The latest black eye for geocaching is the archiving of the ET Highway series of geocaches in Nevada. The claim to fame for this series was that it had over 1000 caches in the series. The loss of this series doesn’t really bother me from the standpoint of losing a power trail, the loss does bother me from how this will negatively affect geocaching in Nevada and elsewhere.
I listened to the Geocacher Podcast today and one of the cache owners of the ET Highway series read the message he received advising him the series would be archived. In that message he mentions that the Nevada Attorney General was involved. It is never a good thing for geocaching when officials at that level are involved. The cache owner was clear in what he was told but I don’t think we are getting the full story on why these caches were archived.
I’m sure it is true that there were close calls on the road. I also believe it’s very easy for a government to use safety as the public reason for making a controversial decision. Who can argue with safety? I have not found any of the caches along the ET highway but I have talked to geocachers that have. Typically the caches in this series are not far from the road. I wonder if the cache owners received permission from the Nevada DOT to place the caches where they did? When you read this post, Goodbye Geocaching ET Highway, written by a reviewer, you see that the number one recommendation to avoid issues is to get permission. I think the combination of safety and lack of permission is what led to this series being archived.
As geocachers we have to maintain good communication with all levels of government. It is one of the reasons I got involved with the Ontario Geocaching Association. By and large the kind of places we want to place caches will at some-point put other geocachers on government owned/managed land. We all know that we need permission to place a cache on private property. Getting that kind of permission is usually not too hard. On the other hand dealing with governments is never easy.
I”m sure the reviewers at geocaching.com will be a lot more sensitive to caches along highways. Some reviewers here in Ontario have been sensitive to this for some time. Thanks! Your diligence helps minimize the number of land manager conflicts we face.
My biggest fear for geocaching is that a few cachers that don’t respect proper etiquette will ruin it for the rest of us. If you care enough about geocaching to read this blog then you likely aren’t the kind of person that will cause problems for other cachers. The real challenge for all of us that do care is educating the people that either don’t know better or don’t care to do better.
teamvoyagr
I have been writing the cachemania blog since 2008. I'm interested in the development of geocaching and the many ways that people play the game.
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“When Geocaching Goes Wrong”?? I dunno. I think archiving this series is exactly the right thing to do. 1000 caches spaced a couple hundred meters apart, placed there for the SOLE reason of caching for the numbers…I say good riddance to series like this.
Yes, I know. People will say “if you don’t like ‘em, don’t do ‘em”. And that’s fine…I don’t do them. I just don’t think these types of logbook-at-the-side-of-the-road “caches” have anything at all in common with the traditional roots of geocaching.
As usual, YMMV
I find some caches and cache styles distasteful.
I think some puzzles are horrific
Long many legged multis drive me nuts.
There is something for everyone. If it is not about the numbers than ignore them. If it is about the numbers, and if you hate them, they will drive you nuts.
There is no pleasing everyone. But if you do everything right to begin with there are fewer problems.
If permission is sought there can still be issues, someone could say.. wow we are seeing stupid people parking on a 65 mile per hour highway, and not pulling over… we have to do something.
@TrimblesTrek … Archiving the series was absolutely the right thing to do. My post wasn’t meant to discuss the merits of power trails or micros. My point was that as cachers we need to user our head when we hide caches or go looking for them. Bad things happen when we focus on the numbers for the sake of the numbers.
@Teamvoyagr. The great thing about writing a blog and opening it to comments is that you can expect varying opinions in response. Kudos to you for not locking your blog to responses.
. Blog post responses also often go off-topic a little from the OP’s main thought. I’m guilty of these kinds of responses. LoL.
I guess the decision to archive ANY cache can be based on the interpretation of local (Nevada in this case) law and of geocaching.com “rules”.
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I think most cachers interpret the “getting the permission from the landowner” rule to be a very flexible one. A lot of cachers may think “I pay taxes in this city/province/country” therefore I’m free to do whatever I want on this “public property”, as long as it’s within the law. I’d guess that most folks who have ever hidden a cache in their local community park/trail have never bothered to contact their local governments to ask if it’s “OK”. Is this right or wrong? Up to the powers that be to decide I guess.
For side-of-the-highway caches (and not necessarily just power trails), the issue may not be the actual hiding of these caches…it may very well be within the local property-management rules to do this. But, it may very well contravene local highway traffic act law that only allows for motorists pulling over to the side of the road for an emergency. [Regardless of your need for a cache-fix, a cache is never an emergency
So yeah, from the point of your blog post I certainly do agree. Unless we all use our heads and think about the consequences of where we are hiding and seeking our caches, problems are bound to arise. Geocaching SHOULD require no rules of it’s own. “Common Sense” should be all that’s needed for a cache hider/seeker. The problem is, common sense doesn’t seem to be as common as it once was.
-TT-
There are many aspects of geocaching that I like and why I participate in this activity. I’ll not go into each one and bore you to tears, but for the sake of this post, I think safety is one of the concerns that some in the caching community sometimes fail to consider when placing a cache out in the field – at least when it comes to a power trail such as this.
I think this power trail is utterly ridiculous. If you want to increase the number of finds for your standings, simply go online and log in that you’ve found any cache. Who is seriously going to verify each log to the online posting. It seems that this is a sure way to rack up your stats. The question is, why. Why would someone do something like that? Why would you want to increase your finds if you really didn’t participate in the hunt? This power trail is a frivolous way to add 1,000 finds to your total, rather than truly enjoy the essence of geocaching.
Since starting this hobby, I have always felt it’s not about the numbers. If you claim the run of 1,000 finds is about the experience – then let me hand you a hammer. Crack yourself in the head 1,000 times. Wow – some experience, huh? I bet the first crack was very much like the 50th, the 357th, the 762nd, etc. What did you gain from this run of finds? Honestly, I can look at my caching profile, and I have a memory associated with each cache. I know who I was with, the weather, and, in most cases, what the cache container was like. So, for me, numbers 1, 50, 357, 762, etc. along this trail would be a waste of a day – when I could have enjoyed 10 to 20 awesome finds that will be far more memorable. I enjoyed the movie Groundhog Day, but this trail is too close to that experience and it wouldn’t be very memorable.
Having a cacher get nailed on a public highway because they have a skewed view of common sense or safety, merely to write their name on a logbook, is only going to make public officials scrutinize geocaching, label all of us as a few slices short of a loaf, and publicly ridicule this activity in the media. It’s a domino effect that ultimately will haunt geocaching.
I respect the views of those who want to do something like this. It’s like people who walk on hot coals or eat glass – whatever puts lead in your pencil, have at it! I personally don’t see the enjoyment out of it.
@teamvoyagr – nice article. I enjoyed reading this post and your blog.
@t4th … thanks for the compliment on the post.
This post is generating some of the longest replies I’ve ever received. Apparently people feel strongly about this subject.
To quote an Infamous Cacher, “Wow, what a Craptastic Cache!”
Now that being said, Mrs. T. and I happened to be in Vegas over the Christmas holidays and decided to take a drive down to the E.T. highway to see what the big deal was. We figured we’d do about 100 and call it a day. At cache #20 Mrs.T. asked if we could pack it in as it was a cold rainy day and to be quite honest, the caches just weren’t our cup of tea.
To put it bluntly, I’d rather re-paint my house and watch the paint dry than do a series like this.
I understand that there are cachers out there that are all about the numbers and there are cachers that are all about the caching experience. I totally agree with T4TH, whatever blows your dress up. We prefer high DT combinations or a hike that will take you somewhere unique rather than a film canister every 160m on the shoulder of a road.
On a side note, we did get passed by a state trooper and several snow plows while we were there caching without incident. I would also like to add that although this type of caching isn’t our style, we can appreciate the effort that the CO’s went to in setting this powertrail up.
Mr. T.
A lot of good points made in the article and the comments. Everyone has their own personal style and preferences when caching. To say that a power trail like the ET Highway isn’t valid caching is akin to saying that nanos aren’t caches or that puzzles discriminate against those that hate puzzles or that urban caching isn’t true caching because you’re not out in the woods. This game/activity/sport is beautiful because it can be so many different things to so many different people. As for the oft-touted line that “It’s not about the numbers”…why do we log our finds online?? Everyone has their numbers that mean something to them, be it clearing their respective area, hitting big powertrails or having X number of finds without having to stoop as low as finding an LPC. The numbers do matter because it’s how we quantify what we’ve achieved for ourselves and to others.
Safety is definitely an aspect that is all too often overlooked in cache placement. I can think of dozens of areas that would be great to hide a cache, but because access would be off of a roadside that doesn’t have ample shoulder to pull off onto, I haven’t done it. I’ve never been to Nevada, so have no idea what the road is like that the ET Highway was on, but if there isn’t a safe place to pull off then perhaps it is right for the series to be archived. It is a shame though because I’m sure it’s been a huge boost to business in the area having extra visitors pass by. Maybe the cache owners can find away to put another large series of caches in the area as a replacement that would be suitable.
Phyllis is phamous
If I attach a Travel Bug to myself would people take me along to see as much of the world as she has?
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