Thoughts on handicapped-accessible caches?

[+parkrrrr]

We're interested in hearing y'all's thoughts on handicapped-accessible non-virtual caches. We want to make our second cache a solid '1' on terrain, accessible even by someone who is confined to a wheelchair. We're in a primarily urban environment, which makes such a thing easier, but we're still stuck for a location. We want to hide a .30cal ammo can somewhere where it'll be safe but accessible - that seems to mean no more than an arm's length or so from a paved trail, so camouflage is likely to be the order of the day. We definitely do not want to make yet another virtual cache, particularly since this one will require a lot of thought to find in the first place and we want to reward the finders with a real cache.

 

We don't want suggestions for specific locations; that's why we're not asking in the Midwest forum. What we want is some discussion of what sort of things work and what things don't in the realm of accessibility. Is there a */1 cache you've been to or placed that you thought worked well? Have you placed a */1 that was plundered within a week?

 

We have a relatively long paved trail and lots of parks in town, large portions of which are 100% accessible, so if your idea requires a particular set of conditions (woods, vines, water, abandoned railroad track...) we might be able to duplicate them here.

 

[+Renegade Knight]

Here is a cache that is wheel chair accessable. Pyramid Cache

 

Try emailing the owner for details on placment. It's not obviouse from the description.

 

While this cache is on a paved pathway and accessable by a traditional wheel chair why does the pathway have to be paved?. They surely have the equivilent of a mountain bike wheel chair out there? I know if I was required to use one, I'd have one of those because the places I like to go would now allow me to use a normal chair.

[+Renegade Knight]

I thought I'd add, this cache does appear to have been plundered however it lasted several months immediatly adjacent to a well traveled pathway.

[+Mopar]

This thread on Disabled geocachers prompted me to place this cache, which has been very well received.

 

Illegitimus non carborundum!

[+Markwell]

I have a multi-stage (currently unavailable due to construction) that is completely handicapped accessible. The last location is a hollowed out cylinder about 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. It's recessed on a lawn about 2 feet from the edge of the trees. The cotainer is a microcache.

 

From the best I can see, this is an unused electrical base that was abandonded by the park district. Hasn't been touched so far - and the whole cache (all stages) are completely handicapped accessible.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocachers

[+parkrrrr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

While this cache is on a paved pathway and accessable by a traditional wheel chair why does the pathway have to be paved?

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Well, it doesn't have to be paved, but most of the unpaved trails around here tend to be not-so-well maintained: they're muddy, they have the occasional dead tree lying across them, or they're just deeply rutted from the mountain bikes and erosion and such. Many of them, too, aren't wide enough for any kind of wheelchair.

 

[+parkrrrr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mopar:

This thread on Disabled geocachers prompted me to place this cache, which has been very well received.

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I remembered the thread, but I didn't see any references to full-size caches in it, so I thought I'd ask for some concrete examples. I note that your cache description explicitly says that it's likely to be plundered; I really want something that's likely to last a while, because it'll be impossible (not difficult, impossible) due to the nature of the cache to relocate it to different coordinates if it doesn't.

 

[+Mopar]

quote:

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Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy:

 

I remembered the thread, but I didn't see any references to full-size caches in it, so I thought I'd ask for some concrete examples. I note that your cache description explicitly says that it's likely to be plundered; I really want something that's likely to last a while, because it'll be impossible (not difficult, impossible) due to the nature of the cache to relocate it to different coordinates if it doesn't.

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Well, it is a full sized cache, and I really DID expect it to be plundered, and I pretty much expect any full sized hadicapped accessable cache must expect the same fate. Its the nature of the beast. If you make it accessible to a wheelchair, its going to have to be more accessable then your average cache. That being said, "Cache for a Queen" has been out there for something like 5 months now. It hasn't had a log in a month though. Since it hasn't had any no finds (except one person who didnt even have a GPS yet), I'm reluctant to go check on it, for fear of being seen checking on it. The fact that its been out there so long is a good sign of how descrete the local cachers here can be, and I thank them.

 

Illegitimus non carborundum!

[+MartyFouts]

two of my three microcaches are fully wheel chair accessable. The third would be, except that the cache is too high to reach from a wheel chair.

 

I'm trying to make all of my urban caches that way.

 

Marty

[+briansnat]

If it is that close to a trail it probably should be a microcache.

[+parkrrrr]

Yeah, it really should be a microcache. But the mental gymnastics the potential seeker will have to do to find it in the first place pretty much demand something more than a microcache at the end.

 

I had a thought last night that given the nature of the cache and the desire to have it fully accessible but not likely to be plundered, a perfect place to put it would be at someone's house, perhaps behind a bush (with permission, of course.)

 

I'm aware of the liability issues involved with inviting someone onto my property, but in this case we're just talking about walking up the front sidewalk of a typical suburban home; door-to-door salesmen do that every day without managing to hurt themselves, and geocachers tend to be smarter than them.

 

The difference between this cache and most is that it is going to be something like a 3/1 or a 4/1, and it's a multicache (the first 8 stages are all virtual) so it's not likely to get the kind of traffic a 1/1 traditional cache would. I guess I wouldn't mind having a couple of cachers a month come by my house and rummage through the bushes. If it were you, though, would you go find a cache at someone's house?

 

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

I would go to someones house for a cache. In fact I have done exactly that. It was a rural setting though but you had to go through their property. I think if you want a traditional sized cache to be wheelchair accesable then private property is probably the answer.

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On