+Ramness Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 For the third time now I found a Letterbox today while looking for a Geocache. Just wondering how common an occurrence this is for other cachers in other parts of the country/world. The one I found today had been there for 8 months and had been found by 4 geocachers but only 1 or 2 Letter Box Hunters. But there are of course much few Letter Boxes and hunters than caches and cachers. According to their website www.letterboxing.org there are only 374 Letterboxes in the state of GA, but 2975 caches. Anyone else ever accidentally come across one? Quote Link to comment
+yumitori Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Sure. Popular areas are popular areas. Time to start carrying a personal logbook and stamp... Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Finally happened to me while traveling for the holidays a month ago. I was surprised that there are lame rest stop letterboxes. An altoids tin hidden in plain sight, and soaking wet stamp log. Fortunately, the cache was far more nicely hidden, about 25 feet away. Quote Link to comment
+Deliveryguy428 Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I have not actually found it yet but I do know there is one about 30 or so feet away from a cache that I have found before. I even went and looked up the letterbox listing on that site and that write up even states there is a cache near by..kinda fun two people chose a great hiding place for two different sites. One a letterbox and one a geocache. Quote Link to comment
+reveritt Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Yeah, I've found about half a dozen of them. Quote Link to comment
GoldenDaze Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 After I placed Three Billy Goats Gruff, finders started reporting a letterbox. Turns out the letterbox is all of maybe 10 feet away from the first stage, and I'd never seen it when I scoped out the hide. I contacted the box owner and offered to move the cache, but she graciously agreed that a double-header could be more fun for everybody. At her request, I added a reminder on the cache description not to take the stamp. Quote Link to comment
+Mastifflover Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Finally happened to me while traveling for the holidays a month ago. I was surprised that there are lame rest stop letterboxes. An altoids tin hidden in plain sight, and soaking wet stamp log. Fortunately, the cache was far more nicely hidden, about 25 feet away. Tell them to stop copying us! Next thing you'l know there will be a letterbox under each walmart lightpost. Quote Link to comment
+Mudfrog Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Finally happened to me while traveling for the holidays a month ago. I was surprised that there are lame rest stop letterboxes. An altoids tin hidden in plain sight, and soaking wet stamp log. Fortunately, the cache was far more nicely hidden, about 25 feet away. Tell them to stop copying us! Next thing you'l know there will be a letterbox under each walmart lightpost. Them letterboxer people have a bit more class than us. They would never stoop to hiding a letterbox in a place like that! We have found two letterboxes that i can remember. One of them when i happened to see a few sticks piled up against a tree hollow making it look like someone had hidden a cache there. The other was found by Chicken while we were searching for a geocache in the same area. Quote Link to comment
+JaySTE Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 It's happened to me a couple of times. The first time I wasn't even geocaching. I accidentally stepped in dog poop and when I stepped of the trail to wipe my foot in the grass, there was a letterbox under the trail boardwalk. The second time was 2 days ago. I was geocaching and the cache and letterbox were close together and I thought I had found the cache but it turned out to be a letterbox. James Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I found a letterbox while geocaching once, just once. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I've found three while on maintenance trips for my caches. One was literally 4 feet from one my my multi's stages. Also two while hunting caches. Letterboxers like the same kinds of places we do. Quote Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Last summer while caching I found what appeared to be a small personalized rubber stamp hanging from a tree limb by a peice of camo string. Is that a letter box? El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+Markwell Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Found some remnants once... Link to Log. Box: click to enlarge Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Once sort of. I published a cache and one of the finders mentioned that it was near a letterbox. So I hunted the letterbox on a maintenance visit. A number of cachers have mentioned finding the box. I did add a note about it, and that its stamp should NOT be removed. Quote Link to comment
+wandererrob Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 (edited) For the third time now I found a Letterbox today while looking for a Geocache. Just wondering how common an occurrence this is for other cachers in other parts of the country/world. Anyone else ever accidentally come across one? Haven't I seen you kicking around on XOC? wandererrob (aka 2kxtra) oh, and to answer the original question... nope, just a hybrid. But I should keep an eye out, perhaps even get me a stamp and start looking just for chuckles. Make the most of my time in the woods Edited January 30, 2006 by wandererrob Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Once. It was exactly where the clue for the cache said the cache was at. The cache meanwhile was in the weeds 25' back. Quote Link to comment
GeoLizz Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Found one while searching for one of my first caches. Out with the family and someone goes "hey, I found it!...wait..." ...we did find the cache about 10 feet away though. Quote Link to comment
+Bill & Tammy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I stumbled across one once as well, ever since I keep a stamp handy for such an occasion. Quote Link to comment
+edscott Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 three..... two of them were closer the cache coordinates than the cache was Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I've found two. Obviously easier to find than the caches nearby, or I'd have stopped looking. One was inside a 9/11 memorial. Quote Link to comment
+mb3 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 No, I haven't found a letterbox, intentionally or not. Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Found one with several other cachers on Jan. 21. First one I've seen. We finally found the cache we were after about 10 minutes later. Quote Link to comment
+Lone Duck Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Yep, found one once and logged it. Then I went back and found the real cache when I read the other logs concerning the letterbox being nearby. Quote Link to comment
+Jones_Crew Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 We found one just yesterday while looking for 'Pine Ridge' in Missouri.The listed site was way off and we stumbled across a letter box that was literally right in the middle of the trail. A muggle(?) had just passed through the area and as we were walking in he said "If you are looking for something it is right around the corner on the trail." I knew it shouldn't have been just left there, but wasn't sure what to do with it. There was a nearby big tree that we nestled it in , and am right now trying to find the owner so I can notify them. I did get the coordinates to wereI placed it. Hope I did right. Quote Link to comment
+tomturtle Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I have accidently found them on at least 4 occasions that I can think of over the last year. Some of them were very close to caches. The cache hider did not know they were there, but people looking for the cache uncovered them. In another instance, the letterboxers apparently did not know the cache was already hidden there and they hid the letterbox near the cache. In all cases, I was disappointed when I found that I had not really found the cache and had to keep looking. Quote Link to comment
+Ramness Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 For the third time now I found a Letterbox today while looking for a Geocache. Just wondering how common an occurrence this is for other cachers in other parts of the country/world. Anyone else ever accidentally come across one? Haven't I seen you kicking around on XOC? wandererrob (aka 2kxtra) oh, and to answer the original question... nope, just a hybrid. But I should keep an eye out, perhaps even get me a stamp and start looking just for chuckles. Make the most of my time in the woods Yup I've been Driving Xterras almost as long as I have been geocaching. I'm also the moderator of the Geocaching forum on XOC. Quote Link to comment
+wandererrob Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Yup I've been Driving Xterras almost as long as I have been geocaching. I'm also the moderator of the Geocaching forum on XOC. Funny thing is... I remember when your screenname still spplied to the vehicle you drove at the time Small world it is Quote Link to comment
+Sue Gremlin Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Two so far! One on the trail toward the cache, and the other was about 5 feet from the cache we were seeking. In the cache log, just about everyone said they found the letterbox, too. Quote Link to comment
+edscott Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 In one of the letterboxes I found several geocachers had claimed it as a find. If a cache owner learns of a letterbox is nearby it should probably be noted on the cache page to reduce confusion. from my log... the cache is still active, but the coordinates have been modified to those that I used. June 7, 2005 by edscott (832 found) Finally found it on this my third trip. The coordinates are not very accurate and the nearby letterbox adds to the confusion. I got a new set of coordinates from the xxxxxxx. I went directly to these coordinates from my previous attack point which is a street corner only 100 meters away from the cache, and promptly signed in. Here is the picture. From the listed coordinates the cache is about 75 feet away at 205 degrees from true N. The letterbox is about 30 feet away at about 120 degrees. Better coordinates are 40 nn.nnn, -75 nn.nnn. Of course these are not supported by a GPS, but the photo doesn't bounce around as you hold it One other potential factor. The cache happens to be very close to the edge of a USGS topo sheet and if that sheet and the adjoining one are butted to each other they do not match up well. Somewhere in the drafting there was a problem, however the photo of course is seamless and supports the "unofficial" coordinates. Some of the "finders" of this cache are signed in here and others signed the letterbox. Left a geocoin and took the travel bug. Quote Link to comment
A-N-R Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Found a letterbox once while (fruitlessly) searching for the second stage of a multi. The letterbox and the multi have since been combined, and I'm going to have to go have another whack at them. My own cache is in a location that I found while hunting for a letterbox. I never found it, but a number of people who've found my cache have mentioned that they found the remains of the letterbox. Sounds like there isn't much left of it. I even had to put a note on my cache page saying that if they found the sad-looking remains of a Tupperware, that WASN'T the cache. Can't believe I haven't found the darn thing yet... Quote Link to comment
+maleki Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Yesterday, near Chicago. Put wrong coords in for a multi we were doing and it pretty much took us right to a Letterbox. That was weird, then again it was a strange day all around. Quote Link to comment
BRTango Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I haven't found one yet, but many others have mentioned coming across one near a rest stop cache. I tried to find it when I went for the cache, but had no luck. One geocachers log stated that it was in a ziplock bag (a letterbag insteady of a letterbox?) so it could have been covered by snow and/or have been picked up as trash. Quote Link to comment
+wesleykey Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I have my own unique stamp, but letterboxing is not popular here.... Quote Link to comment
+maggieszoo Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Letterboxing is quite popular here. Unfortunately, the most prolific hider is the least good at box maintenance. I have found two letterboxes accidently. One was on my first day caching with hubby. It was quite a ways from the coords, but since we didn't find the cache, we had expanded our search pattern. The second was two feet from the cache and had been listed as missing for several years! The person who logged FTF on the cache had actually found the letterbox and as a new cacher, didn't realize it. One would think that logging FTF at the end of a hundred stamps would give one a clue. Oh, well. Honest mistake I suppose. Quote Link to comment
+FutilityMistress Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Nothing makes me want to throw my GPS off a cliff more than searching for a cache for an hour, getting all excited when I see some Tupperware peeking out from under some leaves, open it and... THERE'S A STAMP. Why, God? Why? Quote Link to comment
+dykediva Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Just two weeks ago we found a letterbox about 40 feet from a cache that had disappeared after some tree trimming. I said to one of my entourage. . ."Gee that looks like a great place to hide a cache". . .he hopped over for a look and found JollyRogers letterbox. That was neat! Quote Link to comment
+Davispak Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 I did not find any letterboxes by accident but I did find a cache while out looking for a place to hide a cache. It was the final stage in a night time multi. So I checked it then went home to log it. I then completed the previous stages so to give myself full credit. Didn't feel it was right to skip the previous stages just because I stumled upon the final. Quote Link to comment
+Team Laxson Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 We found one in Estes Park at the Stanley. We were out searching for a good spot to place one. Found a great spot.....but, what is this!!?? Doh! Already taken. We thought it was really cool to stumble on one. We put it back and covered it up, then placed our cache somewhere else. Most cachers that find ours will drive past the letterbox and not even know about it. Kinda like our little secret. Quote Link to comment
+Team ARK-ville Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 We have just started seeking letterboxes as we have found all the caches within a reasonable distance from home. The price of gas has put a crimp in our caching activities unless we are combining it with a planned trip. It has also given us a chance to see how talented we are in carving our own stamp. We have never found a letterbox while caching. Quote Link to comment
+Mighty Nimbus Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Yes, Here is what I found while looking for a cache in the same park. Letterbox Quote Link to comment
MapheadMike Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Not Abandoned, and thanks for the spoiler. Yes, Here is what I found while looking for a cache in the same park. Letterbox Quote Link to comment
+Shilo Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I have twice. Once in a airplane in Brazil, Indiana and the other was in Peachtree City, GA. The one in PTC was about 40 feet from a missing geocache and was being logged as a geocache find. Shilo Quote Link to comment
+Right Wing Wacko Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 It's happened to me twice. Once while scouting a location to place a cache in a nearby park. In the exact spot I was going to place my cache, I reached in and found a lock-and-lock with the Letter Box in it. Then another time while searching for a cache in a small state park a few hundred miles from home, I found a letterbox. At first I thought it was the cache and only after signing the log did I realize I had the wrong box. The cache was hidden in exactly the same manner in the very NEXT tree. Quote Link to comment
+Mighty Nimbus Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Not Abandoned, and thanks for the spoiler. Yes, Here is what I found while looking for a cache in the same park. Letterbox Now that is cool. I will have to leave my stamp on it this spring. Quote Link to comment
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