Aili,
I tend not to make much change to how a box is hidden.
I believe it is up to the box maker to decide how "protected" he wants it to
be.
If we all "leave it as we found it", the box placer's intentions should
carry through.
I recently located a box that was only known to be in a general area.
It would have taken
a LONG time to make a detailed inspection of the area so that fact that it
was only "tucked away"
made for a reasonable search.
That said, today I was supposed to find a box hidden under a "small
cairn". I found the box but no cairn!
I put a couple of small rocks overhead because I belive that honored the
placer's intention.
Another factor is snow (I hope). Rocks, sticks, etc. can freeze
together and make for difficulty in locating
and/or extracting. While we were hiding our FIRST box today (clues coming)
I chose a protected alcove
but tried to leave an opening that would not disappear after a moderate
snowfall.
Actually, that brings up an important question. Are we supposed to stay
away from boxes when a snow
cover exists. One's tracks can make things way too obvious...

Regards,
WaldenRun


----- Original Message -----
From: "defygravity2001"
To:
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 2:07 PM
Subject: [LbNA] Re: Concerned/put well away


> We did the "Trail of Terror" in Branford yesterday, and discovered
> all three boxes where not covered--they were tucked into their places
> but without covering rocks or wood. We covered them back up well, but
> please remember that letterboxes often disappear because they are
> found by non-boxers and discarded or vandalized. 'Boxers quickly
> learn what to look for and don't need corners (or more) peaking out
> to find the box.
>
> Come'on guys, don't get lax.
>
> ~ Aili
>
>
>
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>
>
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>
>

It's true that if everyone left it as it was found, all boxes would
remain covered just as the placer covered it. But it only takes one
slightly careless hunter to make the change. Bruce & I prefer using
one large rock to cover the box whenever possible, as we feel this
makes it easier to re-cover, and we often check our cairn-covered
placements. In the case this weekend, one box was propped up against
a tree with a couple rocks (uncovered on the top) but when I pulled up
the box and tipped forward the rocks, there was a perfect box-shaped
imprint in the dirt below. I thought it looked obvious that the box
should have been nestled in the imprint, and covered with the rocks.
Another was wedged between several small loose rocks, again uncovered
on the top, but it was pretty easy to cover it thoroughly with those
same rocks. I only wanted to remind everyone to be vigilent, it's a
sad thing when our hand-carved stamps and imprinted logbooks disappear
or are damaged. Same goes for snapping those lids on tight--water
often obliterates the wonderful messages people leave.

As for Winter hunting, it's all a chance. We searched for the Giant's
Hip box in March with a foot of snow on the mountain....left tracks
everywhichway mainly because we had to do a lot of searching, and
still didn't find it. But there are many boxes which are just a step
off of a trail.

Happy trails and warm ears to all,
Aili