crzycrzy

Have you ever stumbled onto a cache site and found something you didn't want to ? Don't get too graphic on me, but tell me your horror stories... Just recently, I found someone's porno cache just prior to finding the geo-cache I was chasing. Hmmm... what a nice opportunity for a CITO !

Wow. This solicited alot of replies. I understand the idea about coordinates and all, but be fair and let people know if they are off. Reason being that if they are way off like that, and it is listed as a difficulty of 1 and a terrain of 1 but the cache resides 50 feet away, it is hard to find. (I already hear everyone saying, that's the point.) But what do we tell people who are first getting involved in geo-caching ? Look for difficulty of 1 at first. So on behalf of them, thanks ! Seriously, caching shouldn't necessarily be made more difficult than necessary and rate it appropriately, otherwise I have a cache for you. Coordinates are as follows... State of California. Best of luck ! Should be easy for an experienced geocacher... (And feel feel free to turn off the GPS when you are within 50 feet.) Now there are also people like Dr. Bob who put up caches but let everyone know well in advance that the coordinates are a suggestion, however he cleverly gives other clues that ultimately lead to the cache and he rates them accordingly. That's the point I guess, if you mismark coords, then rate accordingly. Play fair, that's all. Cheers !

I was at a cache recently and someone had left their own cache TP and all right next to the site. Very gross... Very Gross... Blech !

Well, unfortunately for me it looks like I am heading the other direction. 4 days of trying and nothing.

You just aren't right dude. Just not right...

Darn ! Missed logging a FTH. You guys get them all ! No Fair !

Hey there Snide Swipe, hope you get better. Fill us all in on whether or not the park moved the pipe. Yikes the photos ! Hope all is well. Peace !

Something's wrong. I am "Farty Bloated Smurf"

Just to tidy up answers to some of the questions... (Or not...) This happened at the bottom of cactus hill in Whiting Ranch when mtn bikers go down the hill, they commonly drop a chain because of how rutted and generally bumpy the single track is... It is very common to see people at the bottom hunched over their bikes putting their chains back on. (Happens to me in the same spot all the time.) But that day, the cougar jumped this fellow. (Evidently he was of pretty small build.) Whether or not the second was another attack or just defending the kill is hard to say, but the first man was eaten by the cougar(s). For those who are looking for coord's I can tell you now the park is closed off and will be for some time. Don't even bother. There are rangers posted day and night at every gate.

That's it ! I quit too !

I actually live about a quarter of a mile away from where these people were attacked. I have ridden my mtn bike down the same hill and had my chain come off countless times in the same spot. I have only seen one cougar in the past and it followed me curiously but left me alone. On Tuesday night I went up in the dark to a couple of nearby caches in the woods. Now I am alot more freaked out. Here's the scary thought. Mark Reynolds was about my size and build, and he evidently didn't stand a chance against the cougar. The lady going down the hill Anne, was jumped on from behind, and then her friend wasn't enough to get the thing to let her go. I am betting no-one saw it coming. So I seriously doubt that there was a chance to fight back at all. There are several things to do in a cougar attack should it happen, but the best advice is to travel in groups when you are in areas with these inherent dangers. Never run from them, make eye contact, shout and throw sticks or rocks , and NEVER bend over. If they do attack you, FIGHT back. Use sticks or rocks or your bare hands. They don't like things fighting back. I have spent the last year running around in the hills by my home with my 5 year old son. No more of that. Between rattlesnakes, and other dangers, I won't even go alone anymore. It's just too risky. I suspect that all of the wildfires here in SoCal have displaced hundreds if not thousands of animals, and the cougars are simply following the food supply. I feel like I am blubbering a bit, but man, I am freaked out.

There recently was a Mountain Lion attack on two mountain bikers here in SoCal. (Some might have heard, some not.) This happened literally a quarter of a mile from my home and I am a little tripped out on it. Just wondering what everyone else thinks about dangers like this in the bush...

I've been out there just looking for myself. Hopefully I will meet me someday.

Yup. We pretty much agree. Who cares about the semantics ? See you in the field !

GPS $159.99 on Amazon Gas money $179.00 in So Cal. Getting to a traditional cache and finding that it is now a locationless cache. Priceless

I was just curious as to why Orange County was left out. We are all grey. Has word gotten out about us ? ET Phone home !

I'm not certain about this, but it occurs to me that some people out there in the community are using some sort of force. It is a strange thing that is in all living creatures and you can use it to lift rocks and dig your x-wing out of swamps. Look around in the other forums for it. You will also hear things about some dimunitive creature that is green and has a raspy voice.

Just a thought... Did you ever try buying two magnets and putting them one on each side of the container ? It's far less messy and they generally will hold each other in place on their own.

Southern California has and I have seen all of these... Earthquakes... Rattlesnakes... Scorpions... (Although poisonous are less frequent.) Skunks... Angry deer... Mountain Lions... Bobcats... Alligator lizards... (I know they aren't poisonous, but let one latch onto you.) and of course the obvious dangers of overheating, dehydration from the heat and such. (For those who don't think that may be an issue, check out... mike's memorial cache There are other dangers aside from this, but I will leave this list as is. You will see nothing more amazing though than coming over the hills and running smack dab into the middle of a herd of deer. Cool and scary all at once. Cheers !

I agree with the last post. (Or at least it was the last post when I started replying.) One problem here in Southern Cali is that they get full of trash. You find a round tupperware container full of useless crap. Yes, and large old gnarly plastic toys that look like they were left outside for a few weeks. I have on occasion simply removed junk and threw it away from a cache because there was no room to put anything and it was full of useless items. (Okay, soapbox mode off now.) Seriously, I know most of us don't do this for the items in the cache, but if you at least commit to only taking something as nice as what you left then we will all have something to look forward to. Nothing like diggin through dirty tree branches to find a dingy box filled with even more dismal stuff. Enough said. Clean up the caches ! P.S. I love you guys !

Ha Ha ! I would tell you what I think and how I am, but instead you must first go to location N 33 41.212' W 117 37.581' and find a brightly colored altoids can well hidden under a... (Just kidding) But I have to say, I understand a little of your psychology don't I ? I almost started entering the waypoint on mine too. Seriously... for me, it is a matter of being alone. Getting to the absolute most isolated places. I often tell people that had I been stranded in the south pacific for 50 years I would be most happy. They always say that I wouldn't really like it once I was there but it always seems to me that I seek out lonely and desolate places that are largely ignored by people. So you go figure. Tomorrow I am going to get up early and bike out 12 miles into the hills to be all alone. Yes I will find some caches, but I suppose that is my excuse for going. What I really want is to get away. From what ? I don't know. Am I weird ? Probably. Are you ?

Uh-Oh... I don't know if anyone wants my opinion or not, but here goes anyway... I think the idea of setting in place some sort of a system for notifying owners of a cache site that there is an issue, however, leaving it up to the world at large to fix sites in disrepair or missing is another issue altogether. Why is this ? Because I have already been thinking (As a fairly new cacher myself) about all the places and ideas to put my first cache site up. If there were no rule to how many I can place, (And so far as I know there is not) then I could go crazy putting them all over the place. The more I put, the more there is for someone to maintain. Not by me, but by the community at large. No big deal as long as only I do this, but multiply me by 13,000 members, and there could be an enormity of caches which would become unmaintanable and this would lead to a rather dull sport. Missing or outdated caches and the like. Certainly a half million caches would make for more potential finds, but it creates an unmanageable system when left as an honor system alone. Also, we might begin to find ourselves at the receiving end of some nasty legislation as most landowners and public land managers would get rather sick of it quickly. Imagine having to know the differing laws of each state and/or country in regards to geo-caching because they have differing laws in place to regulate that which we have failed to regulate on our own. But if the cache owner takes responsibility, he/she is far less likely to make one at a great distance from home as it becomes impractical to maintain. This is why the guidelines are that way. So that we exercise responsibility as well as enjoy the sport. The present system is well maintained, and doesn't disintegrate under the load because there is a degree of forced balance. Don't maintain the cache, and the cache goes away. So I for one must interject and though as I said before, I see your point, I also see why things are the way they are. Whoever thought of that guideline thought it through well. I for one am glad that someone has made an effort to keep things in check so that the sport doesn't become an obstacle unto itself. I can handle criticism to this viewpoint, but it makes sense to me at least. Now I have nothing against alternatives such as allowing vacation caches to be marked as a vacation cache and allowing the finder to either remove the cache or to adopt it at their choice. This could be a differing method for allowing the maintenance of "vacation" style caches... My two and .5 cents.

Okay, by now you've heard it all... I must agree that you should be patient... However ! There is always the option of posting your own site and as soon as it's verified, you can sneak out and dislocate it and when the FTF'er is looking for it, stand there and make fun of him/her... (Just kidding...) Seriously though, have fun and son't take yourself too seriously. My two cents...

I don't get it. My GPS takes me right to ground zero every time... Yeah right !

Have a funny animal related geo cache adventure ? Feel free to spin your yard about it, but keep it fun ! Here's mine. A friend introduced me to geo-caching and we went out to find our second or third geo-cache when he slipped and went for a little tumble down a hill. When he stood up, there was an enormous lizard clinging to his butt. How enormous ? Ahhh heck, I will leave that to your imagination. (Evidently the lizard had figured him for a fencepost.) In any case, my friend had figured out that the lizard was on him and started out immediately with a frenzied dance to get it to crawl off of him. The lizard did depart with a furied fervor, and it took about 3 minutes before I was able to speak again because of the degree to which I was falling over laughing. In any case, it was a great day and I think we managed to find two caches that day. So what's your tale ?