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Caching Trails


edscott

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Seems like I have been doing a lot of caches recently that have major trails leading right to them. Sometimes part of the adventure is being able to read the subtile forest hints. The bent grass, the twisted fern, the scraped bark, all keep us in the right direction until finally we reach the little pad of packed soil where they sat to sign the log. ....but when it becomes more of a herd path ending at a hollow stump with gum wrappers and water bottle lids on the ground isn't it time to move the cache? Maybe not archive it... but at least move it a couple hundred feet and adjust the coordinates?

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I agree. Not only does it become obvious where the cache is, it will tend to lead muggles into the area. Also, creating a path is not good for the environment. Paths become mud, and erosion begins. I had a cache where people were coming in a route I hadn't figured on, and creating a path up a steep hillside. It only took about 4 finds before a path was becoming visible. I moved the cache far enough away that a different way in with multiple entry points and routes became preferable to scrambling up the hill.

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Just to stir the pot...How do you know that the trail wasn't there before the cache was? Whenever I've hidden caches off a "main" trail, I've used already existing game trails or otherwise already-beaten-down paths.

Dittto. I use game trails to get deeper into the woods to place my cache. It may look like the trail was caused by the cache, but the reason the cache is there is because the trail was.

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Bushwhacking.... Yes I hope lots of people do. The serious caches I have set require it. Since I came here from Orienteering, a 5K bushwhack is literally a walk in the park.

 

Trails already there.... yes, I agree that some caches are along natural herd paths or hunter's trails and have discounted these examples, but strong paths that lead a few hundred feet straight to a cache and abruptly stop surely have been stomped in by those that came before us.

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has any one ever made there own way to a cache bushwacking all the way? is it faster? dose it hurt the parks much?

Generally, the farther the cache is from the main trail, the less likely any real paths are to form. If the cache is close, many people are likely to take the same route. As the distance increases, the probability of many people taking the same route decreases.

 

In most places, this issue is moot, of course. The few finders that most caches which require a hike get don't have a chance to do enough damage just by walking that nature can't quickly remedy.

 

It turns out that people have been wandering about in the woods much longer than geocaching has been around, yet the woods are still there.

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Just last evening, I replaced a cache of mine, which had been muggled. I was surprised to find an obvious social trail leading toward the hiding place. To be any more obvious, it would have needed a white line painted down the middle.

 

Yeah...I may need to move that one.

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Just to stir the pot...How do you know that the trail wasn't there before the cache was?  Whenever I've hidden caches off a "main" trail, I've used already existing game trails or otherwise already-beaten-down paths.

Dittto. I use game trails to get deeper into the woods to place my cache. It may look like the trail was caused by the cache, but the reason the cache is there is because the trail was.

Geotrails rank right up there with piles of sticks and scratched rocks as give-aways. Especially in small parks. They're sad. They end up defacing the park.

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edscott Posted on Aug 12 2005, 10:20 AM

Bushwhacking.... Yes I hope lots of people do. 

 

so you want to walk thought the wood with no path I would thank people would get lost even with gps. Any ways most of the wood around here are very dense and full of sharp plants that would tear my baby soft skin :lol:

Texas Woods Bushwhacking...Ugh... Yes, I know folks that Orienteer in the woods of East Texas. It takes a special breed to enjoy that. Our Pennsylvania woods is usually more open.

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Somebody needs to pick up an A-10 at a DRMO auction and waste those Fudging bears, deer, and elk that make trails in the precious forests. The bunnies and other rodents can be mass poisoned to wipe them out. Then there will be no more trails except the ones man has designated to be proper.

 

a10_1s.jpg

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I don't care for caching trails--social trails is what I thought they were called--not from a tree hugger point of view, but from both a finder's and hider's point of view.

 

These trails do exist and can drop the rating quite a bit. As a finder I like looking for sign of previous finders. It's part of the adventure using your wits to accomplish a goal. But when a trail is blazed directly to the cache the satisifaction drops.

 

As a hider, I consider social trails the same as a spoiler--it changes the hunt.

 

I agree with moving a cache when a social trail is created. I'm not saying you have, but it helps preserve the hunt.

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Somebody needs to pick up an A-10 at a DRMO auction and waste those Fudging bears, deer, and elk that make trails in the precious forests.  The bunnies and other rodents can be mass poisoned to wipe them out.  Then there will be no more trails except the ones man has designated to be proper. 

 

a10_1s.jpg

mmmmmmmmm, warthog

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Somebody needs to pick up an A-10 at a DRMO auction and waste those Fudging bears, deer, and elk that make trails in the precious forests.  The bunnies and other rodents can be mass poisoned to wipe them out.  Then there will be no more trails except the ones man has designated to be proper. 

 

a10_1s.jpg

mmmmmmmmm, warthog

Don't believe game trails are on topic, but warthogs do make big trails.

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Just to stir the pot...How do you know that the trail wasn't there before the cache was?  Whenever I've hidden caches off a "main" trail, I've used already existing game trails or otherwise already-beaten-down paths.

Dittto. I use game trails to get deeper into the woods to place my cache. It may look like the trail was caused by the cache, but the reason the cache is there is because the trail was.

 

Yup!!

 

me too -

 

and I have even been accused (in jest) in cache logs

of using evey little rabbit track to hide my caches -

 

cc\

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Seems like I have been doing a lot of caches recently that have major trails leading right to them. Sometimes part of the adventure is being able to read the subtile forest hints. The bent grass, the twisted fern, the scraped bark, all keep us in the right direction until finally we reach the little pad of packed soil where they sat to sign the log. ....but when it becomes more of a herd path ending at a hollow stump with gum wrappers and water bottle lids on the ground isn't it time to move the cache? Maybe not archive it... but at least move it a couple hundred feet and adjust the coordinates?

Wouldn't moving the cache to another place, just destroy the plantlife of that area too? Geotrails are hard to stop from forming if your cache is off trail. Sometimes they are of help to newbies as well, who aren't as good at finding as most. Some clever caches still give you the idea of "Where is it?" after you pass through the geotrail because there are many hiding places in the area.

 

For trash, consider putting a CITO logo on the cache page. But, moving caches just make them a pain, because people revisiting the same cache 200 feet away, doesn't give the sense of adventure, and may just be a reason for people to "double-log" on the cache itself.

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