Those searching for the cache then use their own handheld GPS receivers to help them locate the hidden stash. Instead, the person hiding the cache shares the exact longitude and latitude coordinates using a Global Positioning System device. Unlike letterboxing, though, geocaching doesn’t rely on narrative clues to lead participants to the treasure. Like letterboxers, geocachers search for a waterproof container, called a “cache,” that holds a logbook they can sign and date. Geocaching is a much newer activity, invented a little over 10 years ago by Oregonian Dave Ulmer. There are many websites dedicated to providing clues to letterboxes, the most popular of which is Geocaching Some aren’t posted online at all, but only spread through word of mouth. Some are straightforward, while others require puzzle-solving skills. Over time, letterboxers fill up their books with dozens, or even hundreds, of fun and unique stamps, creating a sense of community and camaraderie with people they may never meet, except on paper.Ĭlues for finding a letterbox are written and posted online by the person who hid it. When they find a letterbox, they sign the logbook and place their own stamp in it, and mark their own book with the stamp from the box. People searching for letterboxes carry their own book and personal stamp. The “box” itself can be any sealed container, such as a water bottle, pill case, or plastic kitchenware. Though they don’t have to be, the stamps are often one-of-a-kind, hand-carved stamps. Today, letterboxes each contain a logbook and a stamp. Today, there are thousands of letterboxes at Dartmoor alone, but the hobby has spread worldwide, in part because of a feature story in Smithsonian Magazine during the late 1990s, and in part because the Internet has made it possible to publish a large number of clues all in one place. Over time, people hid more containers in the moor, and the calling cards were replaced by postcards that would be mailed by the next person to find the box (thus the name, letterboxing). He encouraged visitors to find it and leave behind a calling card to mark their achievement. The sport was invented in 1854, when an outdoorsman named James Perrott hid a glass bottle at Cranmere Pool, an out-of-the-way spot in Dartmoor, a national park in Devon, England. People have engaged in letterboxing for more than 150 years. Here’s a closer look at each hobby, and their similarities and differences. Usually, but not always, the clues can be found in one of several special online forums set up specifically for sharing them. In both, the object is to find a waterproof box hidden in a park or other public location, following clues left by the person who hid it. Letterboxing and geocaching are outdoor hobbies that combine hiking, orienteering, and creative problem solving to lead participants to a hidden “treasure.” If you haven’t completely gotten over your childhood dreams of being an explorer or a pirate in search of buried treasure, you may enjoy one of two hobbies that are gaining in popularity: letterboxing and geocaching. Some grandfathered caches have been rewarded to users as a special gift to the community or created as one-shots for celebrations but they still remain grandfathered. Geocaching HQ lists 16 active cache types and 4 grandfathered cache types at In geocaching "grandfathered" refers to a cache type that is still available to find but not available for creation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |