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Underground > Creation >

Letterboxing

  
 
stepinrazor
01:24 / 29.04.04
http://www.letterboxing.org/
 
 
Sax
05:59 / 29.04.04
Can you explain this a bit and tell us about your involvement, otherwise someone's going to just post a pic of some chopped ham and pork here...
 
 
stepinrazor
14:34 / 29.04.04
Letterboxing is like treasure-hunting in reverse and vice versa.

You create the letterbox, post clues about the box's where-abouts and let others enjoy in the hunt. Currently there are 8546 boxes somewhere on the North American continent.

There's even one in Belize.

The FAQ explains the hobby in much greater detail.

But the point is since it's such a continentally diverse group of people here, I thought we could expand the game; make it global.
 
 
Grey Area
14:48 / 29.04.04
From the site's FAQ:

Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the ancient custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform. It started when a gentleman simply left his calling card in a bottle by a remote pool on the moors of Dartmoor, in England.

Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don't have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks.

End Segment

I find this idea fascinating. Just reading some of the American locations listed on the site made me want to strap on my hiking boots and get out there. Of course, the fact that the Atlantic Ocean's in the way might be a hindrance. But I can see how making the finding or planting of a letterbox the goal of a day out in the country makes for a little bit more motivation. I've reached the point where seeing vistas and climbing hills 'for the sake of the climb' is losing its appeal, and something like this would certainly get me out there, stamp and logbook in my pack.
 
  
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