some background on that activity, especially as it relates to letterboxing.
Essentially, geocaching is a lot like letterboxing, while being quite
different from it. (Think of a racing cyclist and a mountain biker; someone
who doesn't ride a bike thinks that both activities are quite alike, while
enthusiasts of each activity look at the other as being quite different.)
A geocache is hidden (in the woods, in the city, in a park, under water),
but instead of clues, longitude and latitude coordinates that point to the
cache location are published. Using a GPS (global positioning system)
handheld unit (available for as little as $99), other geocachers then try
to find the cache. GPS accuracy ranges from 12 to 70 feet depending on
cloud cover, terrain and the unit itself, so it's not like a finder just
walks up to the cache and "finds" it. Once your GPS gets you within range,
you have to start a search for likely hiding spots in the area -- depending
on the accuracy of the hider's GPS and your GPS, the area could be 150
square feet or more in size.
Though many geocachers don't use maps, a bit of advance planning is often
required to find available trails and the best route to the cache, unless
you want to bushwhack through the forest. A geocache typically includes a
log as well as trinkets -- the idea is that the finders will swap an item
in the geocache with something they've brought along. Personally, I think
this is a kinda dumb practice (and it's amazing how often ill-informed
geocachers leave food or candy), but geocachers probably think those
hand-carved stamps are kinda dumb, too. I'm not alone -- many geocachers
simply log in to finds with the annotation "TNLN," "took nothing, left
nothing." Some geocaches also include clues that must be figured out before
the cache can be found, and these can be just as creative as letterbox clues.
It's probably an overgeneralization to say that geocachers are
"destructive." One thing you have to remember is that there are many times
more geocachers than letterboxers. Compare the sheer numbers: As of
9/22/03, there are 68,796 active geocaches in 185 countries (but mostly in
the US). In the last 7 days, 9,311 geocachers logged 36,794 caches (either
as found or not found). There are probably more than 50,000 geocachers in
the US.
As of today, there are 6,821 letterboxes planted around the US, and there
are just over 1,000 letterboxers on this list; perhaps another 3,000 (by my
estimate) who are active but don't belong to the discussion list.
With nearly 10 times as many geocaches and geocachers out there looking for
them, it's no surprise that geocachers often stumble onto letterboxes. A
good hiding space for a letterbox is usually a good hiding space for a
geocache, so there's often quite a lot of overlap; just yesterday, a
geocacher found one of my Superboxer series while looking for a place to
hide her cache. She was polite enough to write me to tell me that it was in
good shape, even though she didn't have a clue about letterboxing (I'll
never get tired of that pun
So, sure, there are irresponsible geocachers, just like there are
irresponsible letterboxers. But with 5 to 10 times as many geocachers out
there, the damage that even careful searching can do is often much more
pronounced.
You can learn more about it at www.geocaching.com. You don't need a GPS to
join the site, and you can search for geocaches in your zip code or area
(you can also use a site like topozone.com to find your own GPS
coordinates). Each cache on the site has maps linked to mapquest.com, so
you can get a general idea of the location of caches in your area -- and if
there might be one in the vicinity of a letterbox you've planted. This
won't stop a geocacher from planting a geocache a few feet from yours, but
if that happens you might want to leave a note in your letterbox to inform
geocachers who inadvertently find it that it's not what they're looking for.
I often carry my GPS when I'm letterboxing, and can then see if there are
geocaches along the same trail, which makes for an added bonus.
All in all, it's in the best interests of both activities if we respect
each other and try to get along as best we can. Unfortunately, there's no
practical way that we can expect to educate all those geocachers about
letterboxing, so the onus is on us to do more than our share.
Doug
|-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-|
Silent Doug, P32 F220 E06 X27
silentdoug@letterboxing.info
http://www.letterboxing.info
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