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Why I "love"/"hate" park hides


deacdiddy

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I love park hides because they are usually more interesting than most of the usual hides around here. I like the exercise you get from hiking in and the nice scenery. What I don't like is having some weirdo who sees you go off the trail, follow you in to the forest assuming you are there for some "muggle" action. I say live and let live most of the time but I wish these people would stay out of the public parks.

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Oh my goodness! Did that happen to you? I've always been slightly worried about that happening. I myself love park hides too though. It's really fun to see little parks that I've never known were there in town. There really are so many!

 

Yep...twice...both times they were right behind me as I was getting my bearings on the gps....I told them both that unless they were fellow geocachers that they had better get out of my space...The first one asked what is geocaching...I told him...he looked disappointed....and left the area. The other one just kept staring at me...so I told him what I thought he should go do and I left the area.

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Oh my goodness! Did that happen to you? I've always been slightly worried about that happening. I myself love park hides too though. It's really fun to see little parks that I've never known were there in town. There really are so many!

 

Yep...twice...both times they were right behind me as I was getting my bearings on the gps....I told them both that unless they were fellow geocachers that they had better get out of my space...The first one asked what is geocaching...I told him...he looked disappointed....and left the area. The other one just kept staring at me...so I told him what I thought he should go do and I left the area.

 

It's happened twice to me as well. The first time was just after I started geocaching at an old cache in the woods near a large park in town. That cache has, unfortunately, since been archived. A couple of months ago someone else posted a cache in the same general area. I talked with some guy that was fishing from a foot bridge nearby then went after the cache. I was about 500' into the woods approaching GZ when I heard someone ask if I was having a nice walk in the woods and it was the same guy.

 

Of course, not all parks are the same. There's a very small park across from where I live that wouldn't be big enough to hold more than one cache (my first hide is there). Then there is Adirondack Park, about 180 miles from where I live that covers 6.1 million acres.

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I'm sure that sort of thing happens in my town, but I've never heard of it. It's not a worry for me. Of course, you always need to be careful of your surroundings, especially in more remote areas.

 

My husband and I did a cache in Central Park in 2002 that seemed fine, but later I read people commenting on it being an area that *ahem* things happened. That was disconcerting. The cache is was archived a couple months after we found it.

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All my prior posts about being accosted by a "park pervert" while traveling to GeoWoodstock II in 2004 are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully quoted herein. Non-Oldtimers can read my posts to a 2005 thread on this same subject, beginning here, if morbidly curious.

 

That day remains the last day on which I struck another person in anger, albeit in self defense. I hope it stays that way. It's definitely helped me in remaining aware of my surroundings ever since then. If I feel hinky about the scene in a park, I leave. No cache is that important.

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I think I had someone interested in me one time while placing a cache. It was about 50 ft from the park roadway and path where joggers frequent. I had passed the guy walking as I drove up to the area near a small pond. After I placed the cache i found the guy walking right towards me. Not an area that people would want to hang out at so I definitely went on the defensive. I put on my annoyed/ pissed off look and said "Is everything alright" in the most intimidating voice I could come up with. The guy just shook his head and I jumped in the car and sped away. I might have totally been making things up in my head.

 

I do most of my caching during the week in the morning/ early afternoon (I work nights) so I do get suspicious when I see men hanging out in their cars in the park parking lots (I never thought that the cars being backed into the spot meant anything but SwineFlew implied it might be a signal for those seeking "companionship"). I guess others in the park might be suspicious of me as well. I usually have on hiking boots and a backpack so I hope this sends out the signal that I am here to hike not to do other things.

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I have been tailed in a park before by suspicious characters, but when biking, not caching. I stopped at a picnic table, pretended to write his license plate down (it was before I owned a cell phone), and when that didn't ward him off, I began to brandish my pocket knife.

 

I was also once propositioned in the bulk foods aisle of Meijer by a dirty creepy guy.

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I love park hides because they are usually more interesting than most of the usual hides around here. I like the exercise you get from hiking in and the nice scenery. What I don't like is having some weirdo who sees you go off the trail, follow you in to the forest assuming you are there for some "muggle" action. I say live and let live most of the time but I wish these people would stay out of the public parks.

The latest trend is for the to go home and suicide. Then their buddies blame you for it because you were not as gracious about their attentions as you could have been. Shame on you. You should be more understanding about their special needs that drive them to stalk cachers in the bushes. :huh:

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I usually get left alone. Since I am a bit of a tomboy I look alot younger than I actually am so if someone sees what they think is a 16 year old tomboy rooting around in a bush or climbing on a street sign they think little of it.

 

However I hope no one ever attacks me. FYI- Its bad for your health to try to jump knife collecters.

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I think I had someone interested in me one time while placing a cache. It was about 50 ft from the park roadway and path where joggers frequent. I had passed the guy walking as I drove up to the area near a small pond. After I placed the cache i found the guy walking right towards me. Not an area that people would want to hang out at so I definitely went on the defensive. I put on my annoyed/ pissed off look and said "Is everything alright" in the most intimidating voice I could come up with. The guy just shook his head and I jumped in the car and sped away. I might have totally been making things up in my head.

 

I do most of my caching during the week in the morning/ early afternoon (I work nights) so I do get suspicious when I see men hanging out in their cars in the park parking lots (I never thought that the cars being backed into the spot meant anything but SwineFlew implied it might be a signal for those seeking "companionship"). I guess others in the park might be suspicious of me as well. I usually have on hiking boots and a backpack so I hope this sends out the signal that I am here to hike not to do other things.

 

Holy crap, I aways back my car into spots! Maybe that's my issue! I do it because after I get the cache I open the hatch of my wagon and lay there to log the cache from my phone.

 

D'oh! I even have a blanket and pillow...

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Last year (or maybe it was this year), a friend and I were caching in a city park. The final was a birdhouse on the trunk of a pine tree about 50 feet from the parking lot. I sat at the picnic table to figure out the next cache. A couple of days latter I saw the picnic table and tree on the local news. Less than 24 hours after we were there, a lady was murdered at the picnic table. Someone was mad at his X wife so he randomly selected this lady to murder.

 

This was an area I would never have safty concerns about.

 

While the cops found some of the other caches in the park, they did not find the cache 15 feet from where she was murdered. That was rather suprising as the bird house was not a place where a bird house should be.

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Unfortunately, some of the best geocaching spots are also ideal locations for drug dealing, dumping bodies, and, less onerously, illicit affairs and discreet encounters. Sadly, we still live in a society that forces some people to hide their true selves and find comfort in the shadows. I find the hysteria about being "propositioned" to be ridiculous. You could encounter far worse things in a park than getting checked out by another dude.

 

Take the experience to heart and remember it next time you're talking to a pretty girl who is obviously trying to get away from you.

 

Many of the parking lots in our greenbelt are known pick-up spots. I figure that's a good thing, because the extra traffic scares off the thieves who break into cars.

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A few years ago when caching wasn't as popular, a friend went into the woods to try for an FTF. A minute or two later a guy heads off the trail and stops near my friend.

 

Since my friend didn't know if it was a cacher or not, he wasn't sure what to say. Finally, he said, "Are you looking for what I'm looking for?" The other person got a big smile on his face and said, "I think I am..."

 

It was pretty quick that my friend realized they were not looking for the same thing, and he high tailed it out of there.

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My husband and I did a cache in Central Park in 2002 that seemed fine, but later I read people commenting on it being an area that *ahem* things happened. That was disconcerting. The cache is was archived a couple months after we found it.

Yes, the Ramble. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be, but I still wouldn't cache there after dark. The signals that cachers emit are too easy to misinterpret.

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My husband and I did a cache in Central Park in 2002 that seemed fine, but later I read people commenting on it being an area that *ahem* things happened. That was disconcerting. The cache is was archived a couple months after we found it.

Yes, the Ramble. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be, but I still wouldn't cache there after dark. The signals that cachers emit are too easy to misinterpret.

 

Yeah, it was Lake View. We went in 2002, and I had a very low opinion of Central Park from that caching trip (we went to about 6 caches, dnf'd 2 gross ones). I've carried that opinion over the years, scoffing at pretty portrayals of Central Park in the movies. But then we visited again last summer, and it was just beautiful. Totally changed my mind, thank goodness. :rolleyes:

Edited by Ambrosia
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I've actually archived a cache from a local park because of being approached while doing cache maintenance.

Not so much because of what was said to me, but because it is a small town and I didn't want anyone that recognized me see me coming and going on the trails and get the wrong idea about me! :rolleyes: And it's a nice park too! ;)

Funny, I've lived in the area for years, and I never knew it was a pickle park!

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....Take the experience to heart and remember it next time you're talking to a pretty girl who is obviously trying to get away from you....

 

Does said pretty girl feel like they did something wrong to attract the attention, or that something is wrong with them beacuse thats the kind of attention they do attract? Does said pretty girl find her needs are met in rest stops through glory holes with strangers or frolicking in the bushes at pickle parks and accosting strange cachers in hope of a quick fix? Ironicly at least one pretty girl I work with had as her job helping to install the hardened plate steel to try and keep our restrooms from being romper rooms.

 

It's not as pretty, quaint, and cute as Hollywood likes to show us, so I don't think normal folks feeling uncofortable is amis at all.

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....Take the experience to heart and remember it next time you're talking to a pretty girl who is obviously trying to get away from you....

 

Does said pretty girl feel like they did something wrong to attract the attention, or that something is wrong with them beacuse thats the kind of attention they do attract? Does said pretty girl find her needs are met in rest stops through glory holes with strangers or frolicking in the bushes at pickle parks and accosting strange cachers in hope of a quick fix? Ironicly at least one pretty girl I work with had as her job helping to install the hardened plate steel to try and keep our restrooms from being romper rooms.

 

It's not as pretty, quaint, and cute as Hollywood likes to show us, so I don't think normal folks feeling uncofortable is amis at all.

 

In my scenario, the pretty girl is comparable to the male geocacher minding his own business. If you feel uncomfortable being approached by another man, take that into consideration the next time you approach a pretty girl who isn't interested in you.

 

Feeling vaguely uncomfortable is one thing, coming onto a forum trying to arouse some sort of gay panic is another. Geocachers come in all varieties, and this kind of insulting, disparaging nonsense should make all normal people feel uncomfortable.

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The wife and I frequently go caching in the parks around the Mississippi River. Sometimes after dark. We've never been followed into the off trail areas, so far. Being a Marine, I don't wory too much about it. You'll have better luck trying for the FTF than to "prom my poush!" (seemed appropriate) Still, a person alone needs to stay aware of their surrondings and if you get the creeps, trust that feeling and GTFO!

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....Take the experience to heart and remember it next time you're talking to a pretty girl who is obviously trying to get away from you....

 

Does said pretty girl feel like they did something wrong to attract the attention, or that something is wrong with them beacuse thats the kind of attention they do attract? Does said pretty girl find her needs are met in rest stops through glory holes with strangers or frolicking in the bushes at pickle parks and accosting strange cachers in hope of a quick fix? Ironicly at least one pretty girl I work with had as her job helping to install the hardened plate steel to try and keep our restrooms from being romper rooms.

 

It's not as pretty, quaint, and cute as Hollywood likes to show us, so I don't think normal folks feeling uncofortable is amis at all.

As a girl who was "Blessed" with certain attributes men tend to find attractive, I can say that I'd often felt I'd done nothing wrong, even nothing at all, to attract the attention of said men. I was often rather confused, especially since my peers from grade school through high school went out of their way to tell me how disgusting and hideously ugly I was. Imagine my confusion when I hit college and I was approached nigh constantly by 59 year old mouth breathers (always with bad teeth, for some reason) with an uncanny inability to maintain eye-contact and who wouldn't leave me be. Who followed me from the coffee house to my car as I tried to make polite comments mean "You're very creepy so please go away now." because my momma'd done her best to raise me right.

You did right by telling that guy off. I've since become "not right" and tend to look for improvised weaponry as I'm walking, especially in the woods. One of the benefits of my outdated military spec gpsr is that I could probably beat the snot out of someone with it wipe up the blood and go caching after I'd had time to recover my wits. And a bit of advice they gave me back in one of my LE classes back in the day "Go for the eyes. Don't stop til you see eye jelly."

Also, if the Owner was aware of this problem they probably wouldn't have placed the cache. There's a lovely park in the next town. Needs a cache, but I'm not putting one there because it's where the local homeless go to bet busy. Whether someone who just came to the area knows about it is another thing entirely. They might just see a pretty neat sculpture park in an old section of town. Pop an nano on the largest piece and wait for the finds to roll in. Only when the logs said anything about it would they have an inkling.

I can see it from a few angles, but I'll never say you were wrong in telling that guy to go have relations with himself.

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I was at a reserve with a nice parking lot. I pulled up in the Jeep and there was a car nearby with their pit bull that had just got off the leash. I stayed in the Jeep until they were gone. Then I got out and was putting on my pack and stuff and a bike rode up. He started asking why I was there. Then he said he saw me sitting in the Jeep. He also said he had seen my Jeep there before. Then he told me he was the unofficial patrol of the area. I was ready to get back in the Jeep but he said there was a lot of hanky panky going on there and he was trying to chase them off. He wanted to make sure I wasn't one of them. I talked for a bit and when I was convinced he wasn't hitting on me I took him to the nearest cache. He thought it was pretty cool. He mentioned people backing in was a signal to others so I never back in to a spot.

 

I had been in this same area a couple of time getting caches. One time I was returning to the Jeep and two guys came out of the woods near me. I think they were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. I knew something was going on. They were behind me so as soon as I could I took a little side trail to let them pass.

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There is one park in my county near home that I walk in a lot that seems to be the new creepy guy pick up area. I see lots of used condoms in the parking lots. Yuck! I always pull straight in, don't back in, as I hear that is a signal to other creeps that you are looking for a similar creep.

 

Most of the time I go geocaching I have my 80 pound dog with me. I often see guys in their cars, backed in, who show interest in my vehicle as I approach and smile. As soon as I get out with my dog they seem disappointed as they know I'm not there to search for the same sort of concealed item they area searching for. Luckily I have never been approached, mostly because of good old Barkley I think. Could also be my looks.

 

Reading the older thread of The Leprechauns, I completely agree that these are OUR parks and we shouldn't shy away from placing caches or visiting them simply because of some deviants. Just be cautious, cache in groups, or bring a large dog.

 

Parks are not meant for those activities, regardless of one's orientation. Guys hanging out in parks to follow women would most likely quickly escalate into a 911 call. This should be no different.

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It hasnt happened to me yet although I have gotten glances from guys that made me wonder. :blink: The police have been cracking down pretty well in my area lately. I dont think I wold have a problem calling 911 after I got back to my vehicle to report activity. I have had to stay in the bushes though wile people passed me by and that made me feel like the creep, I tend to avoid caches like that now :P

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If somebody hits on you and you're not interested, say no. The vast majority of the time, it's just a lonely closeted guy looking for someone like-minded, and he's not going to persist if you make it clear that he had the wrong idea.

 

If someone does persist in bothering you, report them to the police.

If you see someone doing something legitimately illegal and/or dangerous, call the authorities. No, public parks should not be used for any kind of sex (straight people use parks for hooking up too, btw). They also shouldn't be used for drug dealing, car break-ins, or dumping bodies. Unfortunately, sometimes they are. So be safe, and help the authorities clean up these places by reporting things.

 

Skeevy people in parks come in many varieties. Perpetuating nasty stereotypes about gay people because someone made you feel a bit uncomfortable in a parking lot - that's just despicable. I can tell you right now that there are plenty of gay geocachers out there, not bothering anybody, and they don't need to read these hate-filled misconceptions on the geocaching forum.

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This is true. Just because someone is gay doesn't mean that they are constantly looking for people to pick up on.

 

My city is has a gay village with lots of shops, restaurants, and clubs where people can meet openly in a safe, legal environment.

 

The people using secret meeting places on the fringes of town generally aren't openly gay. Occasionally there are police raids on some of these hang-outs, and the men who get arrested are almost always living their day-to-day lives as straight. It's sad that, for whatever reason, some people need to pretend to be one thing while carrying so many secrets and searching for companionship in the shadows.

 

Besides that, a gay man has far more reason to fear a straight man in an isolated spot than vice-versa. Violent crimes against gay people are still unfortunately common.

 

Straight men are far more likely to commit all types of crime, so why isn't this thread about all the deviant straight men using parks to deal drugs and find rape victims? Let's chase all the straight men out of the parks. Better still, keeping all straight men locked up would drop the crime rate in a hurry.

Edited by narcissa
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This is an issue with people making inappropriate advances towards other people for the purposes of public sex which is illegal in most places. This isn't about hate towards gays at all. Most descent straight and gay people don't pull into a park at night to have sex with a stranger.

 

+10

Edited by sabrefan7
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The only time in my life I was ever approached by a gay person, was when I was in the Navy and in uniform. It happened a couple of times, and every time all I needed to do was let them know I wasn't interested. Problem solved and they left me alone.

 

If I was ever approached by someone in a park, I can't imagine it wouldn't work the same. It might make me a little uncomfortable, but a lot of things in life do. I'm sure some things I might do would make someone else uncomfortable. (I agree the park is not the place for this type of thing, gay or straight, but that's another subject.)

 

As for backing in the car as a sign. Who the heck cares. If I want to back into a spot, for whatever reason and someone misinterprets why, that's not my problem.

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This is an issue with people making inappropriate advances towards other people for the purposes of public sex which is illegal in most places. This isn't about hate towards gays at all. Most descent straight and gay people don't pull into a park at night to have sex with a stranger.

 

There have been several comments that went well beyond those parameters.

 

Having sex in a public place is illegal in most places. Making an advance? Unless an exchange of money is involved, or you're in one of those states that still legislates against consensual relations between adults, asking somebody if they're interested in hooking up likely isn't illegal.

 

While having sex in public is by definition "indecent," whether or not the people doing it are strangers is really not at all relevant.

 

And though I'd rather not run into people having sex near a geocache, I am far more concerned about the violent crime that also happens in the greenbelt around town.

 

The one time I did stumble across people hooking up in a park, it was a teenage boy and girl. And I don't think they're indecent, depraved, deviants so much as regular teenagers not wanting to get caught by parents.

Edited by narcissa
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This is an issue with people making inappropriate advances towards other people for the purposes of public sex which is illegal in most places. This isn't about hate towards gays at all. Most descent straight and gay people don't pull into a park at night to have sex with a stranger.

 

There have been several comments that went well beyond those parameters.

 

Having sex in a public place is illegal in most places. Making an advance? Unless an exchange of money is involved, or you're in one of those states that still legislates against consensual relations between adults, asking somebody if they're interested in hooking up likely isn't illegal.

 

While having sex in public is by definition "indecent," whether or not the people doing it are strangers is really not at all relevant.

 

And though I'd rather not run into people having sex near a geocache, I am far more concerned about the violent crime that also happens in the greenbelt around town.

 

The one time I did stumble across people hooking up in a park, it was a teenage boy and girl. And I don't think they're indecent, depraved, deviants so much as regular teenagers not wanting to get caught by parents.

Thanks, Narcissa, it looks like you're one of the few people with a sensible perspective here.

 

Me, I don't know about sensible, but I'd a lot rather see people arranging a consensual hookup (of any kind) which physically harms no one in a park than see the broken windshields which means criminals caused real harm to someone.

 

And as noted, straight guys are statistically a lot more likely to be the criminals, so if anyone should set off my "creep" alarm it would be a straight guy.

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In the parks that are shady that I know of it I'd usually straight men looking for female prostitutes hanging around. And the voyeurs that follow them. And then the other drug dealing types that go to the sane shady areas. I've been followed by men in parks and propositioned. And some of those men dont like to hear no as an answer. So now I pick my caching spots carefully. No smiley is worth that trouble to me.

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