Dead Authors Letterboxes - 5 boxes

Northside Park
Vienna, Virginia
Fairfax County
Placed by Daughter of the Old Dominion
November 2, 2002

This is an undeveloped park with trails, no restrooms, and no picnic
tables that I've been able to find. Dogs on leash OK.

You should be able to find all the boxes in under 2 hours.

Directions to Park:

You need to get on Route 123 (Maple Avenue) which is the main street
through Vienna. You can get there from the Beltway (Route 495) or
from the other direction from Route 66. Once on Maple Avenue, turn
north on Glyndon Street, between the Mobil Station and the Shell
Station. Pass Glyndon Park and drive to the end of Glyndon Street,
past the No Outlet sign. There is a small gravel parking area and a
sign for Richard S. Black Trail.

Clues to Boxes:

A bunch of Dead Authors were sitting about God's Country one day
talking about their earthly days. Mark Twain said he sure missed the
Mississippi River and wanted to see it again. "I think I can hear it
now." (Being dead, he had lost track of geography.) He jumped up and
started walking up the trail. The rest of the group followed him,
with Lewis and Clark bringing up the rear. Although Lewis and Clark
weren't authors themselves, they liked to hang around with the
literati (we don't know why), and they always carried a compass.

"280 degrees" said Lewis. But nobody paid attention.

Near the top of the hill they reached a wide path. "Let's go this
way" said Mark Twain, and everyone turned. "240 degrees" said Clark.
But nobody paid attention.

They hadn't gone but 15 steps when Louisa May Alcott spoke
up. "Gentlemen, I cannot take another step in these slippers. I
fear I will have to sit and wait your return." Everyone looked
around but there was no chair or bench in sight. Directly to their
right they spied a tree stump, just about rump high. All the men
produced clean handkerchiefs from their pockets and spread them on
the stump. Miss Alcott sat, pronounced herself comfortable, and sent
the group on its way.

Box 1. Louisa May Alcott's Box
As Louisa May sat and waited, she thought about the treasures she had
brought into the world. To find Louisa's treasure, continue on the
path for 40 steps. Two lone trees should be on your left. Standing
on the path, looking between these trees into the woods, you will see
a decayed stump. (If Lewis or Clark had been here they would have
told you to look 210 degrees) Beneath the stump, covered by a piece
of log is Louisa's treasure.

Meanwhile, the group had reached a T in the path. "Let's go this
way," said Mark Twain and off they all went. "208 degrees" said
Lewis, but nobody paid attention.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, the group turned toward the
sound of water. "120 degrees" said Clark, who by this point, was
talking only to Lewis. The group walked until they saw a bridge.
Mark Twain was already standing on the bridge. He surveyed the water
and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his
spirit. This could not be the monstrous big river he remembered. But
it still looked like a fun place for boys to have adventures and to
find treasures.

Box 2. Mark Twain's Box.
To find Mark Twain's treasure, from the bridge return down the paved
path. Stop at the end of the black railing. Walk straight up the
hill to the widest tree (it is obviously the widest tree); it is
almost a double trunk tree but the fork starts too high up to be one
of your regular double trunks. Still facing uphill, look to the
right for a decayed fallen tree that looks like it has fallen over
decayed logs. Where they cross, on the downhill side, under the tree
portion, is Mark Twain's treasure.

After playing on the hill and tossing rocks into the creek, the group
decided to move on. They retraced their steps on the trail up the
hill. They were so engrossed in their conversation, they completely
missed the turn that would have taken them back to Miss Alcott.

"We turn here" said Lewis and Clark in unison. But nobody paid
attention; they just kept walking straight. Either Lewis or Clark
could have told them they were walking north, but who would have
listened?

The wide path turned, but our adverturers wanted to explore the
narrower path. "280 degrees" said Lewis. But no one heard because
they had already gone ahead and were debating which direction to take
at the fork. "Let's go this way" said Washington Irving - which
turned out to be 310 degrees, as verified by Clark. This was probably
a bad choice because the descent was a little steep at the end and
would be muddy after a rain.

They all made it safely to the bottom of the hill. Across the small
clearing they saw a bridge and, of course, crossed it. Here the path
split. They went single file down the grass path through the
brush. "North," said Clark. But no one listened. The narrow path
followed the creek downstream and widened after the brush. The group
continued following the path downstream. After a short while they
T'd into a wider path. Directly to the right, there was a fallen
tree touching, but not crossing the path.

It was here that Washington Irving said "I've had enough walking. I'm
just tired through and through. This puts me in mind of someone I
once knew who slept in the woods. I think I'm ready for a nap
myself."

Box 3. Washington Irving's Box
To find Washington Irving's napping place, follow the fallen tree up
the hill. Continue in the same direction -- 230 degrees, if you were
to listen to Lewis -- until you reach another fallen tree that is
perpendicular to your uphill direction. The trunk is too wide here
to use as a headrest so go towards the narrow end of the trunk. When
it is sufficiently narrow, look behind the log. Snuggled under it
beneath a blanket of leaves and sticks is Washington Irving's Box.

Nobody else wanted to sleep outside but they were getting pretty tired
of all the walking. James Fenimore Cooper was still thinking about
the rocks he noticed on their hike to Washington Irving's Box. The
rocks are grey and some are lichen covered. Cooper thought, "If I
were a person who needed to hide,this would be a good spot." (Being
dead, he had lost all sense of proportion. Anyone else would think
it was a bad place to hide because the rocks are only about ankle
high.)

Box 4. James Fenimore Cooper's Box
To find Cooper's hiding place, start walking back to the wooden
bridge. LOOK CAREFULLY. You will pass a small holly on the right
(about 3 feet tall in November 2002). You will come upon a second
slightly taller holly (about 5 feet tall in November 2002). If you
reach the brush area, you've gone too far. About 10 feet away at an
uphill angle from the second holly is a small pine (3 feet tall in
November 2002) and directly between these two evergreens is a tree
that has a thin hairy vine on the creek side. Stand on the uphill
side with your back to the tree. On a bearing of 210 degrees take 5
steps. Cooper's Box is behind a rock and beneath a rock.

Back on the path. After recrossing the bridge, no one wanted to
climb up the hill so they decided to take the easier path around the
hill. "50 degrees," said Clark to no one in particular. Right past
the juncture with another path, the group saw a tree that had fallen
across the creek. "Aha, look at this bridge to that island over
there" said Robert Louis Stevenson. Lewis and Clark said "that's not
an island, that's just the other bank of the creek." But no one
listened. "Follow me, mates" said Stevenson as he walked boldly
across the fallen log. His more cautious companions looked up and
down the creek until they could find another way to cross.

Box 5. Robert Louis Stevenson's Box
To find Stevenson's treasure, go to the "island". At the end of the
log bridge are other segments of rotted logs touching the bridge.
Under the longest, at the end furthest from the bridge, is
Stevenson's treasure.

Everyone was now ready to call it a day. They all returned to the
"mainland". They decided not to backtrack and continued on the easier
path. By now, even Lewis and Clark had gotten tired of taking
compass readings. They kept the houses on their left and followed
the curving path where it kept meeting up with larger and larger
trails. In no time they were back to the path leading to the stump
where they had left Louisa May Alcott. They went to collect her and
then finished the walk down the hill. Everyone had a great day of
walking and talking. Everyone, that is, but Lewis and Clark.