Letterboxing USA - Yahoo Groups Archive

Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

5 messages in this thread | Started on 2002-05-10

Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

From: Aisling D'Art (lists@aisling.net) | Date: 2002-05-10 23:28:50 UTC-04:00
Hi,
 
Quick note, and I'll post more on Sunday.  I'll be at the Gathering in CT on Saturday.
 
Anyway... the letterbox near the curved bench at Odiorne Point Seacoast Nature Ctr has gone missing.  Or it may still be there, but people have moved the rocks.  They do that, scavenging for rocks to create makeshift campfires with.  I've tried four times to locate the box, and frankly, it can't possibly be that hard to find.  If I'm missing the obvious, will someone please explain it?  Otherwise, I think the box is missing.
 
The letterbox up past the concrete bunker is still there, but it got soaked when the snow melted.  I've removed the soggy mess that was once (and may yet be again) the notebook; I'll have it with me at the Gathering if it belongs to anyone there. Otherwise, I'll dry it out and either replace it in the box (doubt if it can be salvaged) or put a new notebook in the box.  If it's your notebook, holler and I'll cheerfully mail it to you when it's dry. It appeared nearly full anyway.
 
I've added a letterbox myself, but this MAY be a temporary location... I think it's a little too close to civilization, and I'll move it to a more secluded spot when I replace the notebook in the other box, or in about a week, whichever comes first.
 
I'll post the clues at my website, but until I move the new box, here's where it is:
 
Follow the clues as if you're going to the Rye Beach letterbox, which is the more hidden one at Odiorne Point Seacoast Nature Ctr.  When you reach the big concrete bunker (looks like a bridge, sort of), face it as if you're going underneath it.  On your left, there are five boulders lining the path/road under the bunker.  The second from the path you arrived on is where the treasure is.  Sit on the boulder with your back to the path, and retie your shoelacings or something.  Reach down carefully and move the two small rocks (about the size of a shoe, each) and underneath the boulder you're sitting on,  you'll find the Seacoast #1 letterbox.  Handcarved stamp inside. 
 
Stamp discreetly and replace the box, hide it with the two small rocks again, and then continue on the path to the Rye Beach letterbox.
 
And, with environmental impact in mind, you do NOT have to move any large boulders to reach the letterbox.  It just happens that there's a narrow opening on that side of the rock, where it doesn't quite meet the ground.  So, the only moving necessary will be the two smallish rocks that hide the box from view.
 
This box should be easy to find, and if you go around the hill with the stairs (at the start of the Rye Beach clues) accessing the path from the road instead, there is almost no climbing necessary.  In other words, a very easy & gentle hike, maybe 1/2 mile in.  (But, for the views, I recommend the hill with the stairs.)
 
See many of you tomorrow!

Cheerfully,
Aisling D'Art
P1 F8 X-tomorrow!

Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

From: Tate Tomis Dba Tomis Landscape Co (dba.tomis.landscape@snet.net) | Date: 2002-05-18 22:30:32 UTC-04:00
We were there in the middle of March and found it!  However, it was our second try.  Sue, Sara and Tate.
-----Original Message-----
From: Aisling D'Art <lists@aisling.net>
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com <letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Friday, May 10, 2002 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

Hi,
 
Quick note, and I'll post more on Sunday.  I'll be at the Gathering in CT on Saturday.
 
Anyway... the letterbox near the curved bench at Odiorne Point Seacoast Nature Ctr has gone missing.  Or it may still be there, but people have moved the rocks.  They do that, scavenging for rocks to create makeshift campfires with.  I've tried four times to locate the box, and frankly, it can't possibly be that hard to find.  If I'm missing the obvious, will someone please explain it?  Otherwise, I think the box is missing.
 
The letterbox up past the concrete bunker is still there, but it got soaked when the snow melted.  I've removed the soggy mess that was once (and may yet be again) the notebook; I'll have it with me at the Gathering if it belongs to anyone there. Otherwise, I'll dry it out and either replace it in the box (doubt if it can be salvaged) or put a new notebook in the box.  If it's your notebook, holler and I'll cheerfully mail it to you when it's dry. It appeared nearly full anyway.
 
I've added a letterbox myself, but this MAY be a temporary location... I think it's a little too close to civilization, and I'll move it to a more secluded spot when I replace the notebook in the other box, or in about a week, whichever comes first.
 
I'll post the clues at my website, but until I move the new box, here's where it is:
 
Follow the clues as if you're going to the Rye Beach letterbox, which is the more hidden one at Odiorne Point Seacoast Nature Ctr.  When you reach the big concrete bunker (looks like a bridge, sort of), face it as if you're going underneath it.  On your left, there are five boulders lining the path/road under the bunker.  The second from the path you arrived on is where the treasure is.  Sit on the boulder with your back to the path, and retie your shoelacings or something.  Reach down carefully and move the two small rocks (about the size of a shoe, each) and underneath the boulder you're sitting on,  you'll find the Seacoast #1 letterbox.  Handcarved stamp inside. 
 
Stamp discreetly and replace the box, hide it with the two small rocks again, and then continue on the path to the Rye Beach letterbox.
 
And, with environmental impact in mind, you do NOT have to move any large boulders to reach the letterbox.  It just happens that there's a narrow opening on that side of the rock, where it doesn't quite meet the ground.  So, the only moving necessary will be the two smallish rocks that hide the box from view.
 
This box should be easy to find, and if you go around the hill with the stairs (at the start of the Rye Beach clues) accessing the path from the road instead, there is almost no climbing necessary.  In other words, a very easy & gentle hike, maybe 1/2 mile in.  (But, for the views, I recommend the hill with the stairs.)
 
See many of you tomorrow!

Cheerfully,
Aisling D'Art
P1 F8 X-tomorrow!


To unsubscribe: mailto:letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@egroups.com
List info, archives, etc: http://www.letterboxing.org/list.html


Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

From: Nisa (teapot@teapot.mv.com) | Date: 2002-05-19 06:21:00 UTC-04:00
We couldn't find it on our first and only try so far, but I know that others just before and just after us found it without a problem.  We also planted another letterbox there, but a year later we have yet to post the clues.  We want to make sure it's still there (and get another chance at finding the one by the curved bench) before posting the clues.

N.

Tate Tomis Dba Tomis Landscape Co wrote:

We were there in the middle of March and found it!  However, it was our second try.  Sue, Sara and Tate.-----Original Message-----
From: Aisling D'Art <lists@aisling.net>
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com <letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Friday, May 10, 2002 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH
 Hi, Quick note, and I'll post more on Sunday.  I'll be at the Gathering in CT on Saturday. Anyway... the letterbox near the curved bench at Odiorne Point Seacoast Nature Ctr has gone missing.  Or it may still be there, but people have moved the rocks.  They do that, scavenging for rocks to create makeshift campfires with.  I've tried four times to locate the box, and frankly, it can't possibly be that hard to find.  If I'm missing the obvious, will someone please explain it?  Otherwise, I think the box is missing.

Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

From: Aisling D'Art (lists@aisling.net) | Date: 2002-05-19 21:41:53 UTC-04:00
Hi,
 
I made yet another try at locating that letterbox by the curved bench at Odiorne.  (Hope springs eternal.)  If there's more than one curved bench, will someone explain to me where it is, in words of one syllable or less?  The only bench I know of is a favorite picnic spot, nicely overgrown and yes, on the map it's in line with the four gun whatchamacallits.  So, in six tries and having turned over more rocks than I like to, I'm about to give up on that letterbox. (And, believe me, "give up" is not usually in my vocabulary! *grin*)
 
If the letterbox really is there, congratulations to whomever planted it.  You've not only evaded the kids who go there to drink & build fires, but I'm baffled as well! *grin*
 
While there, I did replace the logbook in the Seacoast/Rye Beach box at Odiorne, and put everything in fresh ziplock bags for protection from the elements.  The box itself is cracked, so on my next visit I'll replace it with an identical (but new) Rubbermaid container. 
 
If anyone's going to that box, please pick up a couple of fist-sized rocks as you climb the trail.  In a ziplock bag, the box isn't so concealed as it was before, when two rocks could cover it nicely.  Two more rocks added by the next visitor should keep it safely hidden.  I couldn't find any loose rocks to add today, in the immediate vicinity of the letterbox.
 
I'm leaving my Seacoast #1 box at the second rock from the path (going to the Seacoast/Rye Beach letterbox at Odiorne), on the left as you face that first concrete bunker (or bridge, if that's how you think of it).  And I planted a second box today, Seacoast #2 (for lack of a more clever name) at the Urban Forestry Ctr in Portsmouth.  I'll post clues to both in the next day or so.
 
Also, if you're letterboxing around the Portsmouth area, we've launched into poison ivy season.  With the exception of the short trek to the curved bench, if you're hiking at coastal NH, wear long pants or tallllll socks!
 
It was a gorgeous day for letterboxing (after SNOW yesterday!), and I'm sore & tired from a great day of hiking.  Does everyone/anyone else seem to hike about three times as far, trying to plant a letterbox as trying to find one?  I must have done the two-mile loop of the Urban Forestry trails three times before I found a hiding place that I liked. *chuckle*
 
Cheerfully exhausted,
Aisling

Re: [LbNA] Odiorne Pt, Rye/Portsmouth, NH

From: drewclan11 (drewclan@aol.com) | Date: 2002-05-20 21:50:47 UTC
Thank you so much, Ais, for your sportsman-like trying for that
letterbox. Sounds like it's gone...

And special thanks for maintaining our other letterbox up there! It
was wonderful meeting you at Sleeping Giant.

Jay in CT