Geocaches are treasure too. And Geocachers, at least the ones I know, hike.

I might actually attempt to find some caches if they had their own treasure hiker program!

But functionally, they are different sports. Letterboxing clues, especially treasure hiker ones, often take you on a designed and scenic hike. Geocachers are given coordinates to find. What do you set as the starting point for counting miles?

But they're more than welcome to find some longer-hike letterboxes to get the tags.

After following along with this, I have never been so glad that I never started tracking my hikes for Treasure Hiker points. I hike because I can, because I want to, and because I love letterboxing under bright blue clear fall skies. All this back and forth wears me out.

Oh, don't let us turn you off to the program. The wolf was giving me a hard time and I was giving her a hard time back. And debating is fun!

In no way does our back and forth have any reflection of what the moderators do when you send them your list of miles :)

I am more annoyed with a hike that is posted as a long one, but was clearly misrepresented.

Oh, I know that! I've set aside chunks of time to do long series only to find out that they're less than a mile long, and then I have to scramble to find other boxes to do to fill in the rest of that time. AQ also asks people to "up" the distance to a harder icon based on difficulty, so strolls on hills often get bumped up to 1 milers or 2-4 milers! I'd much prefer straight distance-based icons, especially since it's trivially easy to get topo maps in the age of the cloud :)

Geocachers are given coordinates to find. What do you set as the starting point for counting miles?

I think this is the key. While I don't doubt that geocachers log some miles while caching, it is possible with bikes and four wheel drive to manage to get yourself to a point where the only walking you do is to find the cache.

Treasure Hikers was set up so that a planter could measure the distance and plan a hike so that finder would reliably be able to count the miles. As others have pointed out, the only rule for the group is that the miles are logged while letterboxing because most coordinators ask the person buying the pathtag to provide the list of boxes that they have found that count toward the mileage.

Knit Wit

Geocachers are given coordinates to find. What do you set as the starting point for counting miles?

Well that's a fair point. I don't know.

And since this answer is coming from the person who actually administers the Maine program, I guess I know what I need to tell my cousin, who lives in Maine.

Get out and box! ;)

Amy

P.S. I did take him boxing, and he did not enjoy it. I, however, enjoyed finding his geocache. I guess I'm a little more open-minded than some. I also Munzee.

P.S. I did take him boxing, and he did not enjoy it.

There are tons of different types of letterboxes. Maybe he didn't like the ones that you found together, but would like another type. I know, it's a hard sell after they've tried it once :)

There are tons of different types of letterboxes. Maybe he didn't like the ones that you found together, but would like another type. I know, it's a hard sell after they've tried it once :)

He did enjoy sneaking out in the dead of night. And helping us track things down... He lives in Cape Elizabeth and there are several that we have to figure out. He didn't enjoy the Fort Williams Park ones, mostly because the clues were hard to follow and the landmarks had changed.

We'll keep trying. :)

The current special is to wave the $50 setup fee for designs that have expired. So if you're looking to get more pathtags for a design that's expired (i.e., the die was destroyed), now's the time to do it!

Crap. Now I have to make a decision to get more of the old expired design or not!
I was kind of wanting a new one but the funds aren't readily available (nor has my designer created one yet).
Hmmmm...

How do I start one? There isn't one here and I would like a little bit of fun and motivation for all my miles walked!

Anyone have the info?

How do I start one? There isn't one here and I would like a little bit of fun and motivation for all my miles walked!

Here's the Treasure Hiker program info from the help database.

Pathtags are easy to design and order (it's pretty painless), but there is a bit of a startup investment. A starter set with 50 tags costs $116 (100 is $176).

I read the FAQ last night, do I keep the rules listed in my profile somewhere? How do I get my state listed?

• Pick a start date for your state program (probably today)
• Edit the wiki page to include the state, start date, contact, and available tag(s).
• Announce on your state board (and maybe a regional one)
• (Optional) Plan a fund-raiser to get startup capitol to pay for the first set of tags
• Order some treasure hiker pathtags.
• Have fun!

Let me know if you want help to edit the wiki. I created the Alaska entry for you, but feel free to change it as necessary.

OOOH! Awesome! Thank you!

I found the edit tag at the bottom. I had no idea there was a page here I could edit! I just added the 25 and 50, everything else was perfect!

I will have to come up with rules and the treasure hiker path tags!! As far as the fundraiser goes, it's just me and a few other boxers here in AK I think. I will have to just foot the bill for the tags I think. But, it'll be fine. I think this will largely be for tourists and deniserows. :D

I am excited about this!

I will have to come up with rules

No need for that. The rules have already been set and are in Wiki. It makes it consistent and easy for everyone. No need for participants to search for an old post -- just check Wiki. :)

Have fun! I have pathtags in 3 different states now. And my husband has promised a trip to Alaska for our 25th anniversary in a few years so maybe I'll have one from there too some day. :)

Are the va and nc programs still going? We were almost at our goal when we moved away and have the opportunity to finish nc in September!

I think the NC one might be. It was active a few years ago.

I ought to know this but I'm a little out of the loop. Message The Wolf Family. Last I heard she was handling the tags though they could have gone to someone else.

Knit Wit

NC is! I have the tags. Just message me direct when you are ready. I'll provide my address and you send a SASE with $3.

Don't worry if I have not signed into AQ in a while. All my AQ mail is forwarded to my phone so I get it much quicker than I read the boards now.

Thanks!!!! We've been trying to get into NC for 4 years to finish! its hard with a toddler and its 3 hour dr away ugh! but We're coming to the disney event in september! we decided its right after our anniversary and since we did leave our honeymoon early to attend an event in Elon we should celebrate 8 years with another event!

I know this info is somewhere on AQ but I can't find it. Where do I find out who to contact for a Treasure Hike badge in each state, esp. Ma.?

Is this it? https://www.atlasquest.com/about/wiki/browse.html?gCatId=14#q362 scroll down

Do people still track the treasure hunts?

Do people still track the treasure hunts?

There is a widget for that!

Yes, I have it on my page.... but have gotten out of habit of entering them... is this something people still do?

Wow—thanks for bringing this up! CT is still active, in fact I’m wondering whether I should order a 500 mike pathtag... anyone ready? But this thread made me look up Massachusetts & realize I’m actually eligible!

>KitKat<

I shall interpret this as a snub on how 'no boxes qualify for even the half mile requirement these days' just to stir the pot.

Not an issue in CT!

Somewhere along the way, I read about Treasure Hikers. So I started logging my treasure hikes, because Yay! Hiking!! And Yay! Letterboxing!! Most of my plants are about a mile at least, and I appreciate the longer hikes to get to the box.

Anywho, I see there is no Treasure Hiker listing for Texas. :(

I went ahead a designed a pathtag and a patch since I would love to have one. But, they are very expensive to produce. Sooooooo, would anyone else in Texas be interested in this if I ordered them?

I also don't want to step on toes if anyone else out there already has this.

Thanks!
:)

Hi there. For a few years, about 5 years ago, I was the Texas Treasure Hiking coordinator. I designed 25, 50, and 100 mile pathtags and had a supply of each made. I advertised the program for a while and "sold" the tags to boxers who asked for them but after a while the requests sort of tapered off. If you are interested I'll look thru my junk closet and see if I have any of the tags remaining.

Thats too bad. It sounds like a fun program.

I wonder if patches would be more sought after? They are easier to display.

If you have time to look, I'll take one for Texas. But no rush.

Thank you!