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The Tombstone Tent Has Been Opened


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GC62

 

As you can see, the Tombstone tent has been opened. For those of you who aren't aware, the oldest cache in Texas has had a pitched tent near it (about 8-10 yards away) for at least the last few years. The tent has spooked many cachers, yet no one had ever seen the owner of the tent in the woods near the cache, nor had anyone opened the tent--until yesterday.

 

Here is the cacher's log:

 

"Be careful at this cache. There is a tent by the cache that someone is living in, and that someone is doing drugs. I opened up what I thought was the cache and got hit with the fumes and saw the stuff. Ugh... But the cache was cool and finding it with new friends from Hawaii was way cool!"

 

Thinking that the tent was the cache (which would make for a pretty "large" cache, by the way!), the cacher opened the tent and found (what appears to be) weed.

 

What makes this suddenly even more complex (for me at least) is that as a short-term (3 months) employee of the University of Texas at Arlington, I'm now aware that we have a pile of illegal drugs sitting in a patch of woods on our campus.

 

So, what should be done?

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If you see illegal activity, what do you think you should do?

 

It's weed not a real drug like crack, cocaine, heroin etc. Leave the guy alone and move along.

 

Just because you see illegal activity doesn't mean you have to do anything about it. You always have a choice and this doesn't seem worth much effort. In most states that small an amount is an infraction. Unfortunately Texas still is one of the more Draconian ones and you can get up to 6 months for less than 2oz.

 

Go home and have a drink.

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If you see illegal activity, what do you think you should do?

 

It's weed not a real drug like crack, cocaine, heroin etc. Leave the guy alone and move along.

 

Just because you see illegal activity doesn't mean you have to do anything about it. You always have a choice and this doesn't seem worth much effort. In most states that small an amount is an infraction. Unfortunately Texas still is one of the more Draconian ones and you can get up to 6 months for less than 2oz.

 

Go home and have a drink.

 

Living in a public area is not legal. They have enough money to get stoned everyday, and have set up a long term residence. Pot cost much more than alcohol, and now they have the munchies. Ignoring them is not going to help them any. If it was a couple of people in their 20s just hanging out for a few hours it would be much different, or perhaps a homeless person living there for a few weeks would be ok. But this is a little different.

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If you see illegal activity, what do you think you should do?

 

It's weed not a real drug like crack, cocaine, heroin etc. Leave the guy alone and move along.

 

Just because you see illegal activity doesn't mean you have to do anything about it. You always have a choice and this doesn't seem worth much effort. In most states that small an amount is an infraction. Unfortunately Texas still is one of the more Draconian ones and you can get up to 6 months for less than 2oz.

 

Go home and have a drink.

 

Living in a public area is not legal. They have enough money to get stoned everyday, and have set up a long term residence. Pot cost much more than alcohol, and now they have the munchies. Ignoring them is not going to help them any. If it was a couple of people in their 20s just hanging out for a few hours it would be much different, or perhaps a homeless person living there for a few weeks would be ok. But this is a little different.

 

The real question is That his home. Public place or not. If it is, then let him be. If he comes there to get high, then let him, and leave him alone. I'd not let anyone know this is going on because of one simple thing. They are Only hurting themselves.

 

The Steaks

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Spend several hours cleaning up a few acres after someone who has been living outdoors long term, and you may feel a little different. I probably have more tolerance than most people, but because they have been living there a few years that type of thing gets old. The government spends a ton of money unnecessarily prosecuting many people like that, and they also spend a ton of money on programs to prevent unnecessary incarceration and to help them. Looking the other way is the easiest.

Edited by 4wheelin_fool
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If I am interpreting your avatar correctly you were once a long-haired kid at Baylor. You never encountered drugs there? What did you do when you did?

 

Haha! Excellent (and correct) interpretation! However, I did not once encounter drugs at Baylor, nor did I have any desire to. That's also what I get for being an RA for 3 years... :lol:

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How much weed is it? Just some home-less person's stash or what? :rolleyes:

 

I'm unsure. All I know is what's in the log that you can view as well. On the other hand, I'm about 1/3rd of a mile from Tombstone right now, so I guess I could answer your question within 15 minutes... But I'd rather not crawl around in dense brush when it's 98 degrees outside, haha.

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If you see illegal activity, what do you think you should do?

 

It's weed not a real drug like crack, cocaine, heroin etc. Leave the guy alone and move along.

 

Just because you see illegal activity doesn't mean you have to do anything about it. You always have a choice and this doesn't seem worth much effort. In most states that small an amount is an infraction. Unfortunately Texas still is one of the more Draconian ones and you can get up to 6 months for less than 2oz.

 

Go home and have a drink.

 

Living in a public area is not legal. They have enough money to get stoned everyday, and have set up a long term residence. Pot cost much more than alcohol, and now they have the munchies. Ignoring them is not going to help them any. If it was a couple of people in their 20s just hanging out for a few hours it would be much different, or perhaps a homeless person living there for a few weeks would be ok. But this is a little different.

 

Pot doesn't necessarily cost more. Back in the day when I used my drug of choice was pot. I could get high for days for $20 where as I could maybe get drunk for an evening for $20. Once people get to know their suppliers and aren't all buying "retail" the price goes down dramatically for illicit drugs. Plus there's a pretty extensive barter system as well for it. Not to mention it's not hte most difficult plant to grow and in many places can be found all over in the wilderness by other people growing.

 

I would imagine if this was a habitual thing that most people would be smelling the ganja than the one finder.

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So, what should be done?

 

I dunno.

If they are just regular folks who like to smoke a little weed once in a while, I'd hang out until they returned and ask to join them as a social event. Of course I'd need a LARGE bag of chocolate-chip/pecan cookies to share.

 

If they are weed-smoking zombies, then the whole area will need to be torched.

 

Too bad about the cache in the zombie example.

 

Seriously though...is the tent, the occupants or their activities really hurting anyone?

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So, what should be done?

 

I dunno.

If they are just regular folks who like to smoke a little weed once in a while, I'd hang out until they returned and ask to join them as a social event. Of course I'd need a LARGE bag of chocolate-chip/pecan cookies to share.

 

If they are weed-smoking zombies, then the whole area will need to be torched.

 

Too bad about the cache in the zombie example.

 

Seriously though...is the tent, the occupants or their activities really hurting anyone?

 

My bold. I'd guess not, as the tent has apparently been there for quite some time. No problems yet, or none that have required that the tent relocate. I say leave them be. I'm from a much more pot-liberal area though, so my opinion might be in the minority.

 

I'll bring some uh..... social stuff, you bring the cookies :ph34r::anibad::laughing:

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Since I cache w/ my young kids a lot I would not want to walk up on a pot smoker when looking for cache. Since I deal in the business of addressing the scourge that drugs cause to peoples lives and communities I guess my opinion is not so liberal. But to each his own. But don't be surprised when you engage in illegal activity that you may get acquainted w/ the criminal justice system. :)

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Seriously though...is the tent, the occupants or their activities really hurting anyone?

I would answer that question before addressing what should be done. Many transient camps become so filled with trash, body wastes and drug paraphernalia that the entire area is unsafe. If that's the case with this guy, I would take steps to get him removed. Turning a blind eye to this behavior does nothing to stem the behavior. However, if the guy is keeping the area clean, and is not accosting folks who wander through, I would wish him well and walk on. As someone who has been in law enforcement since '82, I can say without a moment's hesitation that I would much rather deal one on one with someone who has smoked a lot of marijuana, than someone who has consumed a lot of alcohol.

 

While I am aware of the details regarding how marijuana became illegal, I just can't see the logic in it.

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Seriously though...is the tent, the occupants or their activities really hurting anyone?

I would answer that question before addressing what should be done. Many transient camps become so filled with trash, body wastes and drug paraphernalia that the entire area is unsafe. If that's the case with this guy, I would take steps to get him removed. Turning a blind eye to this behavior does nothing to stem the behavior. However, if the guy is keeping the area clean, and is not accosting folks who wander through, I would wish him well and walk on. As someone who has been in law enforcement since '82, I can say without a moment's hesitation that I would much rather deal one on one with someone who has smoked a lot of marijuana, than someone who has consumed a lot of alcohol.

 

While I am aware of the details regarding how marijuana became illegal, I just can't see the logic in it.

You mean the differnce between the guy sitting on the curb eating pizza like there is no better pizza in the world and the guy who's picking a fight with you over his right to pee on the side of the building? Yep, big difference, one I see often living in Southern Colorado.

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GC62

 

As you can see, the Tombstone tent has been opened. For those of you who aren't aware, the oldest cache in Texas has had a pitched tent near it (about 8-10 yards away) for at least the last few years. The tent has spooked many cachers, yet no one had ever seen the owner of the tent in the woods near the cache, nor had anyone opened the tent--until yesterday.

 

Here is the cacher's log:

 

"Be careful at this cache. There is a tent by the cache that someone is living in, and that someone is doing drugs. I opened up what I thought was the cache and got hit with the fumes and saw the stuff. Ugh... But the cache was cool and finding it with new friends from Hawaii was way cool!"

 

Thinking that the tent was the cache (which would make for a pretty "large" cache, by the way!), the cacher opened the tent and found (what appears to be) weed.

 

What makes this suddenly even more complex (for me at least) is that as a short-term (3 months) employee of the University of Texas at Arlington, I'm now aware that we have a pile of illegal drugs sitting in a patch of woods on our campus.

 

So, what should be done?

This is nothing new. When I found the cache over 10 years ago, I also found a crack pipe. If you want him rousted, call the cops.

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You mean the difference between...

Exactly! When a pothead gets a little rowdy, you can tell him to chill, and in almost every case, that's exactly what he'll do. The drunk, on the other hand, is usually not so reasonable. Conflicts with stoners typically end peacefully. Conflicts with drunks usually end with violence and a trip to jail.

 

Tell me again why alcohol is mostly legal while marijuana is mostly illegal? :unsure:

(Yeah, that was rhetorical) <_<

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I think I should add a thing or two regarding the tent / weed situation:

 

- As far as I know from the logs, no one has ever seen the occupant of the tent, nor has anyone heard noises from the tent or seen movement inside of the tent.

 

- Honestly, the assumption of most cachers is that someone is living in the tent. From what it sounds like, this might just be where someone hides his/her weed.

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This is nothing new. When I found the cache over 10 years ago, I also found a crack pipe. If you want him rousted, call the cops.

Sure that it was a crack pipe?

 

The local cops stopped my 17 year-old son for a seat belt violation and saw his pipe in the car. Decided it was a crack pipe and brought him home to me. The officer's son and mine had played ball together for years, we knew each other from the bleachers, he said I needed to get my boy some help, now.

 

I went ballistic, really went off on the kid, didn't believe for a moment that all he smoked was pot... the police see this stuff all the time, as far as I was concerned if they said it was a crack pipe then that's what it was. This was a very small pipe, couldn't hold enough pot for more than a toke or two, so it made sense to me that it was a crack pipe.

 

It was tough because my son and I have a pretty trusting relationship. I practiced 'trust, but verify' as a way to achieve that trust with all five of my kids. I had never caught him in a lie. I know what the residue of pot in a pipe looks like but have never seen a used crack pipe, so no way I could tell what had been smoked in it.

 

I knew he smoked pot, knew that it wasn't an obsession, and trusted his judgement. But now a policeman had said it was crack and I felt I could not take my boy's word that it wasn't. That was terrible for both of us. I took my son's car away and took him to drug counseling. Turns out it was in fact just pot that he and some friends occasionally smoked. That he might have escalated to crack scared the hell out of me. It took him a while to understand why all the sudden I wouldn't believe him, but he finally understood that once drugs like crack come into the picture there can be no trust, and anyone using it is in serious emotional and physical trouble with his very life hanging in the balance.

 

Thankfully the officer was wrong. He's a healthy 22 year-old hard-working college student now, and I believe him when he says that he's done no drug but pot and won't.

 

Don't assume that every pipe you see is a crack pipe.

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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I think I should add a thing or two regarding the tent / weed situation:

 

- As far as I know from the logs, no one has ever seen the occupant of the tent, nor has anyone heard noises from the tent or seen movement inside of the tent.

 

- Honestly, the assumption of most cachers is that someone is living in the tent. From what it sounds like, this might just be where someone hides his/her weed.

 

That's a little different. Its strange that they would leave it out it view, but I suppose if someone did notify the authorities, then a cacher visiting the area could be accused of it being theirs, or being part of a nearby grow operation. I suppose that we should just trust that the person is not part of that.

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I think I should add a thing or two regarding the tent / weed situation:

 

- As far as I know from the logs, no one has ever seen the occupant of the tent, nor has anyone heard noises from the tent or seen movement inside of the tent.

 

- Honestly, the assumption of most cachers is that someone is living in the tent. From what it sounds like, this might just be where someone hides his/her weed.

 

That's a little different. Its strange that they would leave it out it view, but I suppose if someone did notify the authorities, then a cacher visiting the area could be accused of it being theirs, or being part of a nearby grow operation. I suppose that we should just trust that the person is not part of that.

 

I'm not sure what "it" you're referring to in the second sentence--either the tent or the weed, I assume. Either way, that's not correct. The tent is tucked away in some very dense brush near GZ. Coming from one direction, I didn't see the tent until I was about 3 feet away from it--scared the living daylights out of me that first time! And the weed itself--according to the posted log--is inside of the tent, which until a few days ago, had never been opened by a cacher.

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So the cops figure out a grow operation is nearby and realize the tent part of it. A cacher wanders upon GZ and gets questioned. They deny it, and say that they are only looking for a cache. The cop points out that a fellow cacher may have pitched the tent and reads the logs indicating that cachers already know about it. They check the forums and see that several people are aware of the pot, and a possible grow operation and are advising people not to say anything about it. At that point, what do you think their impression would be?

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Ok... Let's consider for a moment that I did mention this to the UTA police. Is there any way that the cache will survive?

 

I can see the conversation going something like this:

 

Me: "I know of a pile of weed on this campus. And I can show you."

 

Police: "How do you know about it?"

 

Me: "I was Geocaching."

 

Police: "What's that?"

 

[10 difficult minutes later]

 

Police: "So you were searching in the woods for a container to sign a piece of paper, and you stumbled across a pile of weed?"

 

Me: "No, I saw a log online after I found the container that said there was a pile of weed in a nearby tent."

 

Etc...

 

I just don't see how I can avoid showing the police the cache--and inevitably having it removed--in this sitution. And frankly I don't want to go down as the person who ruined the oldest cache in Texas to turn in a pile of weed in a tent.

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Just leave a note in the tent advising them that the tent should be removed within 30 days, or that you will remove it for them, don't mention caching, and say that you are associated with the school. Take the weed and toss it away. Go back within a month or so and check to see if it has been disturbed and CITO the tent. If it is in good shape, donate it to a thrift store. Problem solved.

 

It's highly unusual for them to leave the stash there, and if there was a homeless person living there, they would not stray too far from the area.

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Ok... Let's consider for a moment that I did mention this to the UTA police. Is there any way that the cache will survive?

 

I can see the conversation going something like this:

 

Me: "I know of a pile of weed on this campus. And I can show you."

 

Police: "How do you know about it?"

 

Me: "I was Geocaching."

 

Police: "What's that?"

 

[10 difficult minutes later]

 

Police: "So you were searching in the woods for a container to sign a piece of paper, and you stumbled across a pile of weed?"

 

Me: "No, I saw a log online after I found the container that said there was a pile of weed in a nearby tent."

 

Etc...

 

I just don't see how I can avoid showing the police the cache--and inevitably having it removed--in this sitution. And frankly I don't want to go down as the person who ruined the oldest cache in Texas to turn in a pile of weed in a tent.

 

Then forget about it.

 

Also, if you really have to do it, say this guy living there was threatening people or actually doing something dangerous or harmful, then you could always leave an anonymous note without your name or anything.

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Ok... Let's consider for a moment that I did mention this to the UTA police. Is there any way that the cache will survive?

 

I can see the conversation going something like this:

 

Me: "I know of a pile of weed on this campus. And I can show you."

 

Police: "How do you know about it?"

 

Me: "I was Geocaching."

 

Police: "What's that?"

 

[10 difficult minutes later]

 

Police: "So you were searching in the woods for a container to sign a piece of paper, and you stumbled across a pile of weed?"

 

Me: "No, I saw a log online after I found the container that said there was a pile of weed in a nearby tent."

 

Etc...

 

I just don't see how I can avoid showing the police the cache--and inevitably having it removed--in this sitution. And frankly I don't want to go down as the person who ruined the oldest cache in Texas to turn in a pile of weed in a tent.

 

Shouldn't be an issue since the cache has permission, right?

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You don't need to tell the campus police you were caching, as it is just a part of hiking. I do not think that they will bust him either, and will use their best judgement on how to handle it. However if you return during harvest season and there are plants hanging upside down, being dried out from inside the tent, then that's a little different.

 

Then there is the possibility that the campus police may already be aware of it, as they may need a place to chill also...

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It says in large bold letters on the cahce page that the final cache is a decon container.

I haven't seen a cache in a decon container around my turf, but I am fairly surtain it looks nothing like a tent.

 

as for what you should do, I'd be inclined not to do anything, but that's me. Do what you feel is appropriate.

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I'm surprised no one suggested emailing the cache owner and asking him/her to delete the log -- after all, if mentioning going into a park outside the posted hours is grounds for a log deletion I can only imagine what a black eye caching would get if a land manager noticed we witnessed illegal activity and did nothing. :laughing:

 

As for my real answer...

 

I'd notify campus security. I wouldn't mention the pot at all, just that there is a tent set up on campus and it appears it might be a homeless camp. Let them handle it as they see fit.

 

This is similiar to what happens with our local caching group and the city when we do CITO in the parks. If we spot a homeless encampment we are asked to a) not approach it and B) get approximate coordinates and report it to them at the end of the event. What they do with it at that point is up to them.

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Take the weed and toss it away.

 

NOOOOOOOO!

 

Why does Arlington have to be SO FAR from Tempe? :mad:

 

It could be laced with angel dust, embalming fluid, or have a bit too much bug killer. :huh:

 

Usually someone who is desperate to smoke something from an unknown source, will also eventually move on to something harder, because they don't care where it came from and they gotta have something after their tolerance builds up.

 

That's also one of the main reasons why kids grow their own weed in the woods and harvest it in a nearby tent..

Edited by 4wheelin_fool
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What makes this suddenly even more complex (for me at least) is that as a short-term (3 months) employee of the University of Texas at Arlington, I'm now aware that we have a pile of illegal drugs sitting in a patch of woods on our campus.

 

Short term or not, you're a university employee. Rhetorical question: do you think that university employees should or should not tolerate illegal activity on campus?

 

Sorry to have to be the narc in this situation, but I'd call the campus police.

 

If you're really worried about the cache's survival, contact the cache owner (they're relatively active, last logged in a few weeks ago, last found a cache in April), have them temporarily disable the cache and remove the container until the cops are done with that spot. Owner might want to relocate the cache a bit anyway, given that its current location just changed from a homeless camp (which wasn't a great place for a cache in the first place) to a crime scene.

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I'm curious about how much trash the person in the tent has around it.

 

In the forests and parks around Central Coast California these sorts of tent habitations are usually trashy, rat infested and worse. All you need is the person in the tent to feel some geocacher is after their stash and you can have an unpleasant confrontation.

 

Our Pogonip was facing closure as it became tent-city to people who were moving on to stronger drugs. Finally the fences when up around the access points and the dump trucks were moved in and the tents, "furniture", mountains of trash and other unmentionable items were hauled out.

 

I'm a bit surprised the tent doesn't yet have neighbors.

 

Either disable the cache or alert the campus police. Doing nothing is waiting for something else which you may regret more than either action.

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I'm really curious for the rest of the story. How much pot and where was it? Did the cacher open the tent and there sits a bale of pot? A baggie on a table? Or, as I suspect happened, did they search the tent and find a small amount inside something they had to open? I would bet on the latter.

Likely a roach. <_< Wonder what would happen if the OP ever gets a FTF? :lol:

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I'm curious about how much trash the person in the tent has around it.

 

In the forests and parks around Central Coast California these sorts of tent habitations are usually trashy, rat infested and worse. All you need is the person in the tent to feel some geocacher is after their stash and you can have an unpleasant confrontation.

 

Our Pogonip was facing closure as it became tent-city to people who were moving on to stronger drugs. Finally the fences when up around the access points and the dump trucks were moved in and the tents, "furniture", mountains of trash and other unmentionable items were hauled out.

 

I'm a bit surprised the tent doesn't yet have neighbors.

 

Either disable the cache or alert the campus police. Doing nothing is waiting for something else which you may regret more than either action.

Where I live, clearing away a homeless camp would be considered a human rights violation (rightly or wrongly) So no organized effort to remove such would be undertaken.

Tents are a part of the hazards of caching, perhaps someone should suggest to Groundspeak an attribute for them, like we have for ticks and thorns and such... :ph34r:

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I'm curious about how much trash the person in the tent has around it.

 

In the forests and parks around Central Coast California these sorts of tent habitations are usually trashy, rat infested and worse. All you need is the person in the tent to feel some geocacher is after their stash and you can have an unpleasant confrontation.

 

Our Pogonip was facing closure as it became tent-city to people who were moving on to stronger drugs. Finally the fences when up around the access points and the dump trucks were moved in and the tents, "furniture", mountains of trash and other unmentionable items were hauled out.

 

I'm a bit surprised the tent doesn't yet have neighbors.

 

Either disable the cache or alert the campus police. Doing nothing is waiting for something else which you may regret more than either action.

Where I live, clearing away a homeless camp would be considered a human rights violation (rightly or wrongly) So no organized effort to remove such would be undertaken.

Tents are a part of the hazards of caching, perhaps someone should suggest to Groundspeak an attribute for them, like we have for ticks and thorns and such... :ph34r:

 

First and foremost - Geocaching is supposed to be family and kid friendly. Do you feel comfortable with the idea of kids being near a known homeless encampment/drug den?

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