brodiebunch
-
Posts
625 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by brodiebunch
-
-
I have 5700 geocache finds as of yesterday and 620 geocaches not found.
For about every ten geocaches found, there is one I do not find.
Does anyone else think about that?
Does everyone log the geocaches they do not find?
Just wondering
-
3 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:
Yep.
Curious though... How will anyone know it's there to log it ? It's not like someone can lug it around either...
If someone's leaving the code at events and things, hopefully you realize that "saw this on/at..." is the closest to a eulogy many will give you.
I went as far as to install a shelf in my marble bench (didn't want a headstone) for a cache container. Just waiting for a "drawer".
The grounds has since changed their policy, so now anyone who still smokes will have an ashtray. ..
Good question.
A Travel Bug page would have to be created.
Now if virtual caches were allowed it would be much easier.
I have to have another 25 years left in me though.
My initial desire was already vetoed: have my body dumped in the woods to degrade naturally with a toe tag reading "he was not murdered, he died naturally"
-
.png)
2
-
-
I have an inactivated Travel Bug in an envelope with instructions for my partner to have the TB number inscribed on my headstone when I am no longer around.
That way I can contribute to my favorite hobby after I am no longer around.
Has anyone else heard of this or seen this before?
-
Possible reasons for this:
1-Geocaches are too small to hold Travel Bugs.
2-Containers that degrade too easily to safely hold Travel Bugs (kitchen food storage containers do not hold up to the elements) so geocachers are wary of releasing a Travel Bug.
3-A Travel Bug that is too cute gets kept by a geocacher.
4-A Travel Bug that is not too cute gets left behind and if a geocache is muggled then.............bub'bye.
5-People who use the phone app vs. the GPS tend to "travel lightly" and have no desire to drop swag, collect swag or move Travel Bugs. I mean look how they log a find.
(I would not say that is bad overall but its changed the activity somewhat)
6-And anything else.
-
In the beginning of this activity, you had to live within a 25 mile radius of the geocaches you were placing in order to properly maintain them.
But I have learned over the years that some geocachers are more equal than others
-
.png)
4
-
-
On 6/21/2020 at 8:31 PM, Enjayen said:
Typical story: I found a cache I liked a lot so I gave it a favorite point. A year or so later it's archived, and I'm low on favorite points.
I figured that the main reason for FPs is to filter caches on a map to get the "best" ones in the area.
If a cache is archived, it won't show up regardless. Am I being a jerk by removing FPs from archived caches?
I have 513 favorite points that are unused. Find a way for me to transfer them and you can have mine.
They are unnecessary for us-I have never used favorite point to determine how I geocache or which geocache to search for.
We started giving favorite points but got bored.
-
2
-
-
You may want to consider seeking out geocaches in remotes areas that are found rarely. I have found over 200 since the beginning of March and I was the first to find them this year (and some since last summer) about 90% of the time.
-
1
-
-
The quality of swag has been an issue since we started participating in October 2003. "Trade fairly or don't trade at all" is a mantra I have heard since the beginning. I admit I was concerned about it too when we placed geocaches. We would do annual or semi annual maintenance and find what looked like junk inside. But that said, I live in the soggy Pacific Northwest and over time, moisture will seep in and degrade everything inside especially paper products. I have yet to see a container in these parts that does not have that mildewy scent in them. Several years back we made the decision to be geocache finders not placers and once we find a cache all we look for is the log book/sheet and ignore the rest unless its a trackable.
The geocaching app had definitely dumbed down the quality of the online logs. I believe that is simply laziness. I use the app often and able to do more than a simple "Thanks!, TFTH" Even then though if I find a lot of geocaches over the day and am logging them in later that night, I will forget things of note about a specific find will sometimes default to the simple "Thanks!, TFTH"
This is a good topic though, its nice to see a topic that does not include the issue we are all enduring right now.
My two cents for what its worth..
-
1
-
-
Its only partially functioning now.
You can see the maps but its very difficult to open the cache profile from the geocaching map and you cannot see the roads they are on or near.
When you switch over to the google maps, you can see the road but you cannot open the cache profile.
You switch back to the geocaching map and you have to refresh the map.
I take screen shots of the caches I am going to be seeking so I do not use data and the areas I go to do not always have cell service for the app.
-
This has been a problem for the last 24 hours.
-
My D/T levels are 1.63 and 1.74, I am generally risk averse and am not sure if my D/T levels are low, average or better than.
I have been geocaching during the pandemic, finding over a 100 in the last month. Its not for risk seeking, its for my mental health, especially in light of the economic devastation this has played in my industry. I have found county parks, city parks and forests in that my state has not reached its tentacles into, that is where I am going as they provide ample opportunity for social distancing. I am not going to sit at home and worry about when/if I am going to catch the virus (I know some people stressing over that) Nor am I going to sit at home, learn yoga, hone my cooking skills, clean my closets, watching idiocy on Netflix or read one of the great novels.
As for the virus, everyone and everything is contaminated.
-
.png)
1
-
-
Our state has closed all the state parks and state forest lands and the Feds here have closed all the national forests here. I have checking the parks pages of the individual counties and cities to find places to geocache. Roads are not closed for travel-not yet anyway. There have been some local geocachers who've disabled their caches and state they will delete any finds made in this period (easily worked around, and you know how
). There is ample room for you to give the appropriate distance on the trails even if they are narrow (you may have to back track to a wide spot) Bring your own lunch, proper hand cleaning gear, a full gas tank and enjoy your day.
-
My state has closed all the state parks and forest lands it owns, the feds have closed all the national forests and most cities and counties have closed their parks. That said there are still places to geocache in my region you just have to do some searching. Luckily one city with a rather large park system and one county in my region has not closed their parks. While our forests are dense and trails can be narrow when I have encountered people along the trails I/they step aside off the trail to allow them/me appropriate distance to pass. I bring my lunch, water, hand sanitizer and wipes. I feel I am doing my part to maintain social distancing and keep my hands clean and I am wearing a mask when out and about.
Once this pandemic has gone away, there are going to be a lot of survivors with some sort of PTSD/psychological damage from the illness, isolation, economic damage, guilt and upheaval of daily lives. My industry has been decimated so I don't know what the future holds for me. Getting out of the house, ignoring the news, getting in the car, going into a woods and finding geocaches helps me emotionally, mentally so the psychological damage may be lessened.
-
2
-
-
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/city-state-federal-parks-mostly-closed-due-to-covid-19/
Washington state is closing the state parks and state lands. Most city parks are closed. The national parks are closed but national forest lands remain open for now.
"Flatten the curve" = Conform.
-
Goals for 2020:
Continue my pattern I started in 2019 of taking short road trips (about 3 days) around my state to geocache rather than go out every weekend which actually helped our numbers in 2019 (yes, it is about the numbers sometimes)
I have a modest goal of finding at least 100 caches in every Washington county, so far I have achieved that in 13 of our 39 counties, this year I may add 2 or 3 more counties.
Save up money for our 2021 trip to South America where we will geocache on all the inhabited continents.
-
When I was kid our family would take the proverbial "Sunday afternoon drive" usually up into the mountains or nearby hills. Along the roads we drove on there would minor roads or some cases dirt tracks leading off into the woods. I would always ask my dad if we could drive up that road to see what's up there. His was response was always "On our way back" So on our way back I would ask that same question and his response was always "Oh, we do not have enough time now".
I cannot decide if I was more disappointed at missing that opportunity to explore or at my Dad lying to me.
Now I am older, I drive an SUV and now I go up those roads and dirt tracks because they lead to geocaches.
Without geocaching I would never have come to the "two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference."
Hokey? Schmaltzy? Picayune? Probably all three but when I take road trips where I can geocache, I always think of Robert Frost's poem.
-
3
-
-
Is there a way to opt of this mystery?
A setting I can adjust to stop getting notifications or whatever regarding mystery?
-
They are called Travel Bugs for a reason. Otherwise they would be Stationary Bugs.
You are doing the TB owner a favor by moving it along, especially if the geocache is reasonably remote or seldom visited.
There have been too many TB's held prisoner over the years, this is where your help escaping is needed/appreciated.
-
1
-
-
I have seen quite a few of them throughout the years.
I do mind them though.
I prefer seeing those to golf balls inside geocaches.
-
Is that exactly what it appears to be?
You can lock others out of your TB's so they cannot "discover" them?
I have had that happen quite a lot, using folks from overseas "discovering" (but not retrieving) TB's that have been long since missing.
They also do that with my personal TB's that travel with us.
-
Golf Balls.
Rocks
Pine Cones
Twigs
Anything paper (besides the logbook), after a while it becomes a soggy, mildewy mess.
-
I guess we are pretty old school when it comes to geocaching. I no longer print out a cache page, instead taking a screen shot of it with my iPad which I carry with me when geocaching. That allows me to read it if I am struggling with the find. Most posts nowadays are cell phone posts with minimal words or they are cut and pastes so I just scan over those.
-
There are many geocachers who start the hobby, burn brightly in the beginning then burn out completely. They hide caches and once they stop those caches in decay in condition and end up becoming geo trash until someone decides to mark it as "needs archiving"
We had 17 geocaches at one point I felt like that was a lot, over time they were archived. I archived the last three several months back because its more fun to find them than to hide them (or maintain them)
Perhaps all the interesting places in your region are over saturated. Lamp post, park bushes and guard rail caches get tedious after awhile.
-
Why are people discovering archived or missing travel bugs?
I understand discovering ones taken to events.
But we have many that have been missing or archived for years.
Plus most of these logs are from geocachers who live overseas primarily in Europe.
Is there another aspect to the activity that is exclusive to Europeans?
There seems no logic is discovering something you have never laid eyes on or searched for.
.png)
.png)
.png)
). There is ample room for you to give the appropriate distance on the trails even if they are narrow (you may have to back track to a wide spot) Bring your own lunch, proper hand cleaning gear, a full gas tank and enjoy your day.
More geocaching this year than previous years?
in General geocaching topics
Posted
My industry has been decimated by the pandemic. I am not working but work will return so I am doing my best to ride this out.
That said I have been geocaching a lot more this year. March and April during the depths of the stay at home orders, I was going out to the woods away people to get fresh air, fresh scenery and a fresh perspective on life.
That said our geocaching statistics are the best ever (low compared to other geocachers stats but high by ours)
Is that happening to others too, you are out geocaching more this year than previous years?