BCHP

 From the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and Rt. 183, find this memorial. 

From the memorial find the intersection which is home to the next two photos.

 From this intersection, head towards the HP about 50 steps to a small clearing which is home to about half a dozen three trunk trees on the left.  On the right side of the trail, there is a tree with two yellow discs.  About 28 steps at 100 degrees you will see a five trunk tree with a foot wide rock at its base.  Look behind the rock.

If you see the sign below, you have gone too far for the box but it is easy to catch it on the way back.  You HAVE to go on.

 

The high point is about another 150 steps, do it! Come on, you know you want to! Take those extra steps to claim that you were at the High Point of Berks County.

Bred in Berks: Taylor Swift

It would be hard to imagine anyone who enjoys modern music who does not recognize the name Taylor Swift. Berks County is very proud of the fact that Taylor spent the first 14 years of her life in Wyomissing. Starting out as a very young singer/song writer in the country music field, Taylor has now transitioned to pop music but it seems that whatever she chooses to do, she works hard and has been very successful.

To find this box, look for a park close to the town she was born in. I tried to find a spot in Wyomissing but nothing felt right so I headed a little west for this box. This park borders on the south end of the Wilson High School soccer and cross country practice fields. When you arrive there, cross the bridge over the gnisoocaC keerC and turn left. Follow the trail passing the first three landmarks in the picture. After you pass the third picture, turn right and cut across the short expanse of grass to the upper path. As you reach the end of the wild area, turn left to see the tree in the fourth picture. About four feet to the right of that tree you will see a boulder. Look for the little nook in the back of the boulder.

Recommended color: purple

Florida's Timucua

From the monument above, head to the historic marker below.

When you get to the marker, look to the east and see two trailheads.  Take the one below.

    Yes, take this one.

Walk a bit till you see this bench and nature sign.

Now walk a little further till you see this nature sign on the left.

With your back to this sign, look across the trail for two palm trees, one about 15 feet into the woods and the other about 5 feet further.  Check out the back of tree 2.

When you finish, please remember to listen for the snap of each corner of the box lid.  I am convinced that is what helped this box survive four major hurricanes.

Conquer the Wall

  

Ooops, this is the clue to another nearby letterbox!

 

Do not turn left until you are past the bolt fund.

 

 

 

Enjoy the view while stamping in.

The Empty Basket Series - My Alma Mater

My Alma Mater has been added as a personal traveler in my Empty Basket series.  To get it, one just has to tell me that I went to the college with the following logo:

There's No Place Like Home - The Reading Railroad

Most people who have played Monopoly may not give much thought to the railroad properties but they, just like the street names are based on real railroads.  Next time you hop onto the space occupied by the Reading Railroad, you will know that it was based on the railroad which

ran through Reading, PA.  For a time in the 19^th century, the Reading Railroad was the largest corporation in the world, doing business hauling coal through Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.  When the coal business declined, so did the business for the Reading Railroad.  Today, most conversations around the Reading Railroad are concerned with the correct pronunciation of it.  Is it Reeding or is it Redding?  For those who don’t know, it is Redding.

When the Berks County Conservancy gave me permission to place letterboxes on its property, it sent me a packet of information.  Most of the places I had already heard of, Angelica Park, Neversink Mountain, Earle Poole Sanctuary, but one of the brochures was new to me – the Gravity Trail which follows the old tracks of the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad.  I spent an afternoon exploring the three parks which are located side by side on the trail and began my walk after parking in the middle one.  I passed two old pavilions and tried to imagine the picnics that were held there long ago.  After crossing a lovely arched stone bridge, I headed left and began my uphill walk.  Soon, I forgot that I was actually in the city limits as pretty little waterfalls and several rock formations surrounded me.  I crossed a second little stone bridge and after walking a very short distance, I saw an unmarked trail to the right which lead by a rotting tree stump about ten feet tall.  I followed the trail about ten more feet and found a tree with an interesting base filled with nooks and crannies on the left side of the trail.  The most interesting nook was located on the side facing the road above me. 

 My walk was only about a half mile one way but it provided me with a little piece of history, a big piece of beauty and the pride of knowing a new area in the town I live in.

There's No Place Like Home - the Reading Pagoda

I love to travel in the US and we recently came home from a wonderful vacation in the Southwest.  We drove from Nevada back to Pennsylvania and thoroughly enjoyed an area of the country which was so different from our own lush green state.  There was beauty everywhere we looked but as we got closer and closer to home, I had to admit how much I had missed the state we live in and this inspired a new series of boxes I hope to create showing some of the highlights of our state.

The Reading Pagoda

Tq53  529

94qht3 54q8o  23w5

3hu96  f832 59   h945y u7w5  g3r943

51491-36591

w2 e92h3e  5433

4995  3he

Flood Plan 2

We live near the Schuylkill River and although it doesn't happen often, it does flood occasionally.  A few years ago it flooded badly and I decided that I needed an escape plan in case it happened again so I planted Flood Plan 1.  Unfortunately, I chose a bad spot for this box and it floated away - I guess it was good to find this out before I really needed it.  Then a few weeks ago, I found what looked like a much better location.  See what you think!

 

 

 

35 steps down the fishermen's trail to these trees on the right of the trail.

Photo Clues to Klapperthal Junction