Geo-Crap

I'm really disappointed in the quality of the geocaches around the fort worth area lately. It seems that very little effort is being put out.

Most of the caches that are out there are micros, which nothing more than a log will fit into. Now, don't get me wrong, a micro is sometimes necessary in a busy spot where there are many mugglers. However, if you are going to put a micro out there, I think you should at least chose a spot that is historical, interesting, or at least pleasant to hunt in.

To give you an idea of HOW many micros there are versus regular and large containers, I went through a gpx file that I recently downloaded which contains all of the caches within a 10 mile radius of work. Here are the sizes of the caches in the file:

2 large containers
1 regular/medium size container
32 micro containers




Here's a picture of the view I had when I stopped to pick up a cache in roanoke during lunch today. It was in a gas station parking lot, near the exit for the car wash. Where is the value or challenge in this?

I spoke to someone at a letterboxing event recently. They used to enjoying geocaching as much as I did, but have stopped geocaching in the metroplex area due to this issue. He now only caches when he goes on trips or has to go out of town for something.

What has happened to the quality of our geocaches?!?

Welcome to Tales from the Trail

This is my personal blog site detailing my adventures on the trail while attempting to find geocaches, letterboxes and terracaches. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, please see the FAQ links at the bottom of the page for detailed descriptions of each. I typically go out 3-4 times a week, often at lunch from work, and hunt for boxes.

I have been geocaching and letterboxing for about 2 yrs now. I was introduced to it by two couples we camped with in Abilene State Park. I had a GPS that I used primarily for navigation in the car. They loaded in some waypoints for me and we set out on the trail and found a couple of geocaches and at least one letterbox I believe. Initially I was more of a geocacher than a letterboxer. It has been only recently that I've really drifted away from geocaching, mainly due to the large number of micros in the DFW area. You can only find so many film canisters with nothing other than a log in it before the novelty of it wears off.

Currently, I am doing more letterboxes and locationless caches. I'm also attempting to work on a terracache that's near my home. Terracaches are similar to geocaches, but are supposed to be a little better quality and more challenging. They also seem to be less tolerant of caches that aren't well maintained. The locationless ones are similar to the virtual caches geocaching.com has recently eliminated. They require you to find an object anywhere in the world, take a picture of it with your GPS unit and/or you, and give the coordinates usually.

In this blog I plan to write about the adventures I have on the trail each day when I go out. It will encompass all of the various types of boxes I hunt. If I have days where there isn't much to write about, and I feel like writing, I will try to go back through my log book and write about boxes I've visited in the past. Feel free to send comments on any of the blog entries. I welcome them and it lets me know someone is actually reading it!