Would a Geocache Rally be allowed?

[+tsiolkovsky]

Just outside Stourhead, Wiltshire are four very fun multi-caches, all with the same starting point - the car park at Stourhead Woods.

 

Namely:

 

http://coord.info/GC1H9KH

http://coord.info/GC1H9NH

http://coord.info/GC1HH0G

http://coord.info/GC1H9N2

 

The caches are something of a challenge, in that you have to collect information from a series of information boards, which will give you the location of a micro cache, in which are the co-ordinates for the final cache.

 

I've recently completed these four caches, and found them to be such fun that I feel it is a shame that more people don't do them.

 

I was toying with the idea of actually getting a few more people to do them, and what I was thinking of doing, was to organise a Rally. A traditonal Rally in that teams go off at 10 minute intervals from a starting location, and the team who does this in the quickest time wins a prize of some kind.

 

The obvious thing to do would be to organise it as a geocache event of some kind, but of course because it would be for the purpose of finding some caches, it would be disallowed under the Rules.

 

Any ideas anyone?

[+Big Wolf]

A word of warning: If your proposed event was to involve the participants requiring to drive on the public highway, then you are restricted to 12 or less vehicles. If 13 or more take place then you have a legal requirement to apply for a license to Motor Sports Association in England (and I assume Wales) or the Royal Scottish Automobile Club) in Scotland for a license.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Big Wolf

[+tsiolkovsky]

A word of warning: If your proposed event was to involve the participants requiring to drive on the public highway, then you are restricted to 12 or less vehicles.

 

Okay hold my hand up to that one for not being clear enough. Not talking about a CAR rally, but rather take the concept of the rally and use foot power instead.

 

With walkers going off at timed intervals.

[+The Blorenges]

Organise an event at a convenient location, e.g. a picnic in the woods

 

Set a time span, e.g. 12 - 3pm

 

Put all the usual stuff about "an opportunity to meet other cachers, swap trackables etc..."

 

Then at the bottom put something like "After the event some of us plan to do some group caching in the area. Contact me for further details." Or provide a link to some other (commercial free) site where further details can be given and arrangements made between cachers. You could do this part through the GAGB forum's Event section.

 

MrsB

[+Amberel]

Organise an event at a convenient location, e.g. a picnic in the woods

 

Set a time span, e.g. 12 - 3pm

 

Put all the usual stuff about "an opportunity to meet other cachers, swap trackables etc..."

 

Then at the bottom put something like "After the event some of us plan to do some group caching in the area. Contact me for further details." Or provide a link to some other (commercial free) site where further details can be given and arrangements made between cachers. You could do this part through the GAGB forum's Event section.

 

MrsB

Provided the "rally" is an optional activity in which you don't have to participate in order to log attendance, is there any reason why it can't be done during the event, and described openly on the event page? Many events I've gone to have had caches set in conjunction with the event, we have a drink, pop out for a couple of caches and then come back for a top up . Others prefer to stay in the pub the whole time . Surely we don't have to conceal from Groundspeak that we go caching during an event?

 

Rgds, Andy

[Deceangi]

Surely we don't have to conceal from Groundspeak that we go caching during an event?

 

No but a event may not be specifically organised around the basis of a Cache Hunt. From the Guidelines

 

In addition, an event cache should not be set up for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for an organized hunt of another cache or caches. Such group hunts are best organized using the forums or an email distribution list

 

What was being specifically mentioned by the OP was a Organised Cache Hunt as a Event

 

Deci

[+Amberel]

What was being specifically mentioned by the OP was a Organised Cache Hunt as a Event

 

Deci

Indeed, I understand that it is not permitted to list organised hunts by themselves as events, and I'm not querying that, but I was responding to Mrs B's post, not to the OP.

 

Mrs. B suggested running an ordinary event, with the rally then ocurring AFTER the event, but with details of the rally not being specifically mentioned on the event page. I was following up from that. If the event was organised as a normal event, is there any reason why an organised cache hunt cannot take place as an optional part of that event?

 

In other words, the organised cache hunt itself would not be the event. People could attend and log the event even if they took no part in the cache hunt.

 

Or to put it yet another way, if an event and an organised cache hunt were organised for the same afternoon, and at the same location, would it be required by Groundspeak that the event officially concluded before the cache hunt started, and would it be forbidden to mention on the event page the details of the following cache hunt?

 

I'm not trying to split hairs here, I'm trying to understand what is and isn't permitted. Having an OPTIONAL cache hunt DURING an event seems to me to be quite different to holding a cache hunt AS the event. I'd like to think it was permitted, and if it is permitted, then I can't see any reason not to describe it on the event page.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+MartyBartfast]

This sounds a bit like The Mega Fox Hunt

 

which states on the page:

 

There will be two parts to this event :-

- The start meet at the picnic tables in the main Swinsty Reservoir Car Park - an open to all gathering of 30 minutes, where everyone is welcome to come and have a natter and receive the final details of the hunt. It's a beautiful location, about half an hour from the Mega Campsite.

- The hunt itself, purely optional - anyone who attends the start meet can log the event. Anyone who doesn't come on the hunt may wish to explore the area, as there are a few caches nearby.

 

Although admittedly that was a few years ago and things have probably changed since then.

[widget2010]

When does an hunt become orienteering? As soon as you start getting more than a few people/teams going out in an area the thrill of the hunt becomes diminished as you see others near the cache and it becomes more about quantity/time. Very difficult problem to overcome as you start to get into the realms of staggered starts etc. Personally the getting together for a few scoops and a natter sounds good to me