Isonzo Karst

[+thebruce0]

I just came across sad news that Isonzo Karst, who we may know well from the forums, a South Florida volunteer reviewer, has just passed away.

So very sorry to anyone who knew her, and to her community, friends and family. My condolences.

 

Quoting a post in Facebook from Al Cole:

 

Quote

...very saddened to learn that long time South Florida volunteer reviewer palmetto, AKA Isonzo Karst, or as I eventually knew her, Meg, has passed away. She may have been a tough reviewer, but with me, she was always helpful, straight forward, fair, and helped me put out great caches, becoming a top 10 most favorited cache hiders in Florida.
My first time meeting Meg was at Cachepalooza 10, the first time we made it to that event, and I was fiddling around at the pavilion, when she walked up and asked, "From where do you geocache?", in which I responded, "Okeechobee", and she smiled and said, "You're coleclan! So glad to meet you!" I sat there like, how do you even know, since we are just getting back into the game, and no one really knows us. She told me who she was, then took me over to meet her husband, Bob, and explained that they were the volunteer reviewers that publish all the South Florida geocaches. She was also happy that Okeechobee was coming back on the map after being dormant for several years. They even gave me a Volunteer Reviewer trackable, which I thought was pretty awesome. 
Later, she and Bob attended our first Kayaking CITO and Lunch afterward meet & greet events, where we had lots of discussion about geocaching and life in general over the next 4 hours. The next time I saw them was on a trail in Ohio, going for Southern Ohio's oldest geocache (Ohio has 2 oldest state caches - what a controversy that is...lol), and we briefly chatted again there. 
Over the last almost 8 years now, we have had many great conversations about geocaching, my family, current events in the world, and more, through our email. She truly has made a huge impact on me and made me a much better hider. 
I know not everyone has had the same experiences with her, as she can be quite tough, but she did her job, did it well, and never got a dime for it. I will miss her, even the kick backs and denials. R.I.P. Meg. My prayers go out to her husband trackfile (also a reviewer), AKA Lbase, or just simply Bob, and his family, for peace and comfort through this time. I will miss her emails with the corrections, or just out chatting about caching.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by thebruce0

[+barefootjeff]

I'm so sorry to hear that. My condolences to all.

[+JL_HSTRE]

Sad news.

 

I dealt with her as a Reviewer for all my hides. There were occasional disagreements, but we always worked them out. I thought she was a good reviewer.

 

I also knew her as a geocacher. I got to hike and cache with her once. She was a nice person who really liked the outdoors. Her hides were always worth finding. She was old school - mostly ammo cans in the woods. In recent years she had been steadily archiving her hides. I thought maybe she was just tired of caching, but I guess it was declining health.

 

She had been a reviewer for 15+ years and owned the old county challenge cache

for the southern half of the state. The North, South, and Final Florida County Challenge Caches were a memorable milestone for me and they date back to when challenge caches were fairly rare.

 

RIP.

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by JL_HSTRE

[+Smitherington]

I have met her on the trail and at various events including some of my own events.  

 

I was out on the trails in a park with another geocacher finding a few caches in the park.  We finished and were by our vehicles and she walked up with some cache containers in her possession.  She was also leaving the park and she had collected her caches that we had just found.  Apparently there was some dispute with the park management and she chose to remove her geocaches rather than jump through the hoops that they were requesting.  So, we were the last ones to find that series before she archived them.  She knew the frustrations anyone who placed caches sometimes encounters.

 

She was a great addition to our activity and she will be missed.

[+Gill & Tony]

I never knew her, but I have found 24 caches she published.

 

Please give my condolences to her family.

[+ShutterbugMel]

Palmetto published my very first cache I placed, and just this week, as I prepare to release my first gadget cache, I was hoping for it to be Palmetto. Never met her, but from the comments above she sounds like she was a lovely person, and passionate about caching. She was very accommodating publishing mine, as I had asked for it to be released on a particular day of the week (if possible), and she made it happen. My condolences to her family and her friends.