Letterboxing in Colorado Springs (Oh, and Visiting Paint Mines)

This morning I slept in and then relaxed with coffee before beginning my day. Thomas was up early and had left to attend his conference. Finally I got my things together and left the hotel around 9:00am. I decided to drive to Calhan this morning. Yesterday I headed west on Hwy 24 and today I was traveling east on Hwy 24 - and not quite as far as I had driven yesterday. I drove about 30 miles to the town of Calhan and to the Paint Mines Interpretive Park. I had clues to two boxes here and when I was researching the area I got really excited about visiting the park.

Paint Mines Entrance Sign

I arrived at the park and looked for one of the boxes in the parking area but I was unable to find it. So I started on the trail and looked for the second box not too far from the parking area but again I was unable to find it. So I put the clues away and grabbed my camera and hit the trail winding through the Paint Mines. I spent about an hour walking through the park and taking pictures - the formations and colors were spectacular and I was really glad I drove out here. But it was starting to get hot and I decided I should head back to the car and return to Colorado Springs.

Paint Mine Views

I arrived back in Colorado Springs and set the Garmin to find my first box of the day. Before we left Santa Fe I mapped out the boxes I wanted to look for and grouped them into areas of Colorado Springs. So I started in the northeast area of the city (well kind of, according to the way I mapped things out). My first stop was for the Homestead Trail Prairie Grass letterbox. This was about a mile round trip walk on a trail through a neighborhood. At the spot where I found the box there were great views of Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy. After stamping in and putting the box back into place I returned to my car. From here I made my way to Barnes Rd. and to a ballet school. This box was hidden in the parking lot of a strip mall. I felt too out in the open and that people in the buildings could see me - so I gave the area a quick once over but didn't find the box and I decided to leave the area because it gave me an uncomfortable feeling. I then headed out to find Blarney's Caper. I went to three different parks to find the three boxes in this series and did not find one of them. Not sure if they were missing or if I just missed them but I decided not to worry about it and move on. So far I was one for seven. I then drove to Gambol Quail Drive and walked a trail along a creek for a short distance to a small waterfall. Here I found Blarney's Caper #4: The Celtic Cross.

View of Pikes Peak

I stamped in enjoying the sound of the water and the coolness in the shade of some trees. After rehiding the box I made my way back to the car and headed for my next box. This one was at Dublin Park and is called "Leap" Year Letterbox. The park was a little busy and I had to be sneaky to get the box. I then stamped in on a bench out of the way of all the people. Getting the box back in place was really hard and I had to wait until some kids ran off to play in another area of the park. Finally I got it hidden again and I could be on my way. The next one is a mystery box called It's a Mystery! and I headed to that location. I found the spot quickly enough but had to wait because there were muggles (again) right where I needed to be. After about fifteen minutes I was able to retrieve the box and stamp in. Getting the box back into place was easier and then I was able to continue on. When I got back to the car I had a message from Thomas - he was at the hotel and was having a really bad toothache (it had started on Sunday and was just getting worse) and he had called our dentist in Santa Fe to get some pain meds. The dentist called in a prescription for pain meds and antibiotics and he needed me to go pick them up for him. So I decided to stop for one last letterbox on the way back to the hotel and then call it a day. So my last stop of the day was at Evergreen Cemetery. This place was huge. It took me more time to drive through the cemetery to the hiding spot than it did to get the box and stamp in. The box I found here was Westward Ho and I stamped in quickly and got it back in place so I could get back to Thomas. I ended up finding five boxes out of the twelve I looked for.

I got back to the hotel and picked up Thomas and then we headed to Walgreens to get his prescription. After that we stopped for something to eat (since neither of us has lunch) and then returned to the hotel. Thomas had talked to the dentist again and he scheduled an appointment for tomorrow at 3:00pm so we needed to leave early in the morning to get home - cutting out trip to Colorado Springs short. But Thomas needed to get his tooth taken care of so we got things packed and ready for tomorrow.