Mule Ears

Scenario: You are a machinist. You arrive at work and your lathe is broken. Employer docks you a day's pay.

Each cache owner is entitled to run his caches as he sees fit. Some complain that not enough cachers post DNFs when they fail to find a cache. A DNF log is obviously valuable feedback to the cache owner. I'm saying that a cache owner might want to use his discretion in a narrowly defined circumstance--one in which the seeker says the cache is missing and the owner confirms it--to reward the seeker. Or not. Besides, doesn't an insistence on withholding the smiley imply that the smiley has greater-than-zero value? Ask me for the time, I might give it to you. Ask me for a hundred-dollar bill, I probably will not. The fact that smilies have acquired a value can be ignored, denied, decried, or used to positive advantage. Just like money, status, connections, good looks, personality, etc. I'm looking for the positive, and I find no downside to a transaction that leaves both the cacher and owner happier and better off.

How so? It's more of an incentive-based approach to getting people to act the way you want them to. Any alignment between my opinions and political correctness would be viewed as a sign of the Apocalypse.

The beauty of this is that we're not talking about a rule. It's an option for a cache owner who wants to reward someone who discovers that a cache is missing or vandalized beyond the possibility of signing the log. And, like it or not, many/most cachers do view the smiley as the currency (think Monopoly money) of this game. So offering an incentive in play money for rendering a valuable service may be a smart thing to do, provided it doesn't conflict with some personal code of ethics. It's like this--you find a wallet on the street. As an honest person, it's your moral duty to either return it to the owner or take it to the authorities for return to the owner. You may do so with no expectation of a reward. But the fact that people sometimes do receive a reward for doing the right thing increases the chances that a given person will do the right thing. Naturally, as the owner of the lost wallet, you can thank the finder, give him twenty bucks, or just turn on your heel and go. But I'm glad that at least some folks choose the first two options.

Upgrading a DNF to a is entirely up to the cache owner. So, cache owner, why not use your discretion to set up a positive incentive? If the DNFer discovered that the cache has gone missing, then allow him to change that DNF to a find once you've verified it (by replacing the cache). After all, that DNF log is valuable to you in that it tells you that the cache is missing. And the DNF is no fault of the seeker--he didn't find it because it wasn't there. If it's an ordinary DNF (one in which the cache was there, but the cacher did not find it), then there's no reason to change it to a smiley. Doesn't matter how far someone walked, climbed, drove, swam, biked, etc. -- if they failed to find the cache and sign the log, it's a DNF (unless you, the owner, see a reason to rule otherwise). The general reluctance to log DNFs has been a recurrent topic in the forums. Offering a possible smiley as an incentive to encourage folks to report DNFs seems like a positive tweak to the game.

"Team Mule Ears" live on webcam:

Haven't seen any bravado or statements in the vein of "I carry and will kill anyone that crosses me" in this thread. But then I don't take my training in firearms or philosophy from the movies either

Yet another reason to carry when visiting remote caches: Perhaps we can merge this with the "Geocaching Vehicle Stuck" thread.

Geocaching has taken me to some remote parts of southern Arizona, and I carry a holstered .357 in those remote places. There are critters, smugglers and situations in which the firearm might come in handy. The likelyhood of an uncomfortable encounter with a family out for a casual walk, who might misidentify me as a bad guy and get the heebie-jeebies, is vanishingly small. That said, expect this thread to quickly turn into a political debate about gun ownership and self-defense. Without any local knowledge, the "anti" side of the debate will accuse you of cowardice (ala the cartoon interlude in Fahrenheit 911) or murderous intent. Level-headed sportsmen and law-enforcement types will come to your defense, only to be drowned out in a bunch of inanity. Fortunately, the thread will get locked pretty quickly. I'm forecasting the process in hopes of accelerating it so that we get to the inevitable lock as soon as possible.

For remote caches, I plan my route with topo-map software and sometimes download a route to the GPS unit (Etrex). I take along a printed copy of the area of interest, just in case the electronics die. But the 1:100,000 digital maps loaded into the Etrex are nearly useless. And at least half of all topo-map-planned routes don't survive contact with reality and have to be scrapped.

My only hope is that the market is allowed to do its thing. Having lived through gas lines in the 70s, I can tell you that it's much better to see the price go up and let people voluntarily conserve by cutting back unnecessary trips, etc. If they cap the price and ration gas we'll have economic and social chaos as we did then. On a brighter note, I walk the mile each way to work and use pretty much all of my gas for caching/recreational purposes

We use a Sprint phone & USB cable. Faster than conventional dialup, but not spectacular. Service is available in most places, and along the stretches of interstate highway we drive (I-10 in Arizona). The only problem has been that Sprint silently drops your connection after a very short period of inactivity (like, say, while you're typing up a log before pressing 'submit'). Solved this by pulling up a command-line box and sending a continuous 'ping' to a server as some token activity. Don't know whether this restriction still applies (as the 'ping' workaround has become such a habit), but it's something to be aware of.

Criminal pointed out: You're right--I was really responding to your "20 yards" comment. But I could have (should have) provided this link to a database of footwear reviews maintained on the same site.

Hey, Criminal, those are some serious hikers (Alpinists?) at the other ends of those links. For laughs, here are some more links to folks who might have an informed opinion or two on hiking footwear: San Jacinto day hike -- 30.4 miles and 11,000+ feet of elevation gain/loss San Jacinto trail run and down in time for dinner Another San Jacinto hike (only 23 miles roundtrip) CurmudgeonlyGal, I'm with you on insoles. I remove the standard ones and replace them with my preferred models on day one.

I'll agree that people do make a lot of mistakes in selecting boots/shoes, but I do think that they benefit from sharing information with others regarding non-fit-related issues like durability, waterproofing, features, etc. Hmm, my feet are peculiar enough that were it not for those last-resort techniques, I'd be forced to go barefoot. And nobody wants that.

I'll agree that good fit is essential, but it's kind of a given. When someone is asking for advice on a style, brand or model of boot, they are narrowing their search. "These boots have a good reputation and loyal customers, so if they fit well, I'm golden!" It's also possible to be too fussy about a perfect initial fit. What feels good in the store may not be good in the field. I've been fooled more than once by a pair of shoes or boots that fits perfectly and feels comfy at try-on but turns out to have a design feature that just doesn't work. Example: soft, flexible soles feel wonderful in the store, but will leave your feet bruised and sore after a long hike on a rocky trail. Stiff-soled, initially less-comfortable boots would be a better choice. Finally (and the perfect-fit advocates will probably flame me for this suggestion), it's possible to make big improvements in fit with a few simple tricks. Have you tried different lacing techniques? How about different socks or insoles? Once you identify your particular footwear issues and know how to fix 'em your boot shopping becomes a lot less of a matter of patience and luck.

Since you're not averse to high tops, here are my favorites, both made by Danner: (Desert Eagle combat boots) and.. (Pronghorn hunting boots) The extra ankle protection is very worthwhile for off-trail excursions. Although the two models are similar, the combat boot has a stiffer shank, helping to prevent foot-fatigue on rocky terrain. The hunting model has a bit more flex and is pretty sticky for scrambling (rock-climbing lite). Don't know about using them with crampons, but Danner responds quickly to emailed questions. If you haven't worn this style of boot before, you may be concerned that they're heavy or restrictive of ankle movement. These concerns vanish after you wear them for awhile. Your walking gait adapts quickly and you find yourself walking more easily and confidently on rough terrain.

I addressed only the terrain rating, because it could plausibly have some relation to reality. Problem is really one of scale--the range of actual terrain is immense, as is the range of human ability, ingenuity and resources. Fizzymagic is absolutely correct on the issue of the difficulty rating: it's nonsense. How is the placer supposed to estimate how long it might take for someone else to find a cache? And it pays to be leery of good hides; they're usually done in a way that invites destructive searches--destructive to the surroundings, or to the searcher

Your chase idea might be the germ of a suitable event game--a hare and hound sorta thing.

It should not be surprising that a 10-point scale that tries to convey The entire range of human outdoor activity, divided by the entire range of human ability should be inconsistent and "inaccurate." I'm going to dissent from the notion that strict adherence to the GC/Clayjar scale is the best approach. Given that we're trying to communicate such a broad range with such a limited scale, it's good that local norms develop. And once you get to know individual local cache-placers, you understand that a terrain 3.5 rating by "mountainGoat73" is going to be more challenging than a 3.5 by "couchPotato88." The most useful information comes from the text description, assuming that the cache-placer has taken the trouble to provide the essential info. It's also a good idea to click the topo-map link on the cache page and see what you're in for. Finally, if you want to fix an erroneous rating, suggest a more appropriate # in your log. I've done this a handful of times, and in a couple cases triggered a change, or a chorus of agreement from other cachers (followed by a change). (learn to type, Mule Ears )

Here in Southern AZ the local TV news outlets do a couple of horror stories a year on killer bees, bee infestations, and bee swarms. They poo-poo the efficacy of running away, since the bees can supposedly overtake even a fast runner. So what should you do? "Get indoors away from the bees." Thanks, guys. My experience was that my running was exactly the response the bees were after--they seemed to be escorting me away from their home. They kept bumping into my back as a sort of deliberate goading. "That's right, keep running and we won't have to sting you." From an evolutionary standpoint, it wouldn't make much sense for hundreds or thousands of bees to suicide by stinging me, when threatening me was doing the job. You mentioned hornets--I also had a wasp encounter last summer:: Buncha these guys:

Have to add my bee adventure from last spring:

...because in Arizona, everything has thorns. And if I return from cache-hunting and I'm not scratched and bleeding I miss that sense of accomplishment

A cacher in my area turned the whole numbers-quest on its head and provided a really cool resource for those of us who prefer adventurous caches. He's developed a site that assigns "challenge points" based upon how infrequently a cache is visited. The theory is that most cachers avoid effort in their quest for ever-higher find counts, so his system assigns the highest number of points to the least-frequently visited caches. Here's the site. Now you might object that this substitutes one numbers game for another. But if you're truly indifferent to the numbers, you can use the site as a filter to simplify the job of identifying caches that are truly tough, or that haven't been visited in a long time. Granted, some high-challenge-point caches got that way because they're just a long drive from any populated place, but those can be winnowed out pretty readily by a look at the description.

Neat trick with the Dymo labeler: Buy some self-adhesive aluminum tape of the kind that's sold for patching rain gutters and downspouts. Using an X-acto knife or single-edged razor blade cut a piece into 3/8" strips. You can run these through your Dymo machine just like the normal label material. It takes a little practice to avoid using too much pressure, but once you have the knack you can make seriously weatherproof labels that stick to most flat, relatively clean surfaces.