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.

Great Pond Mountain (2 boxes) - 05/26/2003 Verified okay (planted).

From the Bucksport (ME) town line (at the split of rt 15 from rts 1 and 3), follow 1 and 3 North (actually East, but labelled North) for six miles. On your left you will come to Hatchery road, which you will probably miss, so immediately take the next left (fifty meters or so past the first), which also puts you on Hatchery road. Proceed on for 1.3 miles, past the actual hatchery (you basically drive through its parking lot), then immediately turn right onto Don Fish Trail. Follow it for 0.9mi to a gate (you'll pass another orange gate leading off to your left about half-way, ignore that one). Park on the side of the road near the gate, but take care not to block the gate. For your convenience, I have nabbed a road map from Mapquest, indicating the above route in pale green.

From your parking spot, walk back down the road a few dozen steps and look for the trailhead on your right. It will have a "Mountain Trail" sign on its right and a wooden box on its left. Don't mistake the dry wash right next to the gate for the trail, it may lead the same place (unverified!) but has poor footing and a steeper ascent.

Note that the trails required for this hike have little to no blazing. I would recommend either using a GPS or marking your trail as you go (or both) to avoid getting lost, though you shouldn't really have any problem seeing the correct path (and this clue warns you of all the obvious wrong turns). We have created a 4-meter satellite photo based trail map for you, indicating the intended trail in green, with the parking area at the bottom-left end, the first box at the top-left end, and the second box at the right end.

So, head up the trail. At an apparent fork (not really a trail), bear right. When you come out to a real "T" intersection, head left (upward, 330°) to continue your quest. Remember this intersection, though, because you'll need to visit it twice more and eventually get back to your car by the same way you came.

You'll soon come out to a wide area with bedrock and a decent view to your left. Notice the fire circle to your right... Head toward the very round waist-high boulder right next to it. From that boulder, head 40 paces at 340° past a pair of evergreens, to stand by a lone pine. Now turn left and walk 25 paces at 275° to a knee-high boulder by a cluster of small evergreens. Look under the near side for your first box. Alternatively, from the round boulder near the fire circle, you could have gone 60 paces at 330°, but that requires going through two trees.

Head back to the "T"intersection, and proceed the opposite way (East) this time, down to a bedrock road. Note the snow-mobile trail sign marking the way you came from. Proceed up the bedrock road, at 70°.

When the trail opens up to a vast expanse of rock, you need to head to the top of that area (don't proceed past the open stone expanse into the woods) and find a pair of shoulder-high boulders, 9 inches apart at their closest point. To get to them you need to head ENE from where the e trail opened, but can't really go directly that way, so head SE, around the corner, then NE.

You will likely see people enjoying lunch in this general area on a nice day, so meander discretely as you make your way from the twins to the box.

From the twin boulders, take 42 paces at 275° to another boulder, knee-high (if you need to ask, of the three, pick the one closest to the twins).

Now 25 paces at 25° brings you to yet another knee-high erratic.

Take 42 paces at 10°, to a smaller but somewhat pointy knee-high rock...

And finally, your second prize lies under the west edge of the boulder just on the edge of the open rock, 7 paces to the West (but you'll need to go around the corner to get to it).

Head back the way you came to return to your car. Avoid the trail heading right, remember to take the snowmobile trail back up, left onto your original path, again avoid the trail heading right, and you should have no trouble getting back to your car.

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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