Our Last Letterboxing Adventure

...of 2007.
One last adventure for 2007 with a good friend was all I was looking for. I packed the girls up and grabbed our letterboxing bag. We were heading to the place where all good adventures begin, Leopard Forest Coffee shop. There were three Little Foxes waiting on us there.
We certainly could not think of a better way to spend the day!

Once we settled in with our coffee and our clues, we decided to head up the road towards Wildcat Wayside. We made a few quick drive-by stops and then we got to the good stuff. “Just a short little hike...really easy...nothing to it” I assured Mama Fox.
I always forget those uphill climbs, creek crossings and bouldering spots: ) We only needed a “Little First Aid” along the way. This box actually might have come in even handier later in our day. Maybe Holly should consider making another for the “extreme” box at Jone's Gap? We found the wildcat at Wildcat Falls and then after seeing the BIG falls... we headed “Home” (my last box of the year, by the way).
We contemplated Ashemore Heritage Preserve, but there is a bit of a river crossing in that hike and we thought better of it since it was chilly and the rivers were running full. Of course, if I had known Mama Fox was going to be showing her adventurous side, I might have pushed the chance to do this one, too!
We drove over to Jones Gap and headed straight for that dang Carolina WoolyBooger! What was I thinking even telling Mama Fox how fun this was? Why didn't I just tell her it was too far to do with kids? The river was truly raging and churning. It was enough to strike fear in my heart and cause Mama Fox to think not once... but twice about it. I offered to get it for her, but she declined. She prepared to leap. Over the roaring water, I said, "Maybe we should wait..." but it was lost over the noise and she took the leap. She made it to the box just fine, but getting back was another story. Mama Fox decided on another route for the way back. She disappeared into the rhododendron.
We waited and waited. I began to imagine her in the river, her logbook soaked (tragedy of all tragedies!) Foxy Boy looked at me with those blue eyes that see into your heart and I knew if she was gone it was my fault. Hikers passed us and I wondered if they had seen her upriver. I kept glancing upriver looking for her. Finally my heart stopped as I saw her, pants rolled up, precariously balancing her backpack making it across the river in 40 degree December weather. I wish I had snapped a photo, but I was too busy praying, “Please, let her make it across, please!” I started taking off my socks in case she needed them.
She made it.
One pair of wet pants and one pair of wet shoes later, she came down the trail smiling! Great, Muggle Fox was NEVER going to let her go boxing with me again. Crazy Fox!!! She got the box and kept her logbook out of the river. AND she was still game for a few more boxes. However, she reassured me that I was not to blame, it was Holly of Talley Valley Farm Clan's fault! Holly gave Mama Fox the idea after the adventure with her grumpy troll. Whew! Maybe Muggle Fox will still let Mama Fox out of the house with us?
All's well that ends well, right?