wesi: Out with Ovraon to hike a big 11mi loop around Skylands, mainly to pick up my five ammo cans hidden in remote corners of Ringwood State Park - unfortunately not the kind of hike and hides that Jersey Parks & Forests seem to want to encourage or support. Here goes the list of the now removed and archived:
Juniper Mountain http://coord.info/GC309MW
Der äne am Bärgli http://coord.info/GC42WE1
Ä chuschtigi Röschti http://coord.info/GC309MP
Zürigschnätzlets http://coord.info/GC4WX5A
Älplermagrone mit Öpfelmues http://coord.info/GC4WX41
Each of these caches had less than six finders per year, with correspondingly minimal impact on the environment. But hey, rules are rules, so the caches are now gone. Gone is though also my weekly contribution to the New Jersey economy :). Before the Geocaching almost-ban went into effect in NJ, I spent many weekends hiking the woods here, and filled the gas tank and got a coffee and donut in Mahwah on the way in, and frequently shopped for groceries or had dinner at a restaruant on the way out. Especially for "quality hides" - ammo cans on a remote hilltop, hardly ever hiked to - I wish there had been exceptions to the new rules. But after reading the buerocratese of the permit form, I didn't even bother to ask. The ammo cans are picked up, and they will move - together with my gas/grocery/restaurant dollars - onwards to greener pastures. Thanks, Jersey Parks & Forests, it's been a good ride. I just wish it could have lasted.