The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will sponsor a “Letterbox trek” in Shepherdstown the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 4.

The trek is part of a new series of Audubon-sponsored “Family outdoor adventures” that are aimed at involving whole families in interesting and educational outdoor activities.

In this case, participants will learn all about Letterboxing and explore Shepherdstown’s letterboxes. At the end of the day, they’ll be ready to go Letterboxing on their own.

The trek will begin at 2 p.m. in Shepherdstown’s Rumsey Memorial Park on Mill Street and last until 4:00 p.m. Families with children of all ages are invited to participate. There will be a charge of $10 per family group, and pre-registration is required. Register on the PVAS website at www.potomacaudubon.org.

Letterboxing is an old English tradition that was first popularized in the U.S. in the late 1990s. It is similar to geocaching and makes a fine family hobby. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places and distribute clues to finding the boxes on web sites or in printed catalogues. Each box contains a visitor’s book and a rubber stamp; finders make an imprint of the letterbox’s stamp in their personal notebook, and leave an impression of their own stamp on the visitors’ book. Many Letterboxers keep careful track of their “find count”.

There are quite a few Letterboxes hidden around Shepherdstown and more throughout the Eastern Panhandle.

For more information about Letterboxing go to www.letterboxing.org. For more information about the October 4 event, contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or 703-303-1026.