bumblingbs

Well, of course there are no caches in the NP, except W7WT's, which got grandfathered in, but if you love hiking you'd probably want to get a yearly pass, anyway. In all the time I've lived here I always wondered what the road up to Hurricane Ridge would be like in the winter. We have 2WD, and if it's icy...there are steep drop-offs and no guard rail. Just wondering. Last winter two young folk went over the edge, in an SUV, I think; and the impossible happened - the vehicle caught on something ridiculous like a twig and dangled there until they were rescued. There are some lovely lower elevation trails in both the National Park and National Forest.

Thank you. Some people see things so much more clearly than I do. Which is why I am asking for help here.

Have e-mailed Team Misguided privately. Have always appreciated her work.

......There was a lovely little hill in my town called Madrona Hill. They are putting up office buildings there now. Of course, to do so, they had to remove a good chunk of the hill and chop down most of the Madrona trees. When I drive by and see the sign advertising Madrona Hill I want to cry. Those who care are losing bit by bit by bit, and it looks as if we are losing Fort Worden too. I do not know political actvism, but I've seen enough. Is there anyone who will help me, or shall I go with my first inclination, which is to show up at Fort Worden with a group of children?

You know, what bothers me is that my town used to seem to be effective at community action, and I'm not sure that's true any more. This state park in question is apparently going to raze a few historic buildings and put in a up-scale hotel to make it attractive to conventioneers. The property the boy scout house was on was purchased. The boy scout house is gone, the property was carved up into expensive homesites. I went walking in a local wood, thinking about hiding a local cache, and met the neighbors. They were getting ready for the bulldozers. The same boyscout developer guy had bought the wood and was ready to put in his signature cookie cutter houses. Pretty wood, goodbye. I keep seeing one loss after another, and want to somehow help to make it stop. I am not engaging, not attractive, not a good speaker.....I could use some GC help for the area they know, but I'm going in regardless.

Criminal, you go guy. I lke your style.

I complied before there was a directive to comply with. And there was paperwork, there was also a $10 fee. I did it because I thought I was building good will for the future. So much for good will. The administrater at my state park was one of the most vocal against geocaching. There are two caches in the park now, and I'm sure he doesn't know where one of them is. It's a multi, and they only have a couple of GPS units for the Olympic peninsula. The other one, which has been there for years, he is threatening to move because "it is killing a tree". I produced an arborist and asked TPTB if I could take him there. They asked me not to, said it was too confrontational. I figured if the cache were truly killing a tree, it ought to be moved, and if wasn't killing a tree, I'd have a tree expert to say so. Now its apparently too late to save this park for caching. It is a beautiful park and I don't want to give it up. I will say about the $10 fee that I used more than $10 worth of their time talking. But my geocache, which I later archived- I'm 99% sure they had no idea where it was. So much for protecting the park and the public from me. If anyone from that park can walk me out and show me where my cache was, I'll pay 'em double. I have asked Jeremy, and I will ask anyone from TPTB to join me when I go talk with them again. I'm figuring that the state park is there for me, and that this is pretty ridiculous.

Thank you, I would like to say that this topic has gone off the boards with somebody that can do something about it. Thanks.

Hello Prying Pandora, it's nice to see you again. You bring up a funny issue, because we talked about that. That was one of his points, that Fort Worden was the only state park that was always free. I'm thinking that ALL state parks should have always been free.

As far as I know, I'm the only person ever to have paid $10 in the state of Washington to place a cache. I tried to catch bees with honey, and it didn't work, so now I'm spitting vinegar. I don't know, I have a human being living here in my house that does not "get"geocaching. He can hike anywhere, he actually accounts for two of the finds on our account because he tripped over them, but Mr B does not geocache. My mother, who just turned 80, does. Go figure. The person I'm dealing with is Steve Shively at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Wa. And, I'm annoyed, after I thought I did such a good job being an advocate of geocaching, that he was apparently very vocally against geocaching in HIS park. This is another human that does not "get" geocaching. Somebody had a thread on the forums, asking how to make their partner "get" geocaching, and you can't. Period. So, I paid $10 and he told me that he's in charge of a state park and he needs to know where the caches are. I don't have a problem with that, If I were in charge of a state park, I'd want to know, too. And, I'm sorry...I've never met a geocacher I didn't like, but there is somebody out there geocaching that turns my dollar store cache into a dime store cache. There's somebody I follow who leaves the cache totally exposed. I'd like to buy into the thought that geocachers are better than any other given section of the population, but they are exactly as good as and as bad as. There have been bad caches placed in this state park. But now we get into trouble, because I have no sense at all. I paid my $10, and he said it was what was needed to check on the cache, make sure it was environmentally safe. I know absolutely that he told a big fat lie. Which is why I am not going to be a good geocaching advocate there, because I would like very much to point out that he told a big fat lie. Oh, yeah, I've used up my $10 over and over, talking about geocaching. Did they ever actually see it? Absolutely not. And I would say that, to a man who already doesn't "get" geocaching. It would be very satisfying, but probably not going to make him like geocachers any better. So, if I rant here, maybe I'll shut up there. And, Team Misguided, I don't have a cache there. My cache there is archived, and long since removed. I would like to re-activate it. I have a written permit. Not likely I'll get an updated one, and I'm not paying again. The one cache in this park with regular coordinates is in danger. The other is a 4 step multicache, so its safe, they're not going to work that hard.

I am not he best spokesperson for geocaching. I know that there have been some issues with caches in state parks. I know that the third cache I ever found was in a state park. And, I know the director of that park is planning to remove it. So, I'll go see him. Three generations of us will go see him. Maybe it will help that one of us is a member of the police department? I want to fight the good fight in my hometown. It's a beautiful state park, and there are no new geocaches going there. I understand completely that if there are geocaches there, the person in charge has a right to know where they are. And, that they are being maintained. And, that there's no environmental damage. That's fair. But you have to pay $10 for a permit. Only one person has ever done that. Any advice here? One more thing. I'd wager that nobody in his park knows where my cache was, the one I paid for. The one I paid for because they needed to be sure it was safe. I don't suppose they would like me to point that out.

OK, I had a response, but I don't think there is any other response after this one.

And yeah, I've kind of had that experience. Kind of. I went to a boat launch, a bit aways from my home, but I was looking for places for a new cache; and I looked all around this small little park area with the boat launch, and decided the only reasonable spot for a cache was "there". So, I reached into "there" to make sure it was going to work, and (she reached in her thumb and pulled out a plum..) came up with a geocache.

Were the other two logs dated? Were they recent?

$10 small Heinekens? Guess that's one reason I'll not be a world traveler. But American, German? Uh, you're in Thailand, no? A friendly local place will trump anything else. Show your local color, don't go to a place with attitude that's geared to tourists. Or have a potluck somewhere. Friendly local flavor is the ticket.

I'm very sad today, on and off. I think my GPSr is dying, then it comes back, then slows again. Oh dear. Anyway, it's been a good friend, but never did do well under tree cover. If I'm to buy a new one, I've been told that Magellan is better for that. Don't know if they still even make mine, but its a Garmin Etrex Venture. Always did lose signal under trees. Heck, I loved it anyway.

Dear Gerboa~ I think your event sounds fine ~ as far as getting together and exchanging stories with a visiting cacher. Looking at your cache page I have two problems. It looks like a 'choose one of two places to meet'. Are these both at the same time, or are there two different events / meetings possible. Seems a bit confusing to me. Also, wherever you are meeting, I would insist that people log their intention to come, and have it at a restaurant that can accommodate a group. If you have 20 people, and they are scattered at tables in various parts of the room, you will not get the exchange of conversation that you desire. Better to ask for committment and find a place that can seat you all together. Sitting down for some good food and drink, followed by a walk together to find nearby caches is lovely. If all your local participants have found the nearby caches, you may want to hide a new one or two so that there is something for everyone to log. And I have a couple concerns about the Hard Rock Cafe. Sorry, I'm just an American who would hate to go to what I think of as an exotic country and find myself at an American chain restaurant, but my other concern is volume. You want a place that isn't blasting loud, because you will want to TALK about geocaching. I am not a world traveler. I know that here, a restaurant is not likely to hand out seperate checks to every person in a large party. You need to think about how the bill is going to be paid, who is going to keep track of how much each person owes. If you're in charge of the party, you may get stuck if not everybody pays enough to cover themselves and tip. Also, here, for a large party the restaurant often tacks on a gratuity ~ often 17 or 18%. Don't know your country at all, but make sure you're not tipping on top of a tip. Good luck, and enjoy yourself. KB

This is an excellent question, as I have spent a bit of time this week with a coin and a bug. First, I grabbed a coin from a cache, wrote down the tracking number from the coin, and dropped it in another cache the same day. When I got home to log it, it was not in the cache I took it from, which had not been logged for 3 days. Waited until a week had passed, then logged it in and out of the caches myself, to try to get the mileage correct. E-mailed the coin owner, to tell them what I was doing. Two days later, the person who dropped it into the cache where I found it logs it, which totally frazzles the mileage and makes the coin show up in the wrong cache, so I go over everything again, deleting my logs and re-doing them. Then, it turns out the property owner where I dropped the coin doesn't like the coin, (it's an Evil Micro coin), so I go pick up the coin. Now it's properly logged, I think, and sitting right here staring at me. It's going into my own evil micro in the next day or two. Then yesterday, Memorial Day, I drop off a TB at 10 am. I'd had the TB for 3, maybe 4 days. When I get home at 6, somebody has logged out the TB, and noted that it appeared to have dropped into the cache out of the blue. Well, I logged it into the cache last night, and now it shows that it's in the cache, which it clearly isn't, so I e-mailed the person who picked it up to tell them to delete their "discovered" log and log it out the regular way, but no response yet. Gadzooks. Whew. Thanks for letting me vent.

I really don't believe anyone is there. Permanently. Maybe if you come looking for them, they'll be there. I have two cemetery caches. I never thought of them as being disrespectful. The history of each family involved has been studied and presented. They are the founding families of my town, with a history that is being forgotten. When I'm dead, I'd be really surprised to find myself in a graveyard getting annoyed about the people who are there. That's not exactly how I picture it.

Oh JHwk! There it is! Des palourdes mortes! I needed that yesterday! Couldn't remember it.

Went caching with my 80 year old mom. She wore me out. Kinda cool, eh? Nice picture, Criminal.

Oh, no. Our police department has a fake police officer. Officer "Bob Wire". He sits all day by the side of the road watching tourists jam on their brakes. The only problem I had with borrowing him was that a bunch of people called in to report a crazy woman writing on the police car. That was me, with a dry erase marker on the window. Writing coordinates.

Not an encounter, but a heartwarming story...(I think so) I placed a cache (and be very quiet about this, but it was next to a public pathway with a gorgeous view, and I didn't ask permission...) So, I went to check on the cache, it's a micro, and I was surprised to see two business cards jammed in there. I was going to remove them, but certainly not, when I saw that two of our fine local police officers had logged into the cache with their official cards. The same police department loaned me a police car for an event cache. How cool is that?

Neos2 wrote beautifully. I have never been to a cemetery cache where there is a service going on. I would leave immediately out of respect. Mostly they are in older, little used cemeteries. I placed one in my town that offers up a lot of historical information. It was fascinating to research. I don't know, maybe in part it's my belief system - I don't figure anyone's soul and spirit is actually there, just thoughts and memories from those left behind. HauntHunters ~ You need to come to Port Townsend, WA. I'll show you a ghost or two.

Oh, dear, I'm sorry, but if you are going to hide caches you are ~not~ going to break even. You'll likely find that you need to re-stock as the trade items devalue and the cache gets lean. You will spend money on gas going to check on your cache after two people couldn't find it. Maybe it's there, maybe the whole thing is gone. The pleasure in hiding caches for me is: Thinking about where to put it. What experience do I want to share with others? A little known beauty spot? An out of the way trail? Stump them with a puzzle or a tough hide? My reward is the logs that come in. I like hiding caches as much as I like finding them. But I have to be prepared for "Took TB, compass, and magnetic checkers; left smashed beer bottle top." It happens. Zero chance anyone is going to send you money. I'd be offended if you asked. If you had a nice cache in a great spot that was getting a little low, I'd TN Leave something. Don't expect it, though. I bought some geocaching buttons from bumblebuttons a couple of years ago. Nice place, nice woman. Good luck and good caching!