F-1000.

I never imagined, when I took my littles on our first letterboxing adventure back in '04, that one day I would have found 1,000 hidden treasures. In fact, I was pretty excited when we reached F-100 - so much so that I carved a special sig-stamp to mark the occasion. To be honest, I'm not sure there were 500 boxes to find in the PNW at that time. Back when I was slogging trails with LBNA clues in hand, 3 reluctant homeschoolers, and an overactive puppy, if we found one box on a boxing outing, that was a good day! When we hit F-200, again, I carved a new sig-stamp. Exciting stuff! And then 500. After that, I lost sight of marking the milestones, especially since there were many local boxers speeding past my slow and steady find-count. And then ... I left the hobby.

Fast-forward to February 2021, and it was the right time to pick it back up again. Since then myself, Obimaster, and Samsonite have been on a mission to get back out on the trail. Letterboxing seemed to be a way to get out and enjoy life again, as well as escape the cultural/political stress most of us have been swimming in since 2015. I have found boxing to be the same challenging, rewarding, frustrating, adventurous hobby that I left; only this time I had changed. I am older and more mindful - or at least I try to be. I don't have children with me to look after, so I can appreciate the trail more now, and take the time to value each hand-carved effort. I am absolutely thrilled when boxes are clever and well-planned - there is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you finally get your hands on that fantastic prize that took research and careful hunting to find. I can really enjoy the hobby now, at this point in my life. So, in the midst of just enjoying the hobby, I realized I was super close to the magical F-1000.

Well, this Nettle-d and muggled box certainly
wasn't the box that put me over the mark! Sad.

So, Obimaster and I hit the trail a couple of days ago in search of the last 7 boxes necessary. Unfortunately, I chose a rather hard group of older boxes planted for a long-past event in a rather primitive and obscure park (at least obscure to us!). We were literally eaten alive by mosquitoes on a rather hot day to be on the trail, and with so many of the clue markers gone or overgrown , we were not as successful as hoped. But, I was not to be deterred.

The next day, Samsonite and I made plans to try to snag some urban boxes in my old South Hill neighborhood. And while urban parks tend not to be my favorite (mostly due to muggles and goose poo), we were much more successful and passed the mark with ease! Woohoo!

This urban park is a particularly wonderful one -
Wildwood Park in Puyallup is a great example of 
untouched forest growth and nice trails.

We were on such a high that we nabbed a couple more, just for good measure! Fine boxes, too, I might add. It was a beautiful summer evening to walk in the cool of the forest and successfully find what we were seeking. I am always grateful to planters for taking us to places we wouldn't otherwise have visited.

SHH & Samsonite

I drug Samsonite (almost kicking and screaming) into letterboxing many years ago. She has boxed by my side in good and bad times, in good and bad weather, and with all the folks who wanted to tag along. She agreed to my crazy idea of meeting letterboxers on a month-long, cross-country field trip with our homeschooled kiddos, and she learned how to navigate clues, duck nettles, 'hurry' to beat darkness on the trail, carve stamps, create LTCs, choose trailnames, and plant letterboxes. It is most fitting that she was with me when we found the 1,000 find in my logbook. I am grateful and honored to have her as my long-time boxing buddy, map-reader, spider-wrangler, and bathroom-finder. Without you, Lis, how could I ever have reached this milestone?? Truth be told, she has a few more before she reaches the magical milestone, but we are gonna work on that :)