Spirit Quest

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:23 am

One of our favorite adventures are Spirit Quest hunts. WE enjoy walking the cemeteries and looking at the history that is before us thinking of a time gone by and what it was like for the people now resting there. My current database has over 1900 such caches but almost 500 of them are now listed as unavailable or archived. Are these sites now available for a new cache? Are the old ones, if there, adoptable?

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

If you mean in Wisconsin, cemetery hides require proof of permission to the reviewer when submitting them, unlike in the olden days when it was just assumed you had gotten it. So that has cut down significantly on new placements.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:13 am

gotta run wrote:

If you mean in Wisconsin, cemetery hides require proof of permission to the reviewer when submitting them, unlike in the olden days when it was just assumed you had gotten it. So that has cut down significantly on new placements.

Why the change were there problems with the placements?

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:27 am

gotta run wrote:

If you mean in Wisconsin, cemetery hides require proof of permission to the reviewer when submitting them, unlike in the olden days when it was just assumed you had gotten it. So that has cut down significantly on new placements.

Are there guidelines posted somewhere for placing a WSQ?

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:48 am

Speaking as a former village trustee and having served many years on the Cemetery Committee, the land is not considered public. The individual lots are own by the family and the other land is owned by the church or govenmental body that maintains the cemetery. In short, someone has control of that land.

Getting permission normally is not that hard, once you locate the proper person to talk to. That sometimes is the hardest part. It can take some research and many phone messages. For me it is a little easier, as I have the county tourism coord availabe to help me. Noreen knows a lot of people and is willing to track them down and obtain needed permissions. Most of my caches are sponsored by her, but she has obtained permission for some of my personal hides.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:29 am

We had several incidents where caches were placed in private cemeteries using obnoxious placement techniques (nanos hidden in flower beds, cache hidden in vases on grave markers, etc.) which forced us to take a closer look at these. The guidelines for these is the same as for any other cache. You should have permission for every cache that you hide.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:48 am

I would also add that it is good to include the verbage that you see on most WSQ cache pages, explaining that the cache is not on any gravesite, etc. and to also respect others that may be conducting business in the cemetery. This verbage helps to prevent cachers from looking in places that they should not, as some hides may be close to a grave, but not on one.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:14 am

I just can't believe that people would be so disrespectful. Really a shame a few spoil for many really takes this fun out of all of this.

Joined: 2009-06-05 Posts: 2150 Location: Menominee, MI

It is one of the reasons why I don't even hunt caches in cemeteries anymore. I also archived my own cemetery caches a few years ago for this reason.

I just feel that geocaching has no place in cemeteries but I know I'm probably the only one that feels this way.

HOWEVER.....if a puzzle begins in a cemetery where I have to gather information and ends in a location AWAY from the cemetery - such as a nearby park - I MIGHT be inclined to do so. And even then, it is not usually indicated on the page the final is off site - so I skip those caches as well.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 9:28 am

I do understand that there are people that avoid these like the plague, while there are some realy neat WSQ's around. The best one that comes to mind is Les Paul's grave site. It brings people to that spot that may not know how great a man Les was.

I have two that I am fond of and both are placed away from gravesites. The first teachs people about one of the few Revolutionary Soilders buried in Green County. The second is a cache to honor my first grandaughter who only was with us for about one hour.

I guess that I am saying that there are some special WSQ's and then there are some that just bring you to a new place that you would never visit otherwise and different people are drawn to both types.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:01 am

We enjoy the Spirit quest for several reasons. My wife and I have come across a few of the locations where they are older cemeteries that seem to have been forgotten. After we make the find we have spent time cleaning up some of the graves that have been taken over by weeks and vines.

Last year one of our final finds was the Les Paul site with our grandson. When we took the boy home and the parents asked about the day we told them about the last find. They were amazed as they only live a mile or so from that cemetery but were unaware that he was buried there.

But we enjoy walking and reading the history on the spirit quests we always respect and honor those who are in their final resting places. We think WSQ add value to the adventure of geocaching.

Joined: 2009-06-05 Posts: 2150 Location: Menominee, MI

Well, one problem with many caches in cemeteries is that they can be hard to find sometimes. I know of a certain cacher in the Fox Valley with 5 digits at the end of his name that loves to hide a bison in a pine tree - with a few other pine trees next to it and markers all around the pine tree.

Geocaches in cemeteries should always be easy to find. Sweetlife's WSQ series is a good example. Just about every one of their WSQ caches are quick grabs. Find it, sign it, and replace it in less than 2 minutes and no one is the wiser. But if I have to hunt for a cemetery cache, it does attract attention.

There is also a cemetery in Manitowoc that has several caches in it not even labeled as a WSQ, but instead as part of a certain "sweet" series.

I repeat - cemeteries are NOT playgrounds for geocaching.

But if there is something on the grounds that a CO would like to draw a cacher's attention to,for example an unique 18th century marker, list the cemetery cache as a puzzle and hide the final off the grounds.

I just don't feel comfortable caching in cemeteries otherwise. Be thankful Wisconsin still allows this. Some states have passed laws banning caches in cemeteries.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:40 am

I don't have a problem with caching in them I see cemeteries as a place to celebrate life, too many people look at cemeteries as the end of life when in actuality they are the beginning of a new journey. Caching just adds another dimension but people need to be respectful of them and those who are there. If done correctly there is nothing wrong with doing it.

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:57 am

If someone wants to play Frisbee on my grave when I'm dead I'd be happy to have the company. When I'm gone I'm gone. I love cemetery hides and will do them at every opportunity. But, they should not be difficult to find.

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:27 am

We like cemetery hides. My husband has always enjoyed walking through cemeteries, looking at the cool head stones and wondering about the people buried there. But I agree, cemetery caches should not be difficult hides and they should not be by the head stones.