Lucy,
I think you may have unintentionally misled the man you met based on your own misunderstanding. Geocachers "don't disturb the earth" any more than letterboxers do. The two hobbies are extremely similar. The content of the boxes is usually different (though not always) and the clues to finding them are often different but _the_way_the_boxes_are_hidden_is_identical_.
The way people search for the box once they get to the general area of the box is also identical.
Geocachers are not a shovel brigade carelessly digging up the woods. They don't turn over more rocks than letterboxers. They don't do anything substantially different than what you do.

There are simply more of them.

The same rules of etiquette are followed by both groups.
The same issues of concern that the National Park Service has with regard to one apply to the other. Both are prohibited in National Parks.
If anything, geocache locations can be more closely observed/approved/regulated by Park Rangers than letterboxes because of the universality of the clue format (lat./lon.).
I personally like the varying levels of difficulty and obscurity that letterbox clues allow and the artistic aspect of stamping but thought I'd put in my 2 cents regarding the misperception of geocachers as enviromental heathens.

-Eoghan

Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 10:02:45 -0500

From: "Mountain Scorpia" <mountainscorpia@hotmail.com>

Subject: To all: LBers must be....

...doing something right.

I just met a young man; the son of some neighbors here. In the course of

conversation, I mentioned my carving stamps for letterboxing and explained

the hobby.

He asked if it was like geocaching (!) and I told him LBers don't disturb

the earth.

Turns out he works for the National Park Service...and he said

that geocachers have become a great concern....I love the fact that he'd

never even HEARD of LB....!

------=_NextPart_000_25e2_5a48_3696--

I am with Eoghan here.  I originally started out letterboxing and have since incorporated geocaching as well.  They ARE basically the same deal,  just a different means of finding the boxes. We don't dig or disturb the earth in any way.  If anything, I have noticed there are less children that seem to do geocaching, but, that is just my observation. Why do you have such a bad feeling about something that is so similar? Is it because an electronic gadget (GPS) is used?  Don't the clues from both hobbies come from the ultimate electronic gadget - the Internet?   No one should be elitist about their particular hobby - what ever happened to live and let live?

elizabeth

Eoghan wrote:

 Lucy,
I think you may have unintentionally misled the man you met based on your own misunderstanding. Geocachers "don't disturb the earth" any more than letterboxers do. The two hobbies are extremely similar. The content of the boxes is usually different (though not always) and the clues to finding them are often different but _the_way_the_boxes_are_hidden_is_identical_.
The way people search for the box once they get to the general area of the box is also identical.
Geocachers are not a shovel brigade carelessly digging up the woods. They don't turn over more rocks than letterboxers. They don't do anything substantially different than what you do.

There are simply more of them.

The same rules of etiquette are followed by both groups.
The same issues of concern that the National Park Service has with regard to one apply to the other. Both are prohibited in National Parks.
If anything, geocache locations can be more closely observed/approved/regulated by Park Rangers than letterboxes because of the universality of the clue format (lat./lon.).
I personally like the varying levels of difficulty and obscurity that letterbox clues allow and the artistic aspect of stamping but thought I'd put in my 2 cents regarding the misperception of geocachers as enviromental heathens.

-Eoghan

Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 10:02:45 -0500

From: "Mountain Scorpia" <mountainscorpia@hotmail.com>

Subject: To all: LBers must be....

...doing something right.

I just met a young man; the son of some neighbors here. In the course of

conversation, I mentioned my carving stamps for letterboxing and explained

the hobby.

He asked if it was like geocaching (!) and I told him LBers don't disturb

the earth.

Turns out he works for the National Park Service...and he said

that geocachers have become a great concern....I love the fact that he'd

never even HEARD of LB....!

Yeay for letterboxers!
Lucy

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