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Is This A Safe Hunt?


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This topic is a little odd but I'd like to see what you guys out there think. This is a little long to read, but I would love to get anybody's opinion on this. Thanks.

 

I started geocaching a little over a year ago, and I am now wanting to hide my first cache. I live in the very southern tip of West Virginia, right on the Virginia state line. Geocaching is gaining in popularity here but due to how rural and mountainous the region is there are only about 20 caches around. That is my main reason for wanting to start my own cache. I'd like to give people around here as many opportunities as possible to pick up this great sport.

 

I've found the perfect location for my cache. Not only is it adventurous but it is also historical. It is located in an old abandoned coal mining town named Goodwill that now only exists on paper. In its heyday it consisted of two saw mills, two coal tipples, two power plants, two company stores, two schools, three churches, a union hall, post office, theater, dance hall, pool room, shoe shop, doctors office, and over a hundred homes. In 1950, the town had a population of 1536. In 1958, the mine was closed, and the residents left; then all the buildings were torn down. There is absolutely nothing left except for one of the company store steps and the concrete box which housed the safe. To see the place today you would never guess that a single building ever existed, much less an entire town. It is mind boggling to me that at one time it did, and I grew up not 2 miles from this place.

 

My question has to do with whether I should place my cache here or not. I think it would be neat to place it in the concrete box which housed the company store safe since it is one out of the only two things left in this town. I've been hiking to this place many times before and it is not that difficult to get to. The problem I'm having on whether or not I should place my cache here has something to do with what I saw a few years ago.

 

As strange as this may sound, when I was a senior in high school a girl I knew missed the bus and asked me if I could drive her home. She didn't live far away so I took her home. Her house was down a hollow, about 3/4 a mile from this abandoned town. After I dropped her off and started out of the narrow hollow my 16-year-old sister climbed up into the front seat. As she was turning around she started screaming. I asked her what in the world was the matter with her and all she could do was point towards the rear drivers side window. I looked out to my left and noticed that someone had placed a bunch (around 50) pink yard flamingos on a nearby vacant hill. I thought that was extremely odd, seeing how we were in the middle of nowhere, but I had no idea why it was scaring my sister to death. I looked back at my sister and she was just frozen stiff, half way between the front and back seats. I asked her what in the world was wrong but all she would do was stare out the back window without saying a single word. At this point I was thinking my sister had some very irrational fear of yard flamingos so I stopped the car and got out to show her that they are perfectly safe. Then, that is when I saw it.

 

Walking down off the mountain in the middle of the day, about 500 yards away, was a man dressed head to toe in a white robe and hood. You've got to remember, this is in absolutely the middle of nowhere. I could not believe what I was seeing. Just then, he turned and stared at my sister and I. While he was looking at us he just kept on walking and never missed a step. The guy was decked out. He looked as though he was the grand dragon of the KKK and was either on his was to some secret mountaintop rally or was on his way home from one. In the 18 years I had grown up in the area, I had never heard of any type of Klan activity. Up to that point I had never heard of any type of Klan activity in a 200-mile radius around the area. Seeing this freaked me out. I had no idea what kind of illegal activity this guy could have been up to. I figured I should get out of there before I had the chance to find out. That was the only time I have ever driven 50 M.P.H. on a gravel road in my life.

 

I never learned what that was all about, and since then I've never seen another Klan member in the area. That experience did spook me enough to keep me away for a couple of years, but I’ve been back to Goodwill many times since hunting coal mining artifacts. The area where that incident took place and the area I want to hide my cache is about 3/4 a mile apart, but that is not by road. Rather it is over mountains. You would have to walk completely up and over 4 mountains (each 1000-ft. up, 1000 ft. down).

 

Does anyone out there have an opinion as to whether or not I should hide my cache in the area? I'd love to hear from anyone that is sincere. Please, no West Virginia hillbilly jokes. Contrary to what anyone may think, I enjoy the comforts of indoor plumbing and electricity. In fact, I'm wearing shoes at this very moment. I'd just like to get anyone's take on this. Even if you feel that I should go ahead with the cache, do you think I should put a disclaimer on the listing acknowledging this incident? The last thing I want is for someone to stumble in on a secret lynching. I hope to hear from someone. Go to www.ghosttowns.com to see if an area near you is listed. There are listings for all 50 states and Canada. Thanks!

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The area where that incident took place and the area I want to hide my cache is about 3/4 a mile apart, but that is not by road. Rather it is over mountains. You would have to walk completely up and over 4 mountains (each 1000-ft. up, 1000 ft. down).

 

Well, if you do put your cache there, at least give the cachers a heads up about a posible local activity that needs to be avoided. Being that they will be away from their car hiking for an extented time, they should be forwarned so they can be prepared with cell phones, radios or what ever if something happens. And maybe with the "ghost" roaming the hills, cachers will tend to hunt this one in groups for their own protection.

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You mentioned your sister, so after thinking about it, the question I would put to you would be, would you want your sister to hunt this cache alone? Would you feel safe if she was going for the cache and if not then maybe this isn't the right place to put others who might go out hunting alone on a long hike.

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This may sound like a stupid question, but are you sure it was a KKK member, and not a Druid? I have no idea if you have practicing Druids in WV, but many Druids (especially if they're trying to stick to the traditions as much as possible) wear white robes for rituals and gatherings. Since Druidry is an earth-centered path, their rituals and/or personal festival celebrations usually take place outdoors, often in the woods or mountains.

 

As a Celtic Pagan (which is closely related to Druidism), that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the white robe mentioned. More info can be found at this link. A picture of a simple white robe can be found here; a fancier one is at this link.

 

If the person was a Druid, I'd definitely feel safe placing a cache there. If he was a KKK member, I'd check into whether or not there's current activity in the area before placing a cache there. Just my 2 cents. :D

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My question has to do with whether I should place my cache here or not. I think it would be neat to place it in the concrete box which housed the company store safe since it is one out of the only two things left in this town. I've been hiking to this place many times before and it is not that difficult to get to.

 

I'd avoid the concrete box since that's an artifact that's liable to draw the attention of non-cachers. I think you'd do a little better picking an ordinary piece of woods nearby, maybe using pace and bearing from the box as the encrypted hint, if desired.

 

This presumes that the land is publicly owned and you can do any geocaching there. Privately owned but abandoned doesn't count, especially in light of the incident related concerns.

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Maybe you could ask local law enforcement if they know of any such activity in the area. You could introduce them to the sport and find out if there is reason to be concerned. Of course, public property would be the only option also. Since I cannot think of any ghost towns near me (Pannola, IL-pop. 33- just voted to remain in existence), I would be very interested in being taken to historical sites like this.

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Submit your cache under normal guidelines.

 

Post this story on the cache page.

 

Make it a nightime cache.

BINGO!

 

Also, just because someone is dressed weird, does not mean they are engaging in illegal activities. I would defintely write this story up and put it on the cache page. Sounds fun - and at the same time allows people to be aware of the situation so they can decide for themselves if they wanna visit this one.

 

Also, hide it in the woods, not the safe. Too obvious for snooping teens & kids. And get permission.

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...are you sure it was a KKK member...

That was the first thing that occurred to me. The KKK outfit is pretty unique, especially the headgear. If it wasn't that exact hood, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

But it does make for an interesting cache story...

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Thanks to all of you that have responded! I’ve heard some really great suggestions about whether or not I should hide this cache. Most likely I am going to go ahead with it. First, though, I need to clarify some of what I wrote about in my initial post.

 

Yes, this is on public property. It is not, however, a long hike into the mountains. I’ll try to set it up for you. This town lies at the base of three mountains, two on each side (about 2500 feet apart) and one up ahead in the front. After parking your car, you would step across one of the two creeks that come off each side mountain (set up just like the letter Y). You would continue to walk across flat land in the area that would make up the inside of the top part of a Y. This would go on for about 1500 feet until you come to the base of a mountain (the right side of the Y). Located in the side of that mountain is the CONCRETE BOX, which housed the safe. The actual safe is no longer there, and even if it were I would have no idea as to how to get into it. This was smart on the store owner’s part because in essence the safe had it’s own “safe” (concrete box) which had it’s own “safe” (the mountain).

 

There is just about zero chance that someone could accidentally stumble upon this cache, so I’m not too worried about teenagers finding it unintentionally. If you’ve ever watched the Blair Witch Project you will have an idea of how far out this place is. Someone asked whether or not I would feel safe about my sister going in alone to find this cache. The answer is a gigantic NO but it has absolutely nothing to do with the location. First off, she has absolutely zero sense of direction and would get lost 15 feet away from the car. Most importantly, though, she was mugged late at night a couple of years ago and has an extreme fear of being out, especially alone. She wasn’t physically harmed or anything but it’s made her so paranoid that she won’t even walk through the local City Park in the middle of the day by herself.

 

The last two things I want to mention is that this place isn’t haunted (well to the best of my knowledge). The website you can find this town on, www.ghosttowns.com, is a listing of abandoned places, not haunted places. Just like the boarded up ghost towns you here of in the old West. If you would like to read about this particular town, go to the above address. Click on West Virginia, then click on Goodwill. You’ll be able to read all about it!

 

As for the person who mentioned that what I saw may in fact been a Druid, thank you. I honestly had never heard of those before. I’m sure your practices are peaceful and non-threatening, but had I ever stumbled upon a Pagan ritual during one of my many hikes to this place, I do believe I would have dropped dead right then and there from a heart attack. Even though the wardrobe of both the Druids and KKK are strikingly similar, I’m pretty sure what I saw was a Klan member. Either way, it was scary as heck coming across that individual.

 

One last thing. I’m not implying that just because someone dresses weird they must be participating in some illegal activity. If that was the case we all would probably end up in jail at least once in our lifetimes. With that said, I hope I did not offend anyone by describing this individual as being “dressed weird”.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I’d be happy to see what else anyone has to say.

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not sure what you mean by illegal activity. the kkk is a perfectly legal private organization. they have every right to meet. not at all nice but legal. anyway how long ago was this? i really would not worry about it much myself, unless you know of illegal klan activity in the area(ie. vandalism, beatings). the only problem should be the whole private property issue. there is no doubt you should give the warning but if anything i think it would make the cache more enticing. like i said it depends on the area and level of activity. if you visit the kkk website you can learn more about them and realize that they have toned it down abit since the 1860 and 1960. now i am in no way supporting their activity or beleifs but nowadays i dont think the klan should be seen as a physical threat. even the biggest white supremesist bigot knows he'll be caught if he goes an lynches someone. way out in the woods or not.

 

peace, bob

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even the biggest white supremesist bigot knows he'll be caught if he goes an lynches someone

True, the Klan is a legal organization BUT they are known for very illegal activities. They may not be practicing modern day lynchings, but I would have to think that they would be less than pleased to have some stranger come across one of their private meetings. I'm sure that's one suprise a geocacher would not care to find.

 

This incident took place 7 years ago. In all likelihood, whatever I came across that day would not be a threat to a geocacher. It only takes one unfortunate encounter, however, for something to go terribly wrong.

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As for the person who mentioned that what I saw may in fact been a Druid, thank you.  I honestly had never heard of those before. 

You're welcome. :D

 

I should also point out that not all of "us" (Celtic Pagans, Druids, any Pagans for that matter) dress in robes and such, whether performing rituals or not. If I'm up in the mountains, whether for ritual purposes or for caching, you'll most likely see me wearing a t-shirt, BDU pants, hiking boots, and a boonie hat. I don't even own any ritual garb. To each their own. *shrug*

 

As far as this:

 

I’m sure your practices are peaceful and non-threatening, but had I ever stumbled upon a Pagan ritual during one of my many hikes to this place, I do believe I would have dropped dead right then and there from a heart attack.

 

You probably wouldn't even know if you'd stumbled upon a Pagan ritual. No, that wasn't an insult...it's just a lot less obvious and/or "covert"-looking than most folks think. No blood sacrifices, no weird Blair Witch-esque twig figures hanging from the trees, etc. The most recent group ritual I attended in a local state forest was...a cookout. Yeah, seriously. We had a cookout, hung out and talked for awhile, and then left. We didn't look any more or less out of the ordinary than any of the other folks having cookouts that day. The "ritual" part was mainly about the gathering...getting together with other like minds and exchanging ideas, not having to worry about hiding beliefs, talking about the beauty of nature and the outdoors, etc.

 

That's not to say that all rituals are like that...just that they're usually not freaky or anything like that, and are often not even obvious.

 

Now, as for the KKK member, that probably would've freaked me out as well, especially seeing as how he was in an isolated area like that. :(

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Sounds like it would make a great cache. I've been to other 'abandoned town' caches, and have found them to be really enjoyable.

 

I looked out to my left and noticed that someone had placed a bunch (around 50) pink yard flamingos on a nearby vacant hill. I thought that was extremely odd, seeing how we were in the middle of nowhere, but I had no idea why it was scaring my sister to death.

But what is the story with the flamingos? :(

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But what is the story with the flamingos? :D

Maybe they were using them to raise money for some charity! :(

 

Yeah, I know! Your saying "What tha???"

 

But that's exactly what a local charity did a few years ago.

 

They bought a couple of hundred plastic pink flamingos and for a $1 a bird (in groups of 25) you could have them placed in someone's yard with a real estate sized sign that said "You Have Been Flamingo'ed"

 

Volunteers would make a mid night run and place them under cover of darkness.

Then when the person woke up the next morning, their yards would be covered in all these "pretty" pink birds!! :DB)

 

On the back of the sign was contact info that the person could call to have them removed.

Also for $1 each!! :(

 

They did it for a whole month and raised over $5000 dollars. :mad:

 

It was great to see all of these "pretty" pink plastic birds show up overnight on the lawns of these neighborhoods with owners association restrictions. B):D:(

But everyone was good natured about them and allowed them to stay for a while.

 

Back on topic...

I say place the cache in the area, just not in the "concrete box".

 

D-man B)

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But what is the story with the flamingos? :o

I have no idea. They were just all along a hill near the road, not even in a person's yard. Maybe I should go back by there and see if any are left, then again maybe not. I guess the Klan people could have put a bunch of them in the ground, figuring that if someone came across them in the middle of nowhere they would be more likely to turn around and leave. Nevertheless, is was really strange!

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Great story.

 

Part way through I thought it was going to be a bigfoot story.

 

But it was much better then that. :lol:

Thanks! I figured people would automatically assume that this would be about bigfoot or mothman or some other mythic creature. If you are interested in the whole bigfoot thing, though, there is a woman in the county next to mine that swears an entire bigfoot colony lives back behind her house. <_<

 

I can get you the coordinates if you really want them but I can't guarantee your safe return home. That woman is a little off her rocker if you know what I mean! :ph34r:

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Great story.

 

Part way through I thought it was going to be a bigfoot story.

 

But it was much better then that. :ph34r:

Thanks! I figured people would automatically assume that this would be about bigfoot or mothman or some other mythic creature. If you are interested in the whole bigfoot thing, though, there is a woman in the county next to mine that swears an entire bigfoot colony lives back behind her house. :lol:

 

I can get you the coordinates if you really want them but I can't guarantee your safe return home. That woman is a little off her rocker if you know what I mean! <_<

Odd you have mentioned that, m_g. I just saw the story on National Geographic yesterday. I don't really believe what that woman says, but... ya never know!

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I just saw the story on National Geographic yesterday. I don't really believe what that woman says, but... ya never know!

Well, there's all kinds of people out there. I do believe that this woman's imagination is a little more active than her backyard. :ph34r:

 

But, like you said .... ya never know.

 

Have you ever run across the geocacher that swears every print in the mud they come across was left by a terrifying exotic beast that flies in at night to eat small children and the family pet? <_< I cannot figure out why those types take up the sport.

Edited by mountaineer_girl
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Ghost town caches are cool. Add the story to the cache page as well as some local history of the town.

 

Here is a link to a Ghost town cache I found last summer. Maybe you could set it up similar to his and make it a multi-cache.

 

You never know, there might be cachers like yourself tht grew up there or knew someone who did.

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I'm wondering why you didn't question the girl you dropped off when you had a chacne? You have me so curious that I would not have been able to help myself from asking her what the heck was up with the robed dude. If I were you I would take a trip up the road with some friends and check it out again. Sounds real interesting.

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Trust me, it was no Klan member. Those witless morons haven't the gonads to venture out all by themselves when they are 'all decked out' in their traditional garb. No way, trust me. It likely was just some local run of the mill drug crazed nutcase. Not to worry.

Edited by Team cotati697
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Are there "posted property--keep out---do not enter" type signs around? Does the area and it's remains look to be particualrly dangerous? If not, go for it.

 

You might try emailing this guy: wpetty@erols.com. Near as I can tell he is the local historian.

Edited by Team cotati697
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I'm wondering why you didn't question the girl you dropped off when you had a chacne? You have me so curious that I would not have been able to help myself from asking her what the heck was up with the robed dude.

At the beginning of the story you will notice that I said this girl I took home was someone I knew, not necessarily a friend. It was just a gesture of kindness, like when you have a flat tire and someone you don't even know helps you change it. With that being said, I didn't really feel comfortable asking her about what I saw. Her house was the only one at the end of the road and whatever I saw walking off the mountain was walking in the direction of it. I didn't want to ask her about it only to learn that it was her dad or someone else she knew. That might seem silly to those reading this, but if it was someone she knew, I didn't want them finding out that I now knew something was going on.

 

If any of you have seen the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou", you will probably remember the scene where the guys stumble upon a klan rally in the woods. Even though that is a fictional movie, and a very funny one at that, that is what I don't want anyone running into while looking for a cache.

 

As far as the person who replied, "Say there mountaineer girl, do you know if this place is where out of work comedians go to die?", I hope you are not implying that I made up this story just to get some laughs. :ph34r: This event I am speaking of was very real and very scary for myself. It kept me from going anywhere near the area for 2 years. While I was doing my student teaching a couple of years ago (not exactly in the area of my incident, rather it was just across the state line in Virginia), I told this story to some of my students. I actually had a couple of them come and tell me later on that those activities do in fact happen in the mountains around the area. One student even told me that he was approached by the klan to join. Thankfully, he declined, but it just goes to show that the klan is still alive.

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Im a southern WV native myself. And yes the Klan is very much alive in this part of the state. You would be suprised, Your local banker, Gas station clerk, Dairy Queen cook, I even know of a local politician that all practive Klan rituals every so often. There was a big racist thing goin on in the county a few years ago, and some of the Klan members were spotted with the white robes and hats on. I cant really remember, but i think some of them even got arrested. Its probably in the newspaper archives or something.

 

But back to my story. Klan is still alive and kickin. Especially in southern WV. People dont realize its not barefoot toothless ppl down here, but they do need to realize its a totally different part of the country. Some places dont welcome "outsiders" too well. So i'd be careful to where you put the cache.

 

Im takin that your in either Mcdowell or Mingo right?

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Thought maybe the significance of the pink flamingos might help.It seems that the pink flamingo is a symbol (I am not one at all, but did a few searches) of a bizarre religion called boojum and its followers boojumites.Seems the core belief is, in a nutshell, the belief that the inner earth is populated by trolls and that some day that earth will " crack open " and release them all once again to rule us non-trolls. :D

Edited by snowfrog
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Thought maybe the significance of the pink flamingos might help.It seems that the pink flamingo is a symbol (I am not one at all, but did a few searches) of a bizarre religion called boojum and its followers boojumites.Seems the core belief is, in a nutshell, the belief that the inner earth is populated by trolls and that some day that earth will " crack open " and release them all once again to rule us non-trolls. :D

Seriously?

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Oh My Gosh, I can't help it anymore. Mountaineer Girl I think you should place this cache and we have all been warned. I've been following this thread for a few days now, I'm hooked on what is going to be said next. Some of the entries bring tears of laghter to my eyes.

 

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that this could be a Klan area and I take your story and the warning seriously. Klan was the first thing I thought when I read the original post, Druid was the second thing but far second being in WV. Now Boojumites!?? I can't wait to Google them.

 

I would love to read the logs and stories people tell of their trek to find this cache. Please hide this cache!

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Hello again, everybody. I'm glad to see that there is still interest in my very weird experience. I want to say thank you to all of you who has given me your opinions on whether or not I should place the cache. I am taking them all into consideration.

 

To WVski, that guessed I'm from McDowell or Mingo Counties, close. Actually it's the next M over in Mercer County.

 

I would like to say thank you to snowfrog for letting me in on the boojumites. I will never be able to look at a pink flamingo the same way again. Before, when I saw a pink flamingo, it made me think of a nice tropical paradise. Now, everytime I see one, I'm going to picture huge groups of trolls running out from beneath the earth to take over control of the world!

 

Seriously, though, I believe that if we all band together, we can defeat the boojumite trolls. I mean, they probably just come up to our knees. With the exercise we get in our legs on these cache hunts, we should all be strong enough to turn the boojumite troll attack into a gigantic game of kickball. I personally think it would be fun!

 

Thank you for all the suggestions. If you have anymore, keep them coming! :D

Edited by mountaineer_girl
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Hmmm, Boojumite trolls. Explains many things. Now I know how one sock disappears from my laundry, travel bugs go missing, and the air in my tires needs refilled.

 

So, you have an abandoned town, an obscure religion that believes the world is less than 100 years old and plastic flamingos are venerable objects, a mysterious phantom figure strolling the woods, and a non-violated concrete bunker in WEST VIRGINIA - subject of some great jokes. Come on, you have the makings of a soon-to-be-forum-famous destination cache. It would be a crime NOT to have this cache.

 

You can link to the historical aspects, but as mentioned, good lord please extort the bizarre factor here ! Cachers thrive on it ( the interesting ones ). Look at Zartimus, and his batman cache outfit. Snoogans and his night escapades & customized cache adventures from a bomb shelter. Caches in abandoned insane asylums, haunted bogs, anywhere in New Jersey, etc.

 

Worried about what someone will run into ? Read the stories people leave about pickle parks, stalkers, cougars, bears, over zealous old ladies, etc. Come on, there is weirdness EVERYWHERE ! My area has meth labs, others have pot fields. We all take a risk leaving the house at all. We as a group choose to ignore it and live life.

 

C'mon, don't make me beg !

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Hey before you give the trolls a bad rap read into them a little mroe. yes there gona take over and make us slaves. BUT there also gona make us drink beer all day granted its cheap american beer but hey they cant be all bad. Oh wait they like pink flamingos ya I guess they can.

 

Concerning the cache idea I think this one could be awsome. Add your exsperinces and if you can do a little research on the town that was there and give a history lession and you could have a amzeing cache.

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Hey before you give the trolls a bad rap read into them a little mroe.  yes there gona take over and make us slaves.  BUT there also gona make us drink beer all day  granted its cheap american beer but hey they cant be all bad.

Cheap american beer and enslavement - sounds like if my employers allowed alcohol at the company picnic.

 

Edited to add " trust me, enslavement by trolls does suck." No boss, OF COURSE I didn't mean YOU :P

Edited by Captain Chaoss
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I'm happy to announce that I have placed my cache, and it is currently awaiting approval to be listed. B) I want to give a BIG thank you to all of you that have enlightened me with your opinions, some of which were extremely humorous.

 

I had planned on naming my cache after the ghost town it is centered around, but I changed my mind as soon as I was informed of the flamingo worshippers. That was one of those tidbits of information that maybe 0.5% of the population ever becomes aware of. In honor of that, and because of the fact that it is just plain funny, I've named my cache the "Boojumite Ghost Town Cache". I need to thank snowfrog for that information.

 

I welcome you all to check out my listing as soon as it is posted. Feel free to keep sending in suggestions about the cache if you have any. I've got $100.00 ready for anyone out there that can capture a living Boojumite troll and personally deliver it to me. I know there are restrictions as to what you can put in caches (guns, alcohol, explosives, all day children's passes to Neverland) but there isn't one specifically mentioned for Boojumite trolls. If I could get one of those suckers to jump out at people as they are opening the cache, I could very well go down as one of the all time greatest pranksters ever.

Edited by mountaineer_girl
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