Team Perks

That's how close you are to getting kicked out of the forums. Only you can view that information.

Just our two cents... We won't be any more likely to CITO if there is an icon, a button, a find, whatever, option on GC. If we see trash, we pack it out. We don’t keep track of it. We just want to make the planet a little cleaner. We don’t need any other incentive for that. We recently placed a cache that actually REQUIRES people to CITO in order to post the find. I definitely don’t want to get two emails every time someone posts a find and then posts a CITO note (or whatever). I get enough auto-notifications as it is. Finally, I can only imagine the discussion that will ensue if this does become an option. What counts as a CITO? The person who packs out two empty water bottles will get the same credit as the guy who hauls away an old refrigerator and a rusty box spring. While my thought is that any help is still help, I am sure there are others who might not see it that way. Given all the (more than) heated discussion about what constitutes a "find" (something that seems pretty self-explanatory to us), I have to see this fairly cynically as just one more arena for bickering and petty argument. In my meager opinion, there are enough creative ways to promote CITO as it is.

At least in our vicinity, it seems to be based on proximity to any existing cache waypoints as you would come up with by using the "find all nearby caches" query. We placed a multi puzzle cache a couple of months ago. Since this is a puzzle cache, the coordinates listed on GC.com are not the actual coordinates. As required, we provided the coordinates of all stages of the cache, which were well over 0.1 mile from the nearest cache. Last week, a new cache appeared just over 100 feet from the first actual coordinates. So, this demonstrates to us that the approvers check the coordinates of all stages of NEW multicaches, but only the coordinates for multis actually posted on GC.com are used in proximity searches for any subsequent new caches.

Odd. It works the other way here. Cacher A hides a tough cache. To get back at Cacher A, Cacher B hides a more devious cache. Subsequently, an incensed Cacher C hides a doozy specifically intended to stump Cachers A and B.

I hid my dad's Christmas present in an ammo box in the desert and made him go find it...

Travisl said it well. As cache owners, we would feel obligated to investigate any "unverified" visits to our caches. It's only fair to the people who have put the time and effort into looking for them. Some are of such difficulty that people have had to make as many as 10-12 trips out there to find them. Logging a find is a testament to the perseverence and skills of those cachers. Our logs consist of (usually pre-dated) stickers and usually very little else. It only takes a few seconds. Sometimes, however, we forget our stickers or a pen and don't want to walk back to the car to get them. We feel it's only courteous to verify the few DNSL's we've had with an explanation. What to do? Simple: We send an email identifying what the cache was, how/where it was hidden, and offer to provide photo verification if desired (and if we had a camera available with us). In a couple cases, we couldn't get the cache container open because it was rusted shut. Aside from a couple rivalries, however, we aren't competing against anybody. What is important to us is that OUR finds are legitimate based on OUR opinions about how the game is played. If someone wants to play differently, we aren't going to stay up all night fretting about it. Sure, it's fun to see how many we can do in a day, or in a week, etc. But the thrill is in the hunt, the adventure, and the camaraderie. Not the count.

If you're running numbers, Thousand Oaks, CA (91360) is a good bet too... 100 miles - 2907 50 miles - 1489 20 miles - 739 10 miles - 470 5 miles - 265

I came across a cache where TWO people had logged a "virtual" find on a missing cache. Instead of logging a find, WE had it archived instead. Heh!

On one of our very first cache hunts, we came across a maggot-ridden 400-pound (thereabouts) dead hog that had been baking in the desert sun for a few days. Needless to say, we opted NOT to pitch that guy in the back of our truck...

For some reason, this brought to mind a cache we went after last weekend. When we got to the coordinates, we discovered it was hidden under a bench next to an ice cream store. The problem was: There was a very large, tough-looking guy sitting RIGHT ON TOP OF IT. So what did we do? We walked up to the guy and said "Excuse me, we need to reach under the bench." He said OK, we took the cache out, signed the log right in front of him, and replaced the cache. We thanked him and walked away. The guy didn't even so much as look at us the entire time. We've found that to be the norm rather than the exception. It's amazing how little interest people have in what others are doing.

Ours used to be "I'VE GOT A GUN!!!" Thirty-seven arrests later, we gave up on that idea.

We hid a micro near one of our caches, also with a CITO theme. The next day I got a very similar email--someone had spotted our other cache and set it aside for disposal. Fortunately, they forgot to take it with them when they trashed out!

Our farthest cache is a five-hour drive from home. We drive by it at least once a month on our way to our cabin in Northern California. In fact, we go by that one much more frequently than others that are only a few miles from our house. It's all relative.

Well it's good to know we're not alone! Oh well, one immediate disappearance out of the 42 caches we've planted isn't too bad by our count.

Have at it! Seriously, we'd encourage anyone who's interested to put something like this together in their area.

We thought about putting together a CITO event. Lord knows there's enough trash out here in the desert to keep the eco-conscious cachers busy for months. But we don't have time to coordinate such an event. So we decided to let everyone do the clean-up at their leisure. Those who have gone after it seem to enjoy the idea, and all we as the cache owners have to do is replace the trash bags once every few months... Food for thought for those of you who don't want to do a full-blown event?

Boy, how many of our caching adventures HAVEN'T ended in disaster?? On our first big caching trip up into the desert, we managed to lodge a branch in the sidewall of one our tires and had to stop at every gas station along the road back home to fill the tire. $200 out the door. Then, not too long after that, THIS happened. There goes another $170. As if THAT wasn't bad enough, late last fall we locked our keys in the truck while caching in the mountains. Well, after deciding which window to break, we made it back home. There goes $600 to replace the window. On our last great caching adventure, we actually had the pleasure of someone planting a cache in our honor. There goes another $200. It's time to take up a cheaper hobby, like collecting rare jewelry...

Last Saturday, we planted a multicache in a parking lot behind an abandoned grocery store. It was approved Monday morning. On Monday afternoon (less than 48 hours after we placed it), it was reported missing. When we went back, somebody had removed EVERYTHING from the area and the final cache was nowhere to be found. Needless to say, we had to archive this one before anybody had even logged a find! So, has anyone else has had one of their caches disappear as quickly? Or have we set some sort of really pathetic record?

The "Server Too Busy" and "Timeout Expired" errors have been VERY frequent in recent weeks, but tonight is the worst I've ever seen. I've spent the last half hour doing nothing but hitting refresh over and over and over and over so I don't lose everything I've entered for a new cache I'm trying to submit. Seriously, this is ridiculous.

I've found it's ALWAYS advantageous to have a female caching partner. If you're a man wandering alone through a park, peeking in the bushes, you're instantly going to attract the attention of every soccer mom within a hundred-yard radius.

No pictures, but quite a hilarious story... Especially since we could have simply parked on the paved road and walked 300 feet instead.

I just take the cache and log as a DNF. If I can't get credit for it, NOBODY WILL.

My favorite cache is the one I found that was filled with crumpled old coupons--by the original owner. Oooooh wow. Not only were they worthless (and half of 'em expired), but they conveniently got all over the place. The other things I just can't figure out is, who the heck is going to want the toothbrush you just left in the geocache? Or the pack of gum that's been sitting there for months? Eww. Now, I'm a hunter rather than a gatherer--so I typically don't trade regardless how cool the stuff in the cache is (if I really needed it, I'd already have it). In my opinion, a really well-hidden log-only micro beats a Tupperware under a bush any day...But I still can't wonder what the heck possesses people to leave whatever they found between their couch cushions. For crying out loud, go buy a Happy Meal.

Yes! We are lurkers, hiding in the darkness! We don't post for the following reasons: 1. It's more interesting to watch the discussions from afar. 2. Lack of worthwhile comments. 3. It's difficult enough to find time to go and FIND caches, let alone discuss them. We have 200+ finds and 21 of our own caches since June 2003, and have had many engaging discussions with fellow geocachers in private...so we're out there. Just not out here.