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Equal time to geocaching.

This never seemed to be a problem in the days of letterboxing. I guess geocaching has become a victim of its own success

As a letterboxer and non-geocacher, the connection between the two somewhat disturbs me.

Although superficially similar (stick a plastic box in the woods and post some sort of clue to find it), Letterboxing clues generally follow existing trails, and we choose the exact planting spots to minimize environmental impact (for example, in New England, we have countless decaying stone-walls, which make a great spot to plant boxes as they have zero environmental impact).

Geocaching, on the otherhand, while sometimes giving clues to minimize bushwhacking, at their heart actually encourage bushwhacking. "Park here at point A, find the box at --N--'--.- by --W--'--.-, point B" illustrates a typical clue. To most people, that means "walk in a straight line from point A to point B", regardless of a possibly better (ie, already blazed and no bushwhacking) but less direct route.


Incidentally, I maintain the web-page for a NE Letterboxing group, the Rhode Island Bored Nocturnal Adventurer's Guild, for those interested in finding a somewhat more environmentally friendly alternative to geocaching. And of course, the ultimate Letterboxing site lives at Letterboxing North America, with well-organized maps to help you find clues to boxes in your area.


On the bright side, actually stopping people from Letterboxing and/or Geocaching would take a miracle... I know of a number of places that not only officially ban boxes, but aggressively hunt them down and destroy them (as the worst, both the NPS and the Audibon society have ordered their caretakers to kill boxes, though at most parks the phrase "plausible deniability" has worked greatly in our favor). This hasn't stopped people from boxing in those parks/preserves, it just means the clues have gone "underground", shared by word of mouth between trusted fellow 'boxers. Having a few boxes like that spices up the hobby, but I would consider it a real loss if the majority of clues end up requiring personal, private distribution.

I personally would much rather find caches located in the middle of nowhere, where it's not often people are trampling over precious groundcover. One of the caches I placed is in a rather huge container that weighed at least 80 lbs.. I lugged that sucker over two miles into the woods where it won't bother anyone or anything.

Also, what's next -- banning letterboxing?

It sounds like a dumbed down version of Letterboxing I say dumbed down as the directions to letterboxes (normally a box with a stamp and visitors book) can range from the straightforward to the bizzarly cryptic rather than a lat and lon coords

This makes it hardly new as letterboxing dates back to 1854.

I wouldn't say it's a short-lived sport, as geo-caching was probably derived from letterboxing, which dates back to the 1850s - and is a bit more challenging, not to mention, just about free.

Letterboxing North America
Letterboxing UK

I use mine for schedule, contacts, e-books, and directions. I have also saved my marriage with it. My wife likes to hit the hay by 10:30 and I don't. I read all kinds of info from AvantGo to e-books after she turns off the lights.

We also use it to carry the Geocaching data points and letterboxing directions when we're off roving the countryside. The whole family gets in on that one.

My wife also is a dedicated Handspring PDA user. I helped wean her from her Franklin Planner and chuck all of the slips of useless paper she carried around with her. She is much happier with it and even has an up-to-date commuter rail schedule on her Visor.

Letterboxing is a hobby that's been around for I guess forever. It's kinda like geocaching, but typically uses just compass and your feet. You follow 'clues', basically instructions, containing bearings and number paces to your turns until you find the goal.

Take a look at the Letterboxing website.

Have fun,
Jason