Rock Stashing?

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Hahaha! Now, there's a rock! I guess I've already 'found' that one, since I have a pic of it! lol!

What? You don't know what Rock Stashing is?

Rock stashing is a fun outdoor activity that combines elements of orienteering, letterboxing, earth caching, and old fashioned treasure hunting. It is easy to get started. 'Stashing is inexpensive, family-friendly, healthy, and best of all it is environmentally safe.

It's a lot like letterboxing, except instead of hiding boxes, we hide rocks. Environmentally friendly, beautiful rocks. You can paint them (with non-toxic, environmentally-safe paint), or if you aren't the artistic type, just leave a particularly noteworthy rock for others to find. Perhaps it's uniquely shaped, or a rare type of rock for the area. In urban areas, if you paint the rock, it should only be on the bottom side of the rock so others will not discover it by accident.

The rocks can survive many conditions that regular letterboxes cannot such as fires and even floods. Even better, if the rocks are flooded away, no permanent trash left in the environment!

Bring your digital camera along to take pictures of all your finds. Rock stashing is even allowed in places that letterboxes are prohibited such as national parks since the places are already littered with rocks! What can the authorities do? Prohibit rocks in their parks? Ha! (written by Museum Piece on AQ)

Well, I'm not sold, I'm sorry to say. Here's what I commented on another blog concerning this rather new phenom:

I like rocks. I have a rock collection, and like to collect small, shiny stones from the beach. My children are attracted to cool rocks on trails, and sometimes bring them home as a pocket treasure.

However, rock-stashing sounds kinda dumb. Do you take the rock when you find it? Do you just take a pic of it for grins?

I like letterboxing, and do not consider letterboxes trash, and I don't think any planters intended them to be trash. I like the carving aspect of letterboxing and collecting of other people's efforts. I guess I'm thinkin' that rock stashing is missing something vital - the sharing part.

*shrug* just my two-cents.

But who am I to judge another's fun? So, stash away, my friends, and hey...I may even change my mind over time. I was eyeing the beach rocks that sit in my kitchen windowsill while I was doing up this evening's dinner dishes...