Tips for Beginning 'Boxers like us

As beginning letterboxers, J and I have learned quite a bit already about letterboxing. In an attempt to help out other beginners like us, we've come up with the following list of tips.

1) READ the clues. Too often, it is easy to read a clue and see, for example "xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xx xxxxx 55 paces xxx xxxxxxx". You then walk 55 paces and wonder why you seem to be in the wrong place. Quite often we find that the "fluff" text is some of the most useful. Even though it might not directly lead you to where you are supposed to be, it can be a great help to orient you. If, for example, the above text read "Continue on 55 paces past a snaky tree and a bench", you know that you need to pass a "snaky" tree and a bench, probably in that order. You also know that if you haven't passed both, your strides are probably off.

2) Read a couple of clues ahead. Sometimes, through no fault of the placer, clues get lost. Fallen trees, for example, have a way of getting chopped up and carted off. If you only read from one clue to the next, this can be annoying, and will often get you off on the wrong track as you ignore previous and later clues and look for the fallen tree. If the next clue, however, tells you to look at 55 degrees and find the big container, and there is a water tower at 60 degrees, you probably just need to walk along the path a bit farther. This is a pretty obvious application, but this can be a very helpful tip when, for instance, you have a choice between two trails and the clue is a) gone or b) impenetrable to you.

3) Don't force the clues. This one is tough because letterboxers can be quite a subtle lot. Is a "pointer" an arrow on a sign? or just an obvious fallen branch? If you see something on the trail that you think is what you want, but you aren't sure, keep walking for a while and see if there is something more obvious farther on. Better yet, reread the clues and see if there are contextual clues ( e.g. as in #1) that tell you if you are in the right place for the next clue yet.

4) If you are having trouble with a clue, go back to the last spot you were sure and start over. This is a piece of advice often used by J&B Books. Many times when there is pacing or direction taking, or multiple quick turns, it is easy to go wrong. If you aren't sure, save yourself time and frustration by starting over and being sure before conducting "letterboxing by brute force" (see below).

5) Keep your head up. Many times when you are pacing or direction finding, you are heading for a specific thing. If you've read the next clue (see #2), you can be looking while counting/direction finding and look for what you might be heading towards. This leads nicely into the next hint...

6) Not everyone's paces are the same/not everyone is good with a compass. Not every heading and pace count you are going to read is going to be right. Deal with it. If you have your head up and are looking, when your paces at a direction leave you in the middle of a barren field, you can already have some ideas of where you were "supposed" to be going.

7) If all else fails, there is no shame in "letterboxing by brute force". J and I have often found ourselves in a spot where we are between several choices and for whatever reason (usually because we are dense) can't figure out which is appropriate. At this point we will eventually resort to walking down each of our several options and looking for something that fits the next clue. The chances of two clues in a row being missing or unsolveable are not as good as one in a row.

This leads us to the final and most important tip

8) If you are tired and frustrated - go home. Letterboxing is fun, at least it is for us. If you are tired and frustrated and can't find a box, quit and go home, or go eat or something. Chances are you are going to have much better luck when you come back with fresh eyes.

See you on the trail!

B of J&B Books