>
> Oh, you're not rubbing it in -- only displaying your ignorance.
Letterboxing in the US is not the same as it is in the UK. The game
is not played the same, the perception is not the same. If in the US,
we had the support of the National Parks as they do in the UK, then
perhaps it would be a different game. But we don't and the more
widespread and public the hobby becomes, the more movement there has
been on the part of parks on other levels to follow the lead of the
National Parks.
> > SpringChick
REPLY:
Well, having only a meager 198 finds in 1.5 years and never having
been to Dartmoor, I suppose I'm a little ignorant of some matters. But
then, everyone is ignorant of something, aren't they? After all, I
went out looking for a letterbox today and couldn't find it. But
knowledge is key to eliminating blissful ignorance, and part of my job
is information research.
So let's examine this further...
Q: Is Letterboxing the same in the US as it is in the UK? Is it played
the same?
A1: For the most part, the concept of letterboxing didn't change when
it came to the US. Letterboxes are still hidden on public lands and in
scenic or remote places hikers want to share with other hikers...
mostly. And there is still the element of secrecy: that desire to be
lurking in the shadows, doing something nobody else knows you're
doing. It IS very much an underground activity in both places.
A2: It does differ dramatically in the US in that we broadcast our
clues across the internet for anyone to see, whereas clues to boxes in
the UK are... more guarded. But that's our style, man! It's the
*American* way! Go overboard!
Q: What about the perception of the "game"?
A: One reason the general perception is not the same in the US as it
is in the UK is because it's only 8 years old when compared to 152.
Yet.. even at 152 years old, there are many people in the UK who, when
asked about letterboxing, wonder why you're talking about their
mailbox. It's true! I've talked to them!
Most people (read: n'oxers) I've mentioned it to seem interested in
the concept, but are too busy or too lazy or too non-adventurous to
follow up on it. Only one actually has, and I don't think it lasted
very long. It's not for everybody. If it was, we'd be in trouble.
Serious trouble.
Q: What about those pesky National Parks? Why can't we letterbox there?
A: I can't tiptoe around this one: geocaching. Yes, it's true. Big
Brother was very, very watchful after President Clinton turned off the
Selective Availability scramblers that kept the civilian GPS units
from getting any more accurate than 100 meters. The explosive growth
of geocaching from 2000 to 2003 (from 0 to 150,000 participants, and
countless more caches!!) caused the National Parks to ban this type of
activity.
Numerous reasons have been cited: danger to historical or
archaeological sites, danger to flora via trampling, danger to fauna
via creatures getting into these boxes, danger to humans who injure
themselves because they were watching their GPS units and not where
they were going and danger to humans who encounter bigger, more
dangerous fauna.
Can't say I blame them. Especially on that last one.
Letterboxing in the US, by comparison, was still a toddler when
geocaching was a teen with raging hormones.
Q: So what do we do??
A: If things had turned out the way those gents of 230 years had
originally intended, then we might not have had to answer the last
question or this one. Those National Parks are ours. The state parks
are ours. The city parks are ours. If we didn't pay for them through
taxes, they wouldn't exist. But we, the people, gave the government
control of itself, and now it makes all the silly rules that shouldn't
need to exist.
So what we have to do is start from scratch, much like those guys 230
year had to do. We have to start small and work our way up the food
chain. We have to get the privately-owned parks onboard, and the city
parks, and the county parks, and the state parks...
... and then we can stand up to the National Parks and say, "Look,
dang it! We CAN do this responsibly, without damaging anything,
leaving behind only footprints and stamp impressions! We have PROOF!
We want to Letterbox in OUR parks!"
...
Grandiose? Far-fetched? Maybe. But then, George and Thomas and Andrew
and Benjamin and all those guys certainly heard that numerous times!
Will it take a long time? Definitely.
Is it WORTH doing? You tell me.
* StarSaels
(Whoa! It's WAY past my bedtime! Somebody's gonna be napping at work
tomorrow/today...)