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Inevitably new geocaches pop up that are in parks with playgrounds. We always approach these with trepidation - especially DH. While it seems like a good spot for a geocache, think about how suspicious it looks for a guy with a backpack to be lurking around, looking under this and that. As a mom with a child, I know how alert *I* am to anyone that looks out of place or suspicious when I'm out with DD at a park. We moms can give a real mean "evil eye" ya know. Not to mention that if you get a paranoid mom, you may suddenly be having to explain geocaching to the police.
Now luckily for us, we ARE a family with a young-ish child, so if we all go to the playground, it's not quite as suspicious - I hang out with DD and let her play while DH hunts for the geocache. But DH will rarely attempt a geocache at a park like this alone and I don't blame him.
So, if you ever are thinking of placing a geocache at a park with a playground, at least try to place it away from the playground equipment. In the case of the photo above, we ended up DNFing (DNF - Did Not Find) the geocache. We believe it was under the gazebo. You can only try for so long to poke around reaching under a gazebo that is smack dab in the middle of a playground when there are people around. It was impossible to look without anyone seeing you. DH tried for a short while, but it wasn't worth the evil stares of the other families, and when one of them pulled out their cell phone, we decided to bag it.
It's ok to place a geocache where "stealth" is required, but try to make sure it's even POSSIBLE to BE stealthy! And let's be sensible and not put it in an area where parents are going to view you as a threat. Like a mama bear with her cubs, you do not want to make a mom suspicious. Trust me on that one.
See ya on the trails....
6 comments:
That's a good point. Whenever we geocache we have kids in tow, so its really easy to pick up park caches. Thanks for pointing out what it could look like through the eyes of a non-geocacher...
Yea, Erin and I do not have kids yet so we are very apprehensive when approaching a park cache. Unless there is no one there, we usually only try for a few minutes before we know we look like creeps and we get out of there.
My kids are getting a little old to pass off as playground goers...I now hit those at night, during the rain, etc.
Sage advice, for sure.
AMEN TO THAT!
I was going for an FTF attempt at a playground cache. When I arrived, there were 3 kids playing on the playground only about 200' from GZ. I sat in the car for a couple of minutes and surveyed the area. I figured, well, I will walk up the tree line and just go off into the woods as early as I can (which unfortunately was only about 30' from where the kids were). Wouldn't you know, I didn't get 20' from my car when another car pulls up. In about 1 second I thought of turning around, decided that it would REALLY look suspicious if all of a sudden I turned around, and just kept going. Well, this happened to be the mom of the kids - where she had been and why she left them at the park alone, I couldn't tell you. But let me tell you, she called to those kids and followed me all the way. I entered the woods and tried to get out of site as quickly as possible, but in hind site - I expect that this is exactly the same thing a predator would do. I HATE PLAYGROUND CACHES!!!
I won't look for a cache in a playground for this reason. There is a local cache in a playground that I got after one of our monthly events. I went with a couple of people that had small kids, so I knew that had to be the only time I would be able to look for it.
I'm new to geocaching, but is there anything that says you HAVE to hunt all the caches in a certain area? Why not just leave those to the kids who like to do it? I have 3 kids ages 6-10 who love to geocache and are thrilled when they can look for one on a playground.
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