1024. Pink Butterfly Snowflakes along the New Ledge Creek Red Trail
3258 Old NC-75, Stem, NC)

Well, when we first asked connecticut croaker if we could extend borrowing some of her lovely snowflake stamps a bit longer to take down south with us again this winter, we weren't at all sure just where we might want to plant them. We told her that the folks in the Raleigh/Durham area had been particularly good about carefully replacing stamps last year when we brought some of RIclimber's car logos down for temporary transplanting, so we were now graciously granted permission to do the same thing this year with connecticut croaker's snowflakes flying south!

Then, when we saw the map that went along with a series that bluebird had recently transplanted onto a new trail extension practically right along our proposed route south, we thought we had our spot. Little did we know that in the meantime other planters had gotten the same idea! Some clues we did manage to catch just before our little planting spree, but others we didn't, so it was funny to be looking for places to plant and finding stamps already there! (sort of reminded us of some folks from PA who once had "P-ness envy" over the state of prodigious planting then going on in CT years ago that caused them to pretend boxes could be found behind any likely rock or stump there without clues - even though they had never even boxed in CT themselves and were totally unaware of the actual situation there, where, in all our CT hikes, that never once happened to us, but here we were doing that in NC!;-)

Anyway, our apologies for making our clues so easy and close together, but we really did need to make them convenient for quick stamp retrieval on our way home in early February. We also figured that other people's stamp locations would better serve to show off the new trail loops, one of the builders of which we got to meet as we were making the rounds, too! Plus, while cleaning up the "random blue snowflakes" from their visit in RI, we discovered that one of the "blue ones" was actually a butterfly, too, so now there are 8 pink butterflies for the NC folks to find, instead of the 7 we planted previously in RI, and we have even included a pink ink pad in the first box (to borrow and return at the end, if needed) to keep these butterflies in the pink!

So, now to find them, a simple in-and-out stroll:

1) from the gate just past the picnic tables, 27 steps down the lane to the south end of 8-10' leaning pole on the left, discreetly tucked under pine straws and a brick rock of two. (very visible if not completely hidden, so please make sure the box with logbook remains well covered!)

2) 40 steps more to left front side of a low rotting stump bowl on the L.

3) 84 steps to behind a thin short stump on L just behind the red arrow loop junction post.

4) 220 steps to top of low stump on L that has a tree with red arrow markers on both sides of it just 4 steps south on the L edge of the trail.

5) 6 steps before the tricolored post on the R (just before the info board) under a stone behind the largest of three pines.

6) now head back on red lane about 70 steps to the L side of the first cedar a few steps L off trail before the open area.

7) continue to just before the red blazed loop junction. R of the orange boundary marker is a thin pine with 3 yellow strips on it. Between it and the slightly larger pine to its right, under pine straw.

8) return almost back to the gate and look on the left side of the large pine with a red arrow just before the "rock wall" on the L.

Hope you found all the pink butterfly snowflakes, and please remember, if you borrowed the pink ink pad, to return it to the box across the way! Thanks!

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