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snowfrog

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Everything posted by snowfrog

  1. I promised myself that I would not be lured into this forum and invite the flaming that is sure to follow.In all fairness to the sport I decided to post ONE and only one reply.First let me say that the cache was not on, in any way , the gaspipes or any other sensitive equipment (But we all have seen them,right!). The cache was not attached to the building, and there is no loading dock by the cache. In fact, the immediate area has public parking 50' from the cache and picnic tables 30' away. That being said, I guess I am still guilty of poor judgement and have extended an apology to them, so please refrain from your urge to backlash. We do not want to appear to be self-righteous.Before I close, allow me to pose rhetorical questions to each and all of you, that means you don't need to reply to me directly, only reflect on them: Have you ever placed a cache in or near a sensitive area or have you gotten written permission for each and every one of your own hides that are not on your own personal property.This includes all caches hidden in public parks,playgrounds, boatramps,guardrails,gazebos,picnic shelters, etc...Of course not! Have you ever hidden a cache in such a way, that it MAY encourage climbing picnic shelter rafters, turning over garbage cans, or going off trails against park rules, put them in places with posted times, or knew it might encourage disassembly activity, just to name a few. Finally, I will just say this.If you can answer NO to all of the above, it still really doesn't matter because we all are guilty of parking in the wrong spot and grabbing it anyway from questionable angles,lifting the skirting on parking lot lampposts,rumaging through landscaping, messing around headstones,or simply parking illegally, etc... Actually,admit it, when you look around, right before you grab the cache, it is for two reasons. 1) To maintain the integrity of the cache against muggles 2) And also because in the majority of your finds, that little voice inside you is saying " I shouldn't be here or be doing this! " Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the cache placement.Quite the opposite, I regret it. But to be honest, I think they are fairly common, and if you knew the exact spot, you would actually laugh. This incident is not though, a laughing matter and as I mentioned, I have apologized to them and would also like to extend my apologies to each of you for my poor judgement. Please remember, as I should have, that after all it is their property and they have the right to address and enforce potential security issues.Please don't blast me too bad, I have a headache. (Not from a New Years Eve party) Snowfrog Out!
  2. I agree! All those annoying signs we see as we enter parks that read: NO ALCOHOL NO COOKING NO 4 WHEELERS NO SKATEBOARDING NO METAL DETECTORS ETC... I BELIEVE YOU WILL SOON SEE NO GEOCACHING
  3. Lately I've grown a little weary of the same old containers. Since I find myself seeking more of a challenge, I assume others do as well. I have joined the ranks of the ultra-camo containers and recently tested one on two friends before I submitted it. I watched for 15 minutes as the literally walked on top of it several times and even now after a week it has no finder. Camouflage can defeat accuracy!
  4. I think the self rating concept is too subjective to different opinions. What I or others define as being a 1-5 in difficulty or terrain is never going to be consistent. I have been raked over the coals for posting a new cache as a one in terrain, in which it was 600' from parking, on totally flat asphalt trail, 12' wide. There was one slight 3' dirt mound near the end which took about 3 steps to clear. One of the first posts was a berated finder who stated it should have been higher since his definition of a 1 in terrain is accessible by wheelchair, " You gotta be kidding me! ". In my 300 finds, I can honestly say that I have never found a cache that is located on paved surface within easy reach of wheelchair without having to exit it. My suggestion would be to eliminate that self rating, on terrain and difficulty by having 25 or so questions added to the listing page, in which the lister clicks bullseyes to answer questions regarding terrain and difficulty. Such as; !) Distance to cache from most likely parking spot is 1-100', 101-250', 251-.25 mile etc. 2) Likely approaches are totally flat, less than 100 ' elevation, 250 elevation, etc. 3) Surfaces are paved, loose dirt, mud at times etc. 4) Road or trail and average width is.... 5) Size of cache container is ..... 6) Location ground level, 1-5', 6-10'... 7) Container camouflaged yes/no 8) Single/Multi-stage and number of stages..... Well, you get the idea. Maybe a little cumbersome but the end result is then a consistent site generated rating of both terrain and difficulty. With suggestions from members over time and a little tweeking, this would, I think work well.
  5. I was denied a cache activation this year due to the fact that it was a vacation cache several hundred miles from my home and in all fairness to the reviewer, I agreed with his point of my not being close enough to properly maintain. My question though is this. If I can be denied activation of a cache because of distance, how is it that there are cachers who have finds in the thousands and who own hundreds of their own. I know of one who has over 400 caches that belong to him. So the same argument, I believe, can be made regarding excessive caches. Don't get me wrong, the more caches for us all, the better, but how can anybody properly maintain that number. Think about it, if you checked one a day for a year, you wouldn't get them all. Should there also be limit on caches owned, to hopefully encourage more maintenance. Personally, I think this would also encourage a healthy " rollover " of new cache placements. If I can only have say 25 owned, once I reach that limit I might be more likely to de-activate older caches and free up a spot for a new placement. Those of us who live in rural areas, once we reach around 200 finds are driving many miles to find new ones, which is part of the game but I think it is tough on younger cachers and adds to the burnout of many because it's simply too expensive. Anything that would encourage fresh caches, and more maintenance within areas that are already saturated can only good for the sport.
  6. I cache solo most of the time, and prefer it. I sometimes think about the consequences of a twisted ankle or worse, way back in the woods. What scares me the most are inner-city park caches with guys sitting alone in their cars nearby and watching me go into the woods alone. I try to come out (No pun intended) of the woods in a different place. They give me the creeps!
  7. Listen all ye cachers, lend me your ear!
  8. 3 years caching and finally nailed by the county police about two weeks ago.I was doing a quick guardrail cache when up he comes, blue lights and all.He had never heard of geocaching and let me go back to my truck to get a listing page to show him.I gave him a 5 minute crash course, satisfied his curiosity and he left with no problems!I do think the ammo box containers, down the road will be a no-no.
  9. I personally have lost 3 out of 4 TB's.I no longer put any out or remove any from caches when I run across them.It was great idea but too many cachers either don't care to log their movement promptly or properly, or simply don't care.I'm reluctant to think there are actually TB serial killers out there!
  10. My first bug travelled a whole 17 miles before it was lost. I contacted the last few logged finders but got no reply. I would prefer to believe the problem is more kids or rookies. They simply don't know what the bug is, or know how to log the pick up's or drops. Either way, wasted money! It would probably be better to simply put the TB's in premier hides only. Hopefully premier cachers are a little more experienced or dedicated to the hobby integrity. That won't eliminate the problem but might reduce it.
  11. A local favorite in my part of Indiana, is a cache in which the owner actually glued a large rock to the lid of a pill bottle.The bottle was then slid inside a frog hole of the same diameter and along a creek about a foot from the waters edge so that only the rock shows amongst many others,quite clever actually. It has even been flooded over many times but has always held up OK and avoided being washed away.Of course many NF's are posted but many manage to get it after mutiple trips.
  12. I personally think the cache should be a virtual in which you have to photograph yourself amongst the "field of flamingos" and maybe shaking hands with one of the Boojumites, or at least have a Trolldoll travelbug if you prefer a regular cache!
  13. FYI all! The World War Two Memorial in Washington has a website attached to it that allows WWII veterans,their friends or family to register their names to the memorial.It is extrememly important,as it permanently honors their service and sacrifice with their own personal memorial webpage within that memorial.It is totally FREE and takes just a few minutes to register.You can also search their database for other family members.You just need name,branch,hometown,and maybe a little information about their unit,action,assignments,medals etc. if you know any.This is totally non-profit and I am not affiliated. Register your family members,they deserve to be remembered! http://www.wwiimemorial.com
  14. Was a member of a Special Forces A-team from 83-88 and on one field exercise my team loaded up at Fort Bragg, N.C. and proceeded to fly into Northern Penn.We parachuted in to a privately owned cornfield after dark(without detection or permission) and moved on foot for two weeks, all the time trespassing on privately owned civilian farmland.One one cold night we slept in a farmers barn, unknown to him.After patrolling for the two week period and placing fake demolition charges on a public highway bridge, we were picked up by helicopters which touched down again on a private farm.We flew away and watched as the lights in his log cabin came on because of him hearing the choppers!
  15. yep, you can check it out for yourself!
  16. Thought maybe the significance of the pink flamingos might help.It seems that the pink flamingo is a symbol (I am not one at all, but did a few searches) of a bizarre religion called boojum and its followers boojumites.Seems the core belief is, in a nutshell, the belief that the inner earth is populated by trolls and that some day that earth will " crack open " and release them all once again to rule us non-trolls.
  17. Last summer I decided to hit a cache that I had been putting off for quite some time.It required renting a boat or canoe at a state park and paddling about a 1/2 mile out on a public lake to the far side, tying off the boat and bushwacking from there. Thought I could squeeze it in, but just as I arrived on the far side a heavy downpour hit, complete with lightning. Thought I was #$@$@@* for the return trip. Luckily the rain stopped after about 1/2 hour and I paddled like mad to get off the lake! Surely Mom must have told me not to go paddle boating during a lightning storm, guess I forgot!
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