Neponset Reservoir LbNA #59320
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Aug 24, 2011 |
| Location: | Neponset Reservoir |
| City: | Foxboro |
| County: | Norfolk |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 5 |
| Planted by: | Perduco  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Nairon (2) |
| Last found: | Aug 31, 2014 |
| Status: | FFFFFaF |
| Last edited: | Aug 24, 2011 |
Welcome!
The five letterboxes you're about to find were created and placed on the trails on the west side of the Neponset Reservoir by Eli, a member of Perduco, and me. We enjoyed the entire process and hope you'll enjoy looking for them. Bring along a compass (if you have one) and a large piece of blank paper. The five stamps you'll find are pieces to a puzzle. Unfortunately, we messed up a bit; the image created by the five stamps, when put together correctly, is a mirror image of the real thing. Once you've correctly put the puzzle together, turn the paper over, hold it up to light, and you'll see the correct image. Each box contains a question about the Neponset Reservoir - the last box contains all the answers. Enjoy!
Start at the entrance to the trail (the Warner Trail), marked by two large rocks, off Chestnut Street in Foxboro. The railroad tracks will be on your left, and a private residence will be on your right.
Clue #1
Enter the trail and continue approximately due north using a compass. At the first fork, bear to the right. Do not turn left over the railroad tracks. Immediately after the fork look for the large old magnificent oak on your left. Further on to your right look for a pile of eroding concrete (it looks like a pile of discarded pieces of a road). Leave the trail and go to the far side of the pile (the downhill side facing the reservoir). The letterbox is tucked in under the rocks.
Clue #2
Return to the trail and continue walking with the reservoir on your right. You will eventually cross a footbridge, the trail becoming a root covered path in a low swampy area - moss and ferns love the moisture that gathers here during the summer months.
At the next fork, bear right around the edge of the reservoir. Do not turn left up the hill across the railroad tracks. A second footbridge, about three times as long as the first, will make your walk through the swampy area a bit more comfortable and protect the vegetation from destruction. A third footbridge immediately follows the second.
At the next fork, the trail turns to the left, dips slightly, then climbs a small hill. If you want to take a break from the hike, there is a lookout point, with a bench, to the right. See if you can spot one of the resident swans! Hint: From this lookout, you can see a peninsula where we hid one of the letterboxes.
At the next fork, bear right, continuing along the edge of the reservoir. And no, that's right, do not turn left across the railroad tracks. Continue along the trail, which eventually runs up the side of a much steeper hill than before, placing you at a higher elevation above the reservoir. The trail rides atop banks that drop off to the right and left, gradually widening and flowing into a natural cathedral of towering pines and little undergrowth. The cathedral gives way to sloping banks, a berm carrying you and the trail above the reservoir. A bench sits on the right. The reservoir now appears to be not only on your right, but soon, on your left as well.
Once again, the trail will fork, but this time, at the edge of the reservoir. The dam of the reservoir is to your left - the railroad tracks have moved on. Turn right, leaving, for the moment, the dam behind you.
The trail gradually ascends a peninsula - yes, the one you may have seen across the reservoir if you stopped at the first lookout. At the fork, bear right, continuing your ascent - do not go down the trail to the left just yet. At the highest point of the peninsula, stop and take a deep breath, slowly turn completely around while taking in the landscape.
Continue forward down the hill about 140 degrees SE to the edge of the reservoir (be careful not to slip, Eli did) where you can walk into the water with ease. Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to wade into the water! At the edge, where land meets water, turn and face the top of the hill. Take out your compass and set your course for 340 degrees NW - that's where you'll find the second letterbox.
Walk away from the edge of the reservoir, bearing right along the bottom of the hill (about 40 degrees N), keeping your eye on the slope of the hill. You're looking for a well concealed man-made concrete foundation or pad, with a "posthole" at its corner, slowly being consumed by the hill. You'll find the letterbox on the top of the concrete pad; but remember, it's being consumed by the hill. Proceed carefully as if you are an archeologist searching slowly and delicately for an ancient artifact.
Clue #3
Return to the top of the hill and descend the trail, heading toward the dam, the way you came. Before you reach the dam, and before you leave the peninsula, turn right down the hill onto a smaller peninsula. Pass over the lowest point on the trail and continue toward the end, arriving at a marble bench put in place to honor Bill Hocking, "Friend of the Neponset, Keeper of the Waters".
On your way to the bench, you passed a natural process not unlike one that produces the next generation of young people in our world. From the foot of a grey skeleton, once a great oak, grows its offspring, a sapling spreading its limbs. Within its depths, deep in its core, you'll find the third letterbox.
Clue #4
Return to the dam and cross over it to the other side. Bear right along the edge of the reservoir - do not go straight along the road. You'll pass a bench on your right. "Oh, look at the tree! See the one that is curved?" exclaims Eli. At this point the trail is hard to follow - do your best as you pass among the lofty pines. "Holy smokes! Is this what you were going to show me Roger?" Eli asks, standing in the bottom of a large pit about five feet deep and twenty feet in diameter. "Holy smokes, we should definitely hide a letterbox here."
Stand in the bottom of the pit. While looking up at the sky, turn around 360 degrees, and look for the "pitchfork". Climb up to the trunk of the tree which holds the "pitchfork" and stand on the rim of the bowl with your back against the tree. Hold your hand in front of you so that if a beam of light were to shoot from your fingertips, it would cross through the center axis of the bowl. Follow “the beam of light” into the distance until you see a pine tree, that, unlike it's straight and narrow siblings, decided to split, adding a fantastic curve to it's otherwise straight and slender trunks. Go to this tree.
240 degrees SW of this tree, in a patch of pine saplings (August 2011), lies the remains of a few older trees and a rotting root system covered in moss. A small cluster of deciduous trees grows from the decaying mass. Here lies the fourth letterbox.
Return to the dam.
Clue #5
Put the green hut to your back, looking through the chain link fence at the swampy, heavily vegetated area of the reservoir discharge. Walk around the right side of the fence and carefully make your way down to the point where the water discharges from the reservoir. Depending on the time of the year (August perhaps?), you may see an enormous black spider hanging out in the spillway! The last letterbox is concealed beneath a couple of rocks in a corner defined by man-made concrete block, a leaf print clings to its corner, and the natural granite blocks used to construct the dam.
Congratulations on completing the search! Were you able to put the puzzle together? What is it an image of?
We'd love to hear from you! Please drop us an email and let us know if you found the boxes, or if there were any problems in doing so. How are the condition of the boxes? Do they need more ink? How were the clues? Please email us at: letterboxes@perducoeducation.com Thanks!
The five letterboxes you're about to find were created and placed on the trails on the west side of the Neponset Reservoir by Eli, a member of Perduco, and me. We enjoyed the entire process and hope you'll enjoy looking for them. Bring along a compass (if you have one) and a large piece of blank paper. The five stamps you'll find are pieces to a puzzle. Unfortunately, we messed up a bit; the image created by the five stamps, when put together correctly, is a mirror image of the real thing. Once you've correctly put the puzzle together, turn the paper over, hold it up to light, and you'll see the correct image. Each box contains a question about the Neponset Reservoir - the last box contains all the answers. Enjoy!
Start at the entrance to the trail (the Warner Trail), marked by two large rocks, off Chestnut Street in Foxboro. The railroad tracks will be on your left, and a private residence will be on your right.
Clue #1
Enter the trail and continue approximately due north using a compass. At the first fork, bear to the right. Do not turn left over the railroad tracks. Immediately after the fork look for the large old magnificent oak on your left. Further on to your right look for a pile of eroding concrete (it looks like a pile of discarded pieces of a road). Leave the trail and go to the far side of the pile (the downhill side facing the reservoir). The letterbox is tucked in under the rocks.
Clue #2
Return to the trail and continue walking with the reservoir on your right. You will eventually cross a footbridge, the trail becoming a root covered path in a low swampy area - moss and ferns love the moisture that gathers here during the summer months.
At the next fork, bear right around the edge of the reservoir. Do not turn left up the hill across the railroad tracks. A second footbridge, about three times as long as the first, will make your walk through the swampy area a bit more comfortable and protect the vegetation from destruction. A third footbridge immediately follows the second.
At the next fork, the trail turns to the left, dips slightly, then climbs a small hill. If you want to take a break from the hike, there is a lookout point, with a bench, to the right. See if you can spot one of the resident swans! Hint: From this lookout, you can see a peninsula where we hid one of the letterboxes.
At the next fork, bear right, continuing along the edge of the reservoir. And no, that's right, do not turn left across the railroad tracks. Continue along the trail, which eventually runs up the side of a much steeper hill than before, placing you at a higher elevation above the reservoir. The trail rides atop banks that drop off to the right and left, gradually widening and flowing into a natural cathedral of towering pines and little undergrowth. The cathedral gives way to sloping banks, a berm carrying you and the trail above the reservoir. A bench sits on the right. The reservoir now appears to be not only on your right, but soon, on your left as well.
Once again, the trail will fork, but this time, at the edge of the reservoir. The dam of the reservoir is to your left - the railroad tracks have moved on. Turn right, leaving, for the moment, the dam behind you.
The trail gradually ascends a peninsula - yes, the one you may have seen across the reservoir if you stopped at the first lookout. At the fork, bear right, continuing your ascent - do not go down the trail to the left just yet. At the highest point of the peninsula, stop and take a deep breath, slowly turn completely around while taking in the landscape.
Continue forward down the hill about 140 degrees SE to the edge of the reservoir (be careful not to slip, Eli did) where you can walk into the water with ease. Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to wade into the water! At the edge, where land meets water, turn and face the top of the hill. Take out your compass and set your course for 340 degrees NW - that's where you'll find the second letterbox.
Walk away from the edge of the reservoir, bearing right along the bottom of the hill (about 40 degrees N), keeping your eye on the slope of the hill. You're looking for a well concealed man-made concrete foundation or pad, with a "posthole" at its corner, slowly being consumed by the hill. You'll find the letterbox on the top of the concrete pad; but remember, it's being consumed by the hill. Proceed carefully as if you are an archeologist searching slowly and delicately for an ancient artifact.
Clue #3
Return to the top of the hill and descend the trail, heading toward the dam, the way you came. Before you reach the dam, and before you leave the peninsula, turn right down the hill onto a smaller peninsula. Pass over the lowest point on the trail and continue toward the end, arriving at a marble bench put in place to honor Bill Hocking, "Friend of the Neponset, Keeper of the Waters".
On your way to the bench, you passed a natural process not unlike one that produces the next generation of young people in our world. From the foot of a grey skeleton, once a great oak, grows its offspring, a sapling spreading its limbs. Within its depths, deep in its core, you'll find the third letterbox.
Clue #4
Return to the dam and cross over it to the other side. Bear right along the edge of the reservoir - do not go straight along the road. You'll pass a bench on your right. "Oh, look at the tree! See the one that is curved?" exclaims Eli. At this point the trail is hard to follow - do your best as you pass among the lofty pines. "Holy smokes! Is this what you were going to show me Roger?" Eli asks, standing in the bottom of a large pit about five feet deep and twenty feet in diameter. "Holy smokes, we should definitely hide a letterbox here."
Stand in the bottom of the pit. While looking up at the sky, turn around 360 degrees, and look for the "pitchfork". Climb up to the trunk of the tree which holds the "pitchfork" and stand on the rim of the bowl with your back against the tree. Hold your hand in front of you so that if a beam of light were to shoot from your fingertips, it would cross through the center axis of the bowl. Follow “the beam of light” into the distance until you see a pine tree, that, unlike it's straight and narrow siblings, decided to split, adding a fantastic curve to it's otherwise straight and slender trunks. Go to this tree.
240 degrees SW of this tree, in a patch of pine saplings (August 2011), lies the remains of a few older trees and a rotting root system covered in moss. A small cluster of deciduous trees grows from the decaying mass. Here lies the fourth letterbox.
Return to the dam.
Clue #5
Put the green hut to your back, looking through the chain link fence at the swampy, heavily vegetated area of the reservoir discharge. Walk around the right side of the fence and carefully make your way down to the point where the water discharges from the reservoir. Depending on the time of the year (August perhaps?), you may see an enormous black spider hanging out in the spillway! The last letterbox is concealed beneath a couple of rocks in a corner defined by man-made concrete block, a leaf print clings to its corner, and the natural granite blocks used to construct the dam.
Congratulations on completing the search! Were you able to put the puzzle together? What is it an image of?
We'd love to hear from you! Please drop us an email and let us know if you found the boxes, or if there were any problems in doing so. How are the condition of the boxes? Do they need more ink? How were the clues? Please email us at: letterboxes@perducoeducation.com Thanks!