GEO.JOE
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Posts posted by GEO.JOE
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IGJOE If you are interested in finding out what the oldest active caches are in each state you can go the Hide $ Seek page click on a state and go to the very last page of the list and the oldest active cache will be the last one on the list.
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I don't know how I could pick just one?
gln has alway been very helpful and informative and quick to respond and give advice.
ILReviewer and Max Cacher are quick to review, quick to respond and eager to help. (Max reviewed one of my caches in 45 min and IL Reviewers best is one hour - now that is some mighty fine reviewing!)
Max Cacher is the only reviewer I have met and I alway look forward to seeing him at events.
Bluegrass Reviewer is staying on top of the caches with Needs Maintenance logs and in doing so is really upping the quality of caches in the area.
They are all great for what they have done for me and what they do for caching, a big THANK YOU to all of y'all.
GEO.JOE
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The first event we attended was very rainy. In fact there were some places that were flooded. I think we had even more fun than we would have had if it had been dry. It was an adventure trekking through the inch deep mud to find a cache. Not to mention the multi where the stream that was usually only an inch or so deep was over a foot deep and we had to find the best place to cross!! We have a lot of really fun memories from that day.
Over a foot deep if I recall that creek was over a boot deep
There was a lot of rain at the Geocaching Weekend 2006 at Pennyrile Forest State Park. We hung out inside trying to wait out the rain Saturday morning but once we got wet we really had fun the rest of the day. If you can find a way to get the nuts to the event they will cache, and hopefully have fun doing it.
GEO.JOE
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I just had Gall Bladder surgery with no real restrictions. Unfortunately I had hiccups 17 times in 25 hours after surgery ( I don't recommend that at all) so I felt pretty beat up, but was out (with meds) at a town festival on the second day. No meds after 5 days. Could not lift the camping gear out of the closet so canceled the camping trip on day 7. Ten days after surgery I sneezed and did not cry so I figured I was healed, but I declined to help a neighbor move furniture. I found that the pain meds may not have been really helpful. When the pain was less I did more, which made the pain worse when the meds wore off. I think if I had used less pain meds early on I would have done less and healed faster so take it easy the first week and maybe your second week will be a more amazing transformation then I had. I was shocked day by day on little things like sitting up from laying on my left side, tying my shoes without putting them on the coffee table, coughing or sneezing without the feeling of a red hot knife being plunged into my gut.
I wish you a speedy recovery.
GEO.JOE
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what is the true talking distance on these rhino's? and can they use any Garmin maps, i have a street pilot 2610. could i use their maps on this?
It all depends on the Terrain, just as any other FRS radio. I have had success at 1/2 mile once at Topaz Mountain in Utah with both of us on the same side of the all rock mountain. As soon as one of us would go behind a rock or beneath a rock shelf there would be no signal at as close as 200 ft.
If you have a tree, rock, bend in the river etc. between you and another person the reception goes way down. I have not tried them on wide open areas but in the hills, streams and valleys of West KY, Southern IL and South East MO 1/4 mile is about the best we get. The position broadcasting only works on the FRS settings so I have never gotten an FCC license or activated the GMRS ability of the RINOs.
The RINO will use any of the Garmin Mapsource Maps but the not all of them have turn by turn or auto routing capabilities.
Joe
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November 10, 2006 - My Birthday!
It looks like I need to update my prediction with a time.
November 10, 2006 at 1:36 am
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When do we log? Remember by posting on the forum you are asking a segment of the geocaching population that spends more time in front of their computers and we enjoy the reading and writing part of the geocaching experience. Therefore, the results will likely be skewed toward "writing the log very soon." However, I do not see that a being the norm in the logs that I receive.
I will log caches as soon as I get the chance. If I am back at my computer that day, then I log them that day, If I am camping/traveling they are logged the night I get back or at latest the next day.
As a cache owner I really look forward to receiving notifications of when my caches were found, so I do my best to log quickly as a courtesy to the cache owner.
Why do people not hide caches back the way they found them? That could be a number of things:
They're lazy.
The excitement is in the finding not replacing the cache.
They were so excited when they found the cache that they did not take the time to remember how it was hidden so they can not replace it correctly. (happens a lot when the kids find it first)
One person found it and another person replaced it. ( I have had the last two happen when My nieces find and I replace, I do the best I can with the information they provide)
They felt it was too hard and they should not have spend so much time on a 3/3. They think if they take more than 15 minutes it is too hard so they make it easier for the next person because "You made it too difficult". What they don't understand is that a 3 difficulty should take you "the better part of an afternoon to find". If they can't find it in 15 minutes then they need to spend the rest of the 3 hours that they should have scheduled for this 3/3.
The dramatic change in the cache location could be a cumulative effect of the past several finders moving it or changing the camo a little bit each time it was found, so after the 3rd finder the cache looks nothing like you hid it.
I just checked on my 3/3 ammo can in the woods. I hide it with all natural leaf litter and one fist sized rounded rock. I found it with a pile of sticks the size of my arm and the largest rock in the woods on top of it and it was visible from 60 ft. Last year it had rocks piled about 1 foot high on top of it and the ammo can visible between them???
One thing I have forced myself to accept is that no one cares as much about my caches as I do, and very rarely does someone come along and take the time to do the right thing and fix problems created by previous finders and/or notify me of the problems so I can get back out and take care of the cache hide. If you walk by there often, check on it often. I said last year that when I found my 3/3 cache hidden like a 1 again I was going to archive it but my Voice or Reason (Wife) said that it is still a great location and it has not been found by very many people. The ones that have found it in it's well hidden glory (like Airmapper) are proud of their find.
Therefore, We need to continue to maintain these challenging caches for those that will have the chance to find these caches the way we wanted them to find them.
Keep your chin up and have fun with it. When the cache becomes more frustrating than fun then it may be time to change it.
GEO.JOE
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Don't get discouraged because of how long it took someone else's cache to get approved. I have had one cache approved in about 1 hour (Thanks Max Cacher!) and others that have taken 5 days. on average one to 3 days they will be approved or you will hear from the reviewer.
GEO.JOE
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I just hosted a Scavenger Hunt event. I hid micos which contained slips of paper with the name of the scavenger hunt item inside. I handed out a page with a list of coordinates and points the item was worth. The participants had to first find the cache then find the scavenger hunt item.
Items ranged from an easy to find cache for an acorn worth 2 points to a piece of bark with Live Squirrel written on the underside worth 100 points (I brought the bark form home and removed it afterwords);. The team that won went after the higher point caches and actually found a skull
worth 50 points and hunted until time was up for the 50 point live snake 
I hid 27 caches for the event (way too many), the most anyone found in 1.5 hours was 10 caches and items. This could be set up for kids with much easer hides, hunting area within sight of the adults and less adventurous objects that are easily found at the event sight.
I was asked to number the cache so that everyone knew they had actually found the cache they thought they were going after.
I also found that everyone wanted stuff to be worth more points, I guess it makes them feel like they are rewarded more if they are searching out a 10 pt acorn, 250 pt snake and 500 pt squirrel. I would say that for the kids 10 - 15 caches and an hour to hunt would be good. Make sure there are some item that are more difficult to find and some caches that are difficult to find or everyone will get all of the items.
When I set up scavenger hunts I like to include items that are up to interpretation by the finder, such as a Rock that looks like something, Fuzzy grass, Something you find that no one else finds, something red and round etc. This way everyone comes back with different items to show off what they found.
GEO.JOE
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Can't you people see the folly in your ways? Can anybody give me a good reason to do this other than some variation of the lame 'It's respectful to the cache owner' or 'To record my visit'?
Part of the fun of the game for my wife and I is reading the log books to see who has visited, when they visited, what they saw or any other stories they added. The log book logs are a snap shot of what was going on when the cachers hunted the cache so they are more specific to the cache and surrounding area. The online logs tend to me more of how the cache fit into the day of caching.
We do our best to make our logs informative and/or entertaining, we see log book notes and online logs as part of the interaction with other cachers. Therefore, when we revisit a cache we wright a note to share what we were doing and anything we saw that day to share our experience and story with others that will find the cache in th future.
Joe
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I don't know how many of the 319174 current active caches were intentionally placed near letterboxes but I can't imagine it is a very common practice.
If all we are focusing on is:
the case above where the letterbox was there, the cache owner finds out about it and leaves the cache where it is anyway.
It sounds like the problem represents 1 in 319174. I believe that is an acceptable ratio for the number of people that will die from a medicine compared to the number of people the medicine will help. So if it is an acceptable ratio for life and death it doesn't really sound like it is much of a problem in a game
Seriously though, There are people out there that have more ego then they have sense, so we are going to run into rude behaviors in this sport. It would be nice it everyone was extremely courteous and did not step on the toes of other activities. However, geocaching is a little slice of humanity and as you can see in the forums there are constantly discussions about , rude, disrespectful, uncaring, aggressive etc. behaviors displayed by geocachers(and most likely similar discussions in the letterboxer's forum about letterboxers). Some folks have a sense of unjustified entitlement and they feel they deserve to do what they want when they want and they feel that they are always right. Will they change? Doubtful.
In situations you described there is likely an ego battle going on between the two owners. Each feel they have the right to be there and likely feel they "Own" the spot. I would say in most cases where leterboxes and geocaches are close to each other there are no problems at all(as long as unknowing geocachers don't take the letterbox stamp). If the cache owner you mentioned is truly sabotaging the letterbox then he is obviously acting poorly and peer pressure should be placed on him to influence him to change his behaviors.
However, is a cache/letterbox owner really doing anything wrong by just not moving their container? What is the harm if a few cachers mistakenly find the letterbox and a few letterboxers find the cache? By hiding the containers close to each other it may introduce numerous folks to the other sport and they may learn to respect the other sport, some may even pick up the other hobby. The situation could be more beneficial then harmful in the long run.
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Fore For Free - Golf themed cache at the local free 9 hole par 3 course. When the homeless camp is gone I will be placing Free Fore All
Thank You Betsy Ross - is a Flag/Patriotic (RED, White & Blue) Theme.
Ghost Dance - Native American/Animal Theme.
This Place "Rocks" - Rock, Stone, Mineral, Gem theme.
I have also seen:
Fishing
Coins
Maps/travel
Key chains
CD/DVD
Joe
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Or, perhaps more to the point, is anything more than a date and name 'required' for the log book?
Nothing more then name and date is required but there are those of us out here that enjoy reading about other people's experiences in the log book. My wife and I like to take the time to read through the entire log book to get a glimpse of the cache's history. It is a nice snap shot of what was going on at the time the cachers found the cache. I am very disappointed that more and more people and signing name and date TNLN TFTC etc, so please take some time to share your experience for others to enjoy.
Sometimes people waste too much of the log book by not sharing a page with someone else's log. We will take up as little space as needed to share our experience, however, we typically take a half page to two pages if there is enough to say about the experience. As for how people use log books: if the log book opens like a regular book (side bound which I prefer) it is easy to use both front and back of pages. If the log pages flip up (top bound) it is easier to use the front of the pages until they are full then flip the log book over and start using the blank pages back to front. Many times I have seen online logs that say the log book is full when it is only half full.
As for the signature cards, I don't think they should be used in place of signing the log book and I don't think I would like them stapled into one of my log books. I have seen on the forums that there are people that collect them but most that are left around here just sit in the caches so I will remove the "business cards" when I do a maintenance run. I have seen some examples on the forum of some really nice cards that are laminated and have some really interesting information on them. If you put some time into designing a card that is interesting they may be more likely to be collected. If you don''t laminate them at least use waterproof paper so that they will not become a part of a wet wadded glob in the bottom of a cache. Take pride to make something that you are proud of and others will appreciate it as well.
GEO.JOE
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I place a nice item for people to take. Since it is rather unusual swag, I would hope to get at least a comment. But for the most part no. I wonder why that is. Perhaps embarrassment for trading it for a broken McToy?
I believe it is Greed that leads them to take the item and embarrassment for the trade that keeps them form mentioning the trade in the log book or online. In one of my caches, the people that left the used chapstick, pocket lint, or movie stubs never mentioned what they took.
I have noticed that many folks trade out of ignorance. I believe in "trading fair" Not all things have a set dollar value but they have a "coolness/interest value". There are cachers that treasure their signature items so much that I have seen a cacher take a $30 hand made bone, buffalo horn, brass and jade Indian style choker and a $10 hand carved Zuni bear charm and leave his painted rock and painted metal disk signature items. Too many times I have seen where someone leaves a 10 cent squishy lizard for a $1+ item because they wanted the item and knows their kid grabs every squishy lizard they see so some kid will really enjoy it when they find it???
Other cachers have a since of entitlement that they deserve something because they had to work to find the cache. I have been shocked at the logs that state that they were aware that they did not trade even but they had nothing of equal value but the cache was tough. These are likely the same people that steal office supplies and tools from their employer,make numerous personal phone calls, take extended breaks or spend time on the Internet at work because they do not feel they are adequately compensated for their time and effort.
I try to find things to trade that are unique and can't be purchased at walmart or the dollar store. Not all of them are greatly expensive items but they are hopefully interesting to most ages: hand carved fish, LED Dippin Dots finger lights, Totem Power Stones, Spirit Stone signature item, Golden Mouse signature pins for nice caches in the woods, miniature sample bricks from a brick company in VA, Old and Foreign coins, Elvis Tokens minted by the Elvis fan club in the 70's, Stones and minerals (Obsidian, Topaz, Apache Tear, Silver) I have collected from across the country, 1950's through 1990's baseball cards, Blinkers for nano caches, etc. Many of these items are not expensive when bought in bulk, or if I don't count the cost of the trip to Delta UT
. I like to know that others that find my caches or find a cache after I do have the chance to find a unique trade item. I hope to lead by example and inspire others to find more intersting trade items. I wish more people would start thinking out of the box and put more imagination into their trade items. Therefore, caches do not have to be full of knives and lighters to be interesting to adults, and many of these items are interesting to kids as well. -
I learned about geocaching when I watched that show in 2003. When I bought a GPS in October of 03 it sparked the memory of geocaching so I checked out the website and thought - "This will be something to do for a couple week until I learn to use this thing."
If it hadn't been for Geocaching I probably would have used the GPS about 5 times by now
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A lot depends on the cache and what kind of information I get from the cacher that did not find it. I usually email the DNFinder and ask for clarification, time spent searching, make sure they understood the hint etc to help me determine if I need to check on the cache. If it is one of my caches in Shawnee National Forest where we have had a problem with caches being stolen for the past 3 years I will usually disable the cache and check on it after one DNF. If it a cache close to my home that I drive by frequently I will check on it when I am by it next. Other caches that have been in place for years or caches with higher difficulties I will not run out at the first DNF but will check on it when I am near, or I receive 2+ DNFs.
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1) How often is it sane to refresh a cache? In particular, if I choose to refresh mine every couple of months, will that get me labeled -- even by other people who choose to refresh their caches -- as an obsessive-compulsive oddity?
2) Also assuming that I have no intention to keep any swag that ends up in my cache, unless somebody labels it as specifically for me, is it more customary to remove all non-theme-but-good swag items and place them in other caches, or to just forego the cache theme after the initial placement and leave all good swag in the cache no matter what sort it is?
And yes, I know that this postulates the existance of good swag in the aforementioned cache after at least two months of trading, but frankly, if 40 years of life haven't cured me of optimism, I somehow doubt a few junky caches and a forum full of cynics are going pull it off.
After looking at some of the other caches near yours, it looks like they get visited on average 6 to 8 times per month. However, from September to March it is much less frequent (2 to 4). Being a new cache it will be visited more over the next 2 months until the locals have all pretty much found it. Therefore, after 2 months, or even sooner, it would be a good idea to check on the cache to see how everyone is trading. Then you will learn an optimal schedule to visit the cache for refreshing. I find it more practical to schedule maintenance visits based on the number of finders than the number of months. I have one cache that needs replenishing after 14 visits. I have a nano that the log can only hold about 14 names, so I check on them when they have met their quota. I also have several caches that have not been visited 14 times in the past years so they do not need me near as often.
As for what to do with non-themed swag: I would remove it as often as possible. I have found that finders will be less likely to trade non-themed swag for themed items when there are very few or no non-themed items in the cache-this includes signature items and business cards that are not within the theme. As soon as you are tired of maintaining the theme then you can edit the cache listing and allow open/random trading at that time.
I have not yet found anything to dissuade non-theme trading. I have written the theme on the cache listing, in the log book, on the inside of the cache box, posted that I removed non-theme items in maintenance logs but the non-theme trading seems to continue. So expect it and try to not get too discouraged.
My best advice, is to visit your cache as often as you want to and it is still fun to you. I remember visiting my first cache weekly to read the log book and check out to see if swag was OK and it was hidden well. However I have only visited it once this year so far.
Monitor the trading habit of the community and that will give you the best answer to how often you will need to replenish your cache in the future.
Most importantly, have fun! Don't get so obsessed over the swag that it causes you stress. This is a game so make sure you enjoy what you are doing.
Happy Caching
GEO.JOE
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When I do maintenance checks on my theme caches I remove anything that is not within the theme and add theme items if needed. I have found that if the cache is stoked with them items cachers a less likely to trade theme items for non-them items. I will then take the items that I remove and place them in caches that need them. On all three of my theme caches I started off with enough themed swag to keep them going for a while.
My Thank You Betsy Ross cache was actually born after getting a bag full of swag CHEEP! So I encourage folks to just take a pin or bracelet instead of trading out of theme.
My Ghost Dance Cache started with over $100 of swag, including hand made Indian Chokers, Hand Carved fetishes and Totem Power Stones. The first finder unknowingly took a $30 necklace and a $10 hand carved Zuni bear. I got a good deal on 180 Totem Power stone but once they are gone I will probably have to find something else for the main item in the cache.
For the standard caches, I have had pretty good luck. I had one that was visited over 300 times and it only needed minor maintenance. A second cache needs to be restocked after about every 14th finds. Folks leave used chapstick, receipts and movie stubs in it but I have never seen that kind of trading in any of my other caches.
I do have one problem cache that the neighbor kids have found and new swag is gone before a cacher ever gets to see it, so I have not replenished it in a year. A cacher just checked on it the other day when he saw a group of kids walking away from the area and the cache was gone the next day the cache was back in place so I am sure it is time for the cache to be moved
Joe
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Yeah, sounds like a good idea.
I've never seen a rattlesnake in the wild, I would like to see one, but only before it sees me.
Hey Airmapper
I saw my first timber rattler in KY last week at LBL after going to the Dead Fulks night cache. I have known there were around here since I was a kid but that was the first for me. However, I have never gone rattle snake hunting around here either
Now I still have to find a pigmy rattler.While on a backpacking trip in Canyonlands National Park a few years ago I saw 3 midget-faded rattlesnakes and heard 1. I was exploring an old cowboy camp when I stepped to the side and was squatting to take a picture of an old iron stove when I heard the first one(that I never did see) I was not sure if I heard it right until I saw a second one guarding the gap between an old fence and a rock. Later that day I went looking for more snakes because my friend had never seen one and I was able to find 2 more. We spoke to a guy that had made yearly trips to the area for 20 years and he had never seen one and a ranger that had worked there for 17 years and he had never seen one or had anyone report they had seen one. I felt real special.
I must say as venomousness snakes go I appreciate the rattle snake because it will let you know when you are getting too close and making it nervous.
GEO.JOE
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I only like logbooks!
Part of the enjoyment for my wife and I is reading the logbook to see what experiences others had while hunting the cache. The logs in the cache are usually more specific to the experience the person had while hunting that specific cache. Online logs seem to me more general on how the cache fit into the day of caching.
I wish all of you that shared our passion for reading and writing in logbooks cached around me. There seems to be a dumbing down of log entries. Entries are much shorter and nonspecific on many caches we have found this year. The log entries are more similar to logs that we would only see in micros a couple years ago, i.e. out caching with ??? this is number X of Y TFTC TNLN.
My wife does not read any of the online logs and she really looks forward to the log books and this type of logging has really frustrated her this year. One day we found several caches in the woods that had been out for a while and almost every log was a short snip-it similar to the one above. She was so angry at all the other finders for being so lazy. She compensated for they lack of creativity(caring) and filled two pages and I did my best to make the online logs worth reading.
I think one of the nicest complement I have received lately was from LumberJack Tom after finding and not finding many of his cache in Louisville. He sent me a nice note about some the DNF's and he said that he appreciated my logs - that I have gone above and beyond on writing my logs - I still smile thinking about that. Thanks Lumberjack Tom! That made my day!
GEO.JOE
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November 10, 2006 - My Birthday!
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50 miles to #200.
When I started caching there were only 283 caches in 100 miles there are now over 1300 caches in 100 miles.
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I have 200 within 50 miles.
I only have 51 more until I have them all. I don't look forward to traveling over 50 miles to find a cache though
GEO.JOE
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I am pretty much down to this site and our local group River Valley Geocachers
I do a search on EBay just for curiosity sake every so often and usually check out other's links in the forums so this should be and entertaining thread.
worth 50 points and hunted until time was up for the 50 point live snake 
Moving out of state
in General geocaching topics
Posted
I would archive them all and remove them all. If you placed them then you should remove them, no matter what condition the road is in. When you placed them you took on the responsibility that comes with owning a cache. If you leave the cache with no one to maintain it then it is just trash. Please don't leave geotrash out there. A lot of people have spent a lot of time working with land managers to get them to open up their land to caching. Land managers are assured that cachers are responsible people and we do not leave caches out there to become trash. It would only take a few examples of caches found abandoned for many land managers to have the examples that caches just turn to trash then the land mangers would ban caching for everyone.
If you were able to to place it in it's location then you can find a way to remove it.
If mountain bikes can get to the cache then it sounds like you need ride a mountain bike, if that is not an option then you need to walk. If you can't walk it then you need to find a friend or cacher with a four wheel drive or contact one of the people that found it via mountain bikes and ask if they can retrieve it for you. Therefore retrieving it is and option and it is your responsibility to figure out all the options until you find the one that works.
If the locations are worthy of a cache then after your's are gone others can place new caches for all the locals to find.
GEO.JOE