Grandma Gatewood and the Buckeye Trail ***RETIRED LbNA #17282 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | trailtracker  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Aug 10, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Logan |
| County: | Hocking |
| State: | Ohio |
| Boxes: | 3 |
| Found by: | 5letterboxmusketeers (2) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Oct 7, 2007 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Aug 10, 2005 |
Location: Hocking Hills State Forest
Difficulty: Easy
Stamps: Handmade
Bring: Pen or pencil and stamp pad
Locate and park in the Cedar Falls parking lot. Look for the trail head to ASH CAVE!!! (Not Cedar Falls.) This is part of the Buckeye Trail AND part of the infamous Grandma Gatewood Trail. This trail is also part of the American Discovery Trail. The trail head is marked by a bright orange gate and can be found the easiest by driving around the entire parking lot loop which runs around the Gazebo and past the restrooms.
From the trail head, walk 23 paces to the first Blue Blaze on a tree trunk to your right. For those who might not know....the upper blaze is a better representation of what a blaze is supposed to look like. It is a rectangle rather than a round circle, but often both are used.
From here, continue along the path until you get to the official park entrance sign at a large trail intersection following directional arrow to Ash Cave. (With this letterbox, you will not even come close to completing the trail from Cedar Falls to Ash Cave...so please do not worry.)
BUCKEYE BLUE
(Placed 08.10.2005)
First you need the paint. To find this letterbox, you will follow the trail to the right for approximately 120 paces. At that point you should see some moss covered rocks to your right which cover a culvert for water to drain down to a much lower rock bed eventually. There is a tree with a red, "No Hunting Zone" sign on it just a couple paces off the trail and right beside the rock-covered culvert. Go stand in front of that tree. Buckeye Blue is at the base of the very next tree at a heading of 240* under a rock.
AND THE PAINT BRUSH TOO
(Placed 08.10.2005)
To find this box, return to the large park sign at the split. Turn right to continue along the main trail. Go past another split in the trail...NOT taking the service road, but continuing along the trail in the same general direction. Now watch the blue blazes painted on the trees on your right ONLY. The 1st on is on a skinny tree. At the base of the 2nd tree with both the blue blaze and the blue circle, find the letterbox on the high side of the base of the tree under 2 rocks and leaves.
BLUE BLAZES
(This box was actually placed on 10.16.2004 so some may already have this stamp.)
Continue along trail. You will cross a bridge and the trail will curve to the right.
Keep watching for Blue Blazes on your right ONLY as you travel this trail. As you see one, ask yourself:
if it's on a medium sized tree
is there is a nice 3-4 foot log to sit on just one pace up on the left side of the trail---immediately next to the trail.
If there is, then sit on that log.
Can you see a creek bed?
Do you see a long fallen, kinda skinny tree that is COVERED in nice soft moss? This tree runs parallel to the trail and is right next to the trail itself.
If so, from your sitting position, take a reading of approximately 230 degrees. You should see a stub of an old branch. This stub is COMPLETELY covered in moss. Blue Blazes is a camo-micro box hiding directly under that stub...on the backside of that falled tree under some flat rocks.
So now that you have all three boxes, here is a little bit of history. Grandma Gatewood was the first female to through-hike the Appalacian Trail. That is over 2000 miles! She read an article in 1954 in National Geographic which stated no female had ever done this, so by 1955 and a rough start, she managed to complete the trail with Reader's Digest documenting her trek. Grandma Gatewood was an extremely familiar sight on the trails of Hocking Hills as she was an Ohioan! She loved this area and became part of the support for our Buckeye Trails. In fact, it was she who donated the first $20 for the Buckeye Blue buckets of paint for the blue blazes! Now you know!
Let me know if you found these boxes.
Difficulty: Easy
Stamps: Handmade
Bring: Pen or pencil and stamp pad
Locate and park in the Cedar Falls parking lot. Look for the trail head to ASH CAVE!!! (Not Cedar Falls.) This is part of the Buckeye Trail AND part of the infamous Grandma Gatewood Trail. This trail is also part of the American Discovery Trail. The trail head is marked by a bright orange gate and can be found the easiest by driving around the entire parking lot loop which runs around the Gazebo and past the restrooms.
From the trail head, walk 23 paces to the first Blue Blaze on a tree trunk to your right. For those who might not know....the upper blaze is a better representation of what a blaze is supposed to look like. It is a rectangle rather than a round circle, but often both are used.
From here, continue along the path until you get to the official park entrance sign at a large trail intersection following directional arrow to Ash Cave. (With this letterbox, you will not even come close to completing the trail from Cedar Falls to Ash Cave...so please do not worry.)
BUCKEYE BLUE
(Placed 08.10.2005)
First you need the paint. To find this letterbox, you will follow the trail to the right for approximately 120 paces. At that point you should see some moss covered rocks to your right which cover a culvert for water to drain down to a much lower rock bed eventually. There is a tree with a red, "No Hunting Zone" sign on it just a couple paces off the trail and right beside the rock-covered culvert. Go stand in front of that tree. Buckeye Blue is at the base of the very next tree at a heading of 240* under a rock.
AND THE PAINT BRUSH TOO
(Placed 08.10.2005)
To find this box, return to the large park sign at the split. Turn right to continue along the main trail. Go past another split in the trail...NOT taking the service road, but continuing along the trail in the same general direction. Now watch the blue blazes painted on the trees on your right ONLY. The 1st on is on a skinny tree. At the base of the 2nd tree with both the blue blaze and the blue circle, find the letterbox on the high side of the base of the tree under 2 rocks and leaves.
BLUE BLAZES
(This box was actually placed on 10.16.2004 so some may already have this stamp.)
Continue along trail. You will cross a bridge and the trail will curve to the right.
Keep watching for Blue Blazes on your right ONLY as you travel this trail. As you see one, ask yourself:
if it's on a medium sized tree
is there is a nice 3-4 foot log to sit on just one pace up on the left side of the trail---immediately next to the trail.
If there is, then sit on that log.
Can you see a creek bed?
Do you see a long fallen, kinda skinny tree that is COVERED in nice soft moss? This tree runs parallel to the trail and is right next to the trail itself.
If so, from your sitting position, take a reading of approximately 230 degrees. You should see a stub of an old branch. This stub is COMPLETELY covered in moss. Blue Blazes is a camo-micro box hiding directly under that stub...on the backside of that falled tree under some flat rocks.
So now that you have all three boxes, here is a little bit of history. Grandma Gatewood was the first female to through-hike the Appalacian Trail. That is over 2000 miles! She read an article in 1954 in National Geographic which stated no female had ever done this, so by 1955 and a rough start, she managed to complete the trail with Reader's Digest documenting her trek. Grandma Gatewood was an extremely familiar sight on the trails of Hocking Hills as she was an Ohioan! She loved this area and became part of the support for our Buckeye Trails. In fact, it was she who donated the first $20 for the Buckeye Blue buckets of paint for the blue blazes! Now you know!
Let me know if you found these boxes.