351.     "WANDA'S WANDA-RINGS" (30+ boxes to represent 30,0000+ miles of solo long-distance backpacking!) A series of boxes currently planted in the Arcadia Management Area of Exeter, RI, depicting Wanda's amazing long-distance "backpacking career" with stamps by carvers from all around the country and route planning by Pete. Reminder: These boxes are only supposed to stay in their present location until the end of 2012, after which we hope to gradually get them back out to the trails that they each represent (perhaps just leaving some trail abbreviation button stamps in their place). Therefore, please be EXTRA cautious in re-hiding them, so that they will all still be there when we hopefully get around to transplanting them slowly back out to their original "trail homes". Also, please remember that these stamps come from carvers near and far, and we are very grateful that all these folks took the time to carve and send us these wonderful images. It would be really nice if others who appreciate these efforts also took a moment to leave a little message of thanks in the logbooks provided for each box (keeping the heart of the matter on gratitude - rather than "pulling focus" to finders' "ordinal position" - first finders, second finders, etc., as we've heard newcomers to the hobby are sometimes prone to do in certain parts of the country! ;-)

ALL CHECKED - OK on 26 March 2011

Finally, since this large series covers about six miles (30,000 odd feet for my 30,000 odd backpacking miles!;-) and may be more than some folks want to do all at one time (and we certainly don't want folks to feel they have to "rush through" without getting to appreciate all those individual stamps and trails!), we've divided the series into two main loops with several "bail-out/ re-supply points". However, folks doing the whole series at one time will probably gain a better understanding of just what my actual "backpacking career" entailed "foot for mile", so we leave it up to individual preference on how best to cover these tracks, since there are some fantastic stamps you won't want to miss! Just don't get lost in the maze of trails, and please don't forget to wear orange if you go to this area in hunting season, which now includes not only the regular deer-hunting season from October through February, but also turkey-hunting season from April 25 through May 30!

So, now, how did it all begin??? Well, I had first seen the sign for the Appalachian Trail on an excursion up Mt. Moosilauke in NH as a kid in the Community Chorus of RI. (We were having a break from learning to sing Brahm's Requiem at Lake Ogontz Choir Camp.) As it does for most folks, the idea of a trail from Georgia to Maine really sparked my imagination, and I thought I'd want to hike it someday, but, while serving in the military, a serious accident that fractured my spine and very nearly killed or paralyzed me made that seem highly unlikely. Years later, however, after I had made a remarkably good recovery and was getting off Veteran's disability, I jokingly asked the doctors if that meant I could now backpack the Appalachian Trail. They just laughed...

However, the seed had been planted, so off I went the following spring of 1982 to test out my "backpacking legs". I'd hiked all of the blue-blazed trails in CT (some 800 miles), years before my accident, so that seemed the logical place for me to test out my plan. I only did a couple of hundred miles of actual overnight backpacking on CT trails from the Pachaug to the Tunxis, the Metacomet to the Mohawk, but it was a start. So, to find the kick-off stamp for this series, go to the little parking lot on the left less than a quarter mile down Bates Schoolhouse Road off Arcadia Road south of route 165 and north of the Browning Mill Pond picnic area. Since every "foot" stands for a "mile" in this series, just walk a couple of hundred miles down the trail from the red metal gate and find CONNECTICUT BLUE BLAZED TRAILS, carved by ASTRII of CT, in a small cave between two rocks on the left after a large pine tree. (Remember: counting 5 feet for every 2-step "pace" may help you estimate your mileage!;-)

NEW BOX ADDED August 2011:
Encouraged by my progress, painful but hopeful, I next hopped on up to Massachusetts to backpack the Warner Trail, the Midstate Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock, and the Taconic Skyline and Crest to extend my backpacking range by about 300 miles in MA. Taking steps to represent that mileage (again remembering 4 steps = about 10 miles), you should see a tree on the left with a hole at its base. The cavity beneath the boulder that is behind that tree holds the MASSACHUSETTS TRAILS box, graciously carved by ARF! of MA with a DCR symbol that nicely represents the many MA State Parks I passed through on these early little backpacking adventures of mine.

By the late summer of 1982, I had also gone up to Maine and backpacked the so-called "100-Mile Wilderness" section of the AT, and then hoped to tackle the whole AT the following spring. So, on April 16th, 1983, I began my first approach to Springer Mt. from Amicalola Falls down in the mountains of Georgia, and almost got struck by lightning before I even got to the official starting point of my first AT! Mama Wolf has carved a very appropriate stamp regarding starting and continuing a journey like this all the way to its end, however, so to find that message, continue about 500 miles along the wide path, and then turn right onto the narrower yellow-blazed trail (remembering, of course, that I certainly did not resort to any "yellow-blazing" on the trek, but stuck strictly to those white blazes!;-) After about a thousand miles, which would be around the AT "halfway point", see a cut log resting between the limbs of a two-trunk tree on the left. Then pass through a stonewall which continues along the right side of the trail. You're getting close to the finish at Katahdin when you pass two large boulders with a bit of stonewall between them. Continuing about 175 miles further brings you to a boulder on the left with a yellow blaze on its far side. Look behind this boulder on its southwest side under a small rock for the stamp for my AT#1, carved by MAMA WOLF of NC.

Now, most backpackers might have been glad to hang up their boots for a while after a trek like that, but not I! No, I was just so thrilled that I had been able to backpack all that way in spite of my injuries that I wanted to keep right on backpacking! So, off I went back to Vermont to backpack the rest of the Long Trail on up to Canada through some pretty rugged northern mountain terrain. To get this "custom-made stamp" (one of 4 designed by Bluebird of CT/VT), just continue on until the stone wall departs from the trail and you start up a short incline. About halfway up there is a log on the left, a short log on the right, a cut log ahead and a stone in the middle of the trail. Look behind the short log where it touches another log for LT#1 by BLUEBIRD of CT (Oct 2011: now replaced with a trail logo "button stamp".)

Still not content to stop backpacking that year, but searching for a warmer clime before winter set in, I then took the train down to Florida to hike what was then available of the Florida Trail. The flat-walking and swamp-slogging seemed somewhat anti-climactic after those northern mountains, but it kept me going for a while, so just continue several hundred more miles to a large pine on the left with roots in the trail. On the right is a rather slender 3-sister tree with a 4th sister that is deceased. Look behind the sisters under some rocks for the FLORIDA TRAIL stamp by KIRBERT of FL.

NEW BOX ADDED September 2011:
Turns out after all those miles I ended up with foot problems, and had to have surgery that winter. However, it was hard back then to keep this backpacker off her feet, so by the early spring of 1984, I was "off and running" up the Long Path backpacking straight from the George Washington Bridge in NYC on past the Catskills, with many side trails like the Devil's Path thrown in for good measure. So, continue on the yellow trail a couple of hundred miles, descending a bit, crossing a foot path with a boulder and a 5 -foot stump in the middle of the junction, and stopping at the foot of some root "stairs" near a large yellow-blazed white pine on the right. From the north side of this pine, go about ten steps at 40 degrees and look under the mossy sloping northwest side of a large rock for the LP logo stamp carved by LIGHTNIN' BUG of PA.

Now I hoped my newly healed feet would hold up for a long haul, so off I headed on the bus to California to backpack my first Pacific Crest Trail. Good thing I started off fairly late in the season, since it had been a very heavy snow year, and pockets of deep snow persisted all the way up through Canada! To simulate this first of my "journeys along the crest", continue on the yellow blazed trail to a junction with the white blazed trail. This junction is at about 1/3 of the total PCT distance of 2650 miles. (Those who choose to go out to civilization for a "re-supply" or "pizza drop" at this point should continue straight on yellow where white goes left. Cross a couple of small bridges and go a total of 600 miles to a clearing near a road crossing. From the wood line of that clearing, look right (east) for a 2-foot high stump in front of a stone wall. Between the 3rd and 4th rocks to your right of the stump and below the high point of the wall, look behind a small stone for a little slice of pizza. Then return to the aforementioned junction.) Turn west at the yellow/white junction to continue on the white blazed trail for the rest of the distance to a dirt road crossing. Across the road is a metal pipe adjacent to an aqua metal disk set into a square of concrete. Look behind the pipe and under the end of the stonewall for PCT#1, carved by DON (of Don & Gwen from CA). This stamp shows just the CA portion of the PCT, but - make no mistake - it stands in for my first whole PCT, backpacking all the way from Mexico to Canada! (replaced by a trail logo "button stamp" as the original got transplanted out to the beginning of the PCT in Nov. 2010)

NEW BOX ADDED September 2011:
Well, once again this would probably have been enough backpacking for most people for the year, but not for me! With one AT and one PCT in quick succession under my boots, I was now at that point where many backpackers might feel that "once was enough" on each of those big trails (and in fact there is another "bailout point" here just down the road for those who might want it!;-), but for me, as it turned out, it was still just the beginning of my "going the distance" another five times over! So, I ended up taking the bus all the way back east across Canada, then another bus from Montreal to Lake Placid to finish off the fall with some backpacking and peak-bagging in the Adirondacks, including the NORTHVILLE-PLACID TRAIL. So, for now just continue another 150 miles or so on the trail with the stone wall on your left (now ignoring the white trail and the dirt road), and look behind the second medium pine near two smaller dead trees a couple of steps off trail on the right. Buried in the pine needles under a few small stones and sticks find the NP logo stamp, also carved by LIGHTNIN'BUG of PA.

The following spring of 1985 had me once again "in gear", heading down to backpack all the trails in the Harriman-Suffern-Bear Mt. area of NY as well as other trails in NJ, from the Batona Trail of the Pine Barrens to the trails around High Point. Just continue another 150 miles or so to two rocks and then a root in the middle of the trail. The root points left to three co-linear trees. Behind the second tree is a SPOR, under which you will find NJ TRAILS carved by ARF! of MA.

By early summer I had decided that I wanted to backpack the whole AT again - this time southbound. For this trek, continue along and cross a tree barrier lying across the trail at about the AT "halfway point". After another thousand or so miles, step over a log and find another log paralleling the trail about 10 feet off to the left. That log ends adjacent to an oak tree with a broken off partner. Look behind that tree under a small rock for AT#2, carved by ELECTRIC of SC, not that far from the Smokies, which were indeed beautiful as I passed through in the late fall.

By late fall, I was finishing up my AT#2 back on Springer Mt. in Georgia, but once again not quite ready to quit backpacking for the year, so before going home to RI, off I headed on the then newly created BENTON MacKAYE TRAIL. Continue a short distance to a large tree across the trail and then about a hundred miles or so. You should be near a grey birch on the left edge of the trail. Face the woods and walk to the right of the tree about 5 steps to a rock, with a box and log prepared by Beachcomber of GA and a cool stamp showing the "Gut-swinging Bridge over the Toccoa River" carved by Spitfire of GA behind it!

The next spring, after a bad bout with Lyme Disease, I took the train down to DC, and backpacked straight out from the railroad station, past the Vietnam Memorial, and down the C&O CANAL all the way out to Cumberland, MD, with a big loop in the middle for the brand new (at the time) TUSCARORA/BIG BLUE TRAIL, which I was the first person ever to backpack. If you continue on a few hundred feet to a rock and fallen tree on the right side of the trail very shortly before a stone wall, perhaps there will be a stamp carved by SCARAB of VA waiting there one of these days...

By that time in the spring of 1986, I'd already decided that I really wanted to backpack yet another AT northbound, so off I went on the train south again to Georgia. Continue on through a laurel grove to a trail junction among young white pines. Go left and up over a slight hill to a cut log at about 2100 miles. Look behind the piece to the left next to the root end, noting perhaps some cool white fungus on an adjacent tree, for AT#3, carved by MSTRWNDL of TN, depicting one of the check point cabins near the Smokies that also remind me of some of the shelters in VT and NH that were considerably nicer than most of the AT lean-to's along the trail back then!

One of the really cool things about my AT#3 was that I also got to have a real "pizza drop" (dropped by parachute from a plane) courtesy of Jumpstart (the guy who started his first AT by parachuting onto Springer Mt. when he was in his late 60's!) at Beauty Spot in TN, and then he shuttled me off the AT briefly so that I could go and backpack a short but very sweet trail called the ART LOEB TRAIL in the Shining Rock Wilderness near Cold Mt. in NC. To find this stamp carved by KAY of THE LITTLE FOXES, just walk maybe 30 miles along the right hand piece of that same cut log and look under its fork!

So, after I backpacked my way back up to Katahdin on AT #3, it was time for me to go back to VT to finish up another LONG TRAIL. Continue on for 150 or so miles and spot a substantial three-trunk oak about 15 feet off trail to the right. Look to the left of the front trunk within a mossy circle for the second of BLUEBIRD's stamps: LT#2.

By the following spring of 1987, I couldn't wait to get back out to the PCT for a second round on that gorgeous crest trail under vastly improved conditions with much new trail having being built, so off I went on the Desert Wind, the California Zephyr, or whichever of those Amtrak trains whose name I no longer remember, to LA, San Diego, and then by bus to Campo to head out again from the Mexican border to Canada! Continue onward and go left at the next trail junction. Proceed to the dirt road and turn right, then left at the nearby road junction. Bear right at the fork in the road and pause at the next road junction. Proceed slowly to the right to the second boulder on the left side of the dirt road. Behind that boulder is a lovely crest stamp showing the Oregon PCT route for PCT #2, carved by FUNHOG of OR.

Across the way, about 40 miles away at 140 degrees (to account for my taking a slightly different route on my second PCT, to include the Oregon Skyline Trail, Crater Lake, Sisters, Eagle Falls, and the longer route around Mt. Hood on the Timberline Trail), find a tree with a rock beside it. Between rock and tree under a "Y" shaped stick hides a gorgeous stamp depicting those above-mentioned Oregon features, carved by SAHALIE of NY, who "honeymooned" along the trail there years ago. I feel especially blessed to have 2 such lovely stamps to represent PCT#2, and once again remember that, although they feature connections to Oregon, they still represent another entire Mexico to Canada backpacking trek along the PCT for me!

And then after backtracking from the Canadian border to hike awhile out on the Olympic Peninsula, off I headed cross-country all the way back east again on the bus (those were the days when you could go anyway you wanted in one direction for $59!) to northern VT for another Long Trail backpack southbound! Continue down the dirt road for a couple hundred miles now on the blue blazed trail. Find a rock on the left about 10 feet off trail with two humps on its top edge that reminded me of Camel's Hump, a prominent peak along the LT, with BLUEBIRD's LT#3 lying behind under a bed of pine needles.

NEW BOX ADDED October 2010:
Well, since I was still in this northwestern neck of the woods, I figured it would be a good fall wrap-up month to climb all the "4000 footers" in New England, and work on backpacking as many of the "side trails" in the Whites as I could, too. Toward that end, continue downhill on the blue blazed dirt road about 230 or so miles to a large rock about 8 steps off to the left of the dirt road. Beside that rock and at the base of a 2 inch diameter beech which is hugging the rock find a SPOR containing a gorgeous Granite State stamp representing "NH TRAILS" graciously carved by NEET of MA (formerly from NH and the northern White Mountains!)

NEW BOX ADDED May 2012:
The following year, after getting through a particularly painful post traumatic stress situation, I decided to spend a week or so backpacking all the trails in Baxter State Park up in Maine before heading south again on AT #4. So, continue on downhill about 200 miles to a big chunky rock behind three small white pines off on the left side of the dirt road. Tread your way behind this knee-high boulder to get "Wanda-ring through Maine", cleverly carved by TEACUP of Maine to represent MAINE TRAILS.

So, why not do one more Long Trail the length of Vermont while still up that way, I figured? Continue on the dirt road about another 250 miles. Just before a trail crossing there will be a two-trunk tree on the left with a blue blaze on it and a pair of rocks behind it. Look behind those rocks, in the niche formed where they abut with three small stones, for LT#4 (containing the LONG TRAIL series logbook) created by BLUEBIRD, with the signature hat and 3 pine trees that had by now become my trail "trademark".

If you wish to take a break now almost halfway through these wanderings, continue on the dirt road back to the parking area. (You will have a slightly longer walk to return to pick up with AT#4, but a shorter walk if you go on out now to get the final CDT stamps by lionsmane, so the mileage should about even out.) Otherwise, take the unblazed trail to the right and head southwesterly for more of "Wanda's Wanda-rings"!

MORE OF WANDA'S WANDA-RINGS

If you are starting here, park about a quarter mile up on the left on Bates Schoolhouse road off Arcadia Road, pass around the red metal bar-gate and take the old dirt road into the woods. Pass a yellow-blazed trail going off to the right and continue on the dirt road until an unmarked trail crosses it as you start to climb up a slope. Take the unblazed trail to the left and head southwesterly.

So, now it's time for my AT#4! Please make sure you have read all the reminders from the first part of "Wanda's Wanda-rings". Then wind your way along the unblazed trail, crossing a muddy dip in the trail at about the AT "halfway point". On reaching the old dirt road, turn right and continue until a small trail appears on the left. It leads to a beech on the right in about 25 feet. Look behind the beech for a special sign carved by MAMA WOLF of NC for my AT#4. I used to joke that it took me 4 times through on the AT to finally start having some typical backpacker's "trail town" experiences, since I hardly spent any time at all in towns on any of my previous treks. So, when Elmer of Hot Springs, NC invited me to dinner at his hostel to share some of my trail stories while backpacking through southbound again in 1988, I finally overcame enough of my shyness to do that, and this is the sign marking that location, where 20 years later - for the 10th birthday of letterboxing in North America in 2008 - we also planted a letterbox with Elmer's permission!:-)

Well, now it seems I'd almost forgotten to include the miles that I backpacked in Alabama in the Sipsey Wilderness and along the PINHOTI TRAIL around that time after my AT#4, as well as still working on my "All the Side Trails to the AT Project", which included many, many dozens of AT access trails like the VIRGINIA CREEPER, so I'll add in a few hundred miles for those trails here. There's still plenty more hiking to do, though, so fast forward to the summer of 1989, where I once again got to spend time backpacking in that wondrous "Range of Light"- the High Sierra! Continue on the dirt road and shortly reach a road junction. Turn left and continue 400 or so miles. Ahead the road seems slightly more open as light filters through a bit of a clearing. To the right, a pair of large pines, to the left many more, and about 20 feet off the road on the left, a clump of 5 slender oak trees with moccasin flower/lady slipper plants growing about. Look behind the 5-clump under deadwood for CALIFORNIA REDWOOD SORREL by THE 3 FORAGERS of CT, standing in for the 3 glorious CA trails I backpacked that summer as alternatives to the PCT: the JOHN MUIR, the HIGH SIERRA, and the TAHOE-YOSEMITE TRAILS!

Another glorious trail that I got to backpack that summer as a short alternative to the PCT further north in the Cascades was the WONDERLAND TRAIL, which I backpacked counterclockwise round those wonderful glaciers of Mt.Rainier in WA. No stamp for this one yet, but continue about 100 miles, note that you are on the far side of the open area, and a small rock is on the left that might make a good hiding place. (hopefully for a stamp to be carved soon by BLACKVELVETRAV of ID!).

Taking the bus back again through Colorado, I decided that backpacking the brand new (back then) Colorado Trail would be just the ticket! I had a fabulous highly-elevated time, got my picture taken with the National Geographic Team climbing "fourteener" San Juan Peak (yup, that's me in the background on page 140 of the book "Pathways to Discovery"), and marveled at the golden aspens against a backdrop of snow and bugling elk. Continue on the old dirt road another 500 miles and see double pines on the right and a baby beech tree on the left. Looking ahead to the left about 20 feet over the baby pines, notice a large pine tree with a mossy leg, now seeming to be used as a "squirrel midden", at the base of which nestles the beautiful COLORADO TRAIL stamp carved by Esmerelda of CO.

The following spring of 1990 saw me heading south for some more "warm-up" backpacking before taking off west again. A fellow backpacker from SC had offered to put me on a fairly new (back then) trail heading west from Table Rock north of Greenville, so off I went into those southern Appalachian foothills. Continue on the old dirt road a few dozen or so miles and look under the "beak" of the second rock on the left for a quite detailed stamp of the FOOTHILLS TRAIL by ELECTRIC of SC that could almost be used as a mini-trail map! (I recently came across one of my old trail maps, and it scarcely showed any more info than what is on this small stamp, but fortunately it was very easy to just follow the blazes!)

I also figured I might as well hike the CHATOOGA RIVER TRAIL and the BARTRAM TRAIL while I was down that way, making a sort of open-ended "figure eight" up from the northwest corner of SC through northeast GA to Wesser, NC, and then back down the AT to reconnect with bus transportation west for the next leg of my journey. And, wouldn't you know, FIGUREEIGHT of SC, who has roots in this area, just carved a beautifully intricate stamp depicting a portion of the trail that can actually be used as a map for where to find this box when it makes its way back down south! To find this box for now, though, simply continue another 100 miles or so and look under sticks behind a rock that is behind another baby beech on the left.

Now I was ready to head on out (still using one of those same $59 Greyhound tickets!) for another PCT - #3!!! Continue 1000 miles and notice a double cut stump on the left. Continue another 300 miles and notice a "fantastic frog rock" sitting on the right. You are now almost halfway. At 2135 miles there is a trail crossing. (This is about 250 miles before the next dirt road junction.) Turn right on this trail and continue until the path widens out, starts downhill and has a tree in the middle. From that tree in the middle of the path, look for 3 boxes for PCT#3, which come together to create a wonderful triple-layered stamp by MUSIC WOMAN of CT:
1) Look 30 feet at 330 deg. behind a larger than most pine tree under aqua-colored lichen-covered sticks for a two-part stamp that needs light blue/aqua and tan ink.
2) Look 30 feet at 30 deg. behind a pine tree under pine needles for a stamp that needs brown ink.
3) Look 30 feet at 130 deg. behind a pine tree under 3 rocks for a stamp that needs dark green or black ink.
(Please follow the suggested coloring directions and refrain from inking up in such a way that might spoil the color effect for others!)

I loved the WONDERLAND TRAIL so much that I just had to go around it again - in the other direction, of course - while passing through on my PCT#3! Continue about 93 miles to a stone in the middle of the trail, (and then hopefully we will soon be out there again scouting for a spot for another BLACKVELVETRAV creation! ;-)

The following spring had me back out backpacking part of my fourth PCT, as well as hopping around on trails in Arizona, including several descents into and out of the Grand Canyon. Continue 500 or so miles, passing a vernal pool on the left, until you see a large boulder clearly visible about 40 feet off to the left. At 340 deg. from this boulder is a clump of smaller rocks. Look under the "beak" of the left hand side of the rightmost rock in that clump for GRAND CANYON TRAILS by MIM of MA, who also included a message about hiking smart (which means don't try to go from one rim to the other in less than half a day, like I did a couple of years ago!;-)

I really can't remember how many miles came next for what I thought was to be my "last big prenuptial backpacking fling" on the PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRAIL, but I guess it doesn't really matter since there's no stamp for that remarkable trail either! After maybe 1000 or so miles there should be a large pine on the right, then another on the left, and finally a third on the right that has a root reaching out into the trail. (To the left there is a mound which appears to be a needle encrusted boulder.) Just step over the root for now and continue 40 more miles to a small rock in the middle of the trail.

After the PNWT between Glacier National Park and the Pacific Ocean, I hopped the Alaskan Ferry up to Skagway and got on the old Klondike Gold Rush route of "White Fang" fame. Continue another 33 miles to a large rock in the middle of the trail. Step up onto it and then go 25 feet at 250 degrees to a small rotting stump. A stamp for the CHILKOOT TRAIL carved by DENISEROWS of AK is tucked under the east side.

Well, turns out that marriage to Pete wasn't the complete end of my "backpacking career" that I had thought it might be (and would have been had I married the guy I was engaged to before Pete!) Pete actually encouraged me to keep on backpacking when I was almost ready to stop on my own by buying me more maps for near where he was working at the time in upstate NY! Continue on the trail, rock-hop across a few tiny "vernal lakes" (or damp spots) in the trail and pass thru a diced pine log. After 500+ miles there are groups of rocks on both sides of the trail and a 5 foot stump to the left. From to stump look to the right at 330 degrees or a double birch about 30 feet away. Look behind that tree under sticks for the FINGER LAKES TRAIL carved by SCOUT of NY.

NEW BOX ADDED October 2010:
That same year I also got to go out to hike the CENTENNIAL TRAIL through the Black Hills of South Dakota, and saw lots of buffalo on the prairies, big horn sheep in the rocks, and bear by the flowing streams. Continue on 100 miles from the 5 foot stump to a large boulder abutting the left side of the trail and take a brief pause to assimilate the Spirit of Bear Mountain. Then walk left off trail about 50 feet to a weathered stump and look behind under a mossy cap for the CENTENNIAL TRAIL carved by MAIRE'S FACETS of CT.

So now by the next spring I was ready to start my fifth and final AT northward to Maine. Continue on the trail. When you pass a large low rock on the left side of the trail you are about halfway. When you reach a trail junction, take note of the old road crossing ahead and then bear right. Proceed another 30 miles and spot a 5 foot stump about 25 feet away at 275 deg. Look behind the stump under pine needles and a wooden hat for an absolutely amazing 3-layer stamp for AT#5 carved by 3 BLIND MICE of NY. I don't want to give anything away on this one, but the image should be vaguely familiar if you've been paying attention, so watch it spring to life as you add your ink layers. There is a large pine just beyond the stump where you can sit in relative comfort and work on coloring this multi-stamp, so please take care to use the colors provided in the proper order and line them up for best effect.

Now, I still wanted to do one more Long Trail to make 5 to go along with 5 AT's, but my knees were starting to give out and fibromyalgia was starting to kick in, so the best solution seemed to be to backpack my last time through "the length of Vermont on skis" on the then newly being created Catamount Trail that parallels the LT. In fact, some sections had not yet then been completed, so I did end up a few times actually skiing parts of the AT/LT and winter camping at some of the old AT/LT shelters. So, continue on the path and cross an old dirt road. After 300 miles come to 2 mossy rocks (little green mountains), one on each side of the trail. About 6 steps off trail to the right is a fallen tree that parallels the trail. Look in its fork for the CATAMOUNT TRAIL carved by GREENMOUNTAINHIKER of VT.

Over the next few years, I had to take it somewhat easier, but still managed to accumulate quite a few backpacking miles. In 1995, I went down to backpack the ALLEGHENY TRAIL and GREENBRIER RIVER TRAIL in WV, so continue a few hundred miles until you are standing on a flat rock in the middle of the trail. From that point, go just about thirty more miles to the root end of a rotting log on the left, which from the back side, looks a bit like a lop-eared rabbit head. Look behind the left ear for "Peter Rabbit", carved by BLUEGOATZ of MA, which fits in well here because the southern terminus of the ALLEGHENY TRAIL is on Peter's Mountain near its junction with the AT! Now continue just another 80 or so miles and see a mossy green log on the right side of the trail. Follow it towards its upper end to where its branches divide almost directly under another fallen tree, and here your can find "Buster Bear", also carved by BLUEGOATZ of MA, representing my hike along the GREENBRIER RIVER TRAIL.

The following year, 1996, on my way back home from Glacier National Park and a big chunk of the Continental Divide Trail, I stopped to hike along Lake Superior in MN, as well as a few parts of the North Country Trail in the Great Lakes Region. Continue a few hundred milesto a trail junction. The left hand trail has a cut fallen tree on its right side in front of a 3-sister oak. Look in the fork of that tree for 2 stamps of the SUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL carved by RMN SD.

In 1997, I backpacked both the OZARK HIGHLANDS TRAIL and OUACHITA TRAIL in Arkansas, so continue down the left trail a couple hundred more milesto a junction with a dirt road. Straight across the dirt road 12 steps into the woods will get you to the root end of a decaying log. Reach in carefully from the back to extract "Mr. And Mrs. Whitefoot the Wood Mice", carved by BLUEGOATZ of MA, to represent my backpack of the Ozark Highlands Trail, with Pete meeting me at the far end. Next, go back to the dirt road, turn right and walk until you see a 4 -foot stump on the right side of the road. Directly across the trail from it, note three pines in a crooked row and dig gently under a couple of stones behind the third one to find "Digger the Badger", also carved by BLUEGOATZ of MA, strangely putting me in mind of the bad case of chiggers I got my last day out on the OUACHITA TRAIL, heading from Arkansas to Oklahoma, but definitely containing some more pleasant memories as well!

In 1998, I did lots of short backpacking trips in PA, from mere "overnighters" on trails like the Old Loggers Path and the Loyalsock Trail, to longer jaunts further west from the Susquehannock to the Laurel Highlands. Continue on the old dirt road. Pass a trail on the right and then see a grassy road ahead. Nearby are some rocks in the woods to the right. Look behind the second rock group that is closer to the trail, behind a fallen, rotting tree and under some loose wood, for LIGHTNING BUG's "KEYSTONE WANDA-RINGS", which not only shows the location of the many PA trails I hiked (as well as, of course, "Alientown"!;-), but also ended up lending its name to this series!

Finally, 1999 was the year that I completed my last missing link on the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL, that "King of Trails" that follows the Great Divide from the Mexican border to Canada through the Rockies for over 3100 miles, making it about 500 miles longer than the PCT, or at least that is what it will be when actually finished as continuous footpath, since when I backpacked it, and even now, it still requires some bushwhacking and road-walking to pull all of the pieces together! Anyway, to find the last 3 boxes of this series, expertly carved by lionsmane of NM, continue to the grassy road and turn right. Turn right at the fork. Turn right at the road junction and follow the blue blazes. Make your way back to the red gate, now following yellow and blue blazes. Jog briefly along the road, then bear left back into the woods. Carefully cross another road and continue until you reach a large rock in the trail that bikers seem to enjoy doing a jump over. An alternate footpath leads around to the left of the rock. From this rock, go about 100 miles more, crossing over a log in the trail, passing a blue and yellow blazed tree on the right and reaching a junction of stone walls. At this point, start looking for lionsmane's 3 CDT pouches:
1) The Trail - Cut log to the right with an 8 foot stump next to it. Look between log and stump.
2) Cabezon - Big boulder beyond far end of cut log and two trees. Look under front left side of boulder.
3) The Marker - Stonewall with tree next to it on left side of trail. Look in hole in wall immediately right of tree.

You can also get to this point by taking the blue/yellow trail north from the east end of the boardwalk, as mentioned in the "Still Dreaming of Trails" clues.

Hope you enjoyed the series, and now just imagine putting on a fully loaded backpack, increasing many times over the elevation and difficulty of the terrain you just covered, and multiplying the mileage you just hiked by about 5,280!!! This just might give you some vague idea of what it was really like to do "Wanda's Wanderings"!;-) Many Happy Trails!!!

CHECKED - OK on 9 April 2011

To find the new hiding spot for the colorful "Happy Trails" stamp carved for us by Lenny of the Compass Cuties, simply find your way to the pavilion just north of Browning Mill Pond in Arcadia Management Area where we had our "F26,000 and done counting" retirement party on May 16, 2010. From there, walk the dirt road north a short distance to its loopy end near a large rock sitting on pavement and blocking what was once the continuation of the road. Come back about 10 steps to oak tree #406 at the eastern edge of the road. Behind the tree is a discontinuous row of boulders with the "Happy Trails" box sandwiched in on the southeast side of the 8th boulder!

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You can find information about this hobby at Letterboxing North America (LbNA)

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