+HunterandSamuel Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Having the police called brings up a concern. There is a cache I badly want to find because it's in a location that only a cacher would go. lol But the police were called on two cachers already because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods. I can understand the residents concerns. We could bushwhack to it on the other side of the woods behind a commercial building but then there were ticks and poison oak to worry about. We won't bushwhack anymore because of my husband getting a severe infection from poison oak and needing medical attention and placed on steroids. Tick bites are very serious, one geocacher that we know has stopped caching because of getting lyme disease from a tick bite. I know some people spray their pant legs and shoes but I don't want pesticides on my clothing. But, getting back to the cache. I think when the weather gets to a freezing point and the ticks are burrowing deep into the ground, we'll try the residential street. Quote Link to comment
+ras_oscar Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) If I were confronted by an angry landowner I would probable encourage them NOT to dispose of the cache, but instead contact groundspeed and request the cache be de listed . Point out that removing the container doesn't delist the container, and will result in people spending MORE time looking for it. Edited January 10, 2020 by ras_oscar Quote Link to comment
+31BMSG Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 1 hour ago, ras_oscar said: If I were confronted by an angry landowner I would probable encourage them NOT to dispose of the cache, but instead contact groundspeed and request the cache be de listed . Point out that removing the container doesn't delist the container, and will result in people spending MORE time looking for it. I had this happen one time and when I offered to make the contact it calmed things down considerably. I logged a NA when I got home and the reviewer archived the cache within 24 hours. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 On 1/10/2020 at 2:51 PM, HunterandSamuel said: There is a cache I badly want to find because it's in a location that only a cacher would go. lol But the police were called on two cachers already because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods. Sounds like the cache may be hidden without permission, and the cache owner is setting up finders for failure. Does the CO know the neighbors aren't happy and are calling police? If not, might want to let them know. If so, I'd hope they're doing something about it. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 12 minutes ago, hzoi said: On 1/10/2020 at 8:51 AM, HunterandSamuel said: There is a cache I badly want to find because it's in a location that only a cacher would go. lol But the police were called on two cachers already because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods. Sounds like the cache may be hidden without permission, and the cache owner is setting up finders for failure. Does the CO know the neighbors aren't happy and are calling police? If not, might want to let them know. If so, I'd hope they're doing something about it. If the police were called "because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods" then it sounds like an excessively concerned property owner who doesn't know what's legal (and typically the best resolution for this is the cache owner to back away from the location to avoid potential conflict, even if they're 100% in the right). But, if "the woods" is private property, then yeah this is definitely a problematic placement. Now if it's just because there's No Parking where people are always parking - perhaps a Parking waypoint could be added by the CO for safe (and legal) access. Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 1 hour ago, hzoi said: Sounds like the cache may be hidden without permission, and the cache owner is setting up finders for failure. Does the CO know the neighbors aren't happy and are calling police? If not, might want to let them know. If so, I'd hope they're doing something about it. I don't think he knows because for some odd reason, the two cachers, who are sisters, edited their logs and took out that the police were called on them. Why would they do that? But it's a great idea you gave me...to message the owner. Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 53 minutes ago, thebruce0 said: If the police were called "because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods" then it sounds like an excessively concerned property owner who doesn't know what's legal (and typically the best resolution for this is the cache owner to back away from the location to avoid potential conflict, even if they're 100% in the right). But, if "the woods" is private property, then yeah this is definitely a problematic placement. We decided to find the cache. I really wanted it because now there is only one more cache to find in town...a puzzle cache. And then we have cleared out one town of cache finds on the map. It was uncomfortable. Parking is on a small dead end street and we had to park in front of a house (houses were on both sides of the street) at the very end. The cache is actually named after the street. The CO said in her/his description that he has walked this path many times in the past. The path is non-existence now. Because all the greenery is dead in the winter we felt very exposed, like we were in someone's backyard. A guy was in his backyard working on a snow blower and could actually see us but when we left the woods, no flashing lights from police cars were around, thankfully, like the other two geocachers experienced when they left the woods. lol The woods are definitely owned by the town, the old rail road tracks went through there and if you keeping walking a few miles, you end up on the bike path (that were also rail road tracks at one time). The puzzle cache is in red stone quarry. I'm excited about finding that one. Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 We were confronted by a land owner not too long ago. The cache was hidden on a public bench that people sit on while waiting for the bus. We searched all over (come to find out it was missing) and she came out asking us politely what we were searching for. She was curious because she has seen others searching too. Well, the bench is on her property and she has been trying to get the city to remove it. lol It was not in good condition. She didn't know a cache was hidden there and said her brother-in-law geocaches too. I contacted the CO and he replaced the lost cache but in a spot not on her land. Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 4 hours ago, hzoi said: On 1/11/2020 at 12:51 AM, HunterandSamuel said: There is a cache I badly want to find because it's in a location that only a cacher would go. lol But the police were called on two cachers already because to get to this hide, you have to park on a residential street and then walk into the woods. Sounds like the cache may be hidden without permission, and the cache owner is setting up finders for failure. Does the CO know the neighbors aren't happy and are calling police? If not, might want to let them know. If so, I'd hope they're doing something about it. It's quite common here for public bushland reserves and even playgrounds to be accessed through a narrow passageway between houses. I suppose it's a way for town planners to maximise the number of houses along a road without completely blocking access to the reserve behind them. Here's an example from my neighbourhood. The forest behind the houses is public land and yes, I have a cache up in there (GC78F4Z). My Nemophilist Challenge (GC8DQXK) is similar, where access to the walking track through the national park is between two houses. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Yep that's quite common around here with small parkettes and woodlots in urban/suburb areas. That what I envision is the context. Most residential streets allow parking in those places but occasionally there are local bylaws or signs placed due to localized incidents that prohibit parking. And in some cases people just live in quiet areas and are super suspicious when public activity nearby grows even to the point of calling law enforcement, despite nothing being wrong. Some people are overprotective of their (not owned) nearby land, or may be under the wrong impression that they own it. Generally the simplest course of action as a CO is just to give it up and avoid future conflict, even if you have every right to be there. Quote Link to comment
+BethDaddyKaty Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Half the time it's residents objecting to you parking on their street, rather than any concern for your welfare. Quote Link to comment
+Camroo Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 5 hours ago, thebruce0 said: Some people are overprotective of their (not owned) nearby land, or may be under the wrong impression that they own it. I can totally agree with this statement as many of my caches have had issues with nasty landowners but i find that for almost as many nasty ones that we have there are also some great ones who help the cachers find the cache or chat with them. ive had alot of really great people who ive thought were gonna be angry, and turned out to be super nice. i think its like a glass half full or half empty situation Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 5 hours ago, barefootjeff said: It's quite common here for public bushland reserves and even playgrounds to be accessed through a narrow passageway between houses. Very common in Canberra too. We park all the time outside houses near the access path and I have never had trouble from a resident. Likely because they are used to people parking there, as the nature reserves are very popular with walkers, and that's what they likely presume we are doing. If anyone hassled me for walking up a public lane way to a public nature park in Canberra, I would ring the police on them. Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Camroo said: I can totally agree with this statement as many of my caches have had issues with nasty landowners but i find that for almost as many nasty ones that we have there are also some great ones who help the cachers find the cache or chat with them. ive had alot of really great people who ive thought were gonna be angry, and turned out to be super nice. i think its like a glass half full or half empty situation I have met many helpful local residents too. More than nasty ones. Shouts of, "Have you found it?" Some coming to have a friendly chat. The best one of those was in a small country shopping centre. I was searching for a high difficulty cache and having trouble finding it, when several hairdressers from a nearby salon appeared at their door pointing and going, "There, there..." One of the most difficult landowners we encountered was a farmer who claimed they owned the abandoned rail line and nearby infrastructure and that we were trespassing on their land. Fortunately I knew the rules re ownership of rail lines in NSW. "That's interesting," I replied. "It needs an act of Parliament for rail lines to be sold. I have never heard of this occurring. Please tell me when this act of Parliament was passed." "Well we as good as own it." Sure... Maybe there are rules for walking on no longer used rail lines that I don't know about, although they would be rarely, if ever be enforced, but that farmer certainly didn't (and couldn't) own it. Not all farmers are like this. One pulled up his car when I was searching and he wanted to know what I was looking for, as he had seen several other people searching. I told him about geocaching and we had a lovely chat. Now he knew he wouldn't be concerned from then on. Farmers can seemingly appear from nowhere. I was way out western NSW on a long stretch of road between towns. I stopped to take a photograph. Suddenly a farmer 'materialised' on his quad bike. No house in sight. Many, many kms to a town. Lovely guy. He just wanted a chat. Edited January 15, 2020 by Goldenwattle Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said: One of the most difficult landowners we encountered was a farmer who claimed they owned the abandoned rail line and nearby infrastructure and that we were trespassing on their land. Fortunately I knew the rules re ownership of rail lines in NSW. "That's interesting," I replied. "It needs an act of Parliament for rail lines to be sold. I have never heard of this occurring. Please tell me when this act of Parliament was passed." "Well we as good as own it." Sure... When sussing out an area for a possible new multi, I was confronted by a woman who claimed she owned the national park. It turned out her property boundary was 3.5km down the road, but she considered all the bushland around it hers as well and had even nailed a Private Property Keep Out sign to a tree just inside the park. I ended up abandoning the cache as I didn't want searchers having to deal with her. Edited January 15, 2020 by barefootjeff Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, barefootjeff said: had even nailed a Private Property Keep Out sign to a tree just inside the park Report that. I reported an illegal sign placed by a nearby land owner on public land and it was removed. Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Just now, Goldenwattle said: Report that. I reported an illegal sign placed by a nearby land owner on public land and it was removed. I did, I even gave the national parks people a photo of the sign. When I went back a few months later it was still there. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 1 minute ago, barefootjeff said: I did, I even gave the national parks people a photo of the sign. When I went back a few months later it was still there. I would report it again. Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said: I would report it again. I gather it's a difficult issue. From what the ranger told me, that woman has "problems". It's their NP and up to them how they deal with it, I guess. Quote Link to comment
+Camroo Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 i had an issue with a lady where, there was a brick wall in a public park, on the other side of the brick wall there was about a 5ft gap between her fence and her property. i climbed up the wall a little bit to put a cache. she was livid. she came barreling out screaming that i was trespassing and that she wanted my name and wanted to know if i was from around here. i was so tempted to say something funny, but i needed to stay civil during this, so i said that i was leaving and i left. im still scared to go back to that park again. thats the worst ive experienced. So Far... Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, Camroo said: she wanted my name and wanted to know if i was from around here Ha, and she expected you to give it to her, just like that. That's what I find amazing; as well as her aggression, her naivety. You should have offered to ring the police for her, but as you said, " i was so tempted to say something funny, but i needed to stay civil during this, so i said that i was leaving and i left." So fair enough. Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Camroo said: I can totally agree with this statement as many of my caches have had issues with nasty landowners but i find that for almost as many nasty ones that we have there are also some great ones who help the cachers find the cache or chat with them. ive had alot of really great people who ive thought were gonna be angry, and turned out to be super nice. i think its like a glass half full or half empty situation Curious, how you'd have issues with landowners when you ask for permission to hide. You did ask permission… right ? Thanks. Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 38 minutes ago, barefootjeff said: problems I think I am 'guilty' with saying that to someone who is causing a ruckus, "You obviously have problems I know nothing about, so I am out of here." Quote Link to comment
+The Jester Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 3 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Curious, how you'd have issues with landowners when you ask for permission to hide. You did ask permission… right ? Thanks. It's not the landowner of where the cache is hidden, it's the nearby ones that give me the most grief. 2 Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 4 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Curious, how you'd have issues with landowners when you ask for permission to hide. You did ask permission… right ? Thanks. I had permission from the national park's ranger to go anywhere in that section of the park (I was sussing out virtual waypoints, with the final cache intended to be in the road corridor outside the park boundary), but they couldn't stop the woman harrassing me or any searchers so there wasn't much I could do other than abandon it. I ended up putting a traditional on the same watercourse but a bit further upstream in a local council reserve and so far that's gone well. 1 Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 4 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Curious, how you'd have issues with landowners when you ask for permission to hide. The cases I'm familiar with were on public property in accordance with the published geocaching policy, accessed via public trails, via public trailheads, by people parking on public streets. But neighbors were harassing anyone parking on "their" street, and eventually the caches were archived. Quote Link to comment
+BethDaddyKaty Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 10 hours ago, barefootjeff said: I gather it's a difficult issue. From what the ranger told me, that woman has "problems". It's their NP and up to them how they deal with it, I guess. A while back someone put gates and "Private road" signs across a (very useful) bridleway here. I just removed the signs. Probably not the right way to do it but in the end it would probably take the council months to take down the sign, and five minutes for the owner to put it up again. Same way I remove fly posted signs on the road when they block visbility for me as a cyclist/pedestrian - people here have a habit of putting huge signs on traffic light poles, however, it means if you're crossing the road you can't see if anyone is going to floor it through the red light. I'm sure *technically* it's depriving someone else of their property. I'm also sure the police are unlikely to care much bearing in mind the value and the fact they were unlawfully put up. And if not, better a slap on the wrist than squashed on the road! 2 Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 11 hours ago, Goldenwattle said: I have met many helpful local residents too. More than nasty ones. Shouts of, "Have you found it?" Some coming to have a friendly chat That is cute...shouting "have you found it?". I would love to hear that coming from a neighbor. The woods we found the cache in, we felt very exposed especially when a neighbor came out to work on his snow blower. We were in plain view so my husband stood behind a tree to sign the log. Um, that looks more suspicious I told him. lol Someone once said...ignore the muggles and they will ignore you. That was for bike path caching though where muggles are everywhere. Quote Link to comment
+on4bam Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, HunterandSamuel said: That is cute...shouting "have you found it?". I would love to hear that coming from a neighbor. Happened to us a few times. In one case we were looking for a cache on the wrong side of the road, there was a lot of searching damage around that spot but a neighbor 3 houses away had seen us from his window and shouted that we should cross the road to find the cache (coordinates were 17m off). Another time we hadn't even started searching when a neighbour pointed the cache out (taking away the fun of finding it ourselves). Quote Link to comment
+mandymk86 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 On 9/13/2019 at 6:58 PM, niraD said: The closest I've gotten has been when park rangers stopped to ask if everything was okay. Apparently I look more like someone who might be in trouble than someone who might be causing trouble. We had this happen last week. Just a random muggle asking if we needed help. We thanked him for his concern and he carried on his way! 1 Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 18 hours ago, thebruce0 said: Generally the simplest course of action as a CO is just to give it up and avoid future conflict, even if you have every right to be there. Agreed. Even if geocachers have every right to be there, as a CO I wouldn't want to subject potential finders to being questioned by police or local home owners. A couple of weeks ago got the "did you find it" from a guy that was about to take a ride on his bicycle in a park where I was caching. I assume that he was a local cacher but he might have just been a local that enjoys the park often enough that he's seen others looking for the cache. I've been questioned by police three times. The first two times were in local parks and i was just asked what I was looking for. The other time was in Rome near the Colosseum and I was questioned by a couple of plain clothed polizia (one had watched me find the cache) that spoke very little English (and I speak very little Italian). 1 Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 2 hours ago, on4bam said: Happened to us a few times. In one case we were looking for a cache on the wrong side of the road, there was a lot of searching damage around that spot but a neighbor 3 houses away had seen us from his window and shouted that we should cross the road to find the cache LOL We did a really neat puzzle cache on someone's property. It's right in front of their house (took them a month to get reviewer approval). To open the cache you have to blow balloons into a hole. Many times the balloon pops and that's when the owner knows people are trying to solve the puzzle. lol Cachers have stated in logs that he will come out to greet them and give a hint if needed. Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 13 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Curious, how you'd have issues with landowners when you ask for permission to hide. You did ask permission… right ? Thanks. 10 hours ago, The Jester said: It's not the landowner of where the cache is hidden, it's the nearby ones that give me the most grief. The few that the other 2/3rds placed in urban areas with a neighbor nearby, she simply stopped at that neighbor with the container. Whether the neighbor likes the idea or not, they were shown "what's going on over there..." so they aren't surprised. Maybe it was just her, but we never had issues with "neighbors", and believes it's because she included them in the process. We stopped doing front yard hides when we found that most times neighbors were never brought into the decision to place a cache, chasing folks away or calling the cops. A few now have been in a tiny wooded area in cul-de-sacs ! A strange car with an adult walking into the woods in-between homes. What could go wrong... 1 Quote Link to comment
+hal-an-tow Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 9 hours ago, BethDaddyKaty said: A while back someone put gates and "Private road" signs across a (very useful) bridleway here. I just removed the signs. Probably not the right way to do it but in the end it would probably take the council months to take down the sign, and five minutes for the owner to put it up again. Same way I remove fly posted signs on the road when they block visbility for me as a cyclist/pedestrian - people here have a habit of putting huge signs on traffic light poles, however, it means if you're crossing the road you can't see if anyone is going to floor it through the red light. I'm sure *technically* it's depriving someone else of their property. I'm also sure the police are unlikely to care much bearing in mind the value and the fact they were unlawfully put up. And if not, better a slap on the wrist than squashed on the road! A route in England & Wales ( Scottish law is different) can be a legally defined right of way as a FOOTPATH (where access is limited to just pedestians ) or a BRIDLEWAY (where access is limited to pedestrians horse riders and pedal powered bicycles , no motorbikes or other powered vehicles allowed) . However, it is very common to find a PRIVATE ROAD which is also a footpath or bridleway, I've walked down dozens such. The situation here is that there is a right of way for pedestrians or riders to pass along the way, BUT as a private road NO vehicular traffic is allowed. Those signs you stole were probably perfectly legally placed by the landowner, who is absolutely entitled to install gates to stop illegal vehicle access to his private road as long as there is a way through ( a gap, a kissing gate or a stile , or simply not having the gate locked) for the permitted on- foot or riding folk to get through. 2 Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 5 hours ago, cerberus1 said: A strange car with an adult walking into the woods in-between homes. We do that all the time in Canberra and no-one appears to even blink. It's how people get to the nature parks. Many entrances are narrow walkways between houses. Not only geocachers use these, but walkers and people with dogs. I have parked in front of many houses on both roads and cul de sacs and never had a problem. Sometimes a dog on the other side of the fence might bark, but that's about all. If a neighbour gave problems, I would likely call the police on them. Those spaces between houses are public walkways, and the road is a public space too. I believe most people know that too. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 21 minutes ago, hal-an-tow said: A route in England & Wales ( Scottish law is different) can be a legally defined right of way as a FOOTPATH (where access is limited to just pedestians ) or a BRIDLEWAY (where access is limited to pedestrians horse riders and pedal powered bicycles , no motorbikes or other powered vehicles allowed) . However, it is very common to find a PRIVATE ROAD which is also a footpath or bridleway, I've walked down dozens such. The situation here is that there is a right of way for pedestrians or riders to pass along the way, BUT as a private road NO vehicular traffic is allowed. Those signs you stole were probably perfectly legally placed by the landowner, who is absolutely entitled to install gates to stop illegal vehicle access to his private road as long as there is a way through ( a gap, a kissing gate or a stile , or simply not having the gate locked) for the permitted on- foot or riding folk to get through. I have followed public ways in Britain which went through people's gardens and more than once. I got to admire their flower gardens on the way. 1 Quote Link to comment
+BethDaddyKaty Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 10 hours ago, hal-an-tow said: A route in England & Wales ( Scottish law is different) can be a legally defined right of way as a FOOTPATH (where access is limited to just pedestians ) or a BRIDLEWAY (where access is limited to pedestrians horse riders and pedal powered bicycles , no motorbikes or other powered vehicles allowed) . However, it is very common to find a PRIVATE ROAD which is also a footpath or bridleway, I've walked down dozens such. The situation here is that there is a right of way for pedestrians or riders to pass along the way, BUT as a private road NO vehicular traffic is allowed. Those signs you stole were probably perfectly legally placed by the landowner, who is absolutely entitled to install gates to stop illegal vehicle access to his private road as long as there is a way through ( a gap, a kissing gate or a stile , or simply not having the gate locked) for the permitted on- foot or riding folk to get through. There wasnt a gap, and the signs said no access for anyone (I forget the exact wording). You are right that almost all roads and paths are privately owned with rights to pass and repays, not least because until recently most homes owned the land up to the centre of the highway. 1 Quote Link to comment
+hal-an-tow Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 The UK law on rights of way is the usual weird accretion of odd legal additions wrapped around a network of ancient footpaths and cart tracks established by historical custom .Since our ancestors walked from village to village centuries ago their routes have been overlaid with tarmac roads , housing developments and big farms, but still , mostly hidden from view to most, there remains a web of old rights of way. The network of R.O.Ws is constantly changing, with (after due consultation with planning departments and in line with the law) paths diverted, closed and new ones opened, it is one of your local council's legal obligations to oversee this and keep an up to date definitive map of R.O.Ws, which should be what anyone consults before even thinking of removing signs, an action which could have the unintended consequence of other , innocent people having unpleasant confrontations with an angry landowner. The law says that the relevant authority must, where a R.O.W. leaves a tarmac road, place a sign indicating the direction the path takes : this is often a fingerpost with a pointer, a yellow topped wooden post, or a small plate with a yellow arrow (blue if it's a bridleway) on an existing structure. They may also place additional arrows at points where there is a path junction or turn . Signs wrongly claiming a R.O.W. is private are illegal and should be reported, as should any mysteriously removed official signs: I've reported plenty where someone has removed them , perhaps hoping that people will be deterred from using an unsigned path ... often there will be a spurious 'Beware of the Bull' sign to try to put you off too ... Most of the information you will get from a quick google on the subject of 'rights of way' will be legal information aimed at householders in disputes over parking, or driveways which cross someone else's land, or wondering about the status and repair costs of private roads on new developments.This is not relevant for footpaths and bridleways , addressing the wrong facet of the law. For actually walking in the British countryside, the best, clear, unambiguous information I've ever come across while researching the subject has been the rambler's site here. The Ramblers have an excellent online (and app, although I've never used the app myself) mechanism for easily reporting R.O.W problems here , they pass the information to the relevant authority for you, which makes it easy and quick to do the right thing and their report has the weight of a national organisation behind it , so may have more effect than an individual's email . I've reported several blocked R.O.Ws this way over the years some are shown on their map as solved issues. 1 Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 17 hours ago, Goldenwattle said: We do that all the time in Canberra and no-one appears to even blink. It's how people get to the nature parks. Many entrances are narrow walkways between houses. Not only geocachers use these, but walkers and people with dogs. I have parked in front of many houses on both roads and cul de sacs and never had a problem. Sometimes a dog on the other side of the fence might bark, but that's about all. If a neighbour gave problems, I would likely call the police on them. Those spaces between houses are public walkways, and the road is a public space too. I believe most people know that too. I'll try to be more location-specific next time… Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 5 hours ago, cerberus1 said: I'll try to be more location-specific next time… I presumed you were referring to America. I was mentioning this to show that neighbours getting upset varies around the world. Quote Link to comment
+ardila.nl Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Somewhat related to this. I'm coming to the USA and Canada this summer to visit the 20 year party and do a lot of year 2000 caches. We're flying from city to city and renting a car to get around locally. Last time I was in the USA it was for business so we didn't do stops in random places with our car. Can anybody tell me what the general rules are about stopping on the side of the ride in the USA/Canada or do they differ per state? Stopping for this cache for example: https://coord.info/GC14JJN In case it matters, here's a list of cities/areas we're visiting: Miami San Francisco Salt Lake City Denver Vancouver, CA Seattle Portland Victoria, CA Boston Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Generally - don't stop on highways. Some regions may have different legal regulations or what constitutes a "highway", but pretty much a good rule of thumb (US and Canada) is if you can't pull completely off the road and it's not a backroad or residential street, don't do it. If there are No Parking signs, don't do it (though legally you potentially could stop very briefly with your hazards on) - if there are No Stopping signs then definitely don't do it. If there is a public parking area nearby (or there are parking coordinates provided), always take that option first. Better to spend a few more minutes walking (and it's healthy) than risk an accident or a legal encounter. 1 Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 5 hours ago, ardila.nl said: Can anybody tell me what the general rules are about stopping on the side of the ride in the USA/Canada or do they differ per state? I'm not sure there is a general rule, but as long as you have a sorta-smartphone with you it's easy to find out in each state you visit. Highways are a no-no, but you shouldn't see caches there anyway. That doesn't mean a cache won't appear so close to a highway that you're tempted, and we do have a few here that are "up too" (one under one), but you can't access from that highway. We won't stop on the side of the road if there isn't a pull-off or a vehicle-width shoulder. Some odd reason, many hiders think that because there's a shoulder on the road, the property behind it is open to the public. That's not true here, the right-of-way of someone's property is only for utilities, not the public, and that might even vary by state as well. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 8 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Highways are a no-no, but you shouldn't see caches there anyway. That doesn't mean a cache won't appear so close to a highway that you're tempted, and we do have a few here that are "up too" (one under one), but you can't access from that highway. Interesting that common words like "highway" have quite different meanings in different places. Here in Australia, you can't stop on motorways (M-routes) other than in designated rest areas, but on the primary highways (A-routes) and secondary highways (B-routes) there's no restriction as long as there's no signage (No Stopping or No Parking) and it's safe to pull off the road without obstructing traffic. Here's me doing some wet-weather caching on the side of the Pacific Highway (B83) near Mooney Mooney during last year's Streak Week promotion: Quote Link to comment
+The Jester Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 3 hours ago, barefootjeff said: Interesting that common words like "highway" have quite different meanings in different places. Here in Australia, you can't stop on motorways (M-routes) other than in designated rest areas, but on the primary highways (A-routes) and secondary highways (B-routes) there's no restriction as long as there's no signage (No Stopping or No Parking) and it's safe to pull off the road without obstructing traffic. Here's me doing some wet-weather caching on the side of the Pacific Highway (B83) near Mooney Mooney during last year's Streak Week promotion: Yeah, in the US "highway" can be anything from an Interstate to a US route or a state route or sometimes a county route. Generally you don't stop on Interstates (like your M-routes) although I do know one virtual in Oregon where you need to stop on the shoulder and take a picture of Snoopy on the fence. Like you, other highways are OK to stop along if it's not restricted (generally 'limited Access'). Quote Link to comment
+HunterandSamuel Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 13 hours ago, barefootjeff said: Here's me doing some wet-weather caching on the side of the Pacific Highway (B83) near Mooney Mooney during last year's Streak Week promotion: Streak week was so much fun! Brought back nice memories of my younger years. Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 2:02 AM, hal-an-tow said: Beware of the Bull' I came upon several of those on my visits to the UK. After looking left and right, I've continued on. Quote Link to comment
+colleda Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 28 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said: I came upon several of those on my visits to the UK. After looking left and right, I've continued on. Don't worry about muggles. Read this. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cows-officially-the-most-deadly-large-animals-in-britain-a6727266.html Quote Link to comment
+Goldenwattle Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, colleda said: No bull! That's right, no bull, so I continued on. (Despite the sign) Quote Link to comment
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