I want to hide a "treasure chest" somewhere in the BW, grab the coordinates, then see if a buddy of mine can find it someday.
I am looking for objects/stuff to put in the chest.
Obviously no food items, and the chest needs to be able to withstand the weather.
But what should I put in there? Any ideas??

Sounds like what you are talking about is a Geocache. They have outlawed these in the BWCA. They don't want anything left in the BWCA. Just look at the Geocache site and they are in almost every country by the millions. There are only virtual Caches left now. This is the kind that there is nothing there, maybe a big rock or tree to identify it. I would suggest you make a virtual cache for your friend to find.

Maybe some liquor. For a container a small dry bag would do the trick and then have it hidden in some rock crevice for other protection.

quote OldFingers57: "Maybe some liquor. For a container a small dry bag would do the trick and then have it hidden in some rock crevice for other protection."

+1 ;)

We have done sort or "time capsules" at the children's camp where I worked-years ago. We put in things like: a timely newspaper article, a current craze toy (fidget), picture of the "planting crew", special verses or quotes - Small things with meaning and that spoke to our current situations.

A Pelican Box would make a good chest.

quote Elydog: "I want to hide a "treasure chest" somewhere in the BW, grab the coordinates, then see if a buddy of mine can find it someday.
I am looking for objects/stuff to put in the chest.
Obviously no food items, and the chest needs to be able to withstand the weather.
But what should I put in there? Any ideas??"

I'll probably get flamed for this answer, but please don't do this. Though a cute idea, if for some reason your friend doesn't go or can't find it, you've left junk in the BWCA. The cache contents may be usable to a person who finds it, but more than likely it will just be another container left in the woods for someone else to clean up. And if someone else finds it before your friend...... well, it's theirs. And, as SV pointed out, these are illegal in the BWCA.

Seriously, your idea sounds like fun, thoughtful and adventurous, but it's just not the place.

Mike

quote MikeinMpls: "

quote Elydog: "I want to hide a "treasure chest" somewhere in the BW, grab the coordinates, then see if a buddy of mine can find it someday.
I am looking for objects/stuff to put in the chest.
Obviously no food items, and the chest needs to be able to withstand the weather.
But what should I put in there? Any ideas??"

I'll probably get flamed for this answer, but please don't do this. Though a cute idea, if for some reason your friend doesn't go or can't find it, you've left junk in the BWCA. The cache contents may be usable to a person who finds it, but more than likely it will just be another container left in the woods for someone else to clean up. And if someone else finds it before your friend...... well, it's theirs. And, as SV pointed out, these are illegal in the BWCA.


Seriously, your idea sounds like fun, thoughtful and adventurous, but it's just not the place.


Mike"

+1 Do it elsewhere.

quote MikeinMpls: ". . . please don't do this. . . .these are illegal in the BWCA. "

+2

Thanks for the input, and opinions.

That's not treasure.
It's trash.


LEAVE NO TRACE...

That's not treasure.
It's trash.


LEAVE NO TRACE...

So it's true then...One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Here are the rules for Geocaching. Guideline #1.1.1. says that when placing a geocache, all local laws apply.

i do recall watching a youtube video where a family made a time capsule and left it in the bwca , i thought to myself cute/nice family thing, but not legal ,

I found a geocache along the magnetic rock trail a couple years ago. Was off trail climbing rocks and stumbled across it. Was full of small bits of gear people added to it like first aid supplies, rope, granola bars and many beer tokens from the brewery in GM. Was neat at the time but for the bwca not as good of an idea.

ElyDog,

Take a picture of something really unique like an unusual tree, a rock formation, a pictograph, a border marker, an old foundation, a mine, a camouflaged PVC pipe sticking out of the ground or whatever and list the coordinates. Take a picture of whatever it is. Describe it in a riddle like they do on Survivor. All the person who finds it does is take a picture of it. Nothing is left behind, nothing is damaged, and technically I don't think it is classified as geo-caching. It's basically utilizing navigation skills using a map, compass and GPS.

All - Please chime in and tell me if I am wrong. We are all here to learn.

I love that idea! Perfect!

Lots of ideas have good intentions, but you have to say what if 250,000 annual visitors did this? The picture idea is a good one. Kind of like washing dishes close to or in lake and cutting down live trees. Back in the day the land could rebound before the next person came along. Now the next guy is waiting for you to leave so he can occupy your site.

quote nctry: "Lots of ideas have good intentions, but you have to say what if 250,000 annual visitors did this? The picture idea is a good one. Kind of like washing dishes close to or in lake and cutting down live trees. Back in the day the land could rebound before the next person came along. Now the next guy is waiting for you to leave so he can occupy your site."

I don't disagree with you. I don't know of many people that would alter their tripping plans to go find this "feature". I highly doubt even 20 visitors would even attempt to look for it in a given year. How is it different than something like Johnson falls, or Warrior Hill, or pictographs, or Dorothy Molter's old cabin spot? I guarantee those places attract 100 times more people than this would. If were on a solo trip I would probably attempt it if I was already planning a route nearby. It could be something that you wouldn't even have to get of of the canoe to photograph. If there were multiple locations it would spread out the density even more. There are still only so many permits available for an entry point so that limits the seekers as well. I think it would be fun. It sharpens your mind and makes you focus while at the same time honing your navigation skills that could possibly save your life some day. One could make the argument that if someone was looking for this they wouldn't be spending the day sitting around camp chopping down live trees, stripping birch bark off all the trees, washing dishes in the lake, or catching and eating all the fish in the lake.

quote Northwoodsman: "ElyDog,


Take a picture of something really unique like an unusual tree, a rock formation, a pictograph, a border marker, an old foundation, a mine, a camouflaged PVC pipe sticking out of the ground or whatever and list the coordinates. Take a picture of whatever it is. Describe it in a riddle like they do on Survivor. All the person who finds it does is take a picture of it. Nothing is left behind, nothing is damaged, and technically I don't think it is classified as geo-caching. It's basically utilizing navigation skills using a map, compass and GPS.


All - Please chime in and tell me if I am wrong. We are all here to learn."

This basically sounds like an Earth Cache or even letterboxing. Not all geocaches have to be a box with "stuff" in it.

The solution to the traffic problem is to avoid placing the virtual cache in a location that would require visitors to travel across terrain that would become downtrodden over time. As long as the virtual cache is only accessible by water, rocky surfaces, or an existing trail, it would be fine.