TerrierCarrier

During conversation with a couple of fellow cachers, we were looking over a map of the Sacramento area with only around half of the 140+ caches plotted. The cache density is incredible! In one five mile section, it appeared almost as though you could hike by stepping from cache to cache. The cache density raises a fundamental question. Where is caching going? Are we simply placing an ever increasing number of caches in locations where there are already numerous caches? If so, I fear that caching will eventually become no more than high-tech littering. And what of park rangers and administrators? So far, in my area, they have been mostly silent about geocaching, but with nearly a hundred caches in Sacramento’s American River Parkway you have to wonder when enough is enough. Don’t get me wrong, some urban caches are outstanding. However, with the large number of caches in urban areas, it becomes very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Don

During conversation with a couple of fellow cachers, we were looking over a map of the Sacramento area with only around half of the 140+ caches plotted. The cache density is incredible! In one five mile section, it appeared almost as though you could hike by stepping from cache to cache. The cache density raises a fundamental question. Where is caching going? Are we simply placing an ever increasing number of caches in locations where there are already numerous caches? If so, I fear that caching will eventually become no more than high-tech littering. And what of park rangers and administrators? So far, in my area, they have been mostly silent about geocaching, but with nearly a hundred caches in Sacramento’s American River Parkway you have to wonder when enough is enough. Don’t get me wrong, some urban caches are outstanding. However, with the large number of caches in urban areas, it becomes very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Don

Rent, perhaps you misread my post. It was certainly not a flame directed at you, nor was it a “dis” of the parkway. It was not intended to criticize those who plant caches close to home. I was trying to spark a discussion about caches in the Sac area, and perhaps encourage some cachers to explore existing caches in the foothills and Sierra. This is a glorious time of year in the Sierra foothills. Everything is in bloom and the wildflowers are gorgeous. The waterfalls and streams are spectacular. There are seldom visited caches that are at their most beautiful right now. The rhetorical question is; why, at the best time of year, would you spend time in a city when some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet is a stones throw (sorry Rent, less than a 45 minute drive) from the Parkway? Don

So...why is it that there are 47,936 caches along the American River and Lake Natomas and every park bigger than a postage stamp in the Sac urban area yet caches in the foothills just a stones throw away are rarely visited?

So...why is it that there are 47,936 caches along the American River and Lake Natomas and every park bigger than a postage stamp in the Sac urban area yet caches in the foothills just a stones throw away are rarely visited?