The Good and the Bad of it

Today letterboxing for me was a mixed bag. Good over all, but with some bad news. My daughter joined me today on my letterboxing adventure and we bagged six great boxes and really enjoyed some nice places. Also learned a little local history. I think I got her hooked.

The bad news happened when we got back and I decided that I had time to upgrade my Col Williams Monument Lb planted near Lake George, NY, with a new box and logbook as I was informed that there had been a lot of activity recently. When I went to retrieve it, it was gone! This is my first box that I have lost. This was a high volume Lb that was in a fairly guarded location but a tree came down near the box and removed a lot of the covering brush. If the box had not been re hidden carefully it would have been seen. I am hoping it was just a muggle, but I didn’t see any evidence that the box was scattered. So I don’t know.

I am not going to replace this one. It is a good location for a box that maybe could be planted a little more cleverly. This was one of my first boxes I planted and it had a white lid so if it was not covered, especially after the tree took out some of the understory near the box, it would have stood out like a beacon. Now I camouflage my plants with black paint so they are a little more difficult to see.

I am a little disappointed as I had a lot of nice stamps impressions in the logbook and received a lot of positive complements on the placement but that’s the nature of the game. It had to happen sooner or later.

Some nice caches

Today I went on a nice hike up Sleeping Beauty Mountain in the Southeastern Adirondacks. I went to just enjoy the hike, but ended up finding two great cachers Sleeping Beauty Cache and Sleeping Beauty's Prince Charming. The second one is probably the best geocache I have ever found. It was in a great location, great clues and real a nice cache.

Also, I really had fun on my hike. I had the top of the mountain all to myself. I also did the loop hike, in that after I hiked to the summit, I took the trail down to Bumps pond an then back to the trail head. It was fun . Total trip was 7.8 miles of some real quiet Adirondack hikin.

Here are some pics.

This are the remains of the old Dacy farmhouse.

A view from the summit of Lake George.

Bumps Pond

LPC and Micro's I do not like them I say

I was listening to latest installment of the Podcacher, when Sonny mentioned his dislike of LPC’s or lamppost caches. A dislike I also strongly share. This is geocaching’s version of a mico box that is just placed somewhere by someone who just wants to place a cache or box someplace. Letterboxing micro’s and boxes for that matter still are being placed as far I can tell, at places of interest, but geocaches seem to have a higher percentage of caches that are hidden for the soul reason to hide them. The place has no historical or scenic attributes. This seems to be what the LPC really is.

I not a numbers guy, in fact I really don’t have that much time to myself where I can cache and box, so when I do I really want to be taken to an interesting location or learn some history or something! All my found letterboxes so far (27) have been that. I would say 5 of the 40 caches that I have found have been just a box in the woods somewhere, with no redeeming features. However, I have been noticing some letterboxes being listed that look like the quality of the place is decreasing, but I don’t know for sure until I look for them. I will say this though. If a cache or a letterbox says up front it is a micro I will not look for them, as I feel that most of these are in locations that are not to my personal liking.

I like to visit a nice nature preserve and look for a box or a cache off the beaten trail, so you can open them box up and read the logbook and take your time without having to look out for muggles constantly. That is where I attempt to place all of my boxes. That is fun and relaxing to me. The James Bond thing is not for me and a location looks too mugglely, I will pass the Lb or cache up.

I think that each person who is thinking of placing a box or hiding a cache should think very hard about the interest that the location will generate, where the container can be placed in proximity to the muggle world, then the quality of the box itself and how well you can maintain it. I think that one of the reasons I don’t have, as much time as I would like to find boxes and caches, is I spend some of the precious time I do have, maintaining my boxes. I check of them twice a year and I up grade the containers and such, so that when the box is looked for the seeker has a better chance of finding my box and really enjoying there experience.

I think though, later I will discuss my maintenance practices of my boxes and how I think I can reduce the number of times I need to check on them…but later.

...A little later in the day...I have just read a couple of responses to the letterboxing news group and I think that one of the things that I am saying in those posts and this blog is I just want to see that the new boxers and cachers stay true to the tradition of connecting the box to the locaction.

Podcacher

As I said in my first post on this blog, I have been away from the blogging world for a while and in my previous blog I mentioned a podcast that I really enjoyed. Well, I have rediscovered this podcast and I am very happy to see that it is still up, fresh and thriving while I was away. Of all the different podcasts that I have listened to this is the only one that I have found that has continued for as long as it has and has improved with every show. This has become a weekly program that I can count on and look forward to listening to and leaning from every week.

The name of this podcast is Podcacher, and if you are interested in geocaching you really want to listen to this program. It is fun, interesting and a classroom that you will enjoy! You have the Baker's guarantee!!!!

Had Some Time!!

I had a couple of free hours today so I grabbed my letterboxing gear and my gps and headed out to the Great Sacandaga Lake to find a letterbox that I have been meaning to get for a while know. I drove in from Hadly of County Rte 4 and had some great views. The box was and easy find, with a real nice hand carved stamp. The Park that you park at is a nice place to have some lunch and just relax.



I also found the geocache whose container has been chewed by and animal. This cache is easy, and in a nice location, but it needs some work. I TNSL and STAMPED IN:-)

Geocachers Should have Personal Stamp

I was thinking today on how close letterboxing and geocaching really are. I was also thinking about how much I have learned from each of these activities, and have been able to apply some of the techniques of one to the other. For example, I have been taking a little more time to camouflage my letterbox containers better, so that if they are not re-hide well, at least they will not have a glaring red lid beaming its location all about. I am doing this mainly form seeing many of the geocaches I’ve found camouflaged well and they seem to stick out less.

One thing that I would like to see geocachers do is carry a personal stamp to stamp the logbooks of the geocaches they have found. I have one for letterboxing and a separate one for geocaching. Here is my reason for this. I am seeing a lot more cachers not exchanging items with the caches anymore. I am seeing a lot of TB’s getting moved around and messages like SLTN, in the logbooks. So why not leave a stamp imprint in the logbook? The cacher who hides the cache pays a lot of money and goes through a lot of effort to hide a good box. And when they come to check on the cache, more times than not the box needs more good swag and a new logbook. Wouldn’t it be a nice gesture to leave something for the person who hides the box in the logbook? I think that it would show that the finder appreciates a good hide and the effort that the hider is going through to maintain the box. I think that TN, but stamped in, would be much better than SLTN.

Your stamp can be hand carved, store bought or custom made, it just needs to say something about you, or mean something to you. Letterboing.org talks a lot about this if your are interested.

Made a New Plant

This letterbox I planted yesterday, is one that I have been planning since I visited the Pilot Knob Preserve. (http://www.lglc.org/NaturePreserves/Pilot-Knob.asp) this past spring. This little hike is a gem. With just a little effort you will be rewarded with gorgeous views, waterfalls and a lot of opportunity to see wildlife. The blue trail is especially full with a pleura of bird species singing and flying around. I was really happy finally get the time to plant this box.

The clues for this letterbox can be found at:

http://letterboxing.org/BoxView.php?boxnum=32698&boxname=Pilot_Knob_Moose

The Changing World of Letterboxing Containers and the weather :-)

Today was a frustrating day for me. First, the weather was as usual not cooperating with my letterboxing plans. We had multiple thunder boomers roll through today and I am not even going the think about trying for a few boxes. I have my son onboard as far as enthusiasm, but the rest of my family is not really interested in Letterboxing. So I don’t have many days free to go and letterbox and with most of the letterboxes found near me, I have to venture out which takes time that I don’t seem to be able to find.

The other thing that I found frustrating today was while visiting my local target to purchase a couple of Lock and Lock, or Snapware containers to begin replacing my Rubbermaid boxes, that the do not carry Snapware anymore and the Lock & Locks are not the size I really want. They are a little small and I have to cut down my favorite size logbook, the Strathmore 4x6. Target replaced the Snapware with a Sterilite container that has a steam release vent on top with a depression to allow your finger room to open it. If I had to use them I would have to seal this with silicon. These containers seal like lock and locks so they would be nice and they have some of the sizes that I like to use. I just don’t like that there is a hole in the lid. I should just plane ahead and order the lock and locks or Snapware directly one a year. I don’t really plan on make a ton of places, but who knows?

Non Stampers

I have begun to start my early summer checks on my boxes I have placed in my area and I have noticed more people are just signing in and not stamping. Also, of the boxes I checked one was not hidden very well and the other the top was left unsealed. I hope that this is just a fluke, because I would think that if you want to join in on this activity that you should at least carry a store bought stamp.

On another note my Black Mt Point letterbox needs a new container. The lid on that one is very hard to reseal and it looks a little warped. This was one of the old creamed colored lid Rubbermaid's, which have worked well, but I think it is time for a lock and lock for this place, as it is a little more difficult for me to check in the off season.

That's it for the Adirondacks

Later

Noonmark Mt, Keene NY

Yesterday we had a great day for hiking. We took a little trip up Noonmark Mountain in Keene, NY and had a blast. The last mile was very steep, but worth the views that we were treated too.

I ended up finding an old geocache up here the Leonid Cache (GC28E5). The cache was in very poor shape, it was in a plastic container, right out in the elements. The cache was very wet as were much of the contents. The log book was intact, and I was able to sign in. If a cache needed some attention, this one is it. It really needs an ammo can to hold up the the harsh conditions that this poor cache has to live with. I had one, I just didn't think to bring it. :-( Someone had at some time brought up the current containers , but left the original container right next new one???? We packed out the old container and disposed of it.