MouseFart Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Today, my 11yr old son and myself tackled some more geo-sites. We went to one on the outskirts of town in an abandoned business district. Had to park at a dead end road and walk another 1/4 mile to the coordinate site. The site is in a very thick, grown up brushy pasture filled with cactus and thorn bushes. There is no activity here any longer and nobody comes here. We get to the site and begin a search. A couple of minutes into the search and my son asks me what that big yellow thing is just 25-30 yards away from where we were searching. I get to looking through the trees and brush and discover it is a large tent, most likely a vagrant camp. Naturally, the Glock is up in the truck, so we beat a hasty retreat out of there. I just contacted the site owner via email. I should have seen his cache, as it was supposed to be a large and easy find and am figuring it got heisted by the hobo's plus wanted to inform him of the possible dangers of this site location. Anyone else ever stumble onto anything like this in your trips? Quote Link to comment
+IV_Warrior Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 No, but I have met homeless people while working a former job, and they were more friendly and helpful than most of the rest of the people I ran into in that city. Just because you saw a tent near the cache doesn't mean there's any danger.... Quote Link to comment
+Kacky Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 (edited) Mouse, if you check the logs on that cache, has it been so long or so seldom found, that it should be overgrown? In my so-far limited experience, if I find myself shoulder-deep in ferns or tripping over tangled undergrowth, that sometimes means I am across the brook from where the real path is. Edited July 10, 2006 by Kacky Quote Link to comment
+Foothills Drifter Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 (edited) Howdy...... Been there...done that...found it...moved on... Vern... Edited July 10, 2006 by Foothills Drifter Quote Link to comment
+Blue Power Ranger Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Running into urban-campers is a fairly common occurrence around here. Keep your guard up and if you feel you are in an uncomfortable situation, get out. Just use your common sense. I think you will find that the homeless want about as much to do with you as you want to do with them. Quote Link to comment
BRTango Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Just last week I came across what looked like a possible vagrant campsite. It had a sleeping bag and some papers a few other things as well. When I encounter things like that it won't necessarily discourage me from continuing the hunt. But, I would highly recommend respecting the belongings and moving away from the immediate area. There are a lot of homeless who set up camp and become fairly territorial, if they see you messing with their stuff it may cause problems. If you treat them and their stuff with respect you'll likely encounter no problems at all. But as always, stay vigilant, know your area and if you feel unsafe in any way (especially if you have a kid with you) leave the area. Quote Link to comment
+Team Teuton Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Tents don't kill people, people kill people. Quote Link to comment
BRTango Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Tents don't kill people, people kill people. Unless of course it's a really large tent which collapses and the main support post lands on your head and causes blunt force trauma and you lay there without anyway of contacting anyone and you die!!! See... tents can kill people... and they have no remorse when they do!!! Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Maybe the tent *was* the cache! Seriously, this is a common occurrence, a fact of life. Cache owners can cope with it by perhaps moving their cache 200 feet away if someone sets up camp near ground zero. I've done that, and my cache has thrived in its new spot. While hunters still *see* the local "residents," they're not as likely to have a "you're in my space" conflict. Finders should remain aware of their surroundings at all times. I always do a 360-degree visual scan once I reach ground zero, to make sure that I am able to conduct a search without having to act "stealthy" the way I would in a busy urban park. If I saw a homeless person during my scan,I would wait and see what they were up to before I started searching for the cache. Sometimes I've abandoned the hunt, sometimes they've walked away and I could then find the cache. Once or twice, I've exchanged friendly "hellos." Quote Link to comment
+Kacky Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 As the sibling of a schizophrenic who cannot live on his own, I sympathise with those who'd rather live outdoors than go to a crowded shelter. But is it ok for ANYONE to take over a public place to the extent that others can't use it? Quote Link to comment
+Torry Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 As the sibling of a schizophrenic who cannot live on his own, I sympathise with those who'd rather live outdoors than go to a crowded shelter. But is it ok for ANYONE to take over a public place to the extent that others can't use it? Okay or not - it happens. I've had issues with folks squatting on some abandoned railroad land near my home. For the most part you scarcely ever see them. One group, however, developed a habit of breaking into my garage and stealing tools. I visited the campsite with a neighbor, recovered most of my property and packed the rest off and left it alongside the road nearby. ... the people never returned. Most folks in that situation are just trying to get by. The camping is temporary, I've come close to being at that point myself in tough times. Just back away, give the site its space and try again another time. Chances are in a week or two the site will be empty. Quote Link to comment
+jaredl Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I've ran into a nice hobo house in the woods, it was an old arm tent with that pink styrofoam insulation all around it and a nice kitchen set up out side. The tent was off the trail in a really busy toronto park I'm sure the police knew about it and left it. I've been back to that park a few times now and its still there. I'm sure most homeless people wont do anything to you for being around there. I also don't think you'd need a gun to be safe there because if the homeless person living there had on they peobably wouldn't be homeless Quote Link to comment
+Kacky Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Chances are in a week or two the site will be empty. That's something I did not realize. Quote Link to comment
+Torry Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Chances are in a week or two the site will be empty. That's something I did not realize. Just figure how tough it is spending a week at the local campground. Now imagine how tough it would be with no money for fresh ice, no showers, laundry, fellow campers, no money for insect repellant, fresh food or water, no car to lock up the valuables, no bank card for the occasional dinner out, ... You get the idea. Chances are the person will get picked up, move on, find a job, head to the shelters, whatever ... the rare few that stay for any length of time will eventually be routed by the parks department or the police with but a few phone calls. I always feared what became of one of "my squatters" .. female, 27 years-old (she left her ID at the camp), had regular appointments at a local mental health clinic, apparently some kids somewhere (photos and letters - no addresses, an "I Lov You, Mommy" picture ... I saw the camp one day and it looked like she had been living there for some time. Shoplifted doo-dads were all over the place, useless items and geegaws from the sidewalk bins in front of the dollar store. ... a week later the place was trashed and she never returned to claim her ID or anything else. Quote Link to comment
+Torry Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 We've gone off topic. Yikes! (... the pig scampers back to the "Off Topic" forum where he belongs... ) Quote Link to comment
+two left feet Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 We have run into them numerous times. Wooded areas and around bridges seem to be popular. Just found a tent in a very remote area last Sat. I kept an eye out and my wife finished logging the cache and we left. Generally my opinion is that they are in a remote area because they don't want to interact with others and they don't want any attention. So I have not had anyone come out of the camp or tent and approach us. We just avoid the camp and move on. Too bad we can't do more for these folks. It must be a very hard life. Quote Link to comment
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