# The Weirdest Geocache

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 16, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491 "2018-04-16T06:59:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/1 "2018-04-16T06:59:09Z")

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I was out walking last week on my own (well, with the dog) and a few miles into the walk, in an area of open heathland, I found a wooden box.

It clearly had been there for years as it was very weatherbeaten and almost falling apart - I figured I must have stumbled on a geocache.

I walked up to it and opened it up; it contained…

…cremated remains!

Nice.

I have no idea if this was the ashes of a person, but it seemed too large to be an average pet (the box was maybe 9 inches square by 5 tall). It was in an area that had recently been cleared of scrub and bushes by forestry workers; the ashes were in a weathered and degraded plastic bag inside the box.

I figure someone must have taken them there intending to scatter them, but maybe balked at the idea of tearing open the plastic bag and instead stashed the box and contents in the middle of a bush, where they had remained until the forestry commission cleared the area.

So… what to do? Options seem to include:  
[ul]  
[li]Forget about it. Let nature take its course.[/li][li]Go back there with a spade, dig a suitable hole and bury the box[/li][li]Collect a bunch of rocks and pile them over it (i.e. start a cairn)[/li][li]Go back with gloves and scatter the ashes (I really don’t want to)[/li][li]Report it to someone (who? Workers from the Forestry commission must already be aware)[/li][li]Something else?[/li][/ul]

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/2 "2018-04-16T07:53:01Z")

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Write a mystery novel with your experience as Chapter 1. (But start with a prologue, dated 15 years earlier, that describes a murder without specifically identifying any of the characters.)

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**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/3 "2018-04-16T08:44:15Z")

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Turn it into a geok-ash.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/4 "2018-04-16T08:45:33Z")

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I’d report it - the _workers_ might be aware, but not care to do anything unprompted, but an official report might mean they have to look into it.

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**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/5 "2018-04-16T09:35:02Z")

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I’d vote report it. Let someone with authority and resources handle this.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/6 "2018-04-16T09:46:33Z")

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I’ve reported it to the Forestry Commission (owners/custodians of the land) - I stupidly didn’t record the grid reference when I was there, but I think I found the location on Google Maps.

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/7 "2018-04-16T14:38:51Z")

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Option One.

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**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/8 "2018-04-16T17:30:07Z")

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Turn it into a real geocache: add a small notebook and post it to [geocaching.com](http://geocaching.com). Maybe include a small teaspoon and little plastic baggies, saying “take all you want”. \<kidding\>

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/9 "2018-04-16T17:33:49Z")

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I found a geocache in Las Vagus. It was shattered, only fragments. I assumed a lawnmower rode over it. Only after logging it in that I learned that the bomb squad blew it up, not knowing what it was.

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**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weirdest-geocache/812491/10 "2018-04-19T13:10:58Z")

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> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> Write a mystery novel with your experience as Chapter 1. (But start with a prologue, dated 15 years earlier, that describes a murder without specifically identifying any of the characters.)

OOOH! And the prologue is 250 pages long, and the main story only has 1 chapter, narrated in present tense, ending with Mangetout standing quietly over the box of ashes. Somewhere in the distance a dog barks.
