Problem Cache?!?

[+swizzle]

I recently visited a creek that was rather lovely. I had never been there before and decided to place a cache. The location looks like a bit of a party spot and from what I hear it is. One of the cachers that was looking for it noticed a women dropping off 2 teenage boys and several cases of beer. Another mentions that the name of my cache should be changed to "get r done" because its a redneck hoodulum hangout. The one that saw the woman drop off the teenagers with the beer called the local police department and reported it. The group(s) of people that hang out here are somewhat rude. My intentions were not to put people into a rude situation but to take them to a beautiful picnic spot along the creek. My problem is should I relocate the cache and give up such a beautiful spot or should I allow people to continually run into rude people and hope that the cops are called enough so that they either stay home or go elsewhere? I would really like to see the 4x4 trail in this spot turn back to grass and see the spot get cleaned up. When I was there, there was one shopping bag of trash and a well used gas grill, but other then that it was nice and clean and raked up. One of the cachers said that the redneck mugglers left quite a mess after their night of drinkin'. What would you guys and girls do in this situation and why? Swizzle

[+Miragee]

I would move the cache . . .

[+TrailGators]

You could make the cache a multi and take them by the spot. I don't think anyone would get hassled if they were just walking by.

[+Miragee]

<snip>

 

I would really like to see the 4x4 trail in this spot turn back to grass and see the spot get cleaned up.

 

<snip>

Instead of bringing cachers to the location now, could you work with your local police and city or county officials to get the place cleaned up and get the 4X4 trail blocked off?

 

After that is done, you can put the cache back in an area that has been transformed into a safe place you would want to bring your family to.

[+swizzle]

The cache is about 30 miles from my house so talking with the local PD isn't really an option for me. I would have to be there when the partying is happening to call it in. The 4x4 trail isn't long, its just well used. I'm guessing it's maybe 100 feet long with a turn around at the end. Quick and easy access of a back road. Swizzle

[+Team Cotati]

It looks as though you have done an excellent job of cache site location and you seem to have wonderful community spirit. Keep the cache exactly as it is and work with other community leaders to improve the overall location. Thank you for sharing.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I recently visited a creek that was rather lovely. I had never been there before and decided to place a cache. The location looks like a bit of a party spot and from what I hear it is. One of the cachers that was looking for it noticed a women dropping off 2 teenage boys and several cases of beer. Another mentions that the name of my cache should be changed to "get r done" because its a redneck hoodulum hangout. The one that saw the woman drop off the teenagers with the beer called the local police department and reported it. The group(s) of people that hang out here are somewhat rude. My intentions were not to put people into a rude situation but to take them to a beautiful picnic spot along the creek. My problem is should I relocate the cache and give up such a beautiful spot or should I allow people to continually run into rude people and hope that the cops are called enough so that they either stay home or go elsewhere? I would really like to see the 4x4 trail in this spot turn back to grass and see the spot get cleaned up. When I was there, there was one shopping bag of trash and a well used gas grill, but other then that it was nice and clean and raked up. One of the cachers said that the redneck mugglers left quite a mess after their night of drinkin'. What would you guys and girls do in this situation and why? Swizzle

If it were mine, I would leave the cache in place, but would edit the cache listing page as follows:

• raise the Terrain rating to at least a 4 to reflect the "social hangout" terrain, and add the explanatory notes below...
  
• add a "Not for Children" Attributes icon, as well as a "DANGEROUS AREA" Attributes icon
  
• add a prominent note, in good-sized bold font, to the cache listing page, fully disclosing that the place is a known hangout for somewhat rowdy folks who may be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, and that they may be rude or threatening at times.
  
• for an example of how this is done for a real-life cache located in a setting which has somewhat similar problems, you may wish to take a look at the cache listing page for our Psycho Urban Cache #10 - Derelict Grunge Acropolis, located in a very active real-life urban park, resplendent (??? ) with all of the phenomena which have been found in busy urban parks since time immemorial. . And, for contrast to this "full disclosure" approach, for a look at the listing page for a cache located in the same park, where the listing page is totally lacking the courtesy warnings and with neither the appropriate Terrain rating nor attribute icons, you may wish to see the cache listing page for GPS Check, a virtual cache located 500 feet from our cache listed above.
  

I personally feel that for caches located in such settings, adhering to the listing items which I have iterated above is a courtesy to future cache seekers, and also a far more honest and accurate portrayal of the cache location site.

Edited July 1, 2006 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Harry Dolphin]

It seems to me that I detect a bit of hyperbole in your original post. Somehow, it reminds me of a recent thread concerning how to get homeless people removed from the pretty spot at which someone wanted to hide a cache. "Make them go away. I want to hide a cache here."

If it is a common occurence, you can be sure that the police are aware of it. Generally, they have neither the manpower, nor the funding, to make the spot safe for your cache. Oh, well. I would move the cache to a different pretty spot. Unless, of course, there are no other pretty spots in the area. Then, you might want to consider moving. I guess that I do not understand the insistance that it must be at that spot.

[+tozainamboku]

This is a good example of the problem with the suggestion being discussed in the Geocaching.com section of the forum for a Gong attribute That would allow visitors who found a problem like this to Gong the cache. After some number of Gongs, the reviewers would be notified and could either ask you to move your cache, take action to correct the problem, or archive the cache. What happened here is much better, finders either reported the problem in the log or contacted the hider. The hider decided to post here in the forum for advice.

 

Without know all of the details it is hard to give advice. In some cases, just having cachers in the area will frighten off the hooligans. I don't think it is likely to happen in this case. I would either move the cache and give up on the location, or put warnings on the cache pages so people can decide whether they still want to visit. Unless you are Vinny & Sue Team, don't exagerate the problem. Teenage party spots are common and often at an interesting site for cache. Usually one can plan a cache hunt at a time of day when the muggles are not in the area.

[+Renegade Knight]

The only problem wiht the location is that it's a muggle party spot. That puts your cache at risk of being stolen. Just make sure it's a good hide. Moving the cache out of harms way but being in the same general location would work well. If you hid it well to begin with though then there is no problem.

[+swizzle]

I've posted a warning on the page and gave a best times to visit the cache. I do have a rather good hide on it and unless the next few cachers are sloppy then I'm not really concerned about it being stolen. Being that most partying occurs at night and on weekends I suggested looking for the cache midmorning and during the week. I also posted that the next few cachers should post there experience, the good bad and the ugly. If this continues to be a bad spot then I will move it or put it up for adoption. I hate to make a 60 mile round trip to find that there is someone there and I have to come back another time so I may put it up for adoption. Hopefully my warning cures the problem if not then I will fix it. This was the 3rd and by far the best looking spot that I found for the cache. Its not like I just tossed it in the woods and took down the coordinates. I want to take people to beautiful spots and this is one of them. Swizzle

[+arpegio]

It seems to me that this spot is for the enjoyment of everyone. The "partyers" are part of the environment. Maybe the cache has just gone a notch higher in the difficulty scale as a result?