Painted rocks inside caches

[+SwineFlew]

I am noticed there are a huge painted rock crowd out there, bigger than geocaching. However,  how you guys feel about painted rocks inside caches? Yes, I been finding those rocks in caches at a high level. I got mixed feeling about it for a number of reasons.

Edited May 20, 2019 by SwineFlew

[+K13]

I've never seen one, either in a cache or in the wild. Must be a Left-coast thing. 

[+cerberus1]

There was a thread on those a couple years ago.   Was surprised to see an open space manager placing them in caches now.

When I see them,  I'm reminded of why many trails have erosion issues.  Guess rocks in their natural state just aren't "pretty" enough.

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

[+kunarion]

I've seen places locally where there are hundreds of painted river stones, maybe about the size to fit in a hand, some larger.  The stones decorate the ground in some town square.  They were all painted at a local festival or whatever, by kids and families.  The stones are to be carried far and wide for peace and goodwill and luck.  Or something.  So it's not surprising they'd turn up in caches.  If a person uses one for trade, understand that they grabbed it from the pile.  So it was as fair a trade as a golf ball near a golf course.  At least it's not a gum wrapper.  

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

11 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

There was a thread on those a couple years ago.   Was surprised to see an open space manager placing them in caches now.

When I see them,  I'm reminded of why many trails have erosion issues.  Guess rocks in their natural state just aren't "pretty" enough.

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

 

I`ve seen little google-eyed rock "animal" souvenirs in gift shops.  If it's a nicely designed signature item, that might be cool.

 

I'm working with small river stones for my 50ml vial Micros.  But those are weights .  So the tube doesn't blow away after hanging on a tree branch.

[+hzoi]

4 hours ago, K13 said:

Must be a Left-coast thing.

 

Plenty of them in Virginia; that's where we first came across it.  I know a few cachers who leave painted rocks in caches they own or find.

[+L0ne.R]

6 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

There was a thread on those a couple years ago.   Was surprised to see an open space manager placing them in caches now.

When I see them,  I'm reminded of why many trails have erosion issues.  Guess rocks in their natural state just aren't "pretty" enough.

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

 Where do all the landscaping smooth stones come from? Businesses use literally tons of river rocks for landscaping. I assume they are not quarry rocks (don’t get me started on quarries that scar and permanently damage the landscape).  

 

How damaging are beach rocks? Many people get their rocks from lake and sea beaches. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

I'm not surprised some would use painted rocks as swag.

 

If someone put them in a geocache then posted about it on one of the rock Facebook groups it could definitely cause problems from non-cachers seeking caches. 

[+NanCycle]

9 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

I have a lot of rocks in my back yard that I could paint  (if I wanted to ).  I bought those rocks,  as part of my landscaping. 

[+cerberus1]

10 minutes ago, NanCycle said:

I have a lot of rocks in my back yard that I could paint  (if I wanted to ).  I bought those rocks,  as part of my landscaping. 

 

Sure. I even have river rocks around the pool and under the deck.

But the one at an event we've seen pick rocks from trails,  and we've said something earlier to him about trail erosion.

Why we knew it was bs.

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

How damaging are beach rocks? Many people get their rocks from lake and sea beaches. 

 

Funny, we don't see that.  Most areas we're familiar with you could get ticketed.  Try plucking a piece of sea glass...

I can't remember being on any federal or state's properties and were allowed to remove anything that's there naturally..

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Funny, we don't see that.  Most areas we're familiar with you could get ticketed.  Try plucking a piece of sea glass...

I can't remember being on any federal or state's properties and were allowed to remove anything that's there naturally..

 

Me neither, except at one National Seashore area, which was kind of a funny experience. There was a presentation at the end of the day by a park ranger, and one of the things she did was hold up a small black rectangular pod. “Anyone pick up one of these from the beach?” -

 

The group got very quiet, like they were thinking, “Oh, someone's gonna get pretty chewed out...”

 

- “Because”, she continued, “if you have a salt water aquarium, you can drop it in there, and a fish will hatch! It's called a 'skate'! Pretty cool, right?”

 

It was just like night and day from all the restrictions, “If you find X, don't even touch it”, it was kind of funny to hear. Along with the collective sigh of relief from the group.

[+colleda]

6 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

Me neither, except at one National Seashore area, which was kind of a funny experience. There was a presentation at the end of the day by a park ranger, and one of the things she did was hold up a small black rectangular pod. “Anyone pick up one of these from the beach?” -

 

The group got very quiet, like they were thinking, “Oh, someone's gonna get pretty chewed out...”

 

- “Because”, she continued, “if you have a salt water aquarium, you can drop it in there, and a fish will hatch! It's called a 'skate'! Pretty cool, right?”

 

It was just like night and day from all the restrictions, “If you find X, don't even touch it”, it was kind of funny to hear. Along with the collective sigh of relief from the group.

I had a chuckle reading this. I pictured in my mind a scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian - the stoning scene?

[+bflentje]

11 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

 (don’t get me started on quarries that scar and permanently damage the landscape).  

 

How damaging are beach rocks? Many people get their rocks from lake and sea beaches. 

 

good grief

[+colleda]

May I suggest we all get our rocks from the sea and do our bit to stem the rise of water levels due to global warming.?

[+speakers-corner]

2 hours ago, colleda said:

May I suggest we all get our rocks from the sea and do our bit to stem the rise of water levels due to global warming.?

 

But if you take rocks from the beach you reduce the level of the land and as water levels are rising this could cause flooding (only joking).

[+Lorien99]

I paint rocks on occasion. It is a huge thing in some areas to leave painted rocks to be found, but I don't know if it's bigger than geocaching. There is some overlap, though.

 

I use small, flattish rocks that fit in my hand and usually just put words on them, such as "peace" and "you rock." Some people use larger rocks and get quite creative with scenes. Some people are much more talented than I am.

 

I've left a few of my painted rocks in caches, though I've found so many micros that I forget about the rocks when I finally find a regular cache. Also, rocks get rather heavy to carry around, if I carry too many. I get my rocks either from near a river or I'll purchase them. Some public areas will have signs saying not to pick up rocks, so I leave those rocks alone.

[+stevnated]

I adore finding painted rocks, it's so unexpected! And some of them are so well done too, I really enjoy relocating them for other people to be delighted! I definitely would prefer to find a painted rock in a cache over junky kids' toys, bottle caps and other trash. Most painted rocks I have found appeared to be landscaping stones purchased for the purpose of painting them, not local. But I don't know where these rocks come from, is this really a problem in the world? People using up all the rocks???

 

(I'm talking about legit artists doing this, I've never found one that looked like a kid did it. That would be rather horrible.)

Edited June 9, 2019 by stevnated

[+Mudfrog]

I somehow missed this thread when it was first started. See it today and have to wonder, why anyone would get upset enough about a painted rock to start a thread about it.

 

The painted rock fad came through our area about 2 years ago. I enjoyed coming across them because of all the variety and creative artistry. Don't remember finding any in caches, mostly because the majority of caches here are micro,  but it would have been a nice surprise if I had in a larger cache since most everything else in them is junky trash. Like geocaching, the fad slowed to a crawl because too many people got into it and began throwing them out with hardly any effort put into them. 

 

Seems to be a problem with a lot of hobbies. Many hobbies begin with people who really care, are dedicated, and that try to bring something creative to the hobby. Unfortunately, things sometimes go downhill when word gets out and too many people get into the mix. 

[+chasclifton]

There are some people in my area painting rocks, with or without the brief affirmations on them. I have not yet found one in a cache, but they would be better than dirty pebbles, bottle caps, and expended shotgun shells, all of which I have found this month.

 

So who will be the first to create a painted-rock trackable?

[+NanCycle]

6 minutes ago, chasclifton said:

So who will be the first to create a painted-rock trackable?

 

I bet it has already been done. 

[+chasclifton]

1 minute ago, NanCycle said:

 

I bet it has already been done. 

Probably true! (Hmm, is there a weight limit on trackables?)

[+NYPaddleCacher]

13 hours ago, chasclifton said:

There are some people in my area painting rocks, with or without the brief affirmations on them. I have not yet found one in a cache, but they would be better than dirty pebbles, bottle caps, and expended shotgun shells, all of which I have found this month.

 

So who will be the first to create a painted-rock trackable?

 

I don't know but I've done an Earthcache that was based on a glacial erratic, which was actually a large granite rock in a restaurant parking lot and painted yellow so that nobody would run into it.  

[+NYPaddleCacher]

13 hours ago, chasclifton said:

Probably true! (Hmm, is there a weight limit on trackables?)

 

Well, there's Cindy, a TB made from a cinder block, but  we don't talk about her weight.

 

There's also "Barry", a 3 foot long piece of railroad track.

[+kunarion]

15 hours ago, chasclifton said:

Probably true! (Hmm, is there a weight limit on trackables?)

 

 

There's a car door going around as a TB.  I saw it at an Event.  Entire vehicles are trackables.

 

For TBs such as a car door, someone may bring it to an Event hoping that a different poor fool may want to cart it around.

[+L0ne.R]

Found on the web:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIGyy5l-9g4 - 'It's like geocaching and it's like a travelbug.'

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by L0ne.R

[+Ambrosia]

I've never found a painted rock in a cache. I've found a fair amount of painted rocks near caches, but I think that's just a coincidence. Most of those spots were just popular places to be.

 

My favorite painted rocks were in an odd location, by the side of a road where people wouldn't be looking for them. There was an EC nearby. They were so bright and cheery that I wanted to take them to keep, but I made myself leave them there.

 

 

My favorite was the love one:

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Ambrosia
speeling

[+chasclifton]

5 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

 

There's a car door going around as a TB.  I saw it at an Event.  Entire vehicles are trackables.

 

For TBs such as a car door, someone may bring it to an Event hoping that a different poor fool may want to cart it around.

Come to think of it, I did log a Subaru TB once. I had forgotten that.

[+SwineFlew]

9 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

 

There's a car door going around as a TB.  I saw it at an Event.  Entire vehicles are trackables.

 

For TBs such as a car door, someone may bring it to an Event hoping that a different poor fool may want to cart it around.

The biggest TB I saw was an iron board.

[+Chakthi]

On 5/20/2019 at 12:38 AM, K13 said:

I've never seen one, either in a cache or in the wild. Must be a Left-coast thing. 

I live in the Dayton, Ohio area, and we went to a small town, New Lebanon, Ohio looking for caches, and one, in particular, was devoted to painted rocks.  Not having any painted rocks handy, we decided to skip it, but they apparently do exist, even in the midwest.  Personally, I don't have any problem with people using painted rocks for SWAG so long as they realize that you can't really put a dollar value on a rock.  That being said, we plan to paint some rocks in case we run into any other caches of that type.  My partner in crime's sister is a bit of an artist and I'm sure she can make some nice rocks for us to use.

[+fuzziebear3]

9 hours ago, Chakthi said:

I live in the Dayton, Ohio area, and we went to a small town, New Lebanon, Ohio looking for caches, and one, in particular, was devoted to painted rocks.  Not having any painted rocks handy, we decided to skip it, but they apparently do exist, even in the midwest.  Personally, I don't have any problem with people using painted rocks for SWAG so long as they realize that you can't really put a dollar value on a rock.  That being said, we plan to paint some rocks in case we run into any other caches of that type.  My partner in crime's sister is a bit of an artist and I'm sure she can make some nice rocks for us to use.

 

Looking forward to meeting you at an event soon then -- I'm also in the Dayton area.  We have a pretty nice group of people around here.

 

[+Chakthi]

13 hours ago, fuzziebear3 said:

 

Looking forward to meeting you at an event soon then -- I'm also in the Dayton area.  We have a pretty nice group of people around here.

 

 

Definitely! 

[+brodiebunch]

I have seen quite a few of them throughout the years. 

 

I do mind them though.

 

I prefer seeing those to golf balls inside geocaches. 

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, brodiebunch said:

I prefer seeing those to golf balls inside geocaches. 

 

Yeah!  Especially when it's just a bunch of those stoopid Avengers. 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

5 hours ago, kunarion said:

Yeah!  Especially when it's just a bunch of those stoopid Avengers. 

 

 

Cool !    I always thought golf balls as a trade up. 

Even cheapies are a buck a piece.   I've been trading three balsa airplanes for one, and thinking maybe I'm shorting someone. 

 

[+L0ne.R]

31 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

balsa airplanes

 

Balsa airplanes. Now that's cool.  Brings me back to my childhood.

 

[+cerberus1]

5 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

Balsa airplanes. Now that's cool.  Brings me back to my childhood.

 

We still have cases left (good for "off a field" hides).  They came in a bulk lot from a major retail toy store that went belly-up.

We also grabbed tops, jacks, and whirly wheels.    I was probably reminiscing at the time too.   

There's a steamer trunk  fulla "stuff" (and another with crayons) , but rare to find caches for them these days, and we learned first-hand what happens to crayons ...

Kids like to see us at events though.   

[+VAVAPAM]

One of my caches was created at a "Geocaching 101" community event. 

Rock painting activity entertained the kids while the older folks attended the speaker's presentation.

Together, the group decided where to place, and how to stock the ammo can ... with input from seasoned cachers to keep them within the Guidelines.

All those rocks went into the cache!  I sort of cringed, but hey, a few were cute, and it was aimed as a kid-friendly cache (and apparently it's still a "thing" around here).

 

When it got muggled, I did kinda chuckle to myself, picturing the absconder herniating himself lugging that box of rocks.

[+Korichnovui]

There's a bit of a painted rock scene in my neck of the woods. Once in awhile I'll approach a geozone and notice a painted rock. It's a sign to me that I'm looking in the right spot.

[+VAVAPAM]

There is an old Virtual in our neck of the woods ... The Rock 3 - GCJ1V2

(Only slightly OT:  The painted rock isn't in the cache, it IS the cache.  )

[+hzoi]

On 6/23/2019 at 3:46 PM, VAVAPAM said:

There is an old Virtual in our neck of the woods ... The Rock 3 - GCJ1V2

(Only slightly OT:  The painted rock isn't in the cache, it IS the cache.  )

 

That one ain't as painted as it used to be, I think.  I remember it being pretty faded in 2016.  But the CO didn't delete my find, so I guess I was close enough.

[+K13]

Here's a painted rock geocache I found a few years ago GC4F2C2  The Rock @ MSU

 

[+colleda]

Looks like painted rocks have hit the local media. I had no idea it was so popular.

https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2019/06/24/rock-on-a-new-age-treasure-hunt/

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, colleda said:

Looks like painted rocks have hit the local media. I had no idea it was so popular.

https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2019/06/24/rock-on-a-new-age-treasure-hunt/

A little behind time -wise, but...

Cool.   

Maybe it's a good thing that folks are seeing rocks as "treasure" in that "new-age treasure hunt". 

[+VAVAPAM]

23 hours ago, hzoi said:

 

That one ain't as painted as it used to be, I think.  I remember it being pretty faded in 2016.  But the CO didn't delete my find, so I guess I was close enough.

 

Three years later, it ... still could stand a touch-up.

[+Lorien99]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:30 PM, chasclifton said:

Probably true! (Hmm, is there a weight limit on trackables?)

My car is a trackable. It's a micro, as cars go, but still....

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, Lorien99 said:

My car is a trackable. It's a micro, as cars go, but still....

[The 2 Dogs]

It was a passing fad in this country for a while. I'm guessing you'll stop seeing them again soon.

 

[+Demonic_mop]

On 5/20/2019 at 12:43 AM, cerberus1 said:

There was a thread on those a couple years ago.   Was surprised to see an open space manager placing them in caches now.

When I see them,  I'm reminded of why many trails have erosion issues.  Guess rocks in their natural state just aren't "pretty" enough.

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

I would like to point out that everything you hide in a geocache has a negative environmental impact. First, the materials of the item(s) have to be harvested, then they have to be shipped somewhere to be processed(which can result in pollution,) and then they have to be shipped even more. There's also the fact that many places have horrible working conditions for the people making these products. One example is that basically every chocolate bar you've ever eaten was made with child slave labor. Now, I know that doesn't relate to geocaching because you can't hide food in caches, but it's a fact that I know off the top of my head, and it very clearly displays my point. 
Now, how does this tie into rocks, well; when you pick up a rock you skip everything that I just listed. The only exception is when it comes to paint, but even then it can be used on multiple rocks vs one item that can be used once. Also, not all rocks come from trails, some come from the side of the road, or parking lots, or man made things.

[+koalabinski]

On 5/20/2019 at 2:43 PM, cerberus1 said:

There was a thread on those a couple years ago.   Was surprised to see an open space manager placing them in caches now.

When I see them,  I'm reminded of why many trails have erosion issues.  Guess rocks in their natural state just aren't "pretty" enough.

One at an event told me he "bought the rocks he paints".  Yeah, right...

 

My son was into the whole rock painting thing for a while (but then we found geocaching ?) but I would go to the hardware store and sort through the rock pile for nice flat white rocks. It would only cost a few dollars for about 10, and a lot of the time they just gave the rocks to us because we didn't have enough to even worry about weighing ?