Letterboxers & Geocachers Unite!

[cara]

"Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting subsequent letterboxers see who have visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count". (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing)

A few Letterboxing resources:
http://www.atlasquest.com
http://www.letterboxing.org

A few Geocaching resources:
http://www.geocaching.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

I've been an avid letterboxer and unofficial recruiter to the hobby for over 5 years. I frequently carry my letterboxing journal and personal stamp with me and if I'm in a new area, I always like to find a letterbox. I love spending time outdoors and exploring places I've never been. I also love a good treasure hunt! :)

Geocaching is a similar hobby, but I can't tell you much about it because I've never tried it. I would love to hear about it, though.

Any other letterboxers or geocachers out there?

~cara

[dixie]

I haven't tried either, but I would love to. It sounds kinda like a treasure hunt of sorts, with the clues. I'm gonna check to see if there are any locally.

[SFFemmePrincess]

Geocaching is similar in that there are containers hidden in various areas. I think the main differences is that there aren't really clues per say, the coordinates are placed on the geocaching website and then downloaded into a GPS. I guess the other difference is that there is usually stuff in the cache depending on the size and many times there are series of caches that are hidden by the same person and have some sort of purpose or point. It's very very fun! I know there are other cachers here...come out come out wherever you are...

[hippieflowergirl]

i started geocaching this year and was able to do 2 local dayhikes but dropped it due to a family emergency. i'm really looking forward to picking things up again. i didn't know about letterboxing. maybe that's more my speed since i don't have a car. i love treasure hunts and i love that there are local sites i can get to on foot and with my dog.

does anyone do bookcrossing or postcrossing?

[Oiler41]

Geocaching is great fun either alone or in a group. I've been geocaching for several years now and it has taken me to some pretty cool places that I might otherwise have just driven past. Then there are the "city" geocaches that are usually pretty cleverly hidden to match their surroundings and involve the challenge of trying to get the cache without being spotting by the "muggles" in the area. There are puzzle caches, earth caches, multi-caches and so on. So far, I have geocached in Hawaii, California, Texas and New York. Caches are hidden EVERYWHERE, lol. Have fun with it folks!

Glynn

[Darth Denkay]

I haven't been geocaching before, but my girlfriend has and loves it so I think we're going to start doing it. I would LOVE to be able to do it in the mountains of East TN, but for now will stick to west TN.

[Fancy]

Another geocacher here! We've been caching for about three years now if. What I enjoy most is that it gets and keeps us out of the house. We learn so much about new places and learn more about places we think we know; just from seeking out caches. Each year we make some caching goals just for the fun of it. For example:
* year one: find 100
* year two: geocache in more states
* year three: hide and repair more of our own caches, get to 300 finds

We've run into a few letterbox/cache hybrids. That's always intrigued me.

We love making other caching friends and getting people involved with this fun hobby!

Thanks for beginning this thread!
:)

[cara]

Awesome! Welcome, welcome!

Maybe when we're in Arkansas for the reunion, I can plan a geocaching/letterboxing excursion! Just a thought. I'd love to see a geocache and I always try to find at least one letterbox when I travel and visit somewhere. Would anyone be up for that?

We won't going to that one big park at dusk, though. What was the name of it again, Dusa? :|

:rofl:

:stillheart:

cara

[Logicaly]

I do a lot of geocaching, and have been even going to some of the local geocaching events around here since there is a very large caching community in my area.

I love going with friends though, one of my favorite caching trips was with Oiler and a few others on a weekend camping trip.

[Fancy]

That sounds like fun!


Awesome! Welcome, welcome!

Maybe when we're in Arkansas for the reunion, I can plan a geocaching/letterboxing excursion! Just a thought. I'd love to see a geocache and I always try to find at least one letterbox when I travel and visit somewhere. Would anyone be up for that?

We won't going to that one big park at dusk, though. What was the name of it again, Dusa? :|

:rofl:

:stillheart:

cara

[Fancy]

I remember when you were just getting started. It's so cool to see that you're into it and doing local events, too. Awesome!
I know locally, I'd love to attend some of the geocaching events that take places. There's been a couple standing events that take place throughout the summer. This may be the summer we get to check 'em out. :)


I do a lot of geocaching, and have been even going to some of the local geocaching events around here since there is a very large caching community in my area.

I love going with friends though, one of my favorite caching trips was with Oiler and a few others on a weekend camping trip.

[Medusa]

YAY! A letterbox thread!

I did my first letterbox experience with Cara when she was here to visit several weeks back and it was pretty awesome!

Although I will say that we never did find the box under a certain creepy troll-bridge.

Picture this: Cara and I are searching for a letterbox out in the friggin WOODS at night by ourselves. There is but one teeny tiny light to guide our way. The box was supposed to be hidden under a bridge at one of the local state parks. So we find the bridge and trek over there to look up under it in the pitch dark. Talk about crreeeeeeeepy. It was by a creek and we envisioned alligators swallowing us.

Needless to say, we didnt find the box but as we crossed the bridge on our way back to the truck, both of us realized how creepy it was. Not wanting to be pansies, I said, "I'm not scared, I will KICK someone's ass!".
To which Cara replied, "I know karate!"

Almost deadpan as soon as we said it, we both hear a rumbling from behind us. It was BIG. It was SCARY.

We take off running.
*insert hysterical laughter as we run back to the truck and discover that it's locked*

Turns out, two bicyclists were rumbling across the bridge. It wasnt a big, scary monster after all.

Can't wait to do it again!

[Darth Denkay]

I recently (within the last few months) started caching with my partner. I especially enjoy hitting the ones in parks, where we grab the dog and go tromping through the woods. We went last Saturday, never did find the damn cache, but we all had a great time anyway!

[Oiler41]

I do a lot of geocaching, and have been even going to some of the local geocaching events around here since there is a very large caching community in my area.

I love going with friends though, one of my favorite caching trips was with Oiler and a few others on a weekend camping trip.

That was a great camping weekend and a whole lotta fun caching! Pup and I have found a few here and need to get out and get going on some more! You two should come visit us in Texas and we will do some caching here! My favorite ones though are ones up the side of a mountain,,,,remember? LOL

Glynn

[Fancy]

Anyone been caching lately?

We just had an awesome day with a big group of friends and most all of them were new to caching. All the kids (like 12 of them) darted ahead of the adults and were totally into it. We found 5 total, and not one of them took the kids more than 5 minutes once we got to ground zero. The adults got to hang back and let the kids do the work for a change. What fun!!

I think we may have a few new addicts on our hands.

:)

[Bad_boi]

I had a half heart attack reading the title thinking I was seeing stuff.

I may or may not be obsessed with said hobby involving a GPS ;)

[Logicaly]

The weather is starting to get nice out here, and it means I can get out more doing more caching!

Also I now have a geocaching app on my phone, so if I don't have my gps for some reason, I can still go grab some on my lunch break or something!

[Daryn]

Letterboxing is fun... I need to get back into it...

[Fancy]

Found some fun and interesting caches this weekend, and hiked a few miles in and around a beautiful gorge in the process. The best part was finding a couple hidden waterfalls! :)

[Bad_boi]

Made my 50th find this week. I hit up a puzzle and a multi!

Still hungry for more :)

laters...

[Fancy]

Went for a walk after work at a small local nature center. I didn't have a GPS, but still managed to find two out of four that I scoped out online beforehand. Sweet.

:byebye:

[Bad_boi]

Went for a walk after work at a small local nature center. I didn't have a GPS, but still managed to find two out of four that I scoped out online beforehand. Sweet.

:byebye:

You should get one. I started the same way, my brain, two hands and a pokey stick.

Garmin venture HC's are about 130$ (I got one and it is amazing!)

[cara]

Between the breaks in rain this spring, I finally got to go letterboxing and introduce my sweetie to the hobby over Memorial Day weekend! I'm excited because there are dozens of letterboxes within a few miles of my new apartment. Also, I'll be teaching a letterboxing class at the summer camp I volunteer at. Whee!

:stillheart:

[Logicaly]

I'm going out caching this weekend! Theres a levee along here that has TONS along the way, so im going to hit a bunch.

[Fancy]

We are less than 20 caches from hitting our 300 mark this summer! I'm looking for a special or unique find to commemorate 3 years of caching and 300 finds.
:)

[cara]

Oooh--Good luck, Fancy! :-)

I have been working on my lesson plans for the letterboxing class I'm teaching at camp the first week of August. I'm super excited to expose 9 youngsters and a few adults to the wonderful world of letterboxing.

:tea:

cara

[jelli]

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

Has anyone gone on a geocaching adventure???

:glasses:

Here's a link to the site, but it is supposed to be temporarily offline for an update tomorrow.

http://www.geocaching.com/

:carride:

[DapperButch]

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

Has anyone gone on a geocaching adventure???

:glasses:

Here's a link to the site, but it is supposed to be temporarily offline for an update tomorrow.

http://www.geocaching.com/

:carride:



I have thought more than once that this would be interesting to try.

[Softly]

oh my, this looks EXCITING!!!!
I would so do this!

Thank you for the link. If I decide to try it out, will post here about it!
:D I LOVE adventures

[Oiler41]

I haven't been too much lately; it's just too dang hot, but here is another thread about Geocaching!

Give it a try and enjoy! It's a lot of fun!

Glynn

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74

[jelli]

Thank you for the link to the other thread. I looked and looked and never found it. I wonder if Admin consolidates threads? :)

[Slater]

My ex and I did letterboxing a few times several years ago. It's similar to geocaching. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes frustrating. We didn't have a GPS at the time, so that made some of them harder.

And we did letterboxing with cara once, I had forgotten about that ... probably because I waited outside. It was a talk-to-someone one. I preferred the tromp-through-the-woods kind.

[cara]

I haven't letter-boxed much this year. However, on Friday I took a quick day trip to Ilwaco, WA (SW corner of Washington state) and found a couple before flying kites and playing at the beach. Totally fun! Also went to a huge Harry Potter-themed meetup near Seattle in July with my mom. I'm seeing more and more good carves on the trails and that makes me happy.

Thanks for posting in this thread! :)

:stillheart:

[Ebon]

That sounds like fun especially if it's in the woods.

[jelli]

Cara has a great lil geocache thread going on...

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74

[Fancy]

Wow, I hadn't realized that I had not posted here in a year. Thanks Cara and Jelli for reminding me!

Cara, thanks too for posting about letterboxing. We've rarely run across cache-letterbox hybrids, buts it's unique when we find them.

Well, I've been caching a bit more this year. Passed 300 a while back, added several more states to my map, and have taken up biking local trails to cache. It certainly breaks up a 10 mile bike ride when you get to stop frequently. :)

A couple weeks ago I found a pretty unique cache...someone had added a block of wood to a fence (to match all the wood on the fence) and the inside of the block was hollow. I don't even know what made me think to wiggle the block. I had all but given up. What a surprise.

[Bad_boi]

What does everyone think of the geocaching challenges? I did the pick up 10 peices of litter one but I think the other ones are kinda silly.

[Fancy]

What does everyone think of the geocaching challenges? I did the pick up 10 peices of litter one but I think the other ones are kinda silly.

I haven't done any challenges, but pretty much CITO everywhere I go. There's a challenge for that?

Have you been to any geocaching events or gatherings? There seem to be quite a few locally, but again I haven't attended any yet.

[sarahwho]

Just getting into it........downloaded the app onto my HTC - I am excited! I told my son about it, and naturally becuz he's 9, he's going with me. But he loves secret stuff, so this should be right up his alley! I just want to know what sorts of stuff people leave? I think if I like it enough I may get a collection of plastic coins to leave to up the anty more for other ppl!