Worrying News Links

These stories are a gift for me, thanks - and even more reasons why geocaches are a BAD IDEA

Hightech hobby sets off security turmoil

Geocache mistaken for a pipe bomb

From here, quote:

One particular cache hidden next to Hill Air Force Base caused a bomb scare when someone found the red toolbox cache beneath a bridge.

From Megalithic Portal, quote:

Submit details of locations near you, or where you travel to. Take their photo. Research more about them. It's a lot of fun tracking these things down. Have a purpose to your walks or adventures. Instead of going after a plastic box full of junk (geocache) how about doing something positive to help our environment.

From BBC Cumbria Website, quote:(I also particularly like the "bring a spade" comment... )

The article says Geocaches should not be placed in an historic, archaeological or environmentally sensitive area, yet also says there is a cache at Long Meg. Why does this rule exist, and is Long Meg an explainable exception, or do Geocachers ignore their own rules?

From Megalithic Portal again, quote:

Archaeologists had to climb 45 minutes twice a day to excavate a Bronze Age burial mound on the highest point in Carmarthenshire. It was being taken apart by walkers building a cairn around a “geocache’ box.

Carlisle Cache Trashing

I was staying with friends last night, and a bit too much indulging went on ;-) so I decided to get some fresh air by taking a trip to bag some geocaches. The first was in a place I was familiar with and had visited years ago, the Edward Monument on Burgh Marshes.
The comments by previous geocachers had included comments such as "very boggy" .... IT'S A MARSH!!! GET OVER IT!!
Came armed an prepared with wellies etc (kept having to pull my socks up though!), and found the parking place easily - next to some hungry sheep and lambs. I had left my GPS at home but was fairly confindent of being able to find it with the clues.
When I arrived on the marshland, the detritus left by the recent stormy weather was evident so I was a bit worried that the cache will have been damaged already... thankfully not!!
I took a photo of the location before removing it. Also visited the monument which now was surrounded by an inpenetrable fence, it was never like that in the past!!
Back to the car and a quick nod to the farmer who had come to feed the livestock. Off now to my next quarry....

Carlisle airport.... This was a micro-cache container, first of a three-parter, easily found near the only gatepost in the area. However, the clue to the next cache was in latitude & longitude, not OS coordinates; so I'll have to come back to finish that one. Meanwhile no-one else can get it.

I next headed to Langholm, and the Monument which I'd also visited before. A good brisk walk, with panoramic views as the reward. This one took a little while to find, but got there in the end. It was completely sodden and the log book ruined - straight in the bin with that one!

Then onward to a microcache which had been placed in a dead tree. Really easy, didn't even switch off the car engine!

Then back home for lunch.

The collection of items was photographed before disposal.

A very successful day - four caches trashed