[Az-Geocaching] My response to "Missing Ticket" cache

[Ken Akerman]

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Geocachers,

I am writing to state my point of view on the controversial "Missing Ticket" cache. I am responding in order to address some incorrect allegations that have been levied against me. I feel that I did the right thing by removing the original cache container and replacing it with another one. For those who are unfamiliar, here is the chronology of the story.

At the Picacho Peak event cache (GCHQC7) that I hosted on March 14, 2004, I offered an ammo can with log book, pen, pencil, and geocaching sheet as a door prize to one of the participants. Event participants donated items to the cache. The winner of the ammo can was free to place this ammo can as a new cache. As the geocacher who was both the host of this event and who paid for the ammo can, I put several stipulations on the placement of the new cache, as described on the geocaching event page. Here are the stipulations that I put on the placement of this new cache (directly quoting from GCHQC7):

"We will award a grand prize of a 30 cal. ammo can with logbook that the winner can place as a geocache. Please bring items to contribute to the cache. The winner can place this geocache in any good non-urban location, at least 0.5 miles away from a paved road or in a remote area without any nearby existing cache".

The winner of this ammo can was supposed to be willing and able to place the new cache subject to these stipulations. As a geocacher who particularly enjoys visiting non-urban geocaches off the beaten path, and one who feels that there is a great disparity between the ratio of urban caches versus non-urban caches, I wanted to see this new cache placed in an interesting area outside of the urban or residential areas that would introduce geocachers to an interesting area to visit, or provide a moderate physical challenge. Because I wanted this cache to remain in existence for a long time, I wanted this new cache to be placed in an area where it would be less likely to be found accidentally.

Moreover, I wanted to challenge the winner of this ammo can to find an interesting and perhaps unique location for this cache, a different and more special location than a typical urban location in such places as city parks or washes. Nowhere in the specifications did I require that a long hike was required to reach the cache. Several geocachers (PANDA77, Lincoln, and puz-zel, for example) have placed many excellent geocaches in rural areas of Arizona, not close to paved roads, but which are a short hike from the vehicle and which are available to almost all geocachers. 

When I found the the winner of this ammo can had placed the new cache, I checked it out and I was very disappointed with the location that she chose, based on its map location from Mapquest.com. The mapping showed that it appeared to be in a wash in the middle of a residential area of north Tucson. In a private communication, I sent her an e-mail, kindly asking her to move the ammo can to a new location that more clearly met the stipulations of the award. I provided several suggestions of good places, and emphasized that the location did not have to require hiking to reach, as I mentioned areas such as the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona which have many miles of well-graded, car-passable dirt roads. 

She refused to move the ammo can, and sent her reply to the entire listserv, which I felt was a very disrespectful thing to do. This should have been kept as a private matter, not brought out in the open and turned into a public controversy.

She offered to send the contents of the ammo can back to me plus $5 to compensate me for the cost of the ammo can. I was planning on doing my weekend geocaching in the Tucson area, so early on Friday I sent her an e-mail explaining that I was planning on visiting the cache on Saturday and I would replace the container. Therefore, by doing this, I was saving her the time and expense of getting the cache and sending the contents back to me. She did not reply to me before I left Tempe Saturday morning. However, since she offered to return cache contents and cost of the ammo can to me, this implied that I had permission to recover the cache, and leaving the new container with a logbook, geocaching sheet, pencil and some contents was a courtesy to keep the cache active and available for another geocacher to find it later in the day.

When I arrived in the cache vicinity to find the cache, I felt even more dismayed by that location that this geocacher chose for the cache. It was located in a wash lined by houses on both sides. I drove to within 0.11 miles on pavement to the nearest public access to the wash. Clearly, it was very close to a paved road, in an urban location, and didn't require much time or effort to reach.

I hiked down the wash, and found the ammo can placed in the lower truck of a tree, completely exposed with only a few broken branches on top it. There appeared to be no good effort to hide this cache from non-geocachers. The cache was less than 50 from the backyard of the nearest house. There is trash in the wash, and neighborhood kids play nearby in the backyards of houses or in the wash. This is not a very scenic location, and my partner mentioned that he was not impressed with this area. Obviously, it would appear very likely that some neighborhood kids, hiking in or playing the wash, or some other individual would find this cache and remove or ransack it. Moreover, it was near the bottom of the wash, so the cache could be washed away in a heavy rain. 

Therefore, I felt it was perfectly appropriate for me to remove and replace this cache. Let me state that I was not opposed to this spot as the location of a geocache. I attempt to find almost every geocache placed, and this would have been a good location for a geocache that the cache owner had made from her own container and supplies. However, I awarded this ammo can as a prize at an event cache located in a rural location in Arizona at one of the state's better-known natural attractions, so I wanted this new geocache placed in a location that reflected the location of the event and would be in a location that would provide a moderate physical challenge to reach, or would be in a location that many geocachers would be willing to go out of their way to visit.

If a geocacher who won the prize was unable to place the new cache as I had intended, then he or she should not have entered the drawing or have accepted the prize, or offered to give the ammo can to another geocacher who could have placed it as I had intended. Also, there was no need to have placed the geocache in a hasty manner. If she didn't have time to do it now, she could have waited until late spring or summer, when the weather at high elevations would be more pleasant and provide a comfortable respite to the heat of the cities. If she wasn't sure where to place it, I would have welcomed an e-mail inquiry from here, asking for suggestions for good locations for the cache.  (I have traveled to and hiked in every county of Arizona and I feel that I know the state better than most people, even those who have lived in Arizona a lot longer that I have).

I hope you now understand my point of view on this matter. I know that some people will disagree with me here, but I also hope that many other geocachers will agree that I took the proper action under these circumstances. I was really looking forward to this geocache being placed in a very interesting area that would expand the boundaries of geocaching to some degree. (I admit that one error I made in my event cache description was that I should have used the word "should" instead of "can."  However, I did not want to come across as being too restrictive in my event cache description, to provide all geocachers with an opportunity to win and place the cache.  However, once that person won the cache, I was hoping that she would have looked for a location that came somewhat close to satisfying my preferences).

Therefore, I will research some potential sites for this cache and I will place it sometime during the spring or summer of this year. Any geocacher who has a reliable vehicle and who is in good physical condition will be able to reach it. Most likely it will be in Pinal County, between Phoenix and Tucson and not far from Picacho Peak.

Ken Akerman (a.k.a Highpointer)


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<DIV><FONT size=2>
<P>Geocachers,</P>
<P>I am writing to state my point of view on the controversial "Missing Ticket" cache. I am responding in order to address some incorrect allegations that have been levied against me. I feel that I did the right thing by removing the original cache container and replacing it with another one. For those who are unfamiliar, here is the chronology of the story.</P>
<P>At the <A href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f448652c-7c17-49ca-8569-f8a0736a1ef3">Picacho Peak</A> event cache (GCHQC7) that I hosted on March 14, 2004, I offered an ammo can with log book, pen, pencil, and geocaching sheet as a door prize to one of the participants. Event participants donated items to the cache. The winner of the ammo can was free to place this ammo can as a new cache. As the geocacher who was both the host of this event and who paid for the ammo can, I put several stipulations on the placement of the new cache, as described on the geocaching event page. Here are the stipulations that I put on the placement of this new cache (directly quoting from GCHQC7):</P>
<P>"We will award a grand prize of a 30 cal. ammo can with logbook that the winner can place as a geocache. Please bring items to contribute to the cache. <EM><STRONG>The winner can place this geocache in any good non-urban location, at least 0.5 miles away from a paved road or in a remote area without any nearby existing cache"</STRONG>.</EM></P>
<P>The winner of this ammo can was supposed to be willing and able to place the new cache subject to these stipulations. As a geocacher who particularly enjoys visiting non-urban geocaches off the beaten path, and one who feels that there is a great disparity between the ratio of urban caches versus non-urban caches, I wanted to see this new cache placed in an interesting area outside of the urban or residential areas that would introduce geocachers to an interesting area to visit, or provide a moderate physical challenge. Because I wanted this cache to remain in existence for a long time, I wanted this new cache to be placed in an area where it would be less likely to be found accidentally.</P>
<P>Moreover, I wanted to challenge the winner of this ammo can to find an interesting and perhaps unique location for this cache, a different and more special location than a typical urban location in such places as city parks or washes. Nowhere in the specifications did I require that a long hike was required to reach the cache. Several geocachers (<STRONG><A href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=PANDA77">PANDA77</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=Lincoln">Lincoln</A></STRONG>, and&nbsp;<STRONG><A href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=puz-zel">puz-zel</A>,</STRONG> for example) have placed many excellent geocaches in rural areas of Arizona, not close to paved roads, but which are a short hike from the vehicle and which are available to almost all geocachers.&nbsp;</P>
<P>When I found the the winner of this ammo can had placed the new cache, I checked it out and I was very disappointed with the location that she chose, based on its map location from Mapquest.com. The mapping showed that it appeared to be in a wash in the middle of a residential area of north Tucson. In a private communication, I sent her an e-mail, kindly asking her to move the ammo can to a new location that more clearly met the stipulations of the award. I provided several suggestions of good places, and emphasized that the location did not have to require hiking to reach, as I mentioned areas such as the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona which have many miles of well-graded, car-passable dirt roads. </P>
<P>She refused to move the ammo can, and sent her reply to the entire listserv, which I felt was a very disrespectful thing to do. This should have been kept as a private matter, not brought out in the open and turned into a public controversy.</P>
<P>She offered to send the contents of the ammo can back to me plus $5 to compensate me for the cost of the ammo can. I was planning on doing my weekend geocaching in the Tucson area, so early on Friday I sent her an e-mail explaining that I was planning on visiting the cache on Saturday and I would replace the container. Therefore, by doing this, I was saving her the time and expense of getting the cache and sending the contents back to me. She did not reply to me before I left Tempe Saturday morning. However, since she offered to return cache contents and cost of the ammo can to me, this implied that I had permission to recover the cache, and leaving the new container with a logbook, geocaching sheet, pencil and some contents was a courtesy to keep the cache active and available for another geocacher to find it later in the day.</P>
<P>When I arrived in the cache vicinity to find the cache, I felt even more dismayed by that location that this geocacher chose for the cache. It was located in a wash lined by houses on both sides. I drove to within 0.11 miles on pavement to the nearest public access to the wash. Clearly, it was very close to a paved road, in an urban location, and didn't require much time or effort to reach.</P>
<P>I hiked down the wash, and found the ammo can placed in the lower truck of a tree, completely exposed with only a few broken branches on top it. There appeared to be no good effort to hide this cache from non-geocachers. The cache was less than 50 from the backyard of the nearest house. There is trash in the wash, and neighborhood kids play nearby in the backyards of houses or in the wash. This is not a very scenic location, and my partner mentioned that he was not impressed with this area. Obviously, it would appear very likely that some neighborhood kids, hiking in or playing the wash, or some other individual would find this cache and remove or ransack it. Moreover, it was near the bottom of the wash, so the cache could be washed away in a heavy rain. </P>
<P>Therefore, I felt it was perfectly appropriate for me to remove and replace this cache. Let me state that I was not opposed to this spot as the location of a geocache. I attempt to find almost every geocache placed, and this would have been a good location for a geocache that the cache owner had made from her own container and supplies. However, I awarded this ammo can as a prize at an event cache located in a rural location in Arizona at one of the state's better-known natural attractions, so I wanted this new geocache placed in a location that reflected the location of the event and would be in a location that would provide a moderate physical challenge to reach, or would be in a location that many geocachers would be willing to go out of their way to visit.</P>
<P>If a geocacher who won the prize was unable to place the new cache as I had intended, then he or she should not have entered the drawing or have accepted the prize, or offered to give the ammo can to another geocacher who could have placed it as I had intended. Also, there was no need to have placed the geocache in a hasty manner. If she didn't have time to do it now, she could have waited until late spring or summer, when the weather at high elevations would be more pleasant and provide a comfortable respite to the heat of the cities. If she wasn't sure where to place it, I would have welcomed an e-mail inquiry from here, asking for suggestions for good locations for the cache.&nbsp; (I have traveled to&nbsp;and hiked in every county of Arizona and I feel that I know the state better than most people, even those who have lived in Arizona a lot longer that I have).</P>
<P>I hope you now understand my point of view on this matter. I know that some people will disagree with me here, but I also hope that many other geocachers will agree that I took the proper action under these circumstances. I was really looking forward to this geocache being placed in a very interesting area that would expand the boundaries of geocaching to some degree. (I admit that one error I made in my event cache description was that I should have used&nbsp;the word&nbsp;"should" instead of "can."&nbsp;&nbsp;However, I did not want to come across as being too&nbsp;restrictive in my event cache&nbsp;description, to provide all geocachers with an opportunity to win and place the cache.&nbsp; However, once that person won the cache, I was hoping that she would have&nbsp;looked for a location that came somewhat close to&nbsp;satisfying my preferences).</P>
<P>Therefore, I will research some potential sites for this cache and I will place it sometime during the spring or summer of this year. Any geocacher who has a reliable vehicle and who is in good physical condition will be able to reach it. Most likely it will be in Pinal County, between Phoenix and Tucson and not far from Picacho Peak.</P>
<P><STRONG>Ken Akerman</STRONG> (a.k.a <STRONG><EM>Highpointer</EM></STRONG>)</P></FONT></DIV>
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