nashuan

I just did a quick online search and found this: Oldest cache list Explains why Mingo is at the top of the list and why now have to look at booking a ticket for Kansas instead or Oregon. It's a shame, I'd live to log the original as #1000. I also found this: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...8c-86dd8b7313ab Maybe I'm still going to the west coast????????

What about "The Original Stash"? I saw a Youtube video showing what I thought was the very first cache (at that time it was called a stash). I believe it was in Washington or Oregon and was placed by David Ulmer: I was hoping to do that one as my 1000th find (hopefully some time late next year). Am I wrong in thinking that this one is the oldest or is it archived and Mingo stands as the oldest "active" cache?

I just got the same eerie/mysterious black bubble mailer with the same awesome coin from some wonderful person. Really cool design - I wonder who's behind the mask ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Thank you, you really made my day.

This won't top the story of how you aquired your new family addition, but I think it fits in with the topic. My friend Ninja Bruno placed a couple of caches several weeks ago which got muggled soon after publication. Undaunted, he decided not only to replace them but to put even more out in this local park. Speedy Tortuga and I were accompanying him while he went to place these new caches when I found a laminated sheet of paper buried in some mud. I picked it up, with the intention of throwing it out when we got back to the trucks, but noticed that it had several questions on it that if solved would give you coordinates to a "final". Are you kidding me? We brought it home, but could not find an active cache that it belonged to. It was signed on the bottom, but initially, we couldn't locate that name as being used on Groundspeak. The next day, Ninja Bruno's caches got published and found, and miraculously one of the finders noted that they had not been to this park for a few years, since doing a multi that was located there, but was no longer active. A little more digging and we found: Stringy Thingy cache We decided to ressurect the cache by copying the original puzzle page, though we would have to also include some offsets because two of the newly placed caches are so close to the original coordinates. I contacted all 25 finders of the original cache and within minutes, I got a response back from one, saying that by coincidence, they are having dinner tonight with two of the other cachers from that time and they believe they remember some of the specifics of the cache. Unfortunately, the original owner doesn't seem to have been active for the past couple of years, though I have tried emailing him as well. I'm looking forward to hearing back from them and from the others I contacted.

This was a travel bug I moved on 10/15/08, named "Finn the Furry Bear". His mission is to travel to Norway and I have a stargate cache about an hour away, so I decided to take a trip to drop off this little guy and help him out. Here he is, sitting and pondering his last days in the Unites States before being magically transported to Norway.: Here is one called "Seeking the Bird" that is destined for Japan. As you can see, I dropped off this little wanderer at the same place for transport. He looks a little nervous about his big trip:

I would echo some of the comments made previously. The new owner should have access to all the coordinates if the cache was legitimately transferred over to them, so even if they have not seen each stage in person, they would have access to the hidden waypoints through their account. Secondly, I would contact several of the previous finders. I myself keep a logbook with lots of information in case I have to go back some time in the future, or to help someone out in a situation such as yourself. On a side note, wouldn't it be nice if the new owner actually walked the cache they own? One last point on DNFs; several people have said you should hang it up and move onto other caches. Frankly, it's not bad advise and will allow you to enjoy your time in the field instead of heaping more frustration onto your day, but if you DO stick with this one and eventually find it, it will bring great satisfaction. I had one that I returned to six time (give or take a trip), before finding it. It was really frustrating when I came up empty but was really sweet when I finally spotted the elusive (expletive deleted) out of the corner of my eye. That was one smiley I REALLY earned.

Congrats on your coin. Becuase you worked so hard for it, I'm sure it will hold fond memories every time you see it in your growing collection. I've been to the Mojave - I don't think there are any EASY caches to find there

I'm pretty good about logging my DNFs. For one thing, I want to keep track myself and will usually go back at a later time to look again. I believe DNFs are important to log because it is the first indication sometimes that the cache has in fact gone missing. If you're the only one who missed after a string of others found the cache and then more find it after you, then you just missed - it happens. But if you log a DNF and then several others after you do the same, it will give notice to the owner to check out the cache. There have been many times when I've gotten lucky and found a deviously hidden cache because I happened to be looking at exactly the right angle, and others that I haven't found because I overlooked something quite obvious - it's all part of the game. For me, the game challenges your honesty. You are expected to trade fairly and log your DNFs if you did in fact look for the cache and missed. Heck, if you didn't want to be honest in playing, you could just sign off on every cache in you area (online) and realistically, you'ld probably never get caught unless someone bounced your "finds" against the physical log books. I see many, many DNFs in my area, but am sure that many more don't get recorded - its all up to the individual players about how they want to play. I don't know if its a geographical thing for some parts of the country to log DNFs and other places not to. Perhaps urban caches (which tend to be smaller and harder to spot than say, an ammo can) get more DNFs.

Hey jujubeans199: Welcome to the forum. As has already been pointed out, some geocoins have tracking numbers. Those that do can be activated and they can then become travel bugs if you want to set them free to travel. Many people just collect the coins, or keep some and release others. Some coins are quite rare and collectable (in the hundreds of dollars range) and aren't likely to be put in caches. There are many talented people in this forum that design coins themselves for sale or work out designs for people who want to have their own made. Tracking numbers can be purchased and inscribed into them and then you have geocoins. In some cases, coins are not given tracking numbers and are then generally called signature items (also very collectable), which are kind of like your personal calling card. You can leave those in caches as swag or gifts, or trade them, but without the tracking numbers, they are not called travel bugs, since there is no real way to log their journeys. Speaking for myself, I collect geocoins, but also enjoy geocaching. I have about 15 travel bugs in the wild, though many people have hundreds. If you choose to release a travel bug, you can assign it a mission like going to as many foreign countries as possible, or go down the Appalachian Trail or simple bounce around wherever it feels like going. It's pretty cool to watch where they go online. Recently I picked one up that had 37,000 miles on it and started in Australia some years ago! I also just moved a couple that wanted to go to Japan and Norway. There is a stargate cache about an hour from my house that will send travel bugs quickly to these places. Groundspeak also has travel bugs available that look like dog tags. People attache these to thinks like wood carvings, stuffed animals, kitchen utensils etc. and give them a name. The tage are about $5.00 or so and they are so generic, that they don't tend to get stolen as can sometimes happen if you use geocoins as travel bugs. I hope your interest is peaked enough to give geocoin collectin or geocaching (or both) a try. They are both great activities and if you have any questions, people here are always glad to help.

I've got on one my property under my front porch. As I live in a congested neighborhood, some people are reluctant to walk onto private property, but it was the only way I could set this particular cache up. I emphasised in the cache description that it was about 7 feet off of the sidewalk on private property and that all the neighbors were cool with it, but a lot of people write to me about the fear of going onto someone else's property. Still, it's been published since June and has had over 40 people log finds and most have written about how much they enjoyed the cache in spite of their discomfort over the property thing. In your case, it will depend on how close it is to your house, how urban your area is and how you word your cache description. Just step back a bit and consider how YOU would feel doing your cache if you weren't you. If it's something folks will remember as a really cool cache or something, I think it is worthwhile. Certainly for me, it's great for maintenance purposes.

I would like to add one quick suggestion to the conversation. If you are planning on spreadding the interim stages over a distance that is spaced for driving rather than walking, that you include this information in your cache description. I'd be happy to do a multi with stages placed a couple of miles apart if I knew what I was getting into ahead of time, but if I was only finding this out as I was actually doing the cache, I'd be a bit miffed.

Congratulations to all the recent winners and may all your dreams come true !

I have been annoyed when finding the junk you spoke of. Not so much if say a plastic toy dinosaur is in there, but if the toy looks like it had first been buried for a few years and thrown into the cache along with a rusty bottle cap? Yeah, that sort of irks me. I have on occasion traded out some of the junk, knowing that I'd be trowing it out at the nearest barrel. I see a lot of paper items that have gotten soggy and would not be of use to anyone. Then there is the story I recently read on this forum somewhere: A group of cachers were grumbling about the "poor quality" swag they found at a nearby cache when an older gentleman approached - obviously irate and told them that this "worthless swag" were all his grandson's favorite toys that he had just donated to set up his very first geocache, of course without realizing that other people wouldn't have appreciated his own sacrifice. Apparently the grandfather was crushed on his grandson's behalf, but it was a good thing that the nearby grandson was out of earshot and so wasn't permanently turned off to geocaching.

Could this have been an isolated incident and not the norm for this area? Is the cache placed to bring people to a particular spot - historic, or a cool hide or really nice scenery? Is it worth keeping it up if people feel intimidated? If the parasites found the cache would it be gone 2 minutes later? I think it's a good idea that you posted the note to the cache page and let people make up their own minds. I'm a pretty sizeable guy and wouldn't be intimidated as much as say a 13 year old kid trying to have a good time caching for the afternoon. I saw a similar note posted to a cache that is fairly local to me. I appreciated that the note was there so I would know what to expect when I arrived and could keep an eye out. I'm not familiar with the particular area that this cache is located, but would hope that the "looking over my shoulder" part of the hunt will not be more memorable than the "find" part of the hunt.

Is that a stone ???????? I thought it was a bit of tree bark.

I've only done one night cache (An Evening at the Improv - GC1DQJG) but had an awesome time. During the 6-stage hunt, I had to use my GPSr at each station and not just look for fire tacks along a trail; so I felt quite challenged. I am hoping to do more of these, but I don't have too many in my area, so it is easier for me just to bookmark them and tell people how many I did if I'm looking to promote my "badge of honor". From my limited experience, I feel that these are about as far away from a park and grab as you can get and deserve some form of additional recognition, but as was stated previously, to give night caching special designation, would open the door for scuba caching, helecopter caching etc. In effect they are traditional or multi stage caches and should probably remain as such, though I think they should be afforded some other special status ranking. As for the "special equipment" issue, I don't believe the cache should be ranked a 5 just because of the need for a flashlight/torch. I do however think it should be given a fairly high rating because of the difficulty of traversing the course and locating container(s) while doing the cache in the dark - at least a three for a decent course. My area of the country is well populated enough that finding suitable places to set one up that won't alarm neighbors is difficult, but I am hoping to see more pop up where practicable. they are a welcome change of pace to the P&Gs I see so often.

there are a couple of cool coins out there already that are cameras. and http://bp1.blogger.com/_XQy1JdPZJI8/SGQsCs...opixnbrutus.jpg I love both of these (already have the large format one).

Great story! Glad to hear the coin is soo to be back in the circuit.

Can you explain the reason for the two tracking numbers? If the coin is activated and moved, do you pick a Good Jeremy or a bad Jeremy to log depending on your mood? And I don't understand the "third" 3-D side. I love the blue/gold version and the copper ones. The carvings look fantastic. Do we have an idea about when would they be available (before Christmas so I can get one for my friend whose name is Jeremy)? And do we have pricing on them yet?

Your question is valid. Some coins fetch hundreds of dollars and so will almost certainly end up in a collectors album. For me, $15-20 is a little steep to place in the wild, but I'd do $10-12 coins. I have about 10 coins and 5 travel bugs total, so my overall investment is not that high and I don't mind paying the $10-12. Some people have hundreds of coins in the wild, logging miles for years. I just moved one recently that had 37,000 miles on it. It started in Australia a few years back and who know how many places it will yet see? I saw on one of your other posts that you ordered some Groundspeak tags, so see how you make out with those. I ordered five and set them all loose on the same weekend on a race to the Four-Corners National Monument. One of them jumped 1400 miles in a single move, while another one sat motionless for a month until today. Two moved in the wrong direction and the last has been sitting in a friend's cache bag for a couple of weeks, waiting to be released when he sets up a cach near his house. More bugs mean more of a chance of seeing something move that day, because they often hang up for one reason or another.

Hey Benalexe: Welcome aboard, I hope you enjoy this passtime of geocaching. You asked about the drilling holes and attaching a tag. Check out this link by dflye: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=3451595 Drilling the hole in the coin makes it much less valuable for resale by thieves and you can attach a laminated tag that defines the coin's (now a travel bug) mission. I have some of the Groundspeak travel bugs out (they look like dog tags). They are great for attaching a hitchhiker onto (stuffed animal, wood carving, anything durable), but some people like sending actual coins out it all depends on your own interests. What you're saying about not wanting to spend a lot of money for something that you probably won't ever see again makes perfect sense and so fo you, the travel slugs, dog tags or other options like the Kansas Sunshine coins might be a good choice. Where you just posted that you ordered some Groundspeak tags, give those a try. They aren't really a high demand item for theft, being so generic and you can attach them to something to give them a bit of personality. Let us know how you made out.

Hey NiraD: Great job! Glad you're not placing any caches like that along the East coast.

Hey KoosKoos: That's an great cache! One of the really cool things I personally enjoy about geocaching is the ingenuity and inventiveness that people put into their caches and this is a great example of that. When any of your "customers" comes to that cache, they are guaranteed to leave with a smile and you will have made their day. They may have hit another 10 or 20 caches that day, but your is the one they'll remember the most. Keep up the great work, you are an asset to the whole community with such a contribution.

I agree with Earthrooster. It SHOULDN'T make a difference whether a con is activated or not because you could just adopt it over to someone if you wanted to sell or trade the coin, but it DOES make a difference to many people. I include myself in the group of people it makes a difference to. I don't know why, but it feels like you're buying something used as opposed to new and would expect that you would pay less for that item as opposed to the same item in "new" condition. One slight difference is that an unactivated coin could not have traveled and so would have a better chance of being in uncirculated condition. For some reason, geocoins have never been graded as to their condition like regular coins; at least not yet. Maybe in years to come that will change (as they start to exhibit wear and tear from being nicked by handling), but for right now our grading system is simply activated vs. non activated. The shame of that is that you could have a coin that wasn't particularly well cared for, but not activated be worth more than a "mint condition" coin that is activated. As to the OPs question, I would not activate the coins just in case you want to sell them at some point. If you want to bring them to a show, tape over the tracking numbers or something, but why take a chance on diminishing their values? For the people it makes no difference to, they won't care (activated vs. non activated) but for those who would care, you can offer a "higher quality" product for sale/trade.

It's great to heat a story about success rather than one about how the coin turned up missing. I just got one coin to complete its mission about a week ago. It started in Florida about five years ago and wanted to travel to a specific cache in New Hampshire. Even though it was about an hour out of my way, how could I not give it that final little push to get it across the finish line? Unfortunately, the owner doesn't seem to have been active since 2003. Maybe news of his/her little wanderer making it's mission will perk their interest a bit.