I sent out a note yesterday suggesting plugging as an alternate
way to hide your box. This entails making a hole beneath a plug
of sod and hiding your box inside of it. No reason you can't do
this without causing undue damage to the earth. Just be careful.
Don't make a big obnoxious hole. And make sure the clue points
them right to the very spot: Like "Look 5 inches to the left of
the white pointed rock for a plug of sod." That way they won't be
trying to dig up a spot where your box aint.

I'd like to make an important point here:
There shouldn't be any reason that we have to exactly mimick the
Dartmoor conventions asserted by Michael Gladney, Trevor Dallas or
others. These are merely conventions as they stated. They're not rules. And
According to Adrian (the only Dartmoor letterboxer in
our group) plugging is a current mode to hide a Dartmoor letterbox.
So for those of you who'd like to adhere more closely to the way
they are doing it in Dartmoor, feel free to plug away.

But even if nobody in Dartmoor was doing it it does not mean that
we can't try it here. We can try whatever new methods we want.
Just use common sense, respect property, etc. It'll keep us
creative if we try new things. That's a big part of the fun
I think. I hope we keep trying different things and continue
to experiment. But always use common sense and NEVER create
a dangerous situation for the letterbox hunter.

I'm sure there will be other ways than plugging to make sure your
box is well hidden. Plugging sounded like a good one to me and I
plan to try it with my next letterbox. But there will be other
creative ways to do it. If you come up with a way of your own
that has not been mentioned maybe you can share it. Did
someone say they hid a letterbox under water? Was that Rachael,
the 20 year old Evanstonian girl with the lonely letterbox
that I promised to stamp someday?

Anyway,
the general idea is to avoid unintentional discovery. Plugging
is one way. Maybe you can make a stamp look so like a tree knot
as to defy discovery. That would be another way. Also, Adrian's suggestion to
merely put the letterbox a bit off of the main trail
is another good way to avoid unintentional discovery.

If you're worried about damaging the earth, just do as Adrian
suggested. Make the depth of the plug a little bit below the roots.
That will keep the grass alive. Eventually, the grass will grow
back to the way it was. I would think you could leave a little
tape or pendant marker behind also. That may help, and it would
not necessarily indicate to an untrained observer that something
is hidden there.

I keep remembering Thom's letterbox suspended
inside a tree from a wooden plug at the end of a length of
fish line. I assume that wooden plug melds nicely with the bark
of the tree. Now that's creative.

Keep having fun everyone. But certainly don't go digging a bunch
of holes looking for a letterbox. I agree with Erik there. Don't
be a "lettergopher". But if I understand it correctly a plug you
should be able to remove WITHOUT a shovel. I would not suggest
taking a shovel with you on a letterbox hunt. Maybe a little
garden spade or a bowie knife wood suffice.

Thank you,
Dan

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