Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks Series #2  -   The Labyrinth Letterbox

 

Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks is not your typical YMCA. This YMCA is located in the heart of the Adirondacks on beautiful Lake George. It’s one of the best kept secrets of the North Country, but won’t be for long. Find it on a map here. While many find the 700-acre campus the ideal place for an affordable family vacation or weekend getaway, Silver Bay is a great day trip too. The required daily membership fee ($18.00 per adult, $9.00 children 6 – 17, and children 5 and under free*) is a bargain when you consider that you will have 11 letterbox hunts. Not to mention the basketball, volleyball, archery, tennis, shuffleboard, horseshoes, badminton, softball, guided hikes, rowboats, canoes, kayaks, sailboats, beaches, swimming, gym and fitness center, a labyrinth and family program offered during the summer season (late June through Labor Day). Meals are available there in the dining hall and in the quaint ice cream and pizza shop. The fall and spring are really great there too – but the main activities available then are hiking, outdoor sports, the gym and fitness center, tennis, and of course, letterboxing.

(*If you are a member of any other YMCA and can bring proof with you that shows your effective and expiration membership dates, the membership fees are reduced by 25%.)

The Labyrinth Letterbox

The labyrinth is an ancient walking meditation tool that has been revived in our society over the past fifteen years with many being creatively used in hospitals, corporations, prisons, retreat centers, schools, playgrounds and other public spaces throughout the country today.  A labyrinth can assist us in finding a quiet, transparent and personal space inside ourselves in order to focus on ideas and feelings. It can be used as a place to help us revisit an important piece of work in progress, a place that offers a moment to resolve conflict, a safe place to feel inspired and renewed. The labyrinth can ultimately help all of us better realize our potential as human beings and out connection to one another on this planet.

Planted: November 18, 2006

Replanted : June 29, 2008 – with new location and revised clues

Level of hiking required:  Easy

Level of clue difficulty:  Easy to Moderate

Clues:  Start at the Collins Equipment Center and walk between the tennis courts and the lake on the lakeside path heading towards Slim Point.  You will pass Bay Beach and the lifeguard stand. 

Continue on the lakeside path until you come to the Labyrinth. Stand at the instruction station for the labyrinth facing the word “LABYRINTH” on the side of the box. Take a compass reading of 160°.   Walk 60 steps (count each footfall - both right and left) until you are across the unpaved road.  Directly in front of you should be a fallen log lining the edge of the road with similar ones following along towards the lake.  Turn and face the lake and walk 20 steps (count the same as before). Stop and look to your right.  Just off the road you will find a deciduous tree that is too large to get your arms around. (A deciduous tree is one that sheds its leaves in autumn).  At the base of this tree under a pile of rocks, you will find the labyrinth letterbox.  Watch for non-letterboxers when you remove it and replace it.  We don’t want this one to go missing again.

After enjoying others’ stamps and stories, and stamping in, be sure to seal the box carefully and hide well for future letterboxers to find.

Then head over to the labyrinth entrance, read the instructions, and enjoy a bit of peace and centering.