WEL #1 - Carbondale's Mt. Sopris HHHostel! LbNA #: 21579
CluesWelcome to the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway letterbox series! (PLEASE SEE THE OTHER ENTRY FOR WEST ELK LOOP SERIES FOR THE CLUES TO ALL THE BOXES). This series will take you all around - From Redstone to Paonia State Park, Black Mesa, Crested Butte, and more! The total loop drive can be 6-8 hours. The pass between Redstone and Crested Butte is CLOSED during winter.
#1 - MT. SOPRIS HITCH HIKER HOSTEL (Tweaked the clues a tiny bit 8/3/07)
****NOTICE: THE HHH HAS BEEN PICKED UP FOR THE SEASON. WILL REPLACE IN SPRING****
Want to up your "F" count? Want to see a variety of letterboxes from all over all in one place? This is a great place for that! I've stocked the hostel - it's jam-packed with hitchhikers.
For those who don't already know, a hitchhiker (sometimes known as a "parasite") is a letterbox with no permanent home. Instead, a hitchhiker travels from letterbox to letterbox, "hitching a ride" with whomever happens to find it.
A hitchhiker includes the same basic components as a letterbox: a rubber stamp (usually created just for that hitchhiker) and a journal in some kind of a container, either a small watertight plastic box with lid or a heavy duty ziplock bag. Hitchhikers in plastic bags are meant to be placed inside a host letterbox, so they're usually very compact, without extra items like a stamp pad or pencil. Hitchhikers in plastic containers are meant to be hidden alongside a letterbox. Sometimes, there's no room inside a letterbox or in a box's hiding place for the hitchhiker, so you'll have to carry the hitcher to your next destination instead.
Each portion of the journey is recorded. Stamp your personal stamp and the stamp of each host letterbox in the hitchhiker's logbook. Stamp the hitcher in your own journal, counting it as a find in your PFX count. Finally, stamp the hitchhiker's stamp into each letterbox where the hitcher makes a stop.
As you dive into the box, and can all get quite confusing, so please take your time, stamp-in properly (as listed above), and PLEASE don't get components of different HH's mixed up with each other. Please seal each and every one back up real tight. Above all, have FUN!!!
Whether you take one or not, you are welcome to stamp into all of them, but YOU MAY ONLY TAKE ONE IF YOU LEAVE ONE. Exception: If a hitchhiker has been sitting there for way too long (6 months or more), OR if there are more than 5 HH's, you are welcome to go ahead and take one if you know you can place it somewhere else soon, whether you have a replacement for it or not.
CLUES:
Difficulty: Drive-by in length, but steep hill to climb.
From I-70, exit South (southeast) at Glenwood Springs on Hwy 82. At the 11 mile marker, pull off to visit the little Carbondale welcome center. Find the telephone pole nearest the back of the pavilion. Make your way to the next telephone pole to the southeast of it (it's very steep, so be careful!) The hostel is under the largest boulder nearest to that southeastern pole. It is hidden under deadwood.
THERE IS ONE PACKAGE INSIDE THAT IS THE "HITCHHIKER HOSTEL" LETTERBOX ITSELF (MT. SOPRIS). THIS IS NOT A HH, SO PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE IT FROM THE HOSTEL.
PLEASE REHIDE WELL in the same place you found it.
I'd love to hear updates on its condition, and if you were able to switch out HH's: cameoboxer@yahoo.com
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Before you set out, please read the
waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.
Please be sure to reseal baggies and boxes carefully so that they stay dry
and rehide boxes in their original location, completely hidden from view. |
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