[Az-Geocaching] Caching in Tucson Last Night
RAND HARDIN
listserv@azgeocaching.com
Fri, 9 Jan 2004 23:28:03 -0700
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Steven,
"Penguins In Sonora" must have been quite a rush for you! I'm sure the i=
ssue with the guy on the bike wasn't about you snapping a photo of him ..=
it was about whether he could intimidate you into giving up your camera=
and running off. =20
I don't think I would have been as nice as you were to him. Criminals li=
ke him feed on intimidation and the weakness of their victims. You stood=
your ground and that was enough to dissuade him. Evidently he wasn't lo=
oking for a confrontation - if he were he would have attacked you.
I had a similar adrenaline rush at The Lost Dutchmans Gold! cache (GCA256=
). It was the first of two trips to the location. It was too dark to ge=
t the information I needed, so from a distance I snapped some photos of t=
he tombstone in hopes of getting the necessary information for the cache.=
After I snapped some photos I turned around and saw two transients abo=
ut thirty feet away (they just seemed to appear out of nowhere!). It was=
an eerie situation. There was nobody else around; it was dark out; I wa=
s next to the graveyard and there was a train unhooking cars about 100 fe=
et away. One of the guys tapped the shoulder of his buddy and pointed to=
ward me. They then started walking my direction. As soon as I saw them =
coming toward me I realized I could be in trouble. I dropped one of my c=
rutches and reached behind me, unsnapped my holster and released the safe=
ty on my gun. I didn't pull the gun, but the action I'm sure was enough =
to dissuade these guys from any criminal activity they may have been pond=
ering. They stopped short several feet away from me and asked me what I =
was doing. I explained that I was there to take a photo of Jacob's tombs=
tone. They then turned around and walked off. They never saw the gun, b=
ut my action was evident that I wasn't going to be an easy prey.
You asked: "with nighttime caching, do I need to reconsider where and how=
I cache?" I think you are the only one who can answer that! How uncomf=
ortable did the experience make you feel? Do you have enough confidence =
in yourself to handle someone who may want to get physical? Evidently yo=
u stood your ground against someone who tried to intimidate you; but are =
you willing to take a chance against someone who may pull a weapon? You =
have a family to consider! If you do decide to do nighttime caching alon=
e, you may want to consider carrying a gun for protection.
The individual you encountered may have a history of robbing people in th=
e area. I would have notified the police of the situation.
I do want to congratulate you on standing your ground. You did good! =20
Take care,
Rand (RandMan) =20
----- Original Message -----
From: Steven Stringham
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 7:24 PM
To: listserv@azgeocaching.com
Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Caching in Tucson Last Night
Boy, I had some fun last night in Tucson.
Check out my log on Penguins GCBFD5.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=3D7800ea77-aa1e-47=
cf-b162-ccc6159c4788
So, I started off with quite the adreniline rush, .... I love this game.=
What a night.
But, with nightime caching, do I need to reconsider where and how I cache=
?
Penguins was an interesting learning experiance for me.
Thank you
Steven Stringham
StringCachers
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<HTML><BODY STYLE=3D"font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV>Steven,</DIV> =
<DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>"Penguins In Sonora"</STRONG> must have be=
en quite a rush for you! I'm sure the issue with the guy on the bik=
e wasn't about you snapping a photo of him ... it was about whether he co=
uld intimidate you into giving up your camera and running off.&=
nbsp; </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don't think I would have been =
as nice as you were to him. Criminals like him feed on intimidation=
and the weakness of their victims. You stood your ground=
and that was enough to dissuade him. Evidently he wasn't looking f=
or a confrontation - if he were he would have attacked you.</DIV> <DIV>&n=
bsp;</DIV> <DIV>I had a similar adrenaline rush at <STRONG>The Lost =
Dutchmans Gold!</STRONG> cache <STRONG>(GCA256)</STRONG>. It was th=
e first of two trips to the location. It was too dark to get the in=
formation I needed, so from a distance I snapped some photos of=
the tombstone in hopes of getting the necessary information for the=
cache. After I snapped some photos I turned around=
and saw two transients about thirty feet away (they just =
seemed to appear out of nowhere!). It was an <EM>eerie</EM> situati=
on. There was nobody else around; it was dark out; I was next to th=
e graveyard and there was a train unhooking cars about 100 feet away.&nbs=
p; One of the guys tapped the shoulder of his buddy and pointed towa=
rd me. They then started walking my direction. As soon as I s=
aw them coming toward me I realized I could be in trouble.=
I dropped one of my crutches and reached behind me, unsnapped my h=
olster and released the safety on my gun. I didn't pull the gun, bu=
t the action I'm sure was enough to dissuade these guys from any cri=
minal activity they may have been pondering. They stopped short&nbs=
p;several feet away from me and asked me what I was doing. I e=
xplained that I was there to take a photo of <EM>Jacob's</EM> tombst=
one. They then turned around and walked off. They never saw t=
he gun, but my action was evident that I wasn't going to be an =
easy prey.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You asked: <EM>"with nighttime ca=
ching, do I need to reconsider where and how I cache?"</EM> I =
think you are the only one who can answer that! How uncomfortable d=
id the experience make you feel? Do you have enough confi=
dence in yourself to handle someone who may want to get physical? E=
vidently you stood your ground against someone who tried to intimidate yo=
u; but are you willing to take a chance against someone who may=
pull a weapon? You have a family to consider! If you do=
decide to do nighttime caching alone, you may want to consider=
carrying a gun for protection.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The ind=
ividual you encountered may have a history of robbing people in=
the area. I would have notified the police of the situation.<=
/DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I do want to congratulate you on standi=
ng your ground. You did good! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>T=
ake care,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Rand (RandMan) &n=
bsp; <STRONG> </STRONG></DIV> <D=
IV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5p=
x; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> =
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt Arial"><STRONG>----- Original Message -----</STR=
ONG></DIV> <DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt Arial; COLOR: bl=
ack"><B>From:</B> <STRONG>Steven Stringham</STRONG></DIV> <DIV style=3D"F=
ONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, January 09, 2004 7:24 PM</DIV> <DIV=
style=3D"FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>To:</B> listserv@azgeocaching.com</DIV> <D=
IV style=3D"FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Az-Geocaching] <STRONG>Cac=
hing in Tucson Last Night</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Boy, I had some=
fun last night in Tucson.<BR><BR><U><STRONG>Check out my log on Penguins=
GCBFD5</STRONG>.</U><BR>http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp=
x?guid=3D7800ea77-aa1e-47cf-b162-ccc6159c4788<BR><BR><BR>So, I started of=
f with quite the adreniline rush, .... I love this game. What =
a night.<BR><BR><STRONG><U>But, with nightime caching, do I need to recon=
sider where and how I cache?<BR></U></STRONG>Penguins was an interesting =
learning experiance for me.<BR><BR><BR>Thank you<BR>Steven Stringham<BR>S=
tringCachers<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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