After spending way too much time sitting around at home when my friends aren't around, I decided I needed to get out more... maybe find a hobby.
With a little bit of research, I discovered just how many places there are to explore within just a few minutes drive from my apartment that I had never visited. Then I read about "Letterboxing." (www.letterboxing.org)
My first stop: Morgan's Point Conservation Area in Wainfleet.
I got up early Sunday morning, I made the 10 minute drive out to Morgan's Point. I wanted to enjoy the sunshine before it got too hot :) Once I got to the park, I pulled out my directions to the letterbox, and checked the trail map before deciding just to wing it.
Lesson #1: Hiking at 8:30AM means you are one of the first people on the trails... spiderwebs EVERYWHERE! To help make up for it though, there was plenty of wildlife on the trails and just off of them in the bushes.
I followed the boardwalk atop the sand dunes, with the lake to my right and trees to the left. Suddenly, the trees opened up into what I can only describe as a fairy glade.It was sunken away from the dunes, and was surrounded by trees, but just had a few trees in the center. Tall grasses with small purple wildflowers filled the open space, and sunlight filtered in. Pictures just don't do the scene justice.
At the end of the boardwalk, I followed the dunes out to the water and walked along the rocky shoreline for a bit. I worked my way back to the end of the boardwalk and found the concrete pad where the Letterbox was supposed to be hidden.
Lesson # 2: In 2 years, landscape can really change.
Sadly, the crack I was supposed to follow along the concrete pad to the hiding place seemed to have broken away since the letterbox was hidden there in 2010, with half the pad collapsed towards the lake. Although I spent a few minutes searching, I wasn't able to find it. Hopefully I have better luck the next time I try to find a box :)
I walked along the boardwalk again and explored the trails that I had skipped before, discovering that they really just all circle together... but 1 of them did lead into the center of my fairy glade which was kind of cool., although being right in the middle of the glade didn't have quite the same effect as seeing it from the edges.
Now it's time to start thinking about where I want to explore next weekend!
