Georgia – Stone Mountain Part 2

The main reason to visit Stone Mountain was for Barbara to letterbox.  Barbara invited her Massachusetts letterboxing friend, Melissa (“Mim”), to join us, so she and her husband, Matt, planned an Atlanta vacation and joined us for our last two days at Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain Park has one of the largest concentrations of letterboxes and has been on Barbara’s “bucket list.” With many difficult boxes, Barbara got advice from several Georgian letterboxers, especially Sandy and Becky (“Hawkeye” and “Buttercup”).

Buttercup and Hawkeye’s signature stamps

They came to our campsite at the mountain after their busy work day. We letterboxed together and exchanged signature stamps, plus they gave us some hints. Later on when we couldn’t find a box, Sandy responded to our texts from the woods and guided us in the right direction.

Stone Mountain has a number of letterboxes that start with just a photo clue. This type is tough for out-of-towners not familiar with the park.

Bill discovered this landmark with a hint from Hawkeye, but we still couldn’t find that particular box. We did find other ones, though.

One unfortunate thing - while looking for a memorial box to a well-loved letterboxer, we got caught in a deluge far from our car and ended up totally soaked. (More on this later.)

Melissa and Matt joined us several days after we arrived. The gals letterboxed, while the guys supported the letterboxers

Bill and Matt meeting Barbara and Melissa after letterboxing

Bill and Matt did a few other things. They hiked to the summit – Bill’s second trip, Matt’s first.

Matt and Bill on Stone Mountain

They also played Frisbee golf twice at a nearby 18-hole course. It’s a favorite hobby of Matt’s; Bill hadn’t played since college.

Wednesday evening we had Melissa, Matt, and another letterboxer, Yvonne, over for dinner at our campsite. Yvonne (“Misplaced Manatee”) lived in Massachusetts but now lives in Atlanta. Bill cooked a yummy dinner!

Yvonne, Barbara and Melissa in front of our trailer

Our last full day at Stone Mountain had two glitches. The first was that Barbara’s cell phone died due to getting wet in the previously mentioned downpour. Bill purchased a replacement phone, but after the usual set up found that the new phone had a hardware issue, so had to return it the next day. The second was that Matt’s 8pm flight was delayed repeatedly and then canceled at 1am. We felt badly for Matt and Melissa. Matt got a flight back the following evening and Bill figured out another option for replacing Barbara’s phone.

Despite the glitches, we had a nice time with friends at Stone Mountain.

Campground: Stone Mountain Park Campground