Getting a little aggravated

[Team Deejay]

I’m not a happy camper. I had to disable a listing because a new geocacher took it upon himself to remove the second stage of a three stage multicache from its established spot because he felt it was “dangerous.” They didn’t contact the owner, didn’t contact the reviewers, didn’t contact the listing site or even the land manager. They just took it. Now the owner will have to make a special trip up to repair the cache, and it will probably be disabled for a while. This cache had only been in place for four years without any issues, had been nominated for COTM, and had 81 finds logged with only 5 DNFs.

In case you don’t know, there is no guideline requiring geocaches be safe to find. There are caches on mountain peaks, caves, underground tunnels, up trees, in rocks, on top of abandoned bridge pylons, deep underwater, and various other dangerous locations. This is allowed by the guidelines (although proper warnings should be provided). Like all “adventure sports”, there is an element of risk when geocaching, and finders are expected to evaluate their abilities and the risks involved before seeking a geocache.

For those who are new to the game, removing a cache without permission from the owner is never acceptable. If you don’t like a cache, you can complain in a log, post a “needs maintenance” or a “needs archived”, contact the owner, contact a reviewer, contact the land manager, or even contact Groundspeak. Removing the cache is not the answer.

To summarize: DON’T STEAL PEOPLES CACHES!

[Ray]

Ah-hooah! Well stated Dave.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

Thank you, the element of danger in caches we’ve done has made those our most memorable. In other words….we like those.

I’m always surprised at what some newer cachers will take it upon themselves to do. I’m one of those people who sits back a long time when engaged in something new, watches how the wind blows and then might speak or act.

I know this is hard to believe! But true!

[PCFrog]

I understand what you mean and myself came across a cache that I thought was inappropriately rated for the danger level. However, I just posted that in my comments when I logged the cache that they should up the terrain level.

Did you take their smiley away?

[AuntieNae]

And, unfortunately the cache in question was placed by a team that are now living in China. I will let the adoptee know .. she had a recent job change so it might be a bit before she can get to replacing it now.

[GetMeOutdoors]

So, what cache is this, where is it located?

[Team Deejay]

I don’t want to go into all the details, but the cache is located in Fond du Lac. If someone wants to go out and replace this one, let me know and I will fill you in. I do have the coordinates for the final, but I do not have the coordinates for the second stage (the first stage is virtual, so you should be able to determine where to go).

[hogrod]

The person is a new user as of august 25th of this year, so they may have not read the Geocaching.com Disclaimer that’s on every cache page.

“Geocaching, hiking, backpacking and other outdoor activities involve risk to both persons and property. There are many variables including, but not limited to, weather, fitness level, terrain features and outdoor experience, that must be considered prior to seeking or placing a Cache. Be prepared for your journey and be sure to check the current weather and conditions before heading outdoors. Always exercise common sense and caution.”

That doesn’t mean that I am defending what they did, I still think its pretty lame. Their log actually makes it sound like they know better than everyone else, to quote part of their log,

“get ahold of me so I can tell you what needs to be done”.

Obviously they must know better than the previous 81 finders logs on that cache.

[SammyClaws]

Has anyone asked the ‘newbies’ to go and put it back? Seems reasonable to me. If they won’t, I’ll drive you up there Dave so you can express your unhappiness in person!

[Decrepit]

Well, that’s just rotten! I love the caches with a little bit of danger involved. Two of the most memorable caches I did were a bit dangerous (expecially for a Decrepit clutz like me). One of them I had to climb a huge pine tree to get the cache. Ok… me, climb a tree? Yep! I did it. It took me a while to get back down because I kept getting my clothes snagged on branches, but I did it. The other one was the cause of all my problems, but I LOVED the view. I also learned an important lesson that day… you need to look up from the GPS every now and then. I was following the arrow when the trail turned sharply and I didn’t. I ended up walking off a cliff and landed in thorns. Had to have surgery to get that knee fixed, but I would do it again in a heartbeat… the cache that is, not the walking off a cliff.

[gotta run]

Well, the cache has grown to 8 users (and counting)…wonder if the noob’s mailbox is overflowing by now???

On the Left Side of the Road...

[LightningBugs Mum]

@gotta run wrote:

wonder if the noob’s mailbox is overflowing by now???

If people are contacting this person, I sincerely hope they remember that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. Spewing knee-jerk vitriol at them won’t get the results we are hoping for.

[JimandLinda]

I have been in contact, by e-mail, with this cacher since his first interest in the game. I have queried his actions out of curiosity and will post a note here to settle the matter, one way or another. I personally have archived a cache in a park, after I found out that some undesirable visitors had picked that area for their new “gang” hangout. Terrain isn’t the only element of danger out there! Let’s wait for an explanation and see what we learn. And if we taught a new cacher a lesson early in the game, so be it…

[cheezehead]

Wrath of the angry Geocacher……Hmmmmm….there’s an idea……. 😉

[Team Deejay]

We found a cache last weekend in Ashwaubenon with the hint “Watch Out for Gangs!” We both chuckled about this, but we did stop and talk to the group of kids hanging out by the parking area. They knew all about the cache already (something about seeing strange people bushwack into a group of tightly clustered pine trees for no apparent reason…) and took us to the cache. Not everyone out there has bad intentions, folks.

Another example: I was heading for a cache hidden on a pedestrian bridge over I-43 in a relatively poor section of Milwaukee. (No gang warning on this one 😆 ) As I find a parking spot, I notice a significant number of teenage boys wandering around the neighborhood. Since I was driving my old pickup, I figured there wasn’t much to lose, so I decided to go for the cache. As I was getting out of the truck, one of the boys approached me. I thought “Uh oh, what is this about?” He handed me a postcard size flyer and asked “Would you please vote for my mom? She’s running for alderman.” I thanked him for the flyer and for helping with the campaign (her opponent in the race is now a felon convicted of bribery and extortion). Just shows that there are a lot of good people in the world, even in the “bad” neighborhoods.

I guess my point is that, even though these caches were in “bad areas”, there is no reason to remove them without the owners permission. Presuming to know more than everyone else, without bothering to go through channels, is not only arrogant, but just plain wrong.

[Author]

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