WEL #7 - The Bear of Gunnison Canyon LbNA #24752
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 10, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Gunnison |
| County: | Gunnison |
| State: | Colorado |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | Mandy "Cameo"  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | W S M and C |
| Last found: | Feb 6, 2010 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFa |
| Last edited: | Jun 10, 2006 |
#7 - THE BEAR OF GUNNISON CANYON (Part of the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway Series - all 12 Letterboxes for this Series may be seen at once by clicking on the "West Elk Loop Scenic Byway Series" clue sheet. Looking at that page may help direct you to this box.)
Wow! What views! Between mile markers 51 & 52, there's a scenic turnout on the right. If you reach the big electric tower, you've gone too far. At the north end of the turnout by all the rocks is a huge spruce (?) tree. Look at its base under rocks. Just a few miles ahead is Curecanti.
NOTE: You might find this interesting. It's an email I received at the beginning of August 2006...
"My name is Jimmy. I work for C DOT.( Dept of Transpatortion.) While working on hwy 92 Thurs aug 3rd, I found your letter box. I was looking at the bear scrapes on the leaning tree. Thats what it is called on patrol 32 out of Crawford. While looking for tracks beneath the tree is when I found your letter box series #7. There are a lot of bears in that area. But before I tell you any more. I want to know who you are and what is your intrest in the bears. And what is up with the letter box. And are there more boxes. I don't know if you noticed , that is an awesome tree. Jimmy"
My Response...
"Oh my goodness!!! This is very interesting! I guess you read up on letterboxing. I started LBing in Oklahoma, but recently moved up here to Carbondale. There are hundreds of letterboxes in Colorado, but I thought I'd place some along the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway. It was a drive my
>husband and I wanted to make andyway (we wanted to do some siteseeing), so I prepared ahead of time for the trip. I went to the local Forest Ranger Station and picked up a map of the scenic loop that also included all
the towns, parks, and rec areas on the way and some background on each. So I carved one stamp for each area, trying to associate each stamp with something significant about the town. I also carved a few extra stamps that somehow related to Colorado as extras to fill in some areas that I didn't necessarily have any particular stamp for. The bear stamp was just an extra. There was a large gap between two of the boxes, and I wanted to make sure people stopped to see the Black Canyon - it was INCREDIBLE! and I wanted others to see it, too! So we (my husband and I) stopped when I thought I had found a good
place to "plant" the box, and left it there behind the tree. I placed or "planted" a total of 11 letterboxes that day, so I'm not positive I remember the exact place I placed this one. Was it under a huge pine tree that had
a bunch of large rocks up behind it a ways? On a little turnout right on the highway?"
Jimmy's Reply...
"The tree you described is the right one. Its also the highest point on that pass. Another hint you might add is there is a huge power line that travels across the highway just south of the leaning tree. That power line is from the dam down in the canyon, that you can see from the highway. We have seen four bears on that section of hwy 92. A mother and her cub, both black. Two brown ones, and a blonde one. Fall is a good time to see them. The choke cherries are ripe. They look like clusters of red berries on bushes. Plus the oak brush nuts are also ripe. Both are high in protein that the bears eat this time of year to fatten up for their winter sleep. Both are very abundant on that road. If you go back looking for them, look at any
rocks that move. Scan all the hillsides look for something that just dosen't look right, compared to all the other indigenous rocks in the area. They might be moving or just setting. You have to be very lucky to have one cross the road in front of you, but it does happen. We have not seen the bear that marked the leaning tree, so that might mean
five known bears on that section of road between mile marker 42 and 72. When you go back stop at that tree. Just about eye level you will see the scars on the bark. One on each side of the tree. Each scar will have vertical
scratches. And no I did not sign up to be a letterboxer. But dosen't mean I won"t. Jimmy"
My last response:
"I think it's neat that you found it, but I find it amazing that that tree that I just so happened to plant a letterbox under that just so happened to be a spare stamp that just so happened to be of a bear that I just so happened to name "The Bear of Black Canyon" happens to be a tree marked by a bear that I didn't even notice!!! Thank you for telling about your experience! I think it's so cool that the tree is bear-ized. I haven't ever seen a bear outside a zoo and wouldn't know what bear scratches looked like. I'll have to go back and see it! Thanks so much for not removing it. A lot of us lose boxes due to
theft or people just thinking it's trash. We all put a lot of thought and work into finding or creating a stamp image, carving it, hand-making a logbook, purchasing a container, packing it all up, searching for a location to
put it, posting the clues on the internet, and maintaining them. I appreciate you putting it back as you found it. Do we have a new letterboxer??? :)Thanks so much, Mandy "Cameo" "
Wow! What views! Between mile markers 51 & 52, there's a scenic turnout on the right. If you reach the big electric tower, you've gone too far. At the north end of the turnout by all the rocks is a huge spruce (?) tree. Look at its base under rocks. Just a few miles ahead is Curecanti.
NOTE: You might find this interesting. It's an email I received at the beginning of August 2006...
"My name is Jimmy. I work for C DOT.( Dept of Transpatortion.) While working on hwy 92 Thurs aug 3rd, I found your letter box. I was looking at the bear scrapes on the leaning tree. Thats what it is called on patrol 32 out of Crawford. While looking for tracks beneath the tree is when I found your letter box series #7. There are a lot of bears in that area. But before I tell you any more. I want to know who you are and what is your intrest in the bears. And what is up with the letter box. And are there more boxes. I don't know if you noticed , that is an awesome tree. Jimmy"
My Response...
"Oh my goodness!!! This is very interesting! I guess you read up on letterboxing. I started LBing in Oklahoma, but recently moved up here to Carbondale. There are hundreds of letterboxes in Colorado, but I thought I'd place some along the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway. It was a drive my
>husband and I wanted to make andyway (we wanted to do some siteseeing), so I prepared ahead of time for the trip. I went to the local Forest Ranger Station and picked up a map of the scenic loop that also included all
the towns, parks, and rec areas on the way and some background on each. So I carved one stamp for each area, trying to associate each stamp with something significant about the town. I also carved a few extra stamps that somehow related to Colorado as extras to fill in some areas that I didn't necessarily have any particular stamp for. The bear stamp was just an extra. There was a large gap between two of the boxes, and I wanted to make sure people stopped to see the Black Canyon - it was INCREDIBLE! and I wanted others to see it, too! So we (my husband and I) stopped when I thought I had found a good
place to "plant" the box, and left it there behind the tree. I placed or "planted" a total of 11 letterboxes that day, so I'm not positive I remember the exact place I placed this one. Was it under a huge pine tree that had
a bunch of large rocks up behind it a ways? On a little turnout right on the highway?"
Jimmy's Reply...
"The tree you described is the right one. Its also the highest point on that pass. Another hint you might add is there is a huge power line that travels across the highway just south of the leaning tree. That power line is from the dam down in the canyon, that you can see from the highway. We have seen four bears on that section of hwy 92. A mother and her cub, both black. Two brown ones, and a blonde one. Fall is a good time to see them. The choke cherries are ripe. They look like clusters of red berries on bushes. Plus the oak brush nuts are also ripe. Both are high in protein that the bears eat this time of year to fatten up for their winter sleep. Both are very abundant on that road. If you go back looking for them, look at any
rocks that move. Scan all the hillsides look for something that just dosen't look right, compared to all the other indigenous rocks in the area. They might be moving or just setting. You have to be very lucky to have one cross the road in front of you, but it does happen. We have not seen the bear that marked the leaning tree, so that might mean
five known bears on that section of road between mile marker 42 and 72. When you go back stop at that tree. Just about eye level you will see the scars on the bark. One on each side of the tree. Each scar will have vertical
scratches. And no I did not sign up to be a letterboxer. But dosen't mean I won"t. Jimmy"
My last response:
"I think it's neat that you found it, but I find it amazing that that tree that I just so happened to plant a letterbox under that just so happened to be a spare stamp that just so happened to be of a bear that I just so happened to name "The Bear of Black Canyon" happens to be a tree marked by a bear that I didn't even notice!!! Thank you for telling about your experience! I think it's so cool that the tree is bear-ized. I haven't ever seen a bear outside a zoo and wouldn't know what bear scratches looked like. I'll have to go back and see it! Thanks so much for not removing it. A lot of us lose boxes due to
theft or people just thinking it's trash. We all put a lot of thought and work into finding or creating a stamp image, carving it, hand-making a logbook, purchasing a container, packing it all up, searching for a location to
put it, posting the clues on the internet, and maintaining them. I appreciate you putting it back as you found it. Do we have a new letterboxer??? :)Thanks so much, Mandy "Cameo" "