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Red Trail/North Beacon Mountain THIS BOX WAS REPLACED IN 2018. LbNA #51385

Owner:Racoon in the Baloon
Plant date:Not specified
Location:
City:Beacon
County:Dutchess
State:New York
Boxes:1
Found by: Nairon
Last found:Oct 10, 2021
Status:FFFOF
Last edited:Jul 19, 2022
Dear Excellent Wonderful Reader:

On the morning of Friday, March 9th, 2018, I, the placer of this box, went to visit this box, only to find that the box had been vandalized.

These are the facts:

1) The vandal ripped the lid off.

2) The vandal was too lazy to re-hide the box at all.

3) The box become flooded with liquid.

4) The liquid turned the entire box into a bowl of stamp ink soup.

5) I poured the ink broth into the snow. The snow swallowed the broth for dinner.

6) The log book is now inside of my apartment, and the book is drying.

7) I have a hitch hiker which was placed into my box by a person from Utah. The hitch hiker is also drying.

8) I will let all of you know when the box has been replaced.

9) A big thank-you to the person who put the hitch hiker into my box. It was very nice of you to do that.

10) For right now, the original clues are below. This update is being posted on Friday, March 9th, 2018. A second update will be posted when this box has been restored to its former glory, and the update will outline the changes and improvements. This box has provided great joy to many people, and I hope that it will continue to do so in the future.
____________________
UPDATE POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 23RD, 2018.

Dear Reader:

This box has been replaced in May of 2018. So without further ado, please read carefully this entire message.

1) As you read the clues below, you will find a reference to "two long logs that are parallel to each other, and to the trail." These two logs have decomposed greatly since the original clues were written in 2009, but nevertheless, the logs are still visible as of 2018.

As you walk away from the staircase and toward the summit of the mountain, you will find that the logs are to your left. There will also be a red trail marker to your left; this trail marker will be visible at the same time that the two logs are visible. But I ensure you, that if you choose to walk past this special trail marker, then you have walked too far. Ultimately, the two special logs sit in the space between the staircase and the trail marker.

2) You will also find a reference, in the 2009 clues, to a tree that is giving birth to rocks. But now that this box has been replaced, the tree is no longer giving birth to rocks. It is giving birth to sticks now. Sticks of wood. The sticks come from trees. The abdominal cavity of the special tree is filled with sticks, and you must yank the sticks out of the tree if you want to see the box.

3) When you open the box, you will find, on the inside of the box, a zip lock bag. This plastic bag contains the following: mechanical pencils, a special oil-based stamp pad (use your own best judgement in deciding whether to make use of your own stamp pad instead), a Rite in the Rain pen, and a Rite in the Rain log book. The book is yellow, and if it becomes full, then I will simply add a second log book to the box someday.

You will also discover, inside of the aforementioned zip lock bag, two stamps. One stamp was carved by hand (the stamp image is a reference to the wildlife of the North Atlantic Ocean) in 2009, and it was salvaged from the old box when the old box was vandalized. I trust that you will not steal it. The other stamp was made by a machine in 2018 (the stamp image is a reference to the agricultural prowess of the New York City metroplex), and it is the new stamp for the new box.

The point that I am making is this: as an act of defiance against the vandal, this box has two stamps, and both stamps belong to the box and therefore are not to ever be taken from the box.

4) In the bottom of the box there are a few trade items, as trade items in the old box proved popular. There is also, in the bottom of the box, a sandwich bag filled with pages that were salvaged from the old log book.

5) You will hopefully find enough empty space for more than one hitch hiker, as long as the hitch hiker is relatively small, so please, feel free to drop off your hitch hiker.

6) Please seal the plastic bags, close the lid of the ammunition box, place the box deep inside the tree's abdominal cavity, and proceed to stuff the abdominal cavity with sticks. I am losing way too much sleep at night, worrying that the new box will be vandalized, so please, stuff the tree like it is a turkey, hide the box well, and blind the next vandal from seeing the box. Thank you.

7) So without further ado, here are the clues that were written by me in 2009. I am not exactly the smartest guy in the world.
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This box is located in Hudson Highlands State Park on Beacon Mountain (there has been talk of someday having an incline railway to carry people up to the top).

It contains exactly the same hand-carved stamp as the box at Morgan Lake. If you do not wish to collect two of the same stamp impression, then this may not be the box for you.

In order to reach this box, you must first reach Route 9D in the City of Beacon. The Beacon MetroNorth Station (on MetroNorth's Hudson Line) is located just off of Route 9D, making this box theoretically accessible for anyone who has access to a MetroNorth Station (and perhaps Grand Central Terminal).

Once you arrive at the Beacon MetroNorth Station, you must begin walking (or driving) southward, along Beekman Street. As you do this, you will find that Beekman Street eventually becomes coterminous with Route 9D South. When this happens, stay on Route 9D South.

Alternatively, Route 9D South can also be reached from Interstate 84, by getting off of the highway at Exit 11.

Once you are on Route 9D South, please continue walking (or driving) along it until you reach the parking lot for Mount Beacon Park. This parking lot will be located at the intersection of Route 9D South and Howland Avenue. There will be signs out for Beacon Mountain, and the mountain will be hard to miss.

There will be a convenient store across the street from the mountain which will attempt to sell nice food to the hikers.

Once you arrive in the parking lot, please get out of your car. There will be a kiosk with literature about the mountain.

Near the kiosk, there will also be a metal staircase. Begin by walking up the staircase.

Upon arriving at the top of the staircase, turn left and begin walking up the red trail. You now should be walking up the mountain, in the direction of the summit (and away from the MetroNorth Station). Now is the time to begin to search for the box.

As you walk in the direction of the summit, search for two long logs that are parallel to each other, and to the trail. These two logs will be to your left as you walk up the mountain. These logs will not be at the top of the mountain. However, they will be located on the Red Trail that eventually leads to the top of the mountain.

When you reach these two logs, carefully stand adjacent to the logs, with your back facing the Red Trail. As you do this, you will be gazing in a general westward direction, with your eyes facing the Hudson River and the Newburgh/Beacon Bridge.

In addition, your eyes will be facing a tree. The geometry of it all is arranged in such a way that it is possible to sit down on one of the logs and still see the tree in front of you.

As you look at this tree, you will clearly see that a gaping hole exists in the side of the tree. This hole is ultimately located in the bottom of the trunk.

You will also see that there is a large number of rocks in the hole in the tree. The tree essentially has a massive cavity in the bottom of its trunk, and you will see that this cavity is stuffed with rocks in much the way that the abdominal cavity of a turkey is stuffed with bread stuffing on Thanksgiving Day.

In other words, it will look like the tree is giving birth to rocks, in the same way that a turkey gives birth to stuffing.

Furthermore, the box is hidden within the abdominal cavity of the tree, and it is an integral part of the stuffing mix.

Begin by removing rocks from the top of the rock pile. If you remove the rocks from the bottom first, then the rocks from the top will fall on your hand and injure you.

In addition, please be careful not to fall off of the mountain. If you fall off of the mountain, then you will be injured and will have no choice but to call 911 on your telephone and go and ask for medical attention.

Once you remove the top half of the wall of rocks (dismantling the entire wall from top to bottom should not be necessary), you will see the spacious interior of the tree's abdominal cavity. Carefully insert your hand into the hole and search inside of this abdominal cavity. The box will be there.

Please do not make it obvious (to the world around you) that you are working on Letterboxing stuff. In addition, please re-hide this box carefully, by placing it deep inside of the tree and ensuring that you rebuild the rock wall as meticulously as possible.

Furthermore, we ask that you please make an attempt to conceal the rock wall with autumn leaves and whatever else you can find, in the event that it is at all humanly possible for you to do so. This area has a massive amount of foot traffic, and we really truly do not want any potential thieves to discover this box by accident. Thank you so very much for your cooperation.

Additional information:
This box contains trade items, for those who are interested in that type of thing. It also contains a hand-carved stamp, for all those who enjoy collecting stamp impressions in their personal logbooks.

The stamp is not a trade item. For the good of all those who use this box, the stamp cannot be removed from the box (if you remove the stamp from the box, then people will not be able to collect stamp impressions in their personal logbooks anymore, and that would be a shame).

This is a 50-calibre ammunition box, built to withstand horrible weather (it should have enough room to store at least one to two hitch-hikers). This is one of those extremely nice boxes that people are excited about finding.