I promised awhile back to tell about our Mother's Day trip to find the "Stone Faces on Haycock Mt." which was to be only our second find after finding "Giant Peach" in Sellersville, and a surprise hitchhiker there, Rubythroat. Then the s. hit the proverbial fan on here, and I never got around to it! I have tried, btw, to email both placers (Stone Faces & Giant Peach) but have heard nothing back. "Stone Faces" boxes and clues are in dire need of maintenance and revision. "We" that day included my 3 kids and spouse. Haycock Mt. is in Eastern PA, near Quakertown. We had been up it before, searching, but had mis-interpreted a clue and also had trouble due to completely faded trail marks. Is thumb-tacking a common trail-marking technique? We also didn't know what a "tacky trail" was until someone on here explained it, but even then only found one tack. So anyway, when we went back we were going to find those boxes or else! (Remember, we had a hitchhiker to let loose and there aren't many boxes around here).

"Stone Faces" refers to some boulders, which get bigger & bigger on the way up the mt. and some of which are in a whole field-- a purely boulder field (few trees) where the glaciers stopped long ago. Much like Ringing Rocks, a landmark around here where you can actually hammer the rocks and they will ring. (yes, there's a box there too.) Fascinating place, Haycock Mt. It was a very tough find, as I believe the boxes may have been planted in a season when seeing the correct far-off boulders was easier. The tree leaves in spring now hide them well. Finally, pretty much by chance, intuition, and clues from a previous recent finder, I spotted the 2nd box. There are 3, and we hadn't found the first one yet. The second one is in a narrow but tall cave formed by a huge veranda-like slab. (this info. is in the clues-- I'm not giving away info.) I could basically see into the cave and the box was visible on its floor, so I let my adventurous son go down to get it. Then I heard faint scrambling, and some grunts. Alarmed (partly due to a previous way-too-close experience w/ a black bear amongst some boulders in Western PA!) and feeling stupid to have let him go in, I told him to come out w/o sounding overly-anxious. The minute he did, a large Black Vulture (they have grey heads) swooshed right out of there, nearly touching the top of Seth's head on its way. The whir of its wings actually sounded like a growl. I felt I had not been very smart-- I have a strong "6th sense", when I'm listening to it, and I surely had not felt alone as I stood there on the boulders waiting for my family to reach the spot. I think I'd heard the hissing, another sound that vultures make. I should have scoped out the cave better, etc. And come to think of it, I realized the area smelled really horrible--like dead animals, of course. And the gnats were so nasty I had to stamp in a hurry. I'd wanted so much to pore over a book of stamps now that we'd finally found one. I do remember Muk-Luk's stamp was in there, but don't recall much else.

When my spouse went in after it was clear the vulture was far off, he found 2 vulture eggs sitting right beside the letterbox, and the lid was literally full of crap! (only outside it). The box was damp inside and too full for Rubythroat HH, so we back-tracked the clues to search for box #1. That box, nearby, had large animal bite-marks on it, actually right through it. It too was wet inside, and too full for Rubythroat. And as a newbie, I'd forgotten extra bags, etc. 2 of my kids were a bit too spooked by the noises and the vulture to come near it, and also not nuts about the gnats and groves of poison ivy and the smell, so I had to stamp their books for them. We never got to box 3; ran out of time. I had only just learned that weekend on the list about the purple heart box and so explained all that to them on the way home so they could feel in some solidarity with other letter-boxers who have had hair-raising experiences. It was a bit crazy for such an early boxing experience, but thankfully it didn't turn them off to letter-boxing. We didn't sustain any injuries, so I guess we can't ask for the purple heart, but it was some experience, and I hope the next few are a little calmer. I think this hobby could be good for us, as we do have that bear experience to "get over". I grew up in the woods and camped all over the country; rarely experienced a hotel. But it was a bit disconcerting to me (and my eldest may be scarred for life from it !) to find ourselves practically on top of a mama bear and not realize it until she growled. So, we gotta get out there & do more trails. The compass reading has been great for us & we've learned a whole lot about our earth that we didn't know 2 months ago.

It was that fateful day when I went on the NPR website for the first time to look up an amazing interview I'd heard with Bonnie Jo Hunt, a native Sioux woman who accompanied crickets with her voice. Just below it, in the description of another interview, was that intriguing word..... "letterboxing"...I clicked.....and the rest will be history! Yes, we will be doing some planting too-- ideas comin' out my ears! Sorry this got long, but thought some of you would enjoy a good old story for once instead of arguing. --lunaryakketyact

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