wordnerd

Thanks for all the info -- and for the links and ideas. I know when I release a trackable that there's a risk of it disappearing. I actually wouldn't mind if a geocacher just grabbed it and decided to keep it, because they are pretty cool collectibles. But to not know at all what happened to it, it's a human thing, not having closure. My TB was one of the Wonders of the World bugs. Some of your responses made me realize that if I revived it, I'd have to do so with something associated with that geographical location. Thanks everyone so much for clarifying!

I have dropped a good handful of my own trackables over the past couple of years. Some have moved along and quite a few are lying dormant in a cache somewhere. One TB in particular was officially declared missing when the cache in which I left it was vandalized. It never got to travel anywhere. So I was wondering if there's any rule against using the TB ID number on a different item, like a coin or a toy or something, and then revive the trackable and set it off again. I have heard of some geocachers who purchase a TB, and instead of sending the actual trackable item, they keep the physical TB and apply the number to something else. (This way the cool trackable is kept as a collectible item and doesn't get lost.) Can I do this to a trackable that was already released? If so, is there someone I need to contact to revive it or would I just mark it as "retrieved"? Or -- wishful thinking but -- does the Geocaching.com store offer replacements? I can accept that it's just bad luck and lost. I have others out there. But I thought I'd ask in case all hope is not lost.

I've got a small backpack too. But I'm a girl so it could be a purse. I keep: A "wilderness" hat a couple of dry washcloths (for wet caches) Lots of swag of all sizes for a variety of cach containers. Many felt tip pens map and cache page printouts -- like where a whole cluster of caches are in a certain area Snack sized ziplock bags Quart sized ziplock bags Flashlight (I actually only use it for the batteries when my GPSr ones go dead) That's about it. I keep my GPSr in my REAL purse. .

I think FamilyDNA and I ought to just do group posts. 'Cause we keep reading each other's thoughts anyway. ;-)

. Wait! Wait! I don't think it could be the Big Bear one because (as someone already pointed out) it's too new. But Big Moose Bear was actually moved in the past year and I think the name was altered, based on the logs. It's not a members only so take a look at it (I've got the waypoints posted above). It's still worth it to have the membership, though. Less hassle. And you need to get back in the habit of caching and logging. .

Big Bear Geotax (GC136G3) is a members-only cache, which could be the reason it disappeared for you. If you let your membership slip, I guess it won't show up. There's also Welcome to Big Moose Bear (GCMBKP). Neither of these have your exact coordinates. Since it was a year ago, the coordinates could have been updated. Let us know. This is kind of fun. Like a puzzle cache.

Please DO NOT remove clothing. This is a family sport. .

I've got the map page up in another browser. I ended up doing it like Miragee said with the archived list. There are too many nearby caches to list and I listed the closest archived ones in my previous post. Do you remember anything about the cache? Size? Description? Was it in water, near water, in a tree, in a house, you let me be....oops, I fell into Dr. Seuss land.

Dam Good View (GCP52K) and Castle Rock Cache (GC4800) are the closest archived caches in the area. One of them is in the middle of a lake.

Click on the cache that is .3 miles away to go to its description. Then go down to the map on the bottom right of the screen (I believe it's yahoo maps or google maps). When you click that map, it will show all the caches in the surrounding area with a list of the cache names on the right. You will either recognize the name or you can click on each one until you find it.

. After reading this thread for the past couple of days, I came across one of our local caches. A finder logged that the cache container was ruined and said "I happened to have had an empty peanut butter jar with me so I replaced the container." ROTFL. Uh oh. Here we go again. .

As I pointed out in another of his posts, I think that JackMerlin is a kid. He's probably gone caching with his family and heard them complain about muggled caches. Now he's got his own account and wanted to discuss the situation. I don't think he meant any offense by it. .

. Unless you're alergic to peanut butter. .

That's so sad!! Poor spiders. They like geocaching too. .

. . I don't know what these things are: i ching bhagavad-gita fauna From the remaining list I would take off: loose crayons. And, HEY, what happened to the log GOOK? You can't not have log gook in a cache container. It's a natural occurance.

Look for something that doesn't belong. A neatly stacked pile of sticks or rocks. A perfectly situated tree stump. A large area of metal where a magnet can be stuck. Some of the more questionable but fun ones are the containers that look like power boxes -- you can tell it's a cache because the wires don't lead to anything. This type SHOULD have a sign somewhere that says "Property of Geocaching.com. Do not remove" or something like that. But not always. My favorite (and I've pointed this out in several posts) was a micro inside a sprinkler head. The sprinkler looked perfectly natural until my third search when I realized that an electrical pole was an odd place for a sprinkler to be near. I'm not an expert either. I've got fewer than 60 finds at the moment and the cache hides are still amazing me.

I love ammo boxes and decon containers. I've never had problems with film canisters as long as they have the lids. Peanut butter jars are okay too (see the peanut butter jar war thread if you want to argue, lol). Tupperware seems to warp too easily so the lids don't seal properly. Small ziplock bags that are simply squeezed into the bottom of a magnetic decoy (like something without a cover) always seem to be soaked. I also don't like pill bottles because they are a pain to get the log out of. I love cammoed containers, like things that look like something else. But those sometimes get ruined if not properly contained. I have yet to hide my first cache (waiting for 100 finds to earn the privilege), but I've seen what works and doesn't work. When I start hiding mine, I think I'll go with ammo cans, decons and fake cammoed containers. Oh yeah, and I HATE nano-micro-whateveryoucall them containers. Can't remember if any that I've seen have been wet inside, but they can be hard to work with (I can never get the log to roll up tight enough).

I think he's a kid (whose gone caching with his uncle according to a few other posts). You keep looking, JackMerlin. Soon you will start learning the tricks to spot a cache, such as a pile of sticks that is too neatly stacked or a sprinkler head in the middle of a concrete parking lot. More practice and you will spot them right away. I'm still new at it too, but I am much better now than I was on my first find. And remember....Muggles are our friends.

One I read here in the forums some time back, I thought was pretty good: Muggle: What are you doing? Cacher: Checking satellite signal strength. Or...or....how about: [Muggle approaches. Cacher squats real quick] Muggle: What are you doing? Cacher: Peeing. .

. Uh....JackMerlin?... According to your profile, you've only found 2 caches. Period. You found 2 caches and you already want to change the system? You want to maybe give geocaching a month or two, maybe get a couple of decent caches under your belt and THEN maybe we can talk about changes? I haven't had any problems with muggled caches. Bad weather, yes. But not too many problems with nongeocachers. Even if there was a problem, there isn't anything you can do about muggles. They are just people and have every right to the world as everyone else. If a cache is getting vandalized by muggles, then the problem is the hiding place, not the muggles. .

Technical difficulties could mean that the cache was on someone's property and the FTF was the one that made the discovery (maybe approached by the owner). He/she could have moved it to make it legal. It also could have been a metal box placed in the midst of electrical wire, or a magnetic container placed on something computerized (oooh bad). I've seen where people would find a cache and log that they moved it to where they thought it should be. Then it gets 15 DNFs. So I suppose it depends on the situation. The problem you may have with the one you're talking about is if the owner does not make a note of confirmation nor does he/she post new coordinates. Then you don't know if you should keep looking in the original coords. Let us know what happens. I'm curious.

I've always had positive responses when e-mailing cachers. But I've only e-mailed either to ask for a hint or say "yeah, I agree with what you posted" or something like that. However, I have posted maintenance requests -- which I don't do lightly -- most of which had been ignored, even though mine is usually the second or third request. That annoys me, especially if the owner is someone who is a long standing active cacher and has a number of missing or injured caches. And once I did a cemetery cache where I posted my find along with my feelings of discomfort at trampling through a child's gravesite. Another cacher after me also posted her concern about this type of hide. The owner came back with a "note" log saying to please not do anymore of her grave caches because she thinks it is a beautiful thing to bring people to these sites, etc. I think she was aiming her note at the person after me, but I thought it was pretty rude. I mean, people are going to gripe about caches. It's part of the game. Heck, I gripe about the bushwacking caches that I LOVE. My guess about the unanswered e-mails is that people love to hide things for other people to find, but they don't necessarily love to communicate with the seekers. There's also a good chance they'd gotten several other complaints and don't see the need to reply to all of them. But they should at least post a note on the log page to indicate if they are going to address the problem

. .

Was it a PB cache? ROTFLMAO!

. I've only been gone a couple of hours and it looks like I've missed a lot of the film. Perhaps it'll come out on DVD soon. .