sancho
04-21-2005, 03:42 PM
Below is an idea that can be modified to make the CITO more exciting.
It needs some mods to be more cache oriented but the basic principal is good.
Curious to see the points scale of items encountered in caching land. Submit your ideas and show your support for CITO :)
The newest Paddlesport!
Flotsam Flippin', Jetsam Jerking, Detritus Dipping, call it what you will; this is the newest, honkinest, most ecologically beneficial paddlesport there is. Simply put, when you are canoeing your favorite river, keep a weather eye out for junk cast off or lost by other, less experienced canoeists, tubers, and fishermen. When you see it, maneuver your canoe to grab the object and throw it in your canoe.
Not only will you be cleaning up your river, you will be practising critical canoe skills and teamwork with your bow- or sternman. Most detritus lodges in shoreside tree branches or floats in eddies, and getting to it can be a real challenge. You will be amazed at the number and variety of items you will find.
On my last river trip, my buddy Mike and I spent one day on the .Namekgon river. That day we found beverage containers, a plastic milk jug, aluminum cans, an old, broken canoe paddle, a seat cushion, and one of the most coveted prizes, a drinkable beer. (See picture).
We also found , in one shoreside eddy, part of the contents of somebody's food bag. The coffee beans were wet, but when dried in a toaster oven made serviceable coffee. The gummy bears were not consumed, but looked edible. We did eat, however, the package of praline pecans, after shaking the package revealed a possible feast. Mike's terminally chapped lips were soothed by the two chapsticks we found and he may find a use for the unopened package of wet wipes. I think Mike ate the Baby Ruth.
The next day, we paddled the Bois Brule river, a very popular stream near Superior. On this day, we found mostly clothing, including a cheap plastic poncho, a pair of women's size 12 Wrangler jeans, and some mismatched items of footwear, i.e., one hiking boot, one sandal, and parts of several tennis shoes.
We also found another drinkable beer, which Mike cooled for me in a bubbler at the takeout while I did the shuttle, and another paddle, this one usable. We also found some nice Rubbermaid containers, although the watermelon in one did not look edible. At the takeout I found a nice towel that somebody had left behind. On both these trips, we also found the inevitable wrappers, beer and soda cans, and bait containers.
When you see one item, look around, because other items are likely to have been caught in the same area. In warm weather, one person can float along with a face mask and/or snorkel to snare beer cans off the bottom.
So the next time you are out on a river and see an aluminum can floating in an eddy, or a candy wrapper stuck in a tree branch, try picking it up and disposing of it properly. Or, think of this process as a competitive sport, and challenge your buddies in their canoe to find(easy) and recover(more difficult) the junk you see. To help this process, Mike Shannon and I, Kirk Schutte, have created the official point values for items found on the river.
Item.............................................. ...................... Points
Aluminum can - empty 1/2
Aluminum soda can - contents drinkable 2
Aluminum beer can - contents drinkable 3
Steel beer can 1 1/2
Steel beer can- Adler Brau 4 1/2
Insulated cup 1 1/2
Drink bottle w/straw 1 1/2
Food item - edible 2 1/2
Clothing item - wearable 1 1/2
Clothing item - wearable and fits you 3 1/2
Plastic jug 1
Fishing bobber 1
Fishing rod 5
Personal Flotation Device (usable) 4
Bikini top 6
Bikini bottom 8
Grateful owner of Bikini 10
All other human artifacts - unusable 1
All other human artifacts - usable 2
It needs some mods to be more cache oriented but the basic principal is good.
Curious to see the points scale of items encountered in caching land. Submit your ideas and show your support for CITO :)
The newest Paddlesport!
Flotsam Flippin', Jetsam Jerking, Detritus Dipping, call it what you will; this is the newest, honkinest, most ecologically beneficial paddlesport there is. Simply put, when you are canoeing your favorite river, keep a weather eye out for junk cast off or lost by other, less experienced canoeists, tubers, and fishermen. When you see it, maneuver your canoe to grab the object and throw it in your canoe.
Not only will you be cleaning up your river, you will be practising critical canoe skills and teamwork with your bow- or sternman. Most detritus lodges in shoreside tree branches or floats in eddies, and getting to it can be a real challenge. You will be amazed at the number and variety of items you will find.
On my last river trip, my buddy Mike and I spent one day on the .Namekgon river. That day we found beverage containers, a plastic milk jug, aluminum cans, an old, broken canoe paddle, a seat cushion, and one of the most coveted prizes, a drinkable beer. (See picture).
We also found , in one shoreside eddy, part of the contents of somebody's food bag. The coffee beans were wet, but when dried in a toaster oven made serviceable coffee. The gummy bears were not consumed, but looked edible. We did eat, however, the package of praline pecans, after shaking the package revealed a possible feast. Mike's terminally chapped lips were soothed by the two chapsticks we found and he may find a use for the unopened package of wet wipes. I think Mike ate the Baby Ruth.
The next day, we paddled the Bois Brule river, a very popular stream near Superior. On this day, we found mostly clothing, including a cheap plastic poncho, a pair of women's size 12 Wrangler jeans, and some mismatched items of footwear, i.e., one hiking boot, one sandal, and parts of several tennis shoes.
We also found another drinkable beer, which Mike cooled for me in a bubbler at the takeout while I did the shuttle, and another paddle, this one usable. We also found some nice Rubbermaid containers, although the watermelon in one did not look edible. At the takeout I found a nice towel that somebody had left behind. On both these trips, we also found the inevitable wrappers, beer and soda cans, and bait containers.
When you see one item, look around, because other items are likely to have been caught in the same area. In warm weather, one person can float along with a face mask and/or snorkel to snare beer cans off the bottom.
So the next time you are out on a river and see an aluminum can floating in an eddy, or a candy wrapper stuck in a tree branch, try picking it up and disposing of it properly. Or, think of this process as a competitive sport, and challenge your buddies in their canoe to find(easy) and recover(more difficult) the junk you see. To help this process, Mike Shannon and I, Kirk Schutte, have created the official point values for items found on the river.
Item.............................................. ...................... Points
Aluminum can - empty 1/2
Aluminum soda can - contents drinkable 2
Aluminum beer can - contents drinkable 3
Steel beer can 1 1/2
Steel beer can- Adler Brau 4 1/2
Insulated cup 1 1/2
Drink bottle w/straw 1 1/2
Food item - edible 2 1/2
Clothing item - wearable 1 1/2
Clothing item - wearable and fits you 3 1/2
Plastic jug 1
Fishing bobber 1
Fishing rod 5
Personal Flotation Device (usable) 4
Bikini top 6
Bikini bottom 8
Grateful owner of Bikini 10
All other human artifacts - unusable 1
All other human artifacts - usable 2