Letterboxing and Geocaching in Rocky Woods

It's our last open Saturday together as a family before school starts (we'll be camping next weekend with the Lundsters) so we decided to spend it out of doors. But as we discussed our options it became clear that some of us (e.g. Mom) didn't want to canoe since we are planning to do that while camping next week) and some of us (e.g. JB) didn't want to ride bikes due to bike exhaustion and others of us (e.g. Dad) didn't really want to hike the same old trails we always hike. So that meant we had to find something new to do. This led us to contemplating something we had heard about but never tried: Letterboxing and Geocaching.

Letterboxing (see more about it here) is an activity in which people hide boxes in random places in the wilderness and leave clues online about how to find those boxes. They are usually waterproof, tupperware-style boxes and they contain a logbook and a rubber stamp. As a letterbox searcher, you look for letterboxes in your area online and follow the clues to find them. You bring your own stamp and log book to the scene so you can stamp the box's stamp in your own logbook and stamp your own stamp into the box's logbook. Get it? 

We traveled to Rocky Woods Reservation in nearby Medfield armed with a list of three letterboxes that are hidden within. The family that placed them there provided a set of clues here. The clues were a bit old so we worried that the boxes may no longer be there, but here's what we found:

Logan and JB dig out the first letterbox

Lachlan shows us the stamp in his logbook

The boys get out their stamps to stamp the letterbox logbook

Having thus succeeded with the first letterbox, we were pretty excited. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the second letterbox and we didn't have time to look for the third one. Now we have to go back for another try. In the meantime we enjoyed walking around the miles of paths available in the park.

Lachlan eventually grew weary of the walking

At one point, a grasshopper took an interest in us, jumping from Logan's hand to Lachlan's face where it was content to rest for a few pictures

Logan in front of Chickering Pond, the biggest pond in the park

On our way back to the car, Dad made one attempt to do some geocaching (watch the geocaching video on the geocache homepage for more info). This is a lot like Letterboxing, only using GPS coordinates instead of narrative clues. The Rocky Woods Roundabout is a cache that includes a series of 4 waypoints you discover by starting with a single set of GPS coordinates. You proceed to the first point using a handheld GPS and a map. When you arrive at the precise point, you have to look around for the cache. Because this is the Rocky Woods Roundabout geocache, each cache is hidden on, by, or under a rock. You can see the picture of the first waypoint below. It contains the GPS coordinates for the next waypoint.

We were headed home so we didn't track down the rest of the waypoints leading to the ultimate cache, but someday we will because we want to see what's in it. In geocaching, in addition to a logbook, the cache often has trinkets or objects that you can take in exchange for something you brought with you. This way, the cache is always surprising, even to the person who cached it.