ShadowAce

I have solved a puzzle and sent email to the owner saying how wonderful the hint was when finally figured out... information concealed to protect the inocent So finding something the creator missed is one thing, turning around and telling other cachers the solution is something else. What really blows is when you find a solution to a puzzle and it is incorrect because the owner did not realize the puzzle has more then one solution and there is no way of knowing which is correct. We stumbled on a puzzle in another state that, before the owner changed it, had over 50 possible solutions covering about a 3 mile area. Now that would not have been fun at all, but.... If I see something in a puzzle and it works, I go get a find. If I see something in a puzzle and it appears to work but is wrong.. I start over Stumble on solution? = Not bad Answer given = Shame on both of you Another way to think about it is this... Is it unfair to use the internet to search for an answer I did not know? Or having a friend explain a formula?

All depends on the area and the cachers who partake of it. We are working hard with managers around us to try to remain in good standing. Arizona geocachers have at least 2 areas adopted with regular cleanups and HUGE signs. We have had the City and County come and meet with us at a cleanup. Things like this help, IMHO, when it comes to showing a land manager that you will be working hard to keep things around 'YOUR' area cleaner then they already are. Arizona has thousands of tons of trash in the desert from our um... neighbors.. Yet geocachers get told not to leave something behind that people actually WANT to find. As such, I can only say that I feel I am gaining ground with a couple of Rangers out here and it may be better for us soon. The sky is not falling, but local cachers who destroy an area to search for a micro dont help the cause

I guess I should have clarified. I was refering to geocaching.com logs because when I once, three years ago, mentioned reporting it to the NGS, I got smacked down by many a cacher about how that was not my job and I had no experience so I should leave it to the big boys. I have never really been interested in making official reports after this and simply log the finds on Groundspeak for fun. Even this benchmark: CZ0186 I can confirm as destroyed because the object was bulldozed and I found the remains of the stem the stamp was placed on within the pile of rubble approx 100 feet from the location that the marker should be. and this Yet I was under the impression I still cannot report this TO the NGS, only as a log on Groundspeak. THank you though for the response, basically I read do not report it as destroyed unless a location is missing by natural or man made disaster because the NGS might come bulldoze and find it.

CZ1856 is a benchmark near my office and I finally received permission to go on the roof. As you can see from the images, the encloser spoken of and the nail are not visible. The nail could be under a layer of roofing though. Would this be a not found? or should it be a destroyed? Any advice?

I can honostly say this is the first I have seen of this thread. I got to a point where I avoid the forums because of issues like this OP. I do however want to thank all of you for the comments and the support. I also have nver heard back from the OP except for the first hateful emails I received.

I placed an order for a 3 piece Kinzua Area cachers coin set on January 19th 2006. It is going on 3 months and rick schmidt or facedances@adelphia.net does not respond to emails questioning why the delay. I am asking here if anyone knows anything before I report this person for fraud to paypal and Groundspeak. I am very upset as this one instance has caused me to distrust others who are selling coins. Any advice?

I also have a set on order but have seen nor heard nothing. I emailed the contact a few days ago and they have not responded to the email. I am beginning to fear I gave $30+ for nothing This is the first time so far I ordered a coin and have heard nothing after payment was received.

If it is your coin, you can keep to trade it as well as place it in a cache. If the coin belongs to someone else and you found it in a cache then it normally has a goal to move, so keeping it is not only impolite it is wrong. I own many coins and most of them I refuse to put in caches as they got stolen too quickly.

Florida Department of Transportation Federal highway administration Rails with Trails article. Norfolk Southern Trespassing Basically I am trying to say that even though the railway may no longer be present, the land is still owned in many cases by the railway company. As such they can charge you with Federal Trespassing if they do not want you walking the area. My son and I were walking an abandoned railway (I know it is abandoned because of the missing rails) when we were approached by a sheriff. When we explained we were looking for Benchmarks and just enjoying the history of the area, we were politly told to leave. I did not question his authority, instead I thanked him for letting us know we were not supposed to be here and we left cross country as I felt walking back down the railway in front of him would not be a good idea. I think you would do best to find out from your local authorities if they still impose the no trespassing rules for the abandoned railway area in question. Across the nation they have rails-to-trails programs, but all of these are done with a great deal of legal work before they open it up to walkers. Just a piece of friendly advice

Since it was signed 'The Gran' and the TB owner is grandadvens, I would feel safe to assume the TB owner contacted you under a different login.

All benchmark pages have this on them: Must read! Benchmarks may be on private property or in dangerous locations. Obey local laws. USGS letter on private lands. Since geocachers looking for benchmarks is a sport, not part of an official job, and the USGS has set up some very strict settings for thier own employee's. We tend to avoid Benchmarks on Private property. In no way shall I pretend to be an official when benchmark hunting. If you read through the reports of previous logs by the USGS and other organizations who check these for a living, you will eventually find offical reports like: NOTE: mark is on private property and can not be leveled. Even they cannot get to the mark. NOAA Manual Maintaining Good Public Relations The purpose of the Federal Government is to serve the public. Pertaining to the establishment and maintenance of geodetic control, this principle has at least two applications. One is to gain the understanding and good will of the public. Another is to project the credibility of the National Ocean Survey/National Geodetic Survey through the visible evidence of its mission-survey control markers. These objectives can be accomplished with only a little extra effort. Always obtain permission from the landowner when setting bench marks on private property. Responsible officials must be consulted when a prospective site is located on public or corporate land. If approached in a polite and tactful manner, a hesitant individual often can be persuaded to permit installation at the desired site. Most citizens can be convinced to take personal interest in having a bench mark carrying NGS's distinction on their property. Appeal to the individual's public spirit. Explain what bench marks are used for, the need for their stability and durability, and the expense involved with replacing them. The setting of bench marks provides an excellent opportunity to make the public aware of NOS/NGS activities. Under no circumstances shall a bench mark be installed on an unwilling property owner's land, thereby provoking hostility toward the Federal Government. NOAA information ACCESSIBILITY Accessible public property should be utilized where feasible. If the station is located on private property, permission must be obtained from the land owner for station accessibility. Include the name, address, and, if public ownership, the telephone number of the responsible party. Do not include telephone numbers of private property owners. Basically - If it is private property and the land owner does not grant permission, get out of the area before trouble finds you []

Said by people who do not use it or like it. I argue it is useful and I like it. Thus it must be slightly higher on the Useful scale for som of us. Thanks though I always like a well informed discussion on why I like useless things. For that matter and not to get too far off topic, but has it not been said that a micro under a lamp pole in a parking lot is useless? Under the trashcan in the parking lot useless? Each plays the game as they opt to play it. The ignore feature works on caches, not forum posts

How do you know how many people looked at your cache? For example it is fun to see people from : Auburn, Wa looking at my caches in Arizona. Sometimes I even send them an email and I have gotten to meet many geocachers whis way. Without the Audit log of the MO caches, I think I would have met a lot less cachers from out of my area. We are planning a trip to our neighbor state of NM soon for a few days and you can bet I am going to look for cachers to try to meet while there. MO caches have a place and a purpose to some, they are annoying to others. As I said before many people look at Puzzle caches as an Elitist item because some people do not have luck or patience when it comes to solving them. I will not recommend anything on how you feel about this, I can only say that each person plays the game the way they decide to and when they decide to. I know of one spot that was very special to the cache owners, so they made it a MO cache to try to limit the amount of people in the area and it worked rather well. Have fun and as a friend says Cache on.. till you cache out.

How do you know how many people looked at your cache? Click the Audit this cache link on a MO cache you own.

When I place a brand new cache with a nice $20+ value FTF prize, I like to make it a MO cache because it gives others who support geocaching a better chance of getting the prize. I like to make some of my puzzles MO at the start because with a MO cache you can view the Audit log and see who looked at your cache and when I like to make some of my 1200+ elevation gain caches MO's because I enjoy the audit log and seeing 40+ cachers looked at the cache in the last week but only 1 person got the cache in the last 6 months. I normally open them to all within the first 4 or 5 months of being listed. If I cannot make a Members only cache, why can you make puzzle caches that some people cannot solve, are you not trying to prove yourself smarter then others by creating this? Are you not trying to do something that is different? I was taken back slightly by the puzzle cache that requires a cacher to go through a mall to answer questions as this even says on the cache page a GPS is not required. I come to town and have only a few hours between meetings to get caches and if I want this one I have to spent time in a mall of your choice? Is this really any different then my placing a cache and saying 'Hay, members get this one first'? Alas, I drop back now into the shadows because as was mentioned, this topic has been beaten to death. If you are that opposed to a MO cache, click the ignore option for that cache There, the world is happy again.

Download a program called GeoCalc http://www.fizzymagic.net/Geocaching/GeoCalc/GeoCalc.html

Firefox does not seem to be too happy with the changes Tabs along the top of profiles are missing. List of items in collectable runs off the box into unseen area.

Saddly I doubt a $12 coin will be hitting my collection even though I love them. I have been caching in Arizona since 2003 and love the community as a whole and the locations it has taken us, but when I cringe at a $6.00 cover to enter a park, I cannot justify $12 for a coin so another cacher can make a profit. A very good friend and I will be having our coin made shortly and it will cost us around $4.50 per coin to have the whoel deal made. These will be trackable as well, so I cannot justify $12 for a non-trackable coin. When I get mine all done up, I will be giving them away to friends and cachers as well as trading a few, maybe you will want to trade.

I would like to order 2 please. Thank you

I currently volunteer for Southern Arizona Rescue Association. Pima county Arizona.

I have a geocaching tattoo since Oct of 2003 that we use to keep track of friends and cachers that we have met along the trails.. It's Alive!!! I have yet to find a moment of regret as it is on the arm and a short sleeve shirt will cover it. Even if Groundspeak (god forbid) closed shop tomorrow, this would still have been something that was a part of our life and I would not regret it. Matter of fact, someone else just got a tattoo like this recently as well, though from what I hear they have to show off there bare chest for it to be seen. hehehe Wife has loved the tattoo as much as I have and we look forward to having every single cacher log a 'grab' on this Travel Bug. My words to you OP are do what makes you feel comfortable, it is your body after all.

Yeppers we were up there this weekend and roped an 11 month old cache for First to Find honors. I have to say the couple inches of hail in my jeep was interesting if not painful. We will be back, but I doubt we will do a hike like that then drive home again in the same day. We did not get to our driveway until 3am Sunday.. I did not enjoy the moments of opening the eyes to say 'Doh, I am still driving' Lovely country up there, if your bored check out some of our pictures from the Sitgreaves hike we did. Sitgreaves mountain. I never did figure out how this is rated as a mystery/puzzle, but the hike was enjoyable.

Completed three more recently. The Window Over 7 miles each way with a 4,000' foot climb. and Mica Mountain From the trailhead at the bottom the hike was 7.08 miles to the top. Elevation gain of over 4,000' Both of those can fit in our list of 'Wow, we did that? caches. Reef Not very long hike, but this one has taken down a couple of cachers already. I mean injuries and pain. It earned it's 4/4.5 rating without a doubt.

Just ran across this forum. Thanks for the honorable mention.

Well I knew it wouldn't last forever. Someone else would have to go get one. Congrats, on the courage .. er sillyness? Welcome to the club I guess since I have had my tattoo for a long time. Just goes to show someone will duplicate any idea. hehehe Least mine has the bar code on the bug. Er.. edited before someone asks Yes the TB Number is there, just removed from the image to ensure I do not end up in another country again