Geocaching.... The Dark Side....

I will admit over and over again... one of my FAVORITE things about caching is finding new and interesting places.  I have been to parks, Veteran memorials, historical sites, parts of the great outdoors, etc that I would have NEVER known existed if someone hadn't dropped a piece of tupperware there!

I love the stories cache owners write in their descriptions... personal experiences at the location, long lost family history, funny and sarcastic quips, etc, etc, etc.    A well-written cache description can definitely add to the experience of snagging the smiley!

Occasionally a cache takes a turn down into a bit of history that isn't very pleasant.  While these are almost always historically based, it still kind of gives me the heebee-jeebeez....

Middle Georgia Geocachers are probably all familiar with the Woolfolk cache in Perry.  It is located in a cemetery.   The cache doesn't take you to anybody's actual burial location, but instead takes you to an area along the bank of a creek.   The cache location is where 10,000 people gathered in small-town Perry (it was 1890!) to watch Thomas Woolfolk hang for murdering 9 members of his family.   Creepy in itself, the story was made even more bizzarre if you read the historical account of the day!  The story, presumably written by the cache owner, told of how families gathered in a social setting and enjoyed opossum sandwiches as they waited for the execution.  Hmmm... people brought opossum sandwiches and their children to hangings??

Well, these bizarre murder stories and odd tales of justice aren't limited to just Georgia.  Yesterday, we encountered a story even more bizarre!   While working on a virtual geocache in Wyoming, we were brought to a small cemetery in a relatively sleepy town.  The cache description was pretty simple and the task was to find two particular gravestones.  It was a quick cache and Swiz was equally as quick to send in her log and needed info to the cache owner.  Almost immediately, he replied with a "you should check out the rest of the story" comment.   Intrigued, we did!   Hmmm... in the end I walked away from the story with one thought that played over and over in my mind... She used the skull as an ashtray and he made the human skin into shoes... and these were the DOCTORS!!

You can check out these stories... if you want!  But don't blame me if you walk away all heebee-jeebeed!!

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/woolfolk-murder-case

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Nose_George

Off to find "happy" caches today...  :)  


<3 Mac