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Bald Cypress LbNA #8460

Owner:Jeff McFarland
Plant date:Jun 1, 2000
Location:
City:Jacksonville
County:Duval
State:Florida
Boxes:1
Found by: Citroner
Last found:Jan 15, 2017
Status:FFFFFFFFOFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jun 1, 2000
[When originally posted, this was the only letterbox in Jacksonville. Many hardcore letterboxers have inquired about the date of the letterbox. I believe -- solely based on memory -- that I first placed the letterbox in the winter 1998/1999 after returning from a trip and reading an article about letterboxing on the plane. However, I don't have any way to confirm that date and there were also stretches of time when I retrieved it and kept it at the house b/c no one was visiting it. I believe it has permanently resided at the site since at least summer 2000. Thus, I have used 6/1/2000 as the approximate placement date in the header.]

Redwoods in Florida? You are going to see one, though it might not fit your conception of a redwood.

There are 15 species of redwoods worldwide. There are only four native to North America. Two are in the western U.S. (the California Redwood and the Giant Sequoia) and two are in the eastern U.S., though one of the eastern trees is found primarily in two counties in southern Texas.

The other of the eastern redwoods is prominent in swampy regions, like your destination. The Bald Cypress is a large tree, often surrounded by “cypress knees”, which are little projections from the root system. Oddly, the Bald Cypress is a deciduous tree, unlike its redwood counterparts. Common mature Bald Cypress trees are large, growing to heights of 120 feet or more and with large diameters. The National Champion Bald Cypress is 83 feet tall and a whopping 54 feet in circumference (or 17 feet in diameter). It is found at Cat Island, Louisiana.

The tree near your destination isn’t THAT big, but it is a large beautiful Bald Cypress in a somewhat suburban setting, though a bit off the beaten path. Follow the clues to find this tree that began its life shortly before Ponce de Leon “discovered” Florida.

Jacksonville is home to two four-year universities. Each has an animal mascot. Only one of them could use our Bald Cypress as a resting place. Proceed to the school having this animal as its mascot. Use the entrance that is farthest from the ocean, and park in the first parking lot on your right (just past the booth).

There is a system of trails here. The trails are named after plants. Choose the trail whose inedible plant includes the varieties “blue-stemmed,” “sweet” and “showy”. Start at the southerly entrance to this trail which also serves as an entrance for another of the trails.

The walk is a short, easy one, and particularly pleasant from Fall to mid-Spring. You will walk through a mixed forest, gradually transitioning to pine flatwoods. When you see the isolated Sabal Palm Tree on your right, you are halfway there.

Soon, the two trails you have been walking diverge. Do not deviate from the designated trail. Approximately 1/10th of a mile beyond this divergence, you will again come to a fork in the trail. If you choose the correct path, you will see a wooden bench within 10 to 15 paces. Straight ahead of you, facing about 80 degrees (magnetic) is the Bald Cypress. Depending on when you visit, you may have to view it from a distance, since a small swampy creek normally separates you and the tree. (Update July 2010: Eidolon reports that the "correct path" is brown blazed, but is otherwise unmarked)

When it is swampy in this area, you could easily lose a shoe (or a leg) trying to walk across the sucking mud. Accordingly, the letterbox is not located beneath the Bald Cypress, though there are some great hiding places. (Update November 2007: there is a barrier that keeps you from walking across).

Instead, while facing the Bald Cypress and standing at the edge of the creek, turn approximately 100 degrees to your left. You will see two good-sized trees approximately six feet away from you, on the same side of the creek as you. The trees are a foot or so apart. The one on the right has very light bark (almost white) and appears to be a maple tree. The one on the left has dark bark (almost black in the forest shade), and appears to be an oak tree. This oak tree has a wide base, with several outstretched “legs.” At the base of this tree, on the opposite side of where you are standing, you will find the Bald Cypress Letterbox. Ironic that the “Bald Cypress Letterbox” appears beneath an oak tree having “legs”, but not “knees.”

Please stamp my book (or write a note) and place the contents back where you found them. Also, please be careful to reseal all the plastic bags. This is a wet area, and keeping things dry can be difficult.

If anything is missing, please e-mail me at jeffmcfarland66@yahoo.com. Good luck, and I’ll look for your letterbox in the Jacksonville area.

NOTE: This letterbox is now maintained by someone with the handle RogueScout, but I checked it last week and it is intact. Sadly my original hand-carved stamp of the bald cypress tree is no longer in the box, but RogueScout has added a stamp of his/her own. RogueScout, if you have my original stamp (and the last book of visitors before you took over), please let me know at the above e-mail.