Uncle Alaska

This, in and of itself, is really inappropriate. Maybe so, but is a far cry from the knee-jerk, sky is falling, reaction from the OP

Can you show us proof that caches are being removed and archived? Is anyone getting any messages or warnings (email) stating that their caches are just being removed and archived? You show a link of a mega event website, but I am wondering where the specific information is on that site that states that caches are being removed/archived.

Again, as noted repeatedly in this thread, the moratorium is not a response to people not liking challenge caches. +1 (My bolded.) I'd really like the "reason" to be placed in the beginning of the User Insights thread (though halfway through now...) so cachers aren't chiding others over something they've heard, only to find later their "advice" was on a mistaken idea they had . Maybe vpdj is responding to the numerous posts in this thread (especially early on) that were posted to somehow demonstrate their particular dislike for challenge caches? (such as the power trail pictures, etc.) Those posts (and their personal opinion/hatred for challenge caches) also don't demonstrate the reason why this moratorium is in effect...

Unless the nails are aluminum

Experience and persistence are the two best things I can offer...at last resort you could email the owner for a better clue or hint. Best of luck...

I do. I have a book with all the stamp impressions from every LBH that had a stamp inside. Sadly, many did not. +1 I don't letterbox (outside geocaching.com), but I keep a booklet that I carry and stamp every letterbox hybrid stamp I find in it.

I see that as the cache owner being bad for the game. Finders have been dropping throwdowns for ages, regardless of cache type and regardless of the need to complete a challenge. If that were my cache I'd have deleted his log - but the situation wouldn't have happened since I'd have sorted the cache out long before. CO's fault, not challenge caches fault. Challenge caches add an extra layer of incentive to the already faulty caching practice of throwdowns. Whether it is one layer, two layers, or sixteen layers...the end result is the same. Your example points out a poor CO and a throwdown artist, nothing more nothing less...their reasoning is irrelevant in my opinion.

I live on the outskirts of the desert and love the beauty of the landscape. I have also come across some bizarre and sometimes scary things while geocaching. I have a house in Yerington, NV. Over the years, a ton of power trails have sprung up all around the place. It is very easy to locate the caches, just a bit boring if doing it solo (in my opinion). Although, I did the 51 cache stars this last winter (solo) in Arizona and Nevada. Had a good time hiking to all of them, while listening to podcasts. I mainly leave any power caching out there until I can do it with friends... I live in Minden, we’re practically neighbors. Yeah, I don't spend as much time there as I would like. I live and work in Fresno, CA. My Uncle and I bought some land and built a house in Yerington a number of years ago. You should go find my Wilson Canyon cache (GCC14A)...It gets lonely from time to time. As you have no doubt seen on the GC maps, there are a ton of power trails all around you to the East (centered around Yerington mainly).

I live on the outskirts of the desert and love the beauty of the landscape. I have also come across some bizarre and sometimes scary things while geocaching. I have a house in Yerington, NV. Over the years, a ton of power trails have sprung up all around the place. It is very easy to locate the caches, just a bit boring if doing it solo (in my opinion). Although, I did the 51 cache stars this last winter (solo) in Arizona and Nevada. Had a good time hiking to all of them, while listening to podcasts. I mainly leave any power caching out there until I can do it with friends...

If you love the desert, being in the desert is quite interesting. Seems moun10bike and his fellow cachers had a great time. At least that is the impression I made from watching that video clip. Is it for everyone? Nope.

GSAK has a function allowing mass logging in the case of a big power trail trip.

It's quite doable. The group I was with took things easy (sleeping in, relaxing lunch stops, short detours for sight-seeing, etc.) and still made it to 877 caches on our biggest day on the E.T. Highway. [/url] is a short summary of our excursion. Nice picture of a motorcycle, didn't see a video Regarding power trails. In my opinion it is all about having a good time as a group. They are kinda boring alone. But, with caching friends, a lot of fun with music blaring, jokes, stories...a fun experience.

That's a shame, you are going to miss out on some great caches by excluding multis...

"appeals" is the staff process to determine if a cache can be published. So appeals relating to "finder that get their smiley deleted" is zero. Are you sure about that? I remember going through the appeal system for a log on a challenge cache (with fuzzy requirements that were later "adjusted"). A quote from Keystone (#13 from the "I don't think challenge caches are the problem" thread): "See the moratorium announcement about how challenge caches constitute a disproportionate percentage of appeals volume. Most of the harder appeals work is on the new cache submission side and not on the deleted find side. Bear in mind that the challenge cache typically doesn't reach the appeals desk at Geocaching HQ until after several rounds of discussion with the local reviewer. As a group, the reviewers were finding that challenges represented a disproportionate percentage of "hard reviews." This is true regardless of whether an individual reviewer "likes" or "hates" challenge caches as a player. I don't like five-star math puzzles, but they tend not to be very difficult for me to review, so there is no problem I've needed to escalate. " I think it implies that most of the work or "problems" that led to this moratorium are review side, not log side....I think this is what you are reaching for an answer on?

It they were trads, would it then be OK? If the location or amount of caches is a problem then is it a problem no matter if it's a challenge,trad.... Yes.. PTs are a problem. Challenge caches add that extra layer of problem. PTs are a problem for some. Challenge caches add that extra layer of problem for some cachers.

Not very likely...most modern chainsaws have anti-kickback devices on them. Also, it depends on the kind of nail. I put nails in trees for my job (inventory forester, we use soft aluminum nails) and I have cut down and planted thousands of trees with nary a problem. I have hit large pieces of metal with my saw, it mainly just damages or dulls the chain links when it happens.

Maybe in your experience, but not in mine...I have seen many easy challenge caches. In fact many (challenge series) I see slowly ratchet up the difficulty from easy to very difficult. I see some puzzle caches that require advanced levels of math (above calculus, for example) and many caches that require scuba gear, boats, climbing gear, etc. being just as elitist. Some people can't afford such gear...some don't have the capacity to solve such puzzles, some can't physically do some of those tasks...

You mean like this? Wildlife and the natural environment are not harmed in the pursuit of geocaching. Geocaches are placed so that plant and animal life are safe from both intentional and unintentional harm. In some regions geocaching activity may need to cease for portions of the year due to sensitivity of some species. A rule not nearly followed or zealously pursued as a nail in a tree...If I were to photo document and report all the caches I have found that disturbed the area around them, that is all I would be doing, and a lot of caches would be archived (assuming TPTB actually followed through with this non harmful rule)

A new trail (leading to a cache placement) through a once vegetated, undisturbed meadow is also what I consider vandalism...why is there no rule for this? The amount of disturbance to the soil and vegetation for many caches I find is actually quite "disturbing" to me. It is often easier to find many caches this day and age, just look for the huge dirt patch in the middle of the once vegetated area.

Some people did not follow his instructions to the letter and post a screenshot of the specific GSAK output, their smiley is still there. (and no, I don't mean those who signed together, If you look through them all, there are some that don't have the GSAK shot at all)

Will he/she archive it or change the wording?? PS- Looks like post #3 from hydnsek was the correct answer all along

This is the biggest lie I've read here in the forums in a long, long, time. You can discuss damage to property that isn't yours all you want but to insist such a thing that it's the early demise of the tree is totally ludicrous. Hardly ludicrous and definitely not a lie, although I suppose it depends on where you live. In my area, there is not an acre of oak forest and watershed that has not been affected by Sudden Oak Death, with pathogens carried by Bays and other trees, and spread to some extent by hikers. SOD has now infected trees in numerous counties in California and Oregon. I have tried to convince people that bays and oaks are not appropriate spots to place a cache, that there are certain areas where park managers specifically ask people to stay on trail, and that climbing, poking around, and other activity can help spread the pathogen - at the very least, certain precautions should be taken. But fallen wood and Bays make for easy hiding spots. And bays are often easy to climb for a cache. So it goes. Perhaps the battle is effectively lost where I live. But I do not want to be responsible for making it worse. Or for spreading it to other areas. If you do cache in places where pathogens are likely, please stay out of my neighborhood unless you have taken appropriate measures. There is an oak in my yard that I want to protect. Just a little FYI about sudden oak death (SOD) as an addition to what geodarts has already stated. It is Phytophthora ramorum, and the particular strain on the West coast was introduced while attached to a rhododendron via a commercial nursery (the plant came from the UK). The disease is spread through water and mud/dirt (the disease has a flagella tail that aids movement in moist environments). The recent drought in California has hampered its spread, but it is still out there waiting in dormancy. Driving or walking to/from infected areas during the wet season would be the likely way to spread it. I have been involved with tracking and watching the spread of this disease for several years now. It is not likely to spread much more than its current reach as it requires very wet environs (it seems to be staying in nearly the same geographic range as coastal redwood). Still a very real threat to dozens of tree species. The act of climbing a tree is not likely to cause damage, the mud carried on the soles of your boots might though.

There are so many factors to consider...In what way are you defining "better"? Cost? Accuracy? There are several threads discussing phones vs. standalone GPS rxcvrs.

I don't post as much here now as I used to, mainly because I find almost all the topics pretty uninteresting. But anyone who has been around for a while knows that I have some very strong opinions. I got a week's worth of time-out once a few years ago, and that was enough to make me re-evaluate how I interact on the forums. I have been pretty careful since to not step over the line, though I often enjoy pushing the limit. IMO, the recent forum bans were completely justified. It's a temptation, as an old-timer, to be condescending toward newbies who don't immediately give appropriate weight to one's obviously correct opinions. A teeny bit of compassion and understanding can do wonders, though, and refraining from posting snark at what one may perceive as a stupid question goes a long way towards making the forums a nicer place. Personally, I have grown very tired of all the detailed nitpicking over the rules and guidelines. What's so hard about just going out, finding the kinds of caches you like, and having a good time? Why is it so important for some people to try to prevent others from caching in ways they don't approve? On the other hand, watching the forum fights over the rules has given me a lot of insight into human nature. There seems to be an innate desire for more and more detailed rules built into the human psyche. This...very much. All +1, but +100 to the part I bolded....

Not every cache is in a parking lot...some of the ways one can arrive at GZ: running, jogging, biking, powerhiking, swimming, rafting, kayaking, rowing, canoeing, technical climbing, scuba or snorkeling, backpacking, sking, snowshoeing, dog sled, and many others (I am sure others will chime in)...