READ THIS!

In the event you did not already know this, letterboxing involves turning off the television, getting off the couch, gathering the basic human necessities to survive for a few hours away from a refrigerator, and wandering off into the woods. This includes, at a MINIMUM, one protein-bar per hour per person, one liter of water per hour per person, a functional compass, an emergency radio beacon, and a map of the area you intend to occupy. You should also consider a first aid kit, an extra set of warmer clothing, a pocket-knife or utility tool, a GPS receiver, a cell-phone, and pepper-spray. Carefully observing the above will maximize, but not insure, your chances of returning home intact. Ignoring it can, and eventually will, get you lost, hurt, and or dead. Prepare yourself properly, and consider yourself warned.

 YOU SHOULD NOT CONSIDER THIS A SAFE ACTIVITY!

By following the directions included on this page, which neither RIBNAG nor any of its members present as wholly or even partially accurate, you accept complete responsibility for your actions and safety. You further agree that in no event will you hold RIBNAG or any of its members morally, criminally, or financially liable for any misfortunes that may befall you over the course of searching for this letterbox, including the return trip from said letterbox. By proceeding beyond this sentence, you certify that you have read all of the above, agree with it in its entirety and with no exceptions, and consider yourself mentally, physically, and chronologically competent to parse these two paragraphs, agree with them, and successfully undertake the task of finding, and returning from, the letterbox indicated herein.

 IF AND ONLY IF YOU AGREE, YOU MAY PROCEED

Copyright ©2000-2017 RIBNAG. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Section being this disclaimer, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the GNU FDL is available on request, or from the GNU website.

Bangor City Forest Letterboxes (3 boxes)
 Dust to Dust replaced 2006-08-26.
Get Lost okay 2007-11-10.
Birds to Fish taken in for repair 2007-11-10.

Bangor City Forest, which has nothing city-like about it, consists of 650 acres of "working" forest, mostly designated as wildlife refuge. We have not found an accurate complete history of this site, but piecing together numerous small snippets of information, it seems that this formerly-abused land now represents both the success of carefully managed forest use, as well as the ability of nature to recover quickly, given the opportunity.

Finding the entrance will make the first "hard" part of your search. From the intersection of Hogan road and Stillwater ave, head northeast along Stillwater for about a mile. Look for Tripp road on your left, but if you come to the intersection with Kelly road, don't feel surprised, just turn around and look for Tripp on your right, about a mile back. Follow Tripp road to the end, past the sign for City Forest, and park when you see the information board. It always has a good supply of maps, but just for safety, print out a trail map to take with you anyway.


Dust To Dust Letterbox

You can get to the Dust To Dust letterbox a number of ways. You can follow the map to take the most direct route (Shannon road all the way), or you can choose to enjoy what the forest has to offer, and meander a bit. Also, the Bangor City Forest Report mentions some of the nicer attractions of City Forest, as well as having detailed PDF trail maps.

Regardless of how you get there, your clues start from the center of the intersection of Main road (just a dirt forest road, no pavement on this hike once you park), Shannon road, and Moose trail.

Proceed East down Shannon road. After a dozen steps, you will see Moose trail branch left at 60° . Head that way. Now count thirty paces along Moose trail, from the sign, to stop and observe a large pine tree about ten meters north of you. Walk toward it, then while standing before it, look down. You can find your prize at its base with a few stones over it.


Get Lost Letterbox

As with Dust to Dust, you can get to this however you want, due to the many trails in City Forest. For the shortest way (from Dust to Dust), follow Main road North to its end (the intersection of Main road, East trail, West trail, and the path to the old Veazie Line railroad bed). On the way, when you get to the intersection of Main road and Rabbit trail, which seems like a "T" intersection, head left to stay on Main road. The map actually shows this, but notice that the map has North at the upper-right corner, not the top, which has confused more than one person.

From the end of Main road, stand at the start (end?) of East trail. Walk 43 paces East along East Trail. You will find the Get Lost box under a stone on the East side of a large pine (much larger than any other within sight) just South of the trail.

Update - Several people have emailled me to report this missing, but I've checked on it and it remains in-place and in good condition. Basically just follow Main all the way to the Veazie RR Bed, turn around and backtrack about 20 feet, then take the (unmarked) East trail on your left (ESE-ish).

From there, you should have no problem making it back to the end of Main road, where you can either head home, or onward to look for...


Birds to Fish Letterbox

Not exactly a mystery box, but you will find the clue inside Get Lost. If Get Lost should vanish (You will have no uncertainty at all if you find the right spot), report it and we will replace it ASAP, and email you the clue for Birds to Fish in the meantime. Note also that if you had difficulty finding Get Lost, you will find Birds to Fish much harder.

Please visit the RIBNAG homepage at http://users.tmok.com/~ribnag for more letterboxes planted by us, or just for general information about our group.

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