I spent a few hours today checking out the 4 caches released this past geocaching weekend. I still haven’t resolved the coordinates issue with one of them. Although the correct listing has been posted in the notes section, Groundspeak is still giving me grief on changing the actual coordinates. Why this is such a big deal, I do not understand. I’m still getting irate notes from people who can’t find the cache in question.

Some of the caches were cleaned out, which you can see from the pictures I’ve published.  A few geocachers have left interesting artifacts in place of what they took. But there is plenty of junk as well. One of the leavings is a piece of plaster. Change is always appreciated, but a sliver dollar was expected.

I’m not at the “No Happy Meal Toys” notice. Yet.

A “geotrail” is already forming.

I’m really not too keen on these geotrails forming, but what can you do? This must be why our local park service limits geocaches to three years.

Inside Snow Devils.

Off The Trail.

The Trail Begins

Wild Wild Planet Today

Some interesting thoughts from Wikipedia:

Cachers have been approached by police and questioned when they were seen as acting suspiciously. Other times, investigation of a cache location after suspicious activity was reported has resulted in police and bomb squad discovery of the geocache. Schools have been occasionally evacuated when a cache has been seen by teachers or police, as in the case of Fairview High School in 2009. A number of caches have been destroyed by bomb squads.

The placement of geocaches has occasional critics among some government personnel and the public at large who consider it littering. Some geocachers act to mitigate this perception by picking up litter while they search for geocaches, a practice referred to in the community as CITO (Cache-In-Trash-Out). Events and caches are often organized revolving around this practice, with many areas seeing significant cleanup that would otherwise not take place, or would instead require federal, state or local funds to accomplish. Geocachers are also encouraged to clean up after themselves by retrieving old containers once a cache has been removed from play.

Geocaching is not illegal in the United States and is usually positively received when explained to law enforcement officials. However, certain types of placements can be problematic. Although generally disallowed, hiders could place caches on private property without adequate permission (intentionally or otherwise), which encourages cache finders to trespass. Caches might also be hidden in places where the act of searching can make a finder look suspicious (e.g. near schools, children’s playgrounds, banks, courthouses, or in residential neighborhoods), or where the container placement could be mistaken for a drug stash or a bomb (especially in urban settings, under bridges, near banks, courthouses, or embassies). As well as concerns about littering and bomb threats, some geocachers hide their caches in inappropriate locations, that may encourage risky behaviour, especially amongst children. Examples include electrical boxes and light pole covers. Hides in these areas are discouraged, and cache listing websites enforce guidelines that disallow certain types of placements. However, as cache reviewers typically cannot see exactly where and how every particular cache is hidden, problematic hides can slip through. Ultimately it is also up to cache finders to use discretion when attempting to search for a cache, and report any problems.

The South Carolina House of Representatives passed Bill 3777 in 2005, stating, “It is unlawful for a person to engage in the activity of geocaching or letterboxing in a cemetery or in an historic or archeological site or property publicly identified by an historical marker without the express written consent of the owner or entity which oversees that cemetery site or property.” The bill was referred to committee on first reading in the Senate and has been there ever since.

6/19/12

The Bugs Unleashed, Cont. is a post from: GeoCache Creation