CapeDoc

My idea of creating different event caches is to take cachers to places where one is not allowed to place caches, or is a really interesting place that requires a permit. I took a group of hikers on a 14km hike in an area where you need a group of 12 and a permit to enter. Today I am taking 25 cachers on a Sewer Tour under the city. I am planning a picnic in a awesome state garden that requires a permit for entry. All my events have people scrambling for places. Where numbers are limited, I combine it with an open venue afterwards so that no one is excluded. Cachers generally really appreciate being taken where they usually are not allowed to go.

Did Heksietorintandt today. One for Sawa Sawa: http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/ae4a63b1-96ee-4ff1-8468-06f37b0e58dc.jpg (this post from my phone)

The 4Gs and I are doing Heksietoringtand early Monday morning. Join us if you are keen! http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b86c2566-03e8-4a09-b99d-49ce381e8d68

Pity I can't get Friday off, as mountain walking is my thing, would have taken you on a route. If you are going to be on your own, I think all 3 of your suggestions are reasonable, and as good as any other places to walk on the mountain. All the places you elected are reasonably safe from a crime perspective. There are areas of the mountain associated with muggings but the areas you have elected are not crime hot spots. I think that if you are experienced in walking in mountains, there is little to worry about with regard to hiking in those spots on the mountain. The pipe track is easily accessible, but a little unrewarding to me. It does offer a bit of interest in the ravines and with a nice view along the way, but is not as interesting as the other of your options. Platteklip gorge is not the most "exciting" way up the mountain, but will be some good exercise. It is a TOUGH walk if you are not used to walks with altitude changes. In summer it can be VERY HOT as it is sheltered from the wind and offers no shade. Many a tourist has been caught out, being unprepared for the hard slog in the heat. So if you want to do it, do it early in the morning, take LOADS of water, hats, sunscreen, AND A JACKET (the weather can change on table mountain blindingly fast). Also take money to take the cableway down (it is a knee grinding arduous walk down. There aren't really any caches on route, the walk is quite tough, but rewarding when you reach the top. If you take the cableway (or if you are still feeling strong after walking up Platteklip), there are many caches that can be reached within an easy, quite exciting, walk to Maclear's Beacon. The walk is flat, can be done as a bit of a circuit, and takes one across the front cliff of Table Mountain. As long as you are mildly cautious (taking the weather into account too) it is quite safe, with some nice caches along the way. Best option: (if you are fit enough) Up Platteklip (early, plenty of rest time) then across to Maclear's Beacon, then back and down the cableway. Naturally this is only my opinion...others may have other suggestions.............

The Pooks, FollowThatRainbow and I were up on the mountain yesterday and saw a tahr about 40m away from us. Anyone else seen any recently?

A new article in the Bulletin.

I think you are right. Caches with more favorites might not be the best caches. But even with the constraints you mention, if one looks at the percentage of favorites to finds, you do get a rough idea of the "quality" of the cache. Some of my most remote caches have few finds and favorites, but high percentages of favorites per find. If I had a short time in an area, I would look at which caches had the highest percentage of favorites and use it as a guide to which to find. I then would read the logs. If a cache was very remote, with only a few finds, high percentage and great logs, I probably would go for it rather than a cache with more favorites but lower percent and poorer logs.

Thanks Danie!!!😃

How many caches are there on the Cape Peninsula? Please don't get too technical about the definition of peninsula, I just need a good guess. It is for a newspaper article and fairly urgent.

Because you have inside information perhaps?

Yes, a huge thanks to you guys for the fun we had! I hope to be able to join an expedition some day. Thanks too for the help with the kids. Amelie had a blast and just wants to do it again!! Thanks too to Karl for the superb babysitting while Amelie and I were dangling. So good to see you all again too. Wanted to chat more... maybe tonight?

ummm... that implies ANY can get through the narrows. I have heard that it may be otherwise....?

There are no rules or etiquete about this. You were wrong to be chided. I try to log a FTF as soon as I can. Sometimes that's immediate, sometimes it's not. I don't give a toss who logs when. 2c

The easiest way is what Trev said. Write area allows you to click on any html entry box and pops up a new box which allows you to do anything you want. You then click save and it converts all that you have done to html in the original box. Your listings easily have any effect/picture/etc that you want.

I agree that geocaching should be fun, but there is another way of looking at it. It was fun. No one saw it as a job. Things changed. Those that were passionate about the game were upset by the change. They voiced their distress. I love geocaching. It IS fun. I DON'T see it as a job! I dislike power trails because they have upset a happy apple cart. I have expressed this. Please excuse my passion.

Yay. I like the idea. It is all about being social. I have commited myself to helping, though I don't think I will be able to attend if it's not in Cape Town.

Thanks all who attended the informal event. Thanks too for the walk. Sorry to break away so soon, but that wound is nasty. I also didn't want to be on the mountain too long, as some of my family are ill. To the Big Head finders - I left the cache LESS well hidden than I found it. It had more than a years worth of leaf litter on it. I always try to hide caches as I find them. I did not have fun looking for the cache either, taking about 40min to find it. I finally worked out the spoilers, read a bit about leaf litter and started digging. Hope you all enjoyed the walk, sad to walk away from you guys, would have loved to chew the fat a bit.

I do NOT like posting here I do NOT like conflict I do NOT like seeing individuals who have made years of DEEP contributions to the game feeling forced to post here. I do not feel that this is a case of selfish = selfish therefore score = 0 If you feel that, then I can only feel sad for you. Then you are missing the point. These scales are WAY out of balance. That's what I am trying to say. I would LOVE to compromise, but the scale is SO offset. I cannot see how I can tip it to even.

Is not the PT a way of forcing your opinion of how to cache, onto the rest of the geocaching community? One cannot deny it's impact on the community is more than just about whether the rest of the community wants to go out and find the caches. Finding the caches is not an issue for me at all. Yet here I sit, in Cape Town, affected and saddened by the effect of the PT. It appears to me that the reasons FOR the trail mostly appear to be concerned with individuals meeting personal goals. It appears to me that all the reasons AGAINST the power trail are to do with community and maintaining an ethos that has been around for 10 years. At what expense then do those individual goals really come? If someones "style" of geocaching affects the whole community is it wrong for the community to voice their discontent? Must the wind of change that IS being forced on the community, be met, lying down, just because "It's in the rules"? I know the PT was created out of passion for the game and truly meant as a contribution to the geocaching community. It was not placed with any foresight of the discontent that it would create. I cannot condemn those that placed it, for placing it. It is within the rules. However, the actions of those who now own the caches in the PT (now that the discontent is clear to see) will reflect their sense of community. The community has not affected the way they cache but the way they cache....although not intending to do so....is affecting the community. I say it again. I dislike PTs because the create division. They create division by forcing change.

I have wanted to rectify my DNF on Grootkop for quite some time, I hope I will be up for joining you. Good idea not to do Myburg's (very slippery steep bits, especially after today's rain) or Pristine (big pools of mud to crawl through) at this time of year. Spilhaus is an up only route. Going down Hout Bay corner is no problem at all if you want to reverse the walk. There is one minor scramble and it has staples.

@ B and C Inc I commend you on your post and vote. That must have been hard. I am sorry that you have received such a hard time. I know that it was born out of passion and love of the game.

Now that would make a strong statement and take a bit of guts. NAY IMHO: Pros of PTs: - push up my numbers - getting together with a bunch of mates to see how many we could find in a day, could be fun. I see the planning, meeting at 12am, the padkos and coffee, shouting abuse at the guy who's turn it is to find one 'cos he's too slow, sharing the petrol. Finishing at 12am. Good fun, Good comradery. Others have done......similar.... in Bloemfontein. Cons of PTS: - push up my numbers. I agree with Besem above. - they are so against the founding principles of Geocaching that they USED to be banned. I agree with CapeGekos. Founding principles were against encouraging number chasing and for creating unique experiences for each cache. - they have devided our Geocaching community and represent a change in direction and ethos of Geocaching in South Africa. I liked the fact that South African Geocaching did not follow the overseas trends and that there was more emphasis on QUALITY over QUANTITY. We seem to have drifted from that emphasis and that saddens me. - they foster competitive behavior, which in turn leads to petty arguments, often in a public domain. This too saddens me. I appologise to the OP as I cannot "keep it light" when mostly I feel sad about this issue. There are geocachers who are involved with the PT that I really LIKE and I feel my opinions on this matter may damage my chances at future friendships with those cachers. How can that not sadden me too? For me, these are heavy Cons when counterweighted with the light, self centered Pros.

I think I have figured out what I dislike about power trails the most: They create division.

If a store only sold coke, then suddenly started selling ginger beer, AND it was found that ginger beer was bad for you.... I am really just being devils advocate, I don't really care!

I carry - waterproof jacket and pants (I live in an area where getting caught on the mountain in rain happens all the time) - whistle - an emergency pack containing multitool emergency blanket emergency pancho (for others acaght in the rain with me) matches alcohol hand rub (can be used to clean hands, disinfect wounds, fire starting fuel) compass an "ICE" nano sized container - if I should not be able to speak for myself, containing medical insurance details pepper spay (even in the wild we have problems with muggings) hiking poles sun screen 2l water camelpack maps energy bars a cup to drink from steams pens compact towel(useful for swims in mountain steams, doubles as an emergency dressing, sling headlamp batteries ......all quite heavy actually!