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K0VLJ

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Posts posted by K0VLJ

    Yosemite? National Parks?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    >briansnat wrote:

    >If you can get permission from the park superintendent you can hide a cache there.

     

    Brian, I think we have a fast growing resistance to caches in many parks. I hope that Geocaching leadership can reverse this trend. Two simple changes in present geocaching procedures 'might' be enough.

     

    Those two changes are: 1. a return to allowing Virtual Caches and 2. requiring the very first line of the cache owners comments to be something like, "Stay on the designated Trails or this park system will have ALL caches removed."

     

    Let me give you background on how I came to this conclusion. I've had the privilege to give a 2 hour seminar titled Geocaching 101, three times and assisted in teaching in two other years. This year a newer geocacher that had volunterred last year for an entire summer at Coachella Valley Nature Preserve (near Thousands Palms, CA) told me this story. That park's superintendent (29,200 acres) had previously welcomed caches (38 in just one major trail) IF the caches were located within 5 feet of established trails AND during the Springs six-week flower blooming period no off-trail walking on the flowers at all was to be undertaken. Seems reasonable enough. BUT that superintendent frequently saw people with GPSrs going cross country (line of sight) to each new cache (probably thinking by saving distance they could get more caches in a smaller period of time).

     

    I would hope that a bold-printing announcement on the very first line of the cache owner's description would eliminate that frequently broken park rule. If confidence has already been broken in specific parks, maybe those superintendents would at least allow Virtual Caches.

     

    I spent about a week in and around the largest state park in California a few weeks ago. The administrator of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and all of the staff, was convinced that they had seen many geocachers DIGGING for caches. Local Cachers have tried to show and explain that burying caches is not allowed in our sport. But the employee that I talked to would not move off her position. We may have lost even the opportunity to 'hide' Virtual Caches in that park.

     

    I know that Virtuals haven't been allowed for about three years now. But bringing them back will not only increase the knowledge gained when finding the answers to a Virtual, but improve the chances that cachers will be able to have more caches to find in the many beautiful areas of our park systems.

     

    Adding to the feeling that more parks will adapt a negative attitude is that there is a discussion now under way to combine more than a dozen California state parks (Coachella Valley included) under one management and set of procedures.

     

    What do you think can be done about this fast growing problem?

     

    Sam

    K0VLJ (caching name)

    Are there USA & Worldwide caching maps available?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I'm giving a "Geocaching 101" class to seniors in our Southern California winter roost next month. I would like to show them a "Stick Pin Map" of all the caches in both the USA and Worldwide.

     

    A few years ago an Ed Hall had up to date maps (I remember seeing a 2004 map showing 400,000+ caches) like I'm requesting. www.geocaching.com no longer gives him access to their site. And the maps on www.geocaching.com do not dramatically show the caches on any of their maps.

     

    Anyone know where I could get these two maps in jpg form within a few weeks?

     

    Thanks for any direction.

     

    Sam

    (K0VLJ)

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