private bones

All of the above. Out of 32 caches here are a few examples and reasons: 1) A themed cache filled with super hero items in a hilly regional park. Reason: I know that a lot of families with kids struggle to get up this particular steep trail and now there is a cool reward at the top - the icing on the cake. 2) An easy cache simply for the sole reason of providing a smiley. Reason: The cache is at the beginning (or end) of a difficult caching loop. A day of caching here will yield very tough terrain and several really hard signaless caches under redwood trees. It's like caching with a blindfold. After experiencing a frustrating day & multiple DNF's in this signaless canyon I was really wishing for a nice warm fuzzy feel good simple smiley cache to save the day. Voila! Now there is one for future cachers. 3) A series of coastal village urban caches (some unusual, some surprising, some handicap accessible) placed in a high foot traffic tourist town. Reason: Yep, the caches take you on a humorous and historical geotour of a unique picturesque village. But my motivation as a hider also included the fact that to have this kind of a series in a very touristy place the cacher will need creative stealth techniques. The series also challenged me to place entertaining, clever, well camoed caches that will be worth the effort of dealing with the urban extras (parking issues, muggles, etc) 4) A Jack in the Box cache container that pops the log out at you when the Jack pops up. Reason: I wanted to honor a bit of local geocaching history AND make people laugh. The cache replaced two previous tough caches that spanned a 6 year period and both had the name Jack in them. So this cache was placed as the third Jack cache named "Jack is Back". This is still a tough terrain/difficulty cache but at least you get a good laugh at the end. Thanks for the reminder of how much fun it is to hide!

Well I'll fess cause you'd never guess this one in a million years. How to explain.... When my son was about 2.5 we were going through one of those stages where toddlers "test" you by seeing what they can get away with, how far they can push you etc. One of the things that he would do was wait until we were in public, get a devilish little grin on his face, and either lift up my shirt, pull down on my collar or deliver a well placed poke to err...you can guess... To establish boundaries I would explain to him that his behavior was not okay and that those were mommy's "privates". Eventually he passed through this phase and I forgot all about it. Ah but toddlers have a mind like a sponge. Just because I forgot about it, he apparently did not. About 6 months later we were out at a restaurant with a group of friends. Just as there was a brief lull in the conversation he pointed to my chest and announced proudly "Those are Mama's Private Bones!" Of course our friends just couldn't wait to get mileage out of that one, and make no bones about it .... it stuck. Out of the mouths of babes....

At the moment: Hiding: Hider more than a seeker. Enjoy hiding caches that: 1) take you somewhere you would not have gone 2) make you laugh 3) are challenging and require some effort and thought to make the find. However I also like to hide kid and family oriented caches with lots of fun family swag. Real, thoughtful logs make my day and make me laugh, whining logs resulting from lack of hints or other assumed entitlement send me to the forums to laugh at the Snoogans Gift Horse. Seeking: I like to find caches that have the same criteria as above. When caching with my minicacher I appreciate kid friendly and family oriented caches. I rarely whine when posting logs, and if I feel the urge I have a little cheese with my wine and instead whine in a forum post. Puzzle caches make we want to whine, they bring back memories of snickering during math aptitude tests and subsequent knuckle slaps by the nuns. Favorite caches are wilderness caches, but I'll skip the wildlife encounters. Snakes scare the venom out of me, big kitties make me quiver like a plump lamb, rodents send me diving into the nearest hole. I used to like lizards until a giant horny looking one attempted a trail standoff with the lizard tatoo on my ankle. Despite all of that I won't hesitate to crawl around on my belly in the name of a good hide or a good seek (as long as I don't break a nail). I always log my DNF's but unfortunately don't always remember to log all my finds. Quantity doesn't count, quality is everything. Although I'm a visual person, a cache that is right under my nose is likely to be a DNF. Thankfully my geodog and geohusband have a better sense of smell. Always carry one of the above in your "don't leave home without it" Geopack. Other: Most embarrasing caching moment so far, hiding a small cache and then forgetting to mark the coords. Went back a week later to get coords and I hid it so well among meadow grass / brush that I couldn't find it. (See nose comment above). Geez! Nothing like misplacing your cash.... And, in keeping with my philosophy to dutifully record my DNF's, I guess if I ever find it I'll also be logging the first DNF. My favorite thing about caching is the aspect of "random acts of kindness". Hiders "giving" by investing time, thought and $$ in caches for people they may not ever meet. Seekers who give by visiting the caches of strangers and appreciate their effort by hunting, finding (or not) and posting logs. My least favorite thing about caching is having Poison Oak somewhere, somehow all the time. This makes for a great love / hate relationship with Tecnu. Note to self: 1) Buy stock in Tecnu.

No tresspassing signs, and anything beyond my mental (puzzle caches ) or physical (scaling the face of a large rock oucropping hanging over pounding Pacific surf GCQJ8J) capabilities. Although I must fess up. I was tempted and did go out and poke around a bit with my partner until we figured out that the cache required scaling the face of the "Sea Stack" with stormy seas nipping at our feet. The waves looked really big and really cold and that would have been a nasty private bone chillin' swim However, my partner vows to be back on a calmer day....

I don't mind finding religious items ie: coins, crosses, etc. Paper goods that are promoting or advertising a religion or belief seem to me to be as innapropriate as leaving an ad for your business or your business card. To me both of those examples, each in their own way, "commercialize" the geocaching experience. When I go caching, I would like to think that it will be a break from all the "in your face" propaganda (now don't get your panties in a bunch over that word ) that we all deal with on a daily basis.

This is very true. Plus those conversations would be a lot friendlier. I think people often read posts with the wrong tone of voice and perceive anger when it's not there. VERY common in this type of medium. - lack of facial expressions and body language - no real "tone" clues - perception of anonymity (real or imagined) - antianthropomorphism (i made up the word) (assuming a person to not be a "real person," but something less than human because there is no real face or voice associated with the message. It is the opposite of assigning human properties to inanimate objects or sub-human species. A concept similar to calling your military enemy "Rebel" or "Yankee" so your soldiers don't fell guilty about shooting them.) - it takes a much more crass person to look someone in the eye and dis them All in all, the electronic forums, blogs, and email are pretty new media and we haven't really learned to use them in a totally civilised manner yet. Are you looking us in the virtual eye and insinuating that we are.....uncivilized? Mama Bones warned us not to grow up and write in forums cause there are surely antianthropomorhic rebel yanks out there lurking under the cover of inanimate sub-human anonymity ready to pounce on our human properties. Hmf!

Sounds like you should post a Should Be Archived log............. Yeah, has anyone actually written to a local Reviewer about it? I don't know if anyone who has actually been to the cache has written a reviewer. But there have been several "needs maintenance" logs. If a cache has multiple needs maintenance attributes would a reviewer see that or is it soley directed to the owner? Regarding a Should be Archived log... If a cache is stiill functioning, despite years of problems, should it be logged as a Should be Archived?

WORST: Unquestionably religious brochures

Once on an exceptionally good caching day, we ran out of swag. Last cache had some great stuff and although we planned to do a TNLNSL the 4 year old mini cacher spotted the best toy of the day. After failing to provide a reasonable explanation to the mini cacher of why the toy had to stay (after a whole day of trading) we took the toy and left a dollar. Later I thought about the toy and realized it was REALLY cool, and worth more than a dollar, so a week later we were back in the area and stopped by to add a couple of more nice items. Turns out the cache had been raided and hardly anything was left, so our "late" extra items really helped out in the end.

My first 10 caches I had a similar sentiment. I felt like the whole point was about swag and why bother chasing after a film canister with a piece of paper and geez! not even a pen! BUT THEN, I met a micro that changed my life. It was not just another film canister, it was a funny, clever camoed object in a great sneaky place. So, hang in there. When you meet a really good micro, you'll know it and I predict you'll want more and more and more and well you know how that goes... And then there are the magnetic nanos stuck on road signs....yes, I'm appreciative (please don't bless me with the gift horse pic) but sigh...nano's on road signs are.....just...boring (unless it is a really scenic drive)

I've always left my DNF's even when I make the find becuase I agree it is a really important part of the cache history. And, I've wondered about the smiley logs that say something like "this was our third attempt and today we finally found it". Hmmm - where are the two previous DNF logs? Must have been some good stories there that will never be told Just my style of caching, but I wholey agree with the theory that DNF's are nothing to be ashamed about, nothing to try and hide, are very helpful info to cache owners, and are a big part of caching history.

I think both sides are blowing the situation out of porportion. You cannot really ignore him. I would just let him post his bad logs and just ignore them - dont delete them. The next finders will post new logs and eventually his logs will just be buried on the page. Just ignore him (and his caches) and eventually he will lose interest. Yep, I agree. These things happen. I had a cranky unreasonable geocacher take on a series of caches and he decided after the first DNF that he didnlt like the urban aspect, and consequent muggle situation involved. As his logs progressed for each cache in the series, with each DNF he became increasing more rude, abusive, and psycho with his comments, fabricating things about coords being way off, caches being placed in dog sh--- and piss areas, and worse things that I won't post here. On the caches he found, interestingly enough, his logs were better, but talk about someone just having a stick up their----. I deleted the abusive logs and then wrote him an email stating that if urban caches were not his thing, he COULD just skip them, try to remember this is a family game and leave his bad attitude at home. No response, but he reposted the deleted logs in a slightly less cranky, more professional manner and I left them. Now his logs are buried under a slew of really complimentary logs about the series, and I learned that not all the people that we will deal with in this sport are fair and reasonable. But, unlike other things in life, at least you have the satisfaction of saying BAH BYE and hitting that delete button.

How bout the lamest cache I haven't found? Finally put this one on the ignore list to get rid of it. According to the POed cachers that have attempted it: It's down a long private road peppered with threatening no tresspassing signs. Once you reach the cache location you have to climb over barbed wire fence. Cache owner doesn't appear to have permission to hide on private property. The cache is a large suitcase with a log that has been wet for ...almost three years. Yep, moldy and smelly. A few cachers have tried to help with replacement logs, zip lock, etc but since the suitcase leaks profusely the logs are consistently wet. Although it has numerous needs maintenance attributes posted and lots of logs reporting all of the above, cachers still keep driving or biking all the way out to it and reporting that the suitcase is on private property and is full of water. And there it sits. No response from the owner. Three years of logs detailing the above. Oh yeah, and a few reports of fungus, mold, and colonies of slugs and bugs. Lame Geolitter at it's finest.

Yesterday we checked on a cache that was reported as possibly missing. The cache had only been out for one month, recieved a nice log from FTF, and then went missing. Unlike other caches that have an obvious reason for missing (high traffic area, landscaping trimmed back, etc) this one was pretty unlikely to be muggled. It was located in a remote wilderness area, up a pretty steep trail, well off of the trail, in a well camoflauged small marble container. The cache was tightly wedged between pine tree branches in a spot that would have required a big yank or tug to extract. The cachers that that made the first and only find are really great about returning caches as found and they always do a good job replacing camo. They may not have wedged it quite as tight, so I fully expected to find it laying on the ground at the base of the tree. But, after a thirty minute search all in and around the tree, under pine needles, etc, no cache. What do you think...four legged muggle? I know they break into and chew on caches, but do they full out steal them? As far as I know there were not any food or scented items in this cache. Coons? Hawks? Anybody seen a big hawk flying around with a camoed marbel container in it's beak? The replacement cache has now been tied to the branches - hope that helps.

Lately I've been going swagless. With a few exceptions, my newer hides are aiming toward sign only, really funny / clever caches. PS Just placed one of these in Carmel CA yesterday (still open for FTF) GC17NE9 and it is guaranteed to make you laugh

The day I launched my first travel bug, in fact the moment I closed the ammo box and put it back in the hidey hole, I thought about the risk. It's a strange feeling to put thought, effort, and $$ into something and then "launch" into a world of people you have never met with the hope that trust that the bug, or coin will be "in good hands". My next immediate thought was, there are enough other things to worry about in life, this isn't going to be one of them. So, my approach now is I enjoy the process of creating and launching, and then I just let it go. My approach with Geocoins is rather than buy them, I just pass on the unactivated "gift" coins I receive. That way I don't have any attachment. And, although you didn't mention this, it's also similar with launching a cache with great swag. One by one as I check my caches, I'm watching the quality of the "swag" deteriorate. That's frustrating too. Seems that trading equal, or not trading, is a no brainer. Trading up is nice for those that can do it. But just taking swag and not leaving anything, or taking a 3-5.00 item and leaving a cardboard coaster...ouch. So, as we all learned in kindergarten, there will be those that play fair, and those that don't. Those that don't will eventually end up in the corner with the dunce hat on.

Me too. Yes, the owner has been contacted. PS Don't worry, if the owner doesn't deal with it, I wouldn't leave the cache empty. I would at least trade up and replace the contents with 4 cans of Play Doh

My 4 year old minicacher is happy to assist the geocaching community and our local wildlife by removing every last bit of Play Doh one cache at a time. And yes, it's been a big job, but some little person has to do it. We also recently found a new wilderness cache that should have been named "HAZARDOUS HYGIENE". Contents: Blueberry Shampoo, Coconut Conditioner, Scented Dental Floss, and Scented Hand Sanitizer. This is in an area frequented by many a four legged cacher including an occasional bear. Hopefully the owner will do a complete cache contents swap or else this caching family will have to take on this smelly job

We plan a day or a half a day, figure out exactly how much time we have, and then decide what area we want to hike. Sometimes it also depends on the weather. If it is foggy at the coast, we'll head 30 minutes east to the sun. Or, if it is a really hot day, vice versa, we'll head out to the ocean and cache along the coast. Once all that is determined, we see what caches are along the route we are hiking and we'll make a loop. Exceptions would be when there is one cache in a spectactular remote area that we want to hike, then we might devote the entire time to one cache. So far this method is working out well. This part of CA has so many beautiful hiking areas and almost all of them are well stocked with caches. Urban caches and drive up caches are a lower priority but we'll grab them here and there if we are in the area.

I recently launced a series over a three day period and it worked out great. The FTF's were spread out between three different cachers. The two earlier FTF cachers came back later to finish the series.

Not regular police, but a couple of stealthy Regional Park Rangers came around the corner just as my partner and I were signing the log on a small cache that had been hidden under a fake rock. Caught red heanded. Fake rock was upside down, cache container open, and log in hand. First they asked to see our hiking access permit. After they reviewed the permit, they looked at the fake rock container and log and aksed, very politely what we were up to. My partner said, "oh just out doing a little geocaching on this beautiful day". The Rangers exchanged glances, frowned and stated that the park rules required staying basically on trail and not going cross country. Their experience with geocachers was that they violated this policy and there had been "problems". I said, well if it helps, the caches we found today were within a foot of the trail, no cross country. They looked at each other again, followed by a very pregnant pause. Then one of them said, "Okay. We don't really have a policy on this yet but it is currently a "hot" topic." We assured them again we were very much respecting the rules, thanked them for the update, retreived our permit, then waited until they left to replace the fake rock. So, not exactly the friendly response we had hoped for. But since then, all the caches have continued to enjoy many a smiley face, so apparently, for the time being, cache on.

This is very interesting. There is a cache right down the street that is similar - a bolt that was added to an empty hole on a bridge. To sign the log , the bolt has to be removed, then replaced. Since the cache owner added the bolt to a useless hole (there is nothing about this that affects anything structural or safe about the bridge), I just thought it was a clever cache. Never even thought that it was tampering with gov property, etc. If we go down that "tampering" or "unethical" path, wouldn't a lot of caches be subject to this line of thinking? Micros stuck on signs, magnetic key boxes on guardrails, etc?

Makes sense, but for me it's more about the puzzle factor that seems to be a part of many muti's. Simply put, I just don't like puzzles. I'll happily spend two or three hours trekking into the wilderness to enjoy the journey and the hunt of one smiley, but the last multi I spent 2 -3 hours on was just...trying. If I recall, it went something like this: Find this and then count the number of buttons on famous what's his names sleeve and them multiply the number of buttons by you know what and then find the next set of words that just happen to be on the divider of a busy street at the base of a historic statue with a brass plack and (not kidding) there was a dead mouse laying across the plack covering the clue. While trying to resolve the dead mouse issue, a car came whizzing around the corner and almost clipped my backside which was obviously too far out in the street because of my dislike of rodents. With all due respect to the many cachers who do like puzzles, and to spend a great deal of time and effort creating multis, I don't mean to offend. I think that some people really enjoy puzzles, math, steps and stages, and some don't. This could be a factor in the stats.

Easier diff ratings nothing, but FTF obviously getss pick of the stash which I always try to make really fun, and/or useful and appealing to cachers of all ages. Harder diff, 5$ bill for FTF.

Don't fret. I have no stress over the stupid acts you or your friends do. It's a free country. Do what ever you want. Just don't cry about it when Darwin catches up to you. Or when you get a $10,000 bill for the heli-vac in your future. Have fun! Ooh, I'm scared. Wait...the sky is falling! I could get hit by a piece of extra terrestrial matter if I step outside my front door! Oops - to get back on topic. I placed a cache in a tree today (prior to this enlightened conversation with scuba guy) and yes, it requires climbing, oxygen to compensate for the high altitude way up there in the tree, and the ability to hang naked upside down by your small toe while chewing gum as you extract a nano cache, camoed to look like a bug, with a pair of tweezers out of oozing tree sap. To get credit for the find, you must write an essay in the nano log about Darwin's Law. You are not allowed to leave the tree until the essay is finished. In all seriousness, thanks to those who shared their comments on this thread, it was most helpful in determining a suitable rating for the climbing aspect of the real cache that was placed in a tree today.