Delaware Valley Orienteering Association

Topic created by LarryG on Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 2:31 am

LarryG
Num Posts: 80
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map:
First O: 1998

I was hiking at Mt. Joy awhile ago (Winter training), when I saw a couple by an object on the trail, writing something down.  Wondering if that was a geocache, I looked at that website (from our O links) and confirmed that it was the first of 3 waypoints to find the "Joy and Misery at Valley Forge" geocache.  Now, I don't own or know how to use a GPS, which is how you're supposed to find these waypoints, but the instructions involved bearings (true North) and distances.  Since I have O-maps of Misery and Joy, I wondered if I could use those and a compass to find this by old-school Orienteering skills.  I learned the hard way that it was important to correct the true N bearings to magnetic N (add 12 degrees), and then I was able to navigate to the other 2 way points pretty well.  Fortunately, I was familiar with the roads to the East of the park, since the 3rd point was off the O map.  Next problem, no familiar control flags to catch the eye, so I had some trouble seeing the waypoint features, even when they were right in front of me.  But eventually, in my tribute to the (extinct?) Valley Goat, I completed the dual mountain journey and found my first geocache.       

Reply by DaveDarrah on Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 8:40 am

DaveDarrah
Num Posts: 47
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Fatlands
First O: 1976

Larry:

 Catching up:

   Larry:             1
   Me:               46
   Ed Scott:  4,803

Dave.

Reply by chand on Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 12:06 pm

chand
Num Posts: 142
Primary Club: WPOC
Fav map: French Creek Central
First O: 2007

Glad you found it Larry.

Most of the geocaches found these days are in parking lots and don't involve much of a walk at all.

I have another Valley Forge geocache that involves walking around much of the perimeter of the park - much of the border is delimeted with concrete markers with numbers on them.  The cache is within 15 feet of a specific marker, but you have to look at a whole bunch before you figure out where it is!

Bummer that we can't officially orienteer in VF anymore.  If it's any consolation, you can't technically geocache there either - anymore you can't even mention traveling through the park in a geocache description.

Reply by edscott on Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 12:51 pm

edscott
Num Posts: 703
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Hickory Run 1:15000
First O: 1983

If you want to use our Orienteering maps to cache, I'd suggest French Creek and Pakim Pond as the ones with the most opportunities.  There are also caches at Ridley, Mt Penn, Gov Dick, Brandywine, White Clay Creek, Fair Hill ... etc.  Right now I can't think of a DVOA O map without at least one cache on it.  The rule at Valley Forge is their rule.  The National Park Service has a policy that if followed allows caching in National Parks. There are 5 at Hopewell Furnace.

Reply by LarryG on Wed Feb 22, 2012 at 2:21 am

LarryG
Num Posts: 80
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map:
First O: 1998

Now, here's the strange thing  - While up on Mt. Misery on Monday, I saw (or did I imagine it?) someone running through the woods, not on the trail, dressed sort of like an Orienteer, and looking at a piece of paper or something.  Could that have been the ghost of Hararld Wibye, haunting the hallowed hills that gave rise to American Orienteering?

Reply by Steve on Wed Feb 22, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Steve
Num Posts: 405
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Paradise Farm
First O: 1993

I hope not, it hasn't been that long since we have seen Harald, alive and well.

Reply by Guy-O on Thu Feb 23, 2012 at 3:38 am

Guy-O
Num Posts: 356
Primary Club: HVO
Fav map: Spackman Creek
First O: 1982

you can't even mention traveling through the park in a geocache description.

Or else...?

Reply by chand on Thu Feb 23, 2012 at 10:50 am

chand
Num Posts: 142
Primary Club: WPOC
Fav map: French Creek Central
First O: 2007

>>you can't even mention traveling through the park in a geocache description.

>>Or else...?


When you want to list a geocache on geocaching.com, it goes through a volunteer reviewer who has to follow guidelines and any park restrictions he knows about.

The physical geocache can't be in Valley Forge Park; I can understand that.

But Valley Forge Park takes it a step forward with this restriction.

So the reviewer won't approve your cache listing if it mentions going through the park.

Luckily I got serveral geocaches listed before this rule went into effect.

VFP will approve "Earthcaches" where you go and observe geological formations - e.g. the talus slope of Mt. Misery overlooking the Valley Creek trail.

Reply by Guy-O on Thu Feb 23, 2012 at 3:07 pm

Guy-O
Num Posts: 356
Primary Club: HVO
Fav map: Spackman Creek
First O: 1982

Why should the volunteer reviewer care about restrictions set by a park, in which no geocaches are allowed anyway? 

I guess where I'm going with this is that VFNHP has no business telling geocaching.com what it can and cannot say on its website (1st amendment, anyone??) and has no leverage whatsoever to enforce it.

Reply by edscott on Fri Feb 24, 2012 at 9:39 am

edscott
Num Posts: 703
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Hickory Run 1:15000
First O: 1983

In the past the NPS has attempted to get caches archived that had the same name as a park but were over a mile away.  If you are going to poke the bear it is best to use a long stick.

Reply by Guy-O on Fri Feb 24, 2012 at 7:03 pm

Guy-O
Num Posts: 356
Primary Club: HVO
Fav map: Spackman Creek
First O: 1982

"Archived", in this case means...?

Thing is, "Valley Forge" is also part of the address for a LOT of non-NPS locations.

Reply by edscott on Fri Feb 24, 2012 at 10:36 pm

edscott
Num Posts: 703
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Hickory Run 1:15000
First O: 1983

Archived means deleted from the website and is supposed to also be removed from the woods.