DewPoint52: It's a very sad day. Over 15 1/2 years ago, in the early years of geocaching, JeffersonStone hid this cache for a gathering of geocachers that was held in the park. Just prior to this archive log being submitted, this was the 12th oldest remaining physical geocache in the Raleigh area. During those 15 1/2 years, more than 500 separate geocaching accounts, likely representing considerably more people than that, have found this cache. But no one else will have that pleasure because someone in park management has decided to ban all geocaches from the park.
I do not understand or agree with this decision at all. To me, the point of having a large park in a city is to allow people that might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience nature to have a chance to do so - to get away from the concrete and asphalt and into the woods to explore and see a bit of the natural world - and geocaches help entice people to go out and do that. During my geocaching career, I have found and explored many very nice parks that I'd have never visited or even known about otherwise as a result of looking for geocaches there.
Unless current or future park management reverses this decision to ban geocaches, no one will ever again discover this very nice natural area as a result of there being geocaches in it. I would think that drawing people that might not otherwise know about it to the park would be a desirable thing, but apparently current park management feels differently. That's very disappointing to me. I thought this park was one of the best places in the area to enjoy geocaching in the woods without having to leave the city which is why sub32 and I hid and found numerous caches here over the years.
The original container for this cache, which has survived nature for more than 15 1/2 years but is now a casualty of a human decision maker, is safe at home with me now. I'll hang on to it for a while in case park management decides that it's really better to allow all of the park to be enjoyed and not just the heavily used trails (which don't provide nearly the same experience as the more remote areas of the park do) and I can put it back where it's been for all these years.