Pre-Event Letterboxing and Picnic

Last night when I went to bed I decided that I wanted to sleep in so I didn't set an alarm. At 3:30am I woke up with a terrible headache. I got up and took some medicine and then went back to sleep. When I woke up again at 8:00am thankfully my headache was gone.

So I got up and got ready for the day. Tonight there is a pre-event picnic at the Flying J Ranch Park (part of the Jefferson County Open Space system) in Aspen Park and the hosts had planted a few series of boxes there and they sent out the clues to these boxes early. I had these clues printed out and so I decided to go out and walk the trails and find these boxes. After a little breakfast, I got in the car and made my way to the park. It was nearly 11:00am when I parked and walked over to a picnic table to figure out what I was doing and where I needed to go. There were six series of boxes hidden here and there were three other boxes that were already in the park before the event.

All the boxes were hidden on the Shadow Pine Loop Trail. This trail is divided into two parts by a maintenance road - so there is an east loop and a west loop. I decided to start with the west loop. On this side, there were four series and one other box. I think it was near 11:30am when I started my letterbox search. The trail was peaceful and beautiful and I really enjoyed my time out there. It was also pretty busy - I don't remember how many hikers and bikers I saw during my time on the trail. The four series I found were - Beer and Ice Cream (5) [pretty self explanatory - stamps related to beer and ice cream], Air Mail @ Flying J (18) [this series consisted of stamps donated from retired postal rings], Dog Days of Summer (10) [again self explanatory - all about dogs] and Just Passin' Through (8) [celebrating creatures who travel through the park on migratory routes]. All were incredible and had some very nice carvings.  There were maybe one or two logbooks per series so you didn't have to keep logging in which was nice. In the back of some of the logbooks, there was a note - "Are you paying attention?". S

o the first two times I saw that note I looked in the front and back of the logbook for a bonus clue but didn't see anything. Then the third time I found a clue in the middle of the logbook written where the person who had placed the box had logged in. And so I found a few bonus boxes (which were hidden very near the box the clue was in) along the way. During my time on the trail, I did get a little wet due to it drizzling on and off for a short time. It wasn't bad and it didn't keep me from letterboxing. I also had the bejeezus scared out of me at one of the boxes. I was sitting there minding my own business stamping into a logbook when I heard a big noise behind me and to my left. So I stood up and looked around but didn't see anything at first, but then I saw some bushes move and I started backing away. I still didn't see anything, just the movement of the bushes and then a minute later a deer crept out from the bushes. I think I scared her as much as she scared me. We both ended up calming down and I finished stamping in and she went on eating. When I was done I got a quick picture of her and then continued on with my letterboxing. Besides the boxes in the series, I found three of the bonus boxes (not sure how many I missed) and one box that was already in the park - The Flying V @ Flying J by Front Range Hiker. So to sum it up I found a total of 45 boxes in about four hours. I really enjoyed being out on the trail - it turned out to be a great day. The last four boxes of the fourth series take you down the maintenance road back to the information kiosk and parking area - there are also picnic pavilions around this area. So it was time for the Share the Love Pre-Event Picnic so I found the correct pavilion and made my what there. I decided I had enough of boxing on the trails and wanted to just sit and visit. Some of the other people made a quick appearance and then disappeared onto the trails. While at the pavilion I did find two more boxes (bringing my total for the day to 47) hidden in the area but mostly I just visited. Around 7:00pm I decided to head back to the hotel and grab a shower and something to eat. Once I arrived at the hotel and cleaned up I went out and grabbed a sandwich and then came back to my room and logged in finds. Now that this post is done I can get some sleep for the event tomorrow. I really had a great time today and found some amazing stamps and now I am really looking forward to the event.

***Here are some other links for Jefferson County Open Space . . .
Jeffco Open Space System Map
Jefferson County Open Space - Go Hike Colorado
City & Mountain Views of Jefferson County Colorado - Jeffco Open Space