[Az-Geocaching] Madonna(s) of the Trail - the cache owner replies

[Brett Duvall]

First, let me apologize if I am posting incorrectly to your discussion
group.  I was able to subscribe OK, but have seen nothing to let me post a
reply to the existing thread.  I will also apologize that this email is
getting lengthy.  I will keep it as short as possible.

Yes, I am the dirty dog many of you seem to have decided to hate in one day.
I will try to explain, then you can go ahead and shoot me.  My goal was to
point out a series of monuments that many might otherwise miss.  I will try
to group your criticisms and answer them the best I can.

criticism #1) The only thing you get out of the virtual cache is a
certificate.
>> No, the certificate may be nice to some, but it means very little.  It is
only there to give a geocacher a warm fuzzy.  What I intended for the
geocacher to get from these monuments was some knowledge that a group of
people in our history used their optimism, faith, stamina and determination
to take a 1-way trip into the unknown and make that place their new home.
Their sacrifice was so great that others decided to spend their money and
time to memorialize it.  If all a cacher sees in a virtual cache is +1 to
their cache-found count, then I feel truly sorry for them - they have missed
the boat.

criticism #2) Anyone can easily cheat to get credit
>> Yes, currently they can be easily cheated - I am sorry.  Initially, there
was only one cache and the picture had the N.S.D.A.R. wiped off.  I put the
"un-modified" picture there because I was offending members of the DAR, who
paid for all these statues in the 1920's.
>> I WILL make these caches acceptable in their individual communities,
including yours.  I have already made a modification that requests cachers
to email me with information to verify their find in Arizona.  I have
extended this to California, and when my information is complete, will do
this to the rest of the caches as well.  If you have any other suggestions,
I will give them every consideration.
>>I don't wish to upset any of you, and will do what I can to make the
caches fit into your community.  I personally do not feel that a cache-found
count tells us anything about a geocacher, however.  Someone in an urban
area can spend a couple hours finding 10 caches in the park nextdoor, while
someone in a rural area might have to drive a couple hours just to look for
one.   I am sure that there are thousands of caches I could cheat if I want
to, but I would only be cheating myself.  I view geocaching as an outdoor
activity and not a competitive sport.  I do respect your wishes, however.  I
will fix all the caches so that the cacher can post a picture or email me.
I will police all the sites, to the best of my ability and remove logs as
necessity demands.  I will also change the background picture to remove the
Madonna from Lexington.  Maybe I will change it to something I wish for all
of you to see real soon.

criticism #3) I haven't visited the sites myself and have given credit to
others for finding the statues for me... without thier GPSr's.
>> Now, this one pisses me off, because you are attacking someone in your
own community for helping me create a cache site for YOU.  I took a landmark
that meant something to me (in Missouri) and made a cache site out of it.
When I found out that there were several of them, I was thrilled and thought
everyone should have the chance to understand them (those who want to know,
that is).  I wanted to set up these caches, which span 12 states and several
thousand miles, for everyone's benefit - not just mine.  I don't want and
won't get any Wizzo button for creating these sites.  I just want to feel
that I did something good.  I don't have the time or money to travel the
country, so I decided to contact other cachers.  I asked each of them to
take the information I got online and locate the statues for me.  My
response has been fantastic, and I have met several very nice people.  I
wanted to give them credit for finding the cache site, so I wrote it into
the description.  You can gripe at me for not driving 10,000+ miles to find
all the coordinates myself and I will simply smile and apologize, but don't
attack those who happily gave their time to help me.  And don't say they
didn't find the cache, because each of them has found the cache site, and
used their GPSr.  (In New Mexico's case, the search required them to find a
park that no longer exists, and a statue that was moved from the original
location with very little information).

Maybe I got a little verbose here, but let me summarize by reiterating:  I
will make this cache acceptable to your community.  I will make the effort
to address your concerns, just as I will do with the other communities.
Your criticisms are very helpful, even when they are barbed.  I appreciate,
especially, those who contacted me so I could deal with your concerns. I do
value my own integrity and care how my geocaching efforts are perceived.

I wish you all the best,
Brett Duvall
(brettd on geocaching.com)
(talons@kc.rr.com)