Team Dromomania

Caches requiring tools are all over. I've seen everything from clothes hangers, steel rods, poles with magnets and tweezers. I recall reading somewhere in these forums of a remote control which had to be located to raise a submarine. Most of these caches have the word "fishing" in the title for some reason.

There are several caches in this area which are found only once or twice a year or less. In my mind two DNFs doesn't mean the cache isn't there. Looking at the owner's log it appears that he still checks in once in a while. I'll go along with Balboagirl and suggest you check with the owner first via e-mail. If you get no reply after a few weeks (they may be on a vacation) and if they haven't been active for several months or more then leave a Needs Archived note and let the powers to be handle it.

The star ratings should give a hint for finding the cache. One cache in my area took me multiple 2-hour round trips on gully ridden dirt roads to a steep hike climbing over loose rocks only to hug the cliff to reach the ledge where the cache was finally located. On my first attempt it had a one star rating (but now is a 4 1/2 star). Another cache in the area had 7 finds (the last in 2003 with all the rest in 2002) and 17 DNF's (including me). It is rated a 1 1/2 Difficulty. I have a palm and I think I'm going to enable automatic decoding of the hints. When I'm out of my area I do like to find the cache after a good hard search. Of course, the local owners won't know that I'm an outsider needing help so I don't expect hints on all (or even most) caches. But the ones who do leave hints - please leave something useful.

Briansnat's post reminded me of this hint: After experiencing the " Hole in the Wall" cache, take a walk down the main trail ( be Careful) to view Rattle Snake Creek passing under a massive granite cliff and out the other side through the "Hole in the Wall". If the weather is nice and warm you might have a picnic lunch with you and you might want to take a dip.Just checked if the cache is still there. YES it is! Weeds have grown up a bit, try a little harder. The description of the cache said, "Park in dirt pull off on public property. Enjoy cache site"

I originally got the little yellow etrex for a Christmas gift for use when fishing. I discovered geocaching doing online searches and the rest is history. After over 500 finds the yellow began going crazy on me - "jumping (not drifting)" around 50-100 ft while standing still - not good when there's lots of hidding places for the cache. By then I figured I was into geocaching for the long haul and after some research purchased the GPSMAP60CS just a few months ago. I really like it. Finds come easier. The screen is very easy to see. Batteries last a good while. I am a little disappointed with the compass feature. The "arrow" is "broken" a lot. Several times it points South - not North. I've played with the various settings adjusting when the movement compass stops and the built-in compass takes over. A fresh calibrate will usually get me in the right direction but it doesn't last long in most cases. I do carry a "real" compass when in the forest. One thing that I miss (or perhaps just haven't figured out) is that on the etrex I could display a window of the nearest caches and the list would change in real time as I traveled down the road. With the 60CS the list doesn't change although the mileages next to each cache on the list will show the change. Still, I'm very happy with the unit.

Thanks for that link. I knew there had to be a thread somewhere about pointless hints. In just this year here's a sampling of actual hints on my distance cache finds: Not for this one none needed (on two caches) Bring a flashlight! (I hiked in for over an hour to reach the location. Good thing I always carry a small flashlight since I did need it in the mine.) HINT? Nope, this one is too easy! None needed here. If you need more, email me. Don't need a hint No way. It's too easy! No hints Be sure to obey City Ord. 9-12.050 As if I knew the local codes. The cache is at the base of a clump of trees. Yes, I know there are lots of trees clumped together around here. But at least you now know the cache is not stuffed in a stump or wedged between boulders. Even first timers should not need a hint for this one

I'm sure this topic must have been discussed before but my search didn't turn one up. I usually do my first search for caches in my local area without decoding any hints. I figure I can always go back and try again. However, when I'm a few hours away from home I do use the hints if the cache isn't located quickly because I won't be returning anytime soon. I hate the "No Hint Needed" hint. It's worthless, unnecessary and consumes time which can be used searching for the next cache. "Too easy" and "Cheater" are others I hate. Please, if there is no hint, just leave the hint blank. What are some examples of hints you could live without? And for extra credit, what nice ways could we leave hints to those cache owners to please write a useful hint?

I can only speak for the homeless people whom I personally know. Their mental problems are real. Only by court order do a couple of them take their drugs. In the case of my family member, he becomes enraged and has set fire to houses without his drugs. Of course, I don't for a minute believe that any of these people CHOOSE to have these medical problems. Most strangers do not make me feel uneasy. Without knowing a person I WILL judge that person first by their actions and appearance. Most of my caching is now done away from home. In many cases I do not know what the areas I'm heading for are going to be like. If a cache is placed in an area which would make me feel uneasy about being there I'd like to be forwarned of that possiblity. Homeless camps, cliff climbing, known drug areas, nudist camps or beaches, certain parks after dark, and snake pits all would fall under this blanket statement. And if the owner of a cache should know such things exist around thier cache locations then a note stating as much would be very nice IMOHO. Heh heh. Where do you think I came up with "Dromomania"?

I know a few local "homeless" personally. One is a family member. They all (the ones I know) live that way by choice and 1/2 of them have some sort of mental problems. A couple of years ago a homeless fire under a bridge burnt the fiberopics cables for the police 911 lines. Just up the creek from that is a camp where dipers and tissue cover the ground in a wide area. This is also a short cut for kids going to school. The spring floods clean a lot of it up washing the junk into the bay and ocean where the fishes can enjoy the spoils. In downtown was a homeless who enjoys leaving his "dump" in front of stores at night. And now you know why the sidewalks are washed down every morning. I've installed motion sensors with bright lights in front of some of these stores just because of this one person. This is all in beautiful Napa Valley Wine Country in California. I'd rate caches placed in these areas right up there with the caches I've seen placed next to dead animal dumping areas on side of roads and micros behind garbage bins. Geocaching brings me to new interesting places but there are some places I'd rather not see. I, for one, am very happy with my "ignore" button.

I would say something about the homeless in the cache page. I have searched in many places where the homeless camp out. Most are harmless. Some are scary. A few have killed each other in this area over the years. And some are fake. As one approached me to ask for money - his cell phone began ringing. He wispered into the phone "I can't talk now" as I walked on by. BTW, last year I went searching for - but didn't find - a cache hidden in a wooded park in Minnesota and only found a "homeless camp". I found out later that the cache was hidden in this FAKE homeless camp!

Thanks for the reply. Hemlock, I'll get the details to you right away since you originally approved the cache. Thanks to everybody for the input.

Fly46 pretty well summed it up for me. If I give the hunt a good try but give up then I log a DNF. If muggles show up or I'm time limited I usually don't make a log. But, if I made a good effort to reach the cache area but couldn't or other quarks should stop my hunt (forest fire, police check point next to the cache, the smashed car where the cache was hidden on the mountain side got hauled off -all happened to me) then I usually leave a note. I wonder where those cachers who do not log their finds go to not log their DNF's.

I've had to relocate a waypoint to a multicache about 300 yeads away in a wilderness area. Do approvers keep a list of the multicache waypoints? Does moving a waypoint need to be reported to the approvers?

Placing the word "GEOCACHE" or "GEOCACHING.COM" would mean diddly with most mugglers. Before I took up geocaching and if I had seen "geocache" on a possible explosive object, I might wonder if it meant "bomb" in German.

I can think of 3 or 4 caches placed by newbies in this area which had some issues when the geocachers started showing up to find them. Comments were made to the owners and steps were made to make them better and safer caches. Again it comes down to self policing. Those newbies have gone on to place other well done caches. We are the eyes and ears for the listing site. We don't need new rules but rather geocachers using common sense and helping each other out can solve most problems IMOHO. I say NO to setting time or number limits before a cache can be place.

I'm with the others - use a sealed cache - don't drill holes. I've seen earwigs and ants inside poorly sealed containers. One solution in a larger tupperware container I found was neat. It had a "tray" which sat in the bottom giving about 1/2" clearence and the swag was stored on top of the tray. When I made the find there was just a little water which I dumped out but all else remained dry.

Apparently the 60+ geocachers who found it didn't see a problem to report. Either self-policing didn't work or else everybody thought the cache's location was fine. I think I'd go with the latter.

Ummmm...I'm confused. If 3 will be regular caches with clues/coordinates to the 4th, why would the 4th be MO? You're going to give us lowly non-PMs the clues/coordinates to a cache, and when we find it we can't log it online? That seems like a bit of a slap in the face, no? It's very simple to do. Each cache has something which fits into the "key" which is displayed on the MOC cache page. It can be done in such a way that the finders of the first 3 ammo cans will never know there is a 4th unless they have read the MOC page. There are two island caches located near my home but my "lowly" non-boat owning person can't reach them. But I guess I could buy a cheap $1000 boat and look for them. There are some remote mountain top ORV/ATV caches located in my area but my "lowly" non-ORV/ATV car won't reach them. But I guess I could buy a cheap $2000 ATV and look for them. There are some nice Fee area caches located in this area but sometimes this "lowly" non-cash person can't pay entry/parking fees to find them. I guess I could buy a cheap $125 annual pass to California's State Parks and look for them. What's funny about this is that I didn't feel my face get slapped from the listings of any of those types of hides which would cost me far more than going after MOCs. My choice in this sport is to find and to place MOCs.

I have a new cache in planning - actually 4 of them. 3 will be regular 20mm Ammo boxes with nice swags and with clues/coords for a 4th 50mm ammo box with nicer swags. I will list that one as a MOC. Why? Because that how I choose to play the game in this case. I don't think I need any other reason. Geocaching is great. Everybody can choose how they want to play. Some log, some don't. Some trade, some don't. Some micro, some don't. And some get MOCs and some don't.

Ah - micros. I love 'em and I hate 'em but mostly I hunt 'em. I try to hide as large of a cache as I can in the areas I've choosen for my caches. I do have some micros hidden but I enjoy placing the larger caches in remote areas. No - I am not one of those "creative" hides type of cache owner for those remote caches. A quote from one of my cache pages sums up what I wanted to convy: "That being said, enjoy the hike, the views and the fresh air and let the cache be secondary to your experience."

I have several caches where I placed some FTF prizes. I never list the trinkets which I start with in the cache (it'll change as soon as it's found anyway), and I never announce that I have a FTF gift on the caches' page (with the exception of a cache I shared in placing - it had 20 "gold" dollar coins). Since I enjoy the outdoor caches I have left "Survival Kits" and "First Aid Kits" (each costing me $10-$20) clearly marked as FTF - No trade necessary. After the cacher has hiked a few miles for that first find I figure they could use an award. I don't do FTF prizes in all of my caches so don't go running just because I placed a new cache somewhere.

I would repect any request from a cache owner. I've left many neat things in a cache just because I didn't have a trade of equal value. Others don't. Just yesterday I came across a cache filled with cheap trinkets. The last person to find the cash wrote in the log that he took the neat flashlight and left a hair band. Yep, there was a rubber hair band in the cache. Sometimes I cache for the count, sometimes I cache for the hunt, but most of the time I cache because it gets me off my butt and into the fresh air.

First, everything that I take with me on hikes and geocaching which need batteries take AA's. Like the others have reported, I carry extras in my camera bag since it goes almost everywhere I go. I usually keep a couple of batteries in my jackets so if I should just off and cache without the camera I'd still have backup. All my batteries are recharable. However, I always keep a package of regular AA's in my car trunk. My batteries went dead ONCE when I use to carry no spares. That has never happened since then.

I've lived around poison ivy in the South and now poison oak in the West. I seldom get a case of the itch from it. I hike, work and geocache in the stuff. I do not wade through it unless I really need to get to the other side. However, I sometimes get a slight itch and rash around "soft" skin like the face or wrist or tummy. It will last about a week. On the other hand, my wife gets it from looking at photos - not really - but almost. She can get it from handling my clothing after I've been through it. So I have to be careful to keep those clothes seperate for her sake. If she hikes or geocaches with me she'll take a very wide path around any PO.

In Napa, CA where I work if you take a bulldozer, start it up, jump off and let it run free in a cementary destroying headstones and the like to the tune of $117,000 , you'll get probation if it's your first time. See: Napanews This cementary has a very nice virtural cache. If this was SC and I was doing this virtural cache with my GPSr would I be better or worst off than if I used a bulldozer? I did two cememtary caches this past week. I enjoyed them both. The places visited were very interesting and educational. My own personal belief is that cemetaries are for the living. Geocaching or not, I have always visited them and will continue to do so. I've been following the SC story with some interest. At this point I'll have to hands down side with the geocachers. This law adds nothing to existing laws. It also seems to be trying to correct a "problem" which has already been addressed and corrected in that state. And if this law doesn't pass I would lay money on the odds that the geocache approvers in that area will still require some sort of approval has been accepted statement from the cache owner for this type of hide. In a way, the SC would have won what they wanted anyway.