Before I start this little tale of woe let me say first of all that I do not
mean to point fingers at anyone, nor do I mean to blame anyone for my recent
misfortune while letterboxing. However, last time I checked we were all
supposed to be having a good time and I thought I would share with the group
some things that will probably make the new letterboxers that were with me
never letterbox again.
So to begin my little story, I had decided to introduce my Aunts to
letterboxing. Sir Balthazar was kind enough to design some stamps for me,
and I start carving their personal signature stamps. Now one of my Aunts is
an avid rubber stamp collector, so the idea of letterboxing was really neat
to her. So we are up and at it at 8am on a Tuesday morning. Our first stop
is Griffith Park in the Los Angeles Area. There are two supposedly three
boxes located in this part, two as a part of Two Cats and a Troll and then
Mount Hollywood. I don't know about other letterboxers but I look at the
difficulty clues and terrain comments to know whether or not I am going to
attempt to find a letterbox. I count on the person/people who planted it to
give me a good idea of what I am getting into.
So we get the first box in the Two Cats and a Troll letterbox and we
basically figure that the second box that is supposed to be there, is not
really there, or the listing of two boxes is a misprint, if there is another
box in that area it is hidden so well that we could not find it.
Next we headed up to Mount Hollywood. Now this is not the same as Mount Lee
where you are climbing the mountain that has the Hollywood sign on it, this
mountain is across from that one, though nearly as high. So it is the
beginning of summer, and we start this hike out with a bottle of water each.
It is so hot by the time we get up there we have already drank two bottles
of water between the three of us. I am getting sunburned something fierce.
The sun and me don't get along on a normal basis, but in the direct sunlight
for prolonged periods of time at high temperatures, I dont burn I blister.
My Aunts were getting sun burned. But we were determined to find that box,
heck we had climbed all the way up to the top. Our clues for this letterbox
were at the end centered on pipes that came out of the ground and went in
different directions. Well I hate to say this but interpretation is a
strange thing. When one might thing a pipe crosses the path just high
enough to trip you that might mean it is an inch of the ground, or it might
mean it is three feet off the ground. Either way the clues for this letter
box where in my opinion less than helpful. There was no difficulty level
listed in the clues, no terrain guide, and worse yet, there was nothing
warning you that the only and I mean only shade you would find on the entire
mountain was one little tree at the very top. I say this only in the hopes
of other people not getting hurt and burned and blistered but this is
suppose to be fun people, when planting a box like this you should warn
people of the heat conditions, the lack of shade, perhaps suggest they wear
sun block and take extra water. We left Mount Hollywood without finding the
letterbox, giving up after four miserable hours in that heat. My Aunts were
almost delirious from the heat at that point; you should have heard my Aunt
when she thought we were out of water. Thanks a lot you two you drank all
the water, now I am going to have to survive on my own saliva My Aunt
dropped the last water bottle on the way down the mountain and as I looked
back, there they were my Aunt on her hands and knees reaching over the side
of the mountain to try and reach the water bottle. It was that hot that
they were scared to hike down the rest of the mountain without any water.
Next we headed to the LA Arboretum. This was sort of cool because we got
there way past the time that we were supposed too. After spending all that
time up on Mount Hollywood and then getting some lunch and of course the
drive in miserable LA Traffic we got there at about 4:30 and didn't even
have to pay to get in. We started rushing through the part and found the
first box that was hidden in there. The LA County Arboretum boxes. This
letterbox had great clues, great location and a good job hiding the stamp.
The other one that was located in this area we didn't have as much luck with
The clues hinted that the box is hidden in some place that might be 700
degrees. So we checked the surrounding ovens and barbecue. We finally
guessed that it might have been hidden in one of these and then remove later
we were not sure, but finally gave up on that one.
Next we headed toward Pasadena and to the Millard Falls letterbox. Don &
Gwen I apologize ahead of time for the things I am about to say, but
unfortunately I think they need to be said. We arrived at the starting
point for the hike up to the falls at six o'clock that gave us at least two
hours of daylight. This letterbox is listed as an easy mile hike. There
should have been no way that this letterbox would take us more than two
hours. Don and Gwen do warn you that you will be on rocks and crossing a
creek, but honestly the clues never gave me the impressing that practically
the entire hike was going to be on rocks and boulders. The waterfall is way
more than a half a mile in and you are surrounded by large rock cliffs that
offer a lot of shade but also take light away very quickly. We reached the
falls itself at just a little after seven. We should have headed back a lot
earlier, but we were determined to find this box. The clues had you looking
for a red and white sign that no longer exists, so deciding what massive
tree this box was at the bottom of was not easy. This is where things
started to get dangerous. There was one tree that was huge, and had at its
roots lots of moveable rocks. As we started climbing around the tree moving
rocks to try to find the letterbox the rocks started falling. This is
probably where I broke the first side of my ankle. One of the good size
rocks rolled down the hill that the tree was on, slammed into my ankle and
pinned my foot against the root of the tree. It took me holding on to the
tree and my Aunt moving the rock to get my foot out. Right after that I
finally noticed a wooden pole at the bottom of this tree and thought just
maybe the sign use to be there. So thinking my foot was just bruised I
hobbled north of that sign to another massive tree. This was the right
tree all right, but again the tree was located on a incline, and incline so
steep that I had to hang on to the branches of the tree to get from the base
of the tree where I had found the letterbox. Well of course I have the
letterboxing sickness and there was no way I was leaving without stamping in
By the time my two Aunts and I quickly stamped into the letterbox and I
put it back we had about 15 minutes of light left to get back down. I will
admit that this was a bad call on my part; I should have left without the
letterbox way earlier when I had the light to get down, but I wanted that
letterbox! About five minutes down the hill my already weak ankle slipped
on a rock and down I went. I knew when I hit the ground that something was
broken it just hurt too badly. As bad as this sounds I have a really high
tolerance for pain, and for me to be crying over pain, I knew that something
was really wrong. At this point my Aunts insisted I get up and we get out
of there. Darkness had hit buy this point and here we are, trying to make
our way out of this cove over rocks, boulders, crossing back and forth over
the creek with me crying hysterically, and none of us being able to see much
farther than our hands in front of our face. Cursing ourselves all the way
down for being so determined to get that box. But also really upset, once
again we had followed the difficulty and terrain guides on the clues. There
is no way this was a easy half mile hike. This hike should have been
listed as at the minimum a medium there should have been a more clear
warning that you would be on rocks and water the entire length of the hike
and there is no way this hike was half a mile. It took us damn near two and
a half hours to get out of that cove in the dark, scooting our feet and me
walking down on a bad ankle. I had no idea yet that my ankle was chipped
and fractured on both sides; I just knew it hurt worse than about anything I
had ever felt.
We had lost light completely, it was pitch black, there was even no
moonlight out this night when luckily a guy who had saw us go in but not
seen us come out came looking for us with a flash light. He found us right
and the exit of the cove. An exit that has about 4-5 really long but really
narrow steps you have to get down. With this guy holding the light my Aunts
began to try and help me get down these steps. Oh I should add also that I
don't know who in their right mind covers steps in chicken wire, but these
steps were covered in chicken wire! On the right side of the steps coming
down was about a ten-foot drop off. The guy moved the flashlight for a
moment and my Aunt that was behind me took one step and down she went, all
ten feet crashing to the bottom. My Aunt in front of me, scared senseless at
hearing her fall leaves me on the second step down, throws me all the bags
and goes to help my Aunt. What do I do? I drop my butt down to the steps
and slide down. I have no other choice I can't step down by myself and I
can't stand there on one leg. By the time I reach the last step I have
completely ripped not only the seat out of my pants, but what was under them
too, and my plump little toosh is hanging out the back of my jeans for
everyone to see. All scratched up I might add. I would just love to get my
hands on the person that covered those steps in chicken wire. That has to
be about the most dangerous thing I have seen yet. My Aunts get back up and
now; we still have to hike out of the park. But hey at least there are no
rocks or creeks to cross now. We finally get to the car and since it is my
new car, there is no way I am letting someone else drive it, So I drive home
from Pasadena to Los Angeles using my bad ankle to drive with. (It had to be
my right ankle right?)
I finally get back to my parents house were I was staying, and get myself
something to eat and then go to sleep. In the morning my foot hurt so bad I
could hardly walk, but at that point I manage to get myself in the car again
and drive myself to the emergency room. After x-rays that contort your foot
in ways you should never move a broken ankle and three hours the doctor
finally says to me Your one tough cookie girlie, I have no idea how you
walked out on that ankle. You would not walk a quarter of a mile flat today
if I paid you a million dollars. You know what? I hurt so bad he was right.
I know this is already a long little tale but I just have to add a couple
more things. This all happened two days before Iron`Bear flew in from
Portland to spend a week in California with me. This little adventure put
me in a wheel chair and on crutches, my ankle was so badly broken that I
could not even get a cast put on yet because the swelling was too bad. I
might get a cast finally this Thursday if the swelling has gone down enough.
If Iron`Bear was not such a good guy and so willing to take care of his
girl this probably would have ruined our entire trip. There were a lot of
plans we had to change, but it all turned out fun and okay.
Again let me say that I made mistakes during this adventure. I should have
been more prepared, more water, better shoes, a flashlight, things I won't
ever forget again, and I promise that no letterbox will keep my hiking when
I know I wont have time to come down, no matter how cool it is. But also, I
think we, as groups need to look at what happened to me and take some time
to be more responsible in what we say in our clues. Be more detailed and
honest about the terrain, the climb, the hike and the length of the hike.
Had I known the true details of some the Mount Hollywood and Millard Falls
hikes, I probably would not have attempted Mount Hollywood at the hottest
time of day, during early summer with too little water and no sun block.
And with the true details of Millard falls I probably would not have
attempted it so late in the day. We all make stupid mistakes; this one cost
me a broken ankle, a cast for 6-8 weeks, and a long vacation from my
favorite sport. The saddest part of the whole thing for me is that I am
moving to Portland to be with Iron`Bear in August, and 6-8 weeks in a cast
means that I will probably be too busy packing when this cast comes off to
do anymore serious boxing in California while I am here.
So that is my little adventure. I hope everyone takes the time to be more
detailed with their clues and remembers poor pandora and her broken ankle
when having fun letterboxing in the next two months
I bid you all well
pandora{HIB}
pandy of 100**100D
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