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First Letterbox On The Lake LbNA #2418 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Dec 25, 2000
Location:
City:Saugatuck
County:Allegan
State:Michigan
Boxes:1
Planted by:2 bentriders
Found by: carsandgav
Last found:Oct 8, 2006
Status:FFFFFFFFFr
Last edited:Dec 25, 2000
Saugatuck Dunes State Park
Placed by 2 bentriders
December 25, 2000

Status: Reported missing twice Sept/Oct 2008 Sadly put into archives. This was our first box so it is sad to tuck it away.


We placed our first letterbox on Christmas Day, December 25, 2000 at Saugatuck Dunes State Park, Holland, Michigan. We'd like to call it "First Letterbox on the Lake" - as best we can tell, it is the first on Lake Michigan in Michigan, there are others on the west side of the lake in Wisconsin.

Clues: Start from Saugatuck Dunes State Park. (Exit I -196 at the Saugatuck Exit, head southwest one block from the expressway. Turn right onto 65th Street. Go north one mile, then turn left onto 138th Avenue west. Follow 138th Ave. west 3/4 mile into the park, veering right at the fork.) Proceed to the parking area. Look for the North trail head and start your hike here.

Follow this trail north. At the first main fork in the trail, approx. 1/4 mile from the start, turn left (west) up the hill. Follow the park trail signs: they are large wooden posts with white painted caps. During the first half of this walk, follow the green arrow on the post. At the top of this first wooded dune climb, there is a fork in the trail, take the right branch. Continue to enjoy your hike and make your way to the shore of Lake Michigan, following the green arrow on the white capped post. (When the trail comes to a "T", turn left to get to the shore.) While at the shore, be sure to collect a small item to bring back with you, perhaps a smooth rock, no larger than your fist, or a small piece of driftwood.

When you are ready to leave the lake, begin your hike back, starting on the same trail. Now you will be following the red arrow on the white capped wodden posts. At the first intersection, less than 1/4 mile from the lake, keep straight, or due east. In a few steps, you will have the choice of taking the outer loop or the inner loop trail. You can pick either, both will take you to the letterbox. (If you are getting tired, the inner loop trail is a little shorter, flatter and stays in the woods more. The outer loop trail is a little longer, hillier and stays on the dunes more) When the two loop trails merge, head due south, downhill and back into the woods. In less than 1/4 mile, you will come to a "Y" shaped intersection, a place you have been before! (You will see the trail marker with the red and green arrow)

If you are standing at the base of the "Y", look south west. You will see a "bowl" created by the surrounding hills and dunes. Walk roughly 80 steps south west off of the trail, into the bowl, and head towards a large hemlock tree that grows within one yard of a deciduous tree. When standing under these trees, proceed south west another 50 steps to the point where the two large fallen soldiers meet. Directly ahead of you, another 10 steps south
west, you will see a large smooth barked tree with the neck of a giraffe, nibbling at the uppermost leaves of its neighboring trees. At the base of this tree, you will find a pile of driftwood and other items from the lake. Under these lake shore samples, you will see the letterbox! When you open the letterbox and add your stamp and date, please be sure to close the letterbox securely. Now is the time to place the item you collected from the
shore, adding it to the others, covering the letter box to hide it away for the next seeker.