In the Upper Valley. “Valley Quest” is a series of more than 160 treasure hunts stretching across fifty towns on both sides of the Connecticut River. Quests make use of hand-drawn maps and riddle-like clues, and reveal hidden special places and stories. They meander through villages, cemeteries, forests, wetlands, fields and more. Quests are on-foot adventures that gently share and teach the natural and cultural history of the region. Ruth and I have been on lots of quests when our grandkids visit us.

Today, with our San Jose-based grandkids, we went on a new quest entitled “Trees of Dartmouth quest, from White Pine forest to an arboretum”. It starts in front of Dartmouth row, then goes to the center of the green, and then over to the corner of the Hanover Inn. It then goes north on Main street to the “Parkhurst elm,” wanders down Tuck Drive, and back across campus and up past the observatory to the Bartlett Tower and…… to the Frost statue. This is where the “treasure” is found. The treasure is a somewhat hidden box that contains a stamp to record your success, a notebook to write your name, and other goodies to look at. The last three paragraphs of the quest directions read:

“A gift from the class of 1961
This statue was placed among such inspiration
Several poems of trees he did purposely write
To read one now would be fitting and right

To locate the poem you must find the quest box
Hidden under a stump which is next to a big rock
Don’t forget to leave us your name and salutation
Or maybe write a poem about trees of this location

Now you have seen how Dartmouth began
And how many trees have come and gone in this span
Please place the box where it was found unseen
Then retrace your tracks back toward the green.”