Letterboxing in beautiful I.G.H.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, the fog was thick as a brick. I didn't have much time, but it was too lovely out not to go letterboxing. I decided to plan a trip for the closest box I could find. This turned out to be South Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights, just south of St. Paul.

Once I found the park and headed up the trail, it quickly became my most enjoyable hike so far this year. The birds were out in force and they were loud. I saw and heard all kinds of creatures: geese, cardinals, robins, chickadees, a lone gull, and some big noisy bird that swooped overhead. I stood in one spot for just a couple of minutes and saw four or five little downy woodpeckers flitting about.

I found the hiding spot without too much trouble. The challenge was extracting the letterbox from where it was iced to the ground. This one had been discovered before by some animal and used as a chewing toy. Luckily, the contents were safe. I tried to remove a beer bottle from the ground to clean up the spot, but that one was stuck tight. Maybe the next letterboxer will take that trash out.