Posted by LukeDolman on April 06, 2009 at 12:43:15 user LukeDolman.
In Reply to: Re: Ransome sites and geocache posted by Dave Thewlis on April 05, 2009 at 14:03:24:
There is a low-tech (i.e. low cost!!) version of geocaching called letter boxing which is very much the same but instead of being given GPS coordinates you get a series of clues to follow to find the cache. The cache (often a small tupperware box) generally contains a small notebook or sketchpad and a stamp which can be of any design and is often home-made. You also have your own notebook and stamp and you stamp their book with your stamp and use their stamp to stamp your book (does that make sense??). So essentially you are finding hidden caches and collecting stamps. We've done it several times with the kids and have an absolute blast, from the making of the stamps to the fun of following the clues and finding the caches. The caches are mostly hidden in really nice places to go for a walk/hike so it's a great way to add a bit of excitement to a family walk and a good excuse to try new places. In the US you can find cache clues by logging on to www.letterboxing.org. I'm afraid I'm not sure what the UK sites are.
A quick note though... as is often the case when you find something fun to do, you realise that your enthusiasm is not shared by all. Leaving a small box with a notebooks and a stamp is regarded by some (including apparently the national parks service) as littering; and it's difficult to argue that they don't have a genuine point. I found this out after we had made and left our own cache, well hidden in a local state park and, as a result, we've never published it's whereabouts and am still not sure whether to do so or not. I still think the upside of getting people (especially kids) outdoors more than outweighs any potential downside - and it's a very Ransome-ish thing to be doing :-)
Cheers
Luke