, to backpack another 20,000 miles, finishing 3 PCT's, 3 AT's and a whole bunch of other trails besides!!! (Just to kind of put things in perspective and show that it takes a lot more miles to earn a place in the "hall of fame" of the "backpacking world" than it does in the "letterboxing world"!;-)
Anyway, still looking forward to "Happy Trails" and happy trails to all!

Update 3/12/10:
Just found out from RI DEM that this rustic pond side picnic area has been basically "abandoned" by the state for years due to lack of funding, etc., so don't expect any amenities here! (Not even an outhouse - you'll have to either "plan ahead" or "use the woods"!;-) It's a sad reflection on the state of RI that we don't have any nice big wooden state forest pavilions to meet in anymore either, the last one scheduled for demolition and only one small one remaining - unlike the many beautiful parks and pavilions we've visited in our travels throughout other states! To top it all off, we were just informed that we will still need a permit for any group of ten or more people, so we've decided, when we apply for that permit (minimum of 30 days ahead) to limit the gathering itself to just 30 folks willing to make-do with our "primitive conditions" (don't worry - the trails themselves are still in good shape due to the efforts of countless volunteers!;-), and hope for nice sunny weather! (If it rains, we'll probably have to postpone till the following weekend, so we'll keep you posted!)

I suppose we could just relocate to the lovely facilities at the Kettle Pond National Wildlife Visitor Center, where we met up for "Stone Soup" last November, but the Arcadia area really is better set up for trails, and that is what this gathering is supposed to be about, right? So, let's just hope for the best, keep to groups of less than ten when out on the trails, and enjoy the "chowda"! If we go slightly over our "gathering area estimate", that would probably be OK (just let us know by e-mail, especially if anyone might be interested in coming from far away, and of course, all are welcome to come visit the trails and find these boxes (in small groups) anytime outside of the gathering itself! Thanks for understanding...

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Yes, it's true - after many years of intensive letterboxing, Pete and I are finally getting ready to "retire" from this hobby that has meant so much to us during the past decade. Pete has long been wanting a "change in emphasis", to return to what letterboxing was like in our first couple of years (when, for example, we found exactly 24 letterboxes in our entire first year and a half of letterboxing, just two dozen adventure trips in several states - as compared to the nearly 5,000 finds a year we've been accumulating lately, sometimes without even having to go very far "afield"! ) So, I've finally agreed to set my personal "end-goal" at F26,000, since that goes along so nicely with the 26,000 miles of solo long-distance backpacking that I did in the 1980's and 90's! And so, just as I basically "retired" from backpacking after reaching that 26,000th milestone way back when (when my knees gave out, fibromyalgia kicked in, and I took up letterboxing!;-), so now does it seem the right time to "retire" from letterboxing, and perhaps get back to a few of those trails I've loved so much...as long as my legs can still carry me!

Anyway, towards that end, we're planning to host one last mini-gathering in RI and one last big series featuring America's magnificent trails - many of which I have backpacked multiple times - as depicted by some of the top carvers from around the country!!! We've already gotten several great stamps showcasing trail images from the different parts of the country where some of these wonderful carvers live, and we're hoping to get quite a few more, to be planted on a 26,000 foot loop in the lovely pinewoods of Arcadia (roughly paralleling my "backpacking career" only in "feet" rather than miles!;-) We could certainly use many more stamps geared either toward the trails listed below or featuring any other trail-related images, so please feel free to contribute any stamps of that sort, and we'll be glad to give them a home here in RI, and perhaps even get them planted back out on their original trails or other suitable places later on!

The mini-meet itself is being planned for the third Sunday afternoon in May, after I return from my annual Southern Appalachian "spring-fling". We're thinking of using the small picnic area just north of the big parking lot on the southeast side of Browning Mill Pond's former beach (west side of Arcadia Road a couple of miles south of route 165) as the gathering place for the traditional letterboxers' potluck lunch around noon. Folks can have their choice of several loops to hike in the area before, after, or during the mini-meet, so as to hopefully avoid bunch-ups, racing, or other things that detract from our preferred relaxed sort of letterboxing experience, which allows each person time to read through the clues thoroughly, enjoy the surroundings respectfully, appreciate every stamp individually, sign in thoughtfully, and re-hide each box carefully - without feeling rushed!

At any rate, the plan is to meet up again around 4:00PM for some of the yummy RI clam chowder that Lenny of the Compass Cuties has so kindly offered to cook up for us (as well as "cooking up" one final event stamp series to be hidden in the same manner as his wonderful "Stone Soup" last November!) So, come join us to share trail snacks and chats at noon, hike a few of our pleasant little Rhody trails in search of some very special stamps, and top it all off with a "cup o' Lenny's chowda", as we prepare to hike off into the sunset! Once again, our thanks to everyone who has made this hobby so much fun for us over the years and given us quite literally "26,000 smiles" to go along with all those miles and boxes!
Happy Trails to all!!!

Wanda & Pete

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HELP - We still need lots of stamps!!! Please consider carving a stamp to represent any of the trails listed below that still have question marks, especially if you have any sort of connection to that area. Or please feel free to carve and send us anything else even vaguely trail-related, as any stamps will be put to good trail use. Thanks!

Series I: "Wanda's Wanderings"
(aka "26,000 feet for 26,000 miles", counting only backpacking miles on long-distance trails in the USA, NOT roadwalks, resupply routes, tourist tramps with backpack in other countries, or thousands of miles of just plain hiking with a daypack, which would way more than double that mileage and would be sort of like counting event stamps, tabletoppers, travelers, etc. as "finds" in letterboxing!:-)

(*** = stamp already received)

1982:
CT Trails - Astrii (CT)***
MA Trails - T2 (MA)
1983:
Appalachian Trail #1 (GA to ME) - Mama Wolf (NC)***
Long Trail#1 (VT) - Bluebird (CT/VT)***
Florida Trail - Kirbert (FL)***
1984:
Long Path/ Catskills (NY) - ???
Pacific Crest Trail #1 (Mexico to Canada) - Don & Gwen (CA)***
Northville/Placid/ADK (NY) - Lock Wench (NY)
1985:
NY/NJ Trails - Arf! (MA)***
AT #2 (ME to GA) - Electric Medic (SC)***
Benton MacKaye Trail (GA/NC) - ???
1986:
C & O Canal/ Big Blue (MD/WV/VA)- Scarab (VA)
AT #3 (GA to ME) - mstrwndl (TN)***
Art Loeb Trail (NC) - the little foxes (NC)***
LT #2 (VT) - Bluebird (CT/VT)***
1987:
PCT #2 (Mexico to Canada) - Funhog (OR)***
Oregon Skyline Trail/PCT #2 (OR) - Sahalie (NY)***
LT #3 (VT) - Bluebird (CT/VT)***
NH Trails - JESS sea (NH)
1988:
Maine Trails - Gargoyle Girl (ME)
AT #4 (ME to GA) - Mama Wolf (NC)***
Pinhoti Trail (AL/GA) - ???
LT #4 (VT) - Bluebird (CT/VT)***
1989:
High Sierra Trail (CA)>***
John Muir Trail (CA) > The 3 Foragers (CT)***
Tahoe-Yosemite Trail (CA)>***
Wonderland Trail #1 (WA) - ???
Colorado Trail - Esmerelda (CO)***
1990:
Foothills Trail (SC/NC) - Electric Medic (SC)***
Bartram Trail (NC/GA) - ???
PCT #3 (Mexico to Canada) - Music Woman ( CT)***
WT #2 (WA) - ???
1991:
PCT #4 (CA) - ???
Grand Canyon Trails (AZ) - Mim (MA)***
1992:
Pacific Northwest Trail (WA) - ???
Chilkoot Trail (AK) - deniserows (AK)***
1993:
Finger Lakes Trail (NY) - Scout (NY) ***
Centennial Trail (SD) - Maire's Facets***
1994:
AT #5 (GA to ME) - 3 Blind Mice (NY)***
Catamount XC Trail (VT) - greenmountainhiker (VT)***
1995:
Greenbrier River Trail (WV) >
Allegheny Trail (WV) > ???
1996:
Superior Hiking Trail (MN) - RMD SD (CA/TN)***
North Country Trail (MN,WI,MI,PA,NY)
1997:
Ozark Highlands Trail (AR) > ???
Ouachita Trail (AR) > ???
1998:
PA Trails - Lightnin' Bug (PA) ***
(Horseshoe, Mid-State,Laurel Highlands '95)
1999:
Continental Divide Trail - lionsmane (NM)***
(Mexico to Canada along the Great Divide!)
2002:
last 200 miles of AT#5! - grand finale mystery surprise!***

Series II:
"Still Dreaming of Trails" (Trails I've only hiked part of and would still like to finish, or any other US long-distance trails designed for backpacking that folks might want to suggest or carve something for...100 miles or longer, please!)

Lone Star Trail - silver eagle (TX)***
Buckeye Trail - boneyard recorder (OH)
North Country Trail - Martini Man (WI)***
Ice Age Trail - Wisconsin Hiker (WI)***
Mountains to Sea Trail - Dixie (NC)***
Arizona Trail - ??? (AZ)
surprise trails - ??? (any suggestions?)

Series III: "Charming Little Backpacking and Camping Series"
(planted around the pond with mini stamps by Mim***)

Series already existing in Arcadia:
"Bald Hill Goes Musical" (stamps by RTRW of CT)
"Something Fishy Going on in Southern RI"
"Pete's Pillow", plus many more!
(see our web page in addition to AQ and LbNA)
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