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Mike & Jess

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Everything posted by Mike & Jess

  1. Would be nice if there was a check mark labelled "Did you actually find it and it needed maintenance?" The NM feature is a pain for me as most of the time, it just that the cacher couldn't find it.
  2. I'm out unless hides count (moved to the sticks). Will be easily breaking 100 hides next spring.
  3. You nailed it on the head about bringing GPS units into some countries. As for the last bit, When you send a letter or package to Puerto Rico, do you write the address as "something, something USA"?
  4. Although I tend to do that with any caches I find needing TLC, the kicker is you don't get notified of the NM logs and if the original CO has moved on, they may not forward that info to you. Adopting I think is a bit better as you get the find log emails without needing to setup anything special. Adoption is easy. I've given up a few caches and taken on a few. Very straight forward and starts with the Cache Owner going to the link provided in the previous post.The system sends out emails notifying both parts as to how the transaction is proceeding (initiated, and completed).
  5. I've seen the log the OP describes on a few caches. I'd still take that over just "TFTC" or simply a smiley face.
  6. This is the first bit of info I posted as tips for these types of caches. The thread can be found here NOG forum(which currently has only my stuff as I just create the thread)
  7. Funny you mention that specific road. I was up there with one of the Central Ontario Geocachers (Juice Pig) a few years ago. There is a cache right at the begining of that road. Pretty sketchy road during the winter. It truely is in the middle of no where. I don't think we have anyone on our forum that is close enough to the area.
  8. This topic has come up a couple times on our forum (NorthernOntarioGeocachers.com). A few of us in different areas (a lot of tourist areas) are looking to do some driving cache trails. With these types of trails, there is always a safety concern with stopping along the side of the road. For those that have either placed these types of cache trails, or found them, what suggestions, tips or tricks should I relay to my local community about placing these caches? I'm looking for what could make them fun, safe and worth doing. I've touched a few rail trails before, and found them to be kind of boring if I was specifically going there to walk these trails. With these ones, it may be a bit better as these would be routes to get to tourist areas (towns) which could make the drive a bit more fun.
  9. As others have mentioned, I love the hike in caches and those are my poison of choice. That being said, I have a lower D/T because of the events, caches picked up while traveling, and now caching with two kids. Instead of focusing on the D/T averages, I think I'll focus on completing the D/T grid. I have a few zeros which need to be filled.
  10. That has been like that for years. Luckly it is not that run we are taking. It's the Sudbury to White River, which runs up one day, down the next.
  11. Be careful with the pellecan and other boxes similar. I had done some testing a while back as I was looking to do a sumerged cache. Using just the pellecan case (and a couple other variations), I placed a piece of tissue paper with juice crystals on it inside the container. The container was weighted down in a bucket of water, which was pressurized to ~20PSI. This was left for 2 weeks (each container tested on it's own) and found that all had moisture inside. Now given my testing might have been a bit extreme, I was looking for a maintenance free cache. One suggestion that came from a thread I had started back then was to use a wide mouth water bottle inside one of these containers. This in theory should work, as the water bottle is designed to keep water in, and with the two air chambers creating different pressures, it could very well work. I have not tested this, but with my up and coming "tough cache" series next summer, I'll be testing this and other ideas soon.
  12. I have my Shop Around Series which includes 5 caches plus bonus. The partial cords is written on the log sheet. Only once have I had someone remove the top of the log that contained the piece of cord. I would say that of the cachers that have found my caches, only about 30% that have done all the series, have done the final. This was a bit supprising as all 6 caches (including the bonus) can be found in about an hour's work of walking (centralized around two neighboring shopping malls). My only issues with this series is the high maintenence of having the 5 series caches in high muggle areas. The final has never had an issue. If your series is done in a not so high muggle area, and with good containers, it should be reasonably maintenence free. If you are going with small to regular containers, write the hint in marker on the inside of the container, and maybe first page of the log book. That way it's less likely to go missing, and you can attach the pieces as you go.
  13. The last time we had coins made, it was I think $1.50USD per number and $50 or $75 for the coin icon (picture). Please keep in mind, it's been a while since I looked at this, so it may be different now. As for products.... retailers (the small local shops and mail order sites) make very little to almost nothing on geocaching products. Most stuff has a margin of less than 5 points after shipping. Larger margins are available if you are willing invest the money in minting your own coins and or create your own products. Even that is a lot less margin them most other industries. Anyway, enough about that bit. We do it to give back to the communities. It should also be noted that a lot of lackeys are volunteer. Most (if not all)reviewers are volunteer as well. It's a brilliant business model, and they work hard to keep this (and the political crap that comes with all things) out of sight of the regular cacher in order to keep the game/sport/hobby fun. You can't fault GS for capitalizing for doing what they did, when they did as if it wasn't for them, we might not have this large of a community and could be stuck with small groups or sights which would really isolate areas and caches. My suggestion to the OP is this; Enjoy the game, and don't worry about the company or politics. The more you know about it, and the more you become involved, the less likely you'll enjoy it. Some of the politics (mostly local) has soured the game for me, but I'm still here as my two young boys enjoy it and my wife and I are too deeply involved in the local community to simply walk away. Get out there, do some caches and enjoy the adventures you will have.
  14. I have one cache that may have been caught in a forest fire. I haven't had a chance to hike in to check on it yet. I also posted this same topic on our local forum (NOG forum). A few members still need to get out and check a couple caches, but nothing reported yet.
  15. haha Funny but true. I'll tend to put in a few nicer pieces of swag and reserve the FTF prizes for caches that aren't park & grabs. With most caching in my area moving to P&G, those that will make the hike (even a short hike) earned the FTF prize in my books.
  16. ^^ This right here I agree with 100% I have an island cache that is 300yrds from shore. 5 terrain rating as you are either going to have to be in decent shape or have a boat. Technically if you have a boat, the cache is almost obtainable by a person in a wheel chair, so is it really a 5 terrain of a a wheelchair accessible cache is a 1 terrain? It doesn't really work that way from what I got about my toughest caches series threads. Terrain is a guaranteed 5, but if they can find the cache in one visit, I'm told it's not a 5 difficulty. The fact that the cachers need to pre-plan the trip, spend a night outdoors, and trek through whatever mother nature throws at them, can't make the cache any higher of a rating then my Norway Island cache, described in my reply to Planet. I think the rating system or rate suggestions should be adjusted. If I'm understanding correctly, the attributes came out after the whole rating system, and does compensate or give better information then the original rating system. My Norway Island cache and the up and coming Toughest caches series are not even in the same play level, but both will be 5 terrain.
  17. In the few years I've been in geocaching (~6 years now), I have seen our area go from good hiking exploring caches, to mostly park and grabs. We have an amazing outdoor play area (tons and tons of bush) and park and grabs have taken over. I have a few (~30-45 minute round trip) hiking caches and some haven't seen a cacher in a year plus. I suspect my tough series that is going out next summer will see less then 5 visits in 5 years.
  18. They still do the request a stop between stations here. It's only on select runs however. The area I am looking at is one of the selected runs. Here is the info from Via Rail's website. The page can be found here http://www.viarail.ca/en/stations/stops-between-two-stations
  19. It all depends on what you are looking for and how the local geocaching community will react. A year or two ago, if I was to release a number of caches together, it would be a feeding frenzy by the FTF group (about 10 of us who competed against each other for the FTF). Today, it would be probably one person coming through getting all the FTFs, and the rest of the community wondering through after the fact. There really isn't a best practise as previously mentioned. If you want a specific release date or pattern, be sure to cordinate with the local reviewer(s). If there is a number of caches, give them up to 14 days to organize them and iron out any issues with you.
  20. I'm guessing the local reviewer would be willing to tell you if any caches are within 5km of your location. But I'd be surprised if they "reserved" that entire 5-km circle for you until you made your final placement--more likely just a 161-metre circle. So, there's always the chance that someone might place a cache, say, 3km from your original location while you're planning your cache. If you moved your actual location to within 161 metres of the newly placed cache, then you'd be out of luck. Kind of unlikely to be an issue, but yes, very possible. More then likely, the cache will be well within 1km of the original cordinates. The issue with trying to predict the exact location is there is not a lot of accurate date of the local landscape in these area. The one location which I am working on now, the only real accurate data I have is the mile markers along the railroad which runs through the area. Google Earth is unusable for most or all the areas, and the topos will be iffy. I will make sure to have all the research and information I obtained available to the reviewers. Bulletproof caches will be the start. I've tested a number of different setups with some of my local (easy) caches and am very comfident (with proof) that I can assemble a maintenance free cache for our area. I will further discuss this with the specific reviewer(s) as it'll be at their discression. The furthest cache from home will be visited a number of times for sure as it offers a lot more then just a smiley face.
  21. Speaking as a reviewer, I don't think 100% pre-approval is possible for a cache that may move 5k from it's proposed location. However, I'd suggest writing up a cache page using your approximated coords, and add additional waypoints if you're thinking of more then one cache. Then ask the area reviewer to take a look at it. Some reviewers would prefer that you leave this listing disabled, and email them with GC Code, others would like it enabled into the regular review queue. It doesn't need text, beyond the explanation that you're asking for input on these proposed locations, which may change. Thanks you for the response. Maybe 5km is a bit much, but I want to leave myself space to work with. I've already done enough homework to confirm there are no caches in the area, and the land is concidered Crown Land (Government owned, not private). With those potential issues removed, only the distance from home on one (my favorite of the bunch) would be a deal breaker. I'll find out what is the prefered GC page prep method and run with that.
  22. I'm looking a placing a couple caches in remote locations, without having exact cordinates for the cache placement. I want to having some sort of pre-approval before placing them as I would be pretty upset if they got rejected after making the trips. The caches will all be within my province and within the Sudbury District (which I live and work). The district happens to be huge. The point of these will be to provide an adventure for both myself (the cache owner) and the cachers looking for them. What general steps would one take to make sure to have these caches 100% pre-approved before heading out on the placement adventures? I plant to speak with one or more of the provincial reviewers (amazing group btw, have met all of them in person). I hope to provide a set of cordinates with the explenation that the cache will be within a 5km radius of the cords. Local terrain and conditions will dictate the actual location and final cords. I would consider creating a temporary GC page for each cache, but the contents and information provided would probably change heavily once I have been to the location and can provide more valid info as to what to expect.
  23. The problem with following those rating rules is a water cache, say a bright orange cache on an island, would be of the same rating as probably some of my tough caches, which may be an over night or two trip. Not even in the same ball park, but because it requires specialty tools (boat), it's an instant 5 territory. I would consider having to pre-plan and research a fair bit, added difficulty. Given the remoteness of the cache, and if a boat is required I could see how it could have a 5 terrain for the terrain rating. Since you're going to use an ammo can I can't imagine that it would be that difficult to find once you're at ground zero. I really wouldn't consider the use of the train, either the terrain or the difficulty rating. The pre-planning and research involved would add to the difficulty in getting to ground zero, thus would only apply to the terrain rating, not the difficulty rating. Using a train, with a pre-arranged drop off and picked would make this a really interesting cache that will likely get a high percentage of favorite points from those that choose to find it. An ammo can in dense bush can still be tough. My cammo painted mail box (full size mailbox on a stake) has proven to be tough if you are not standing right at it. As for the favorite points... After a few minutes of research last night, I expect high favorite points for sure. The hop off point is at an old ghost town where the lumber mill shut down in the 30's, and finally abandon between 1950-1960. The cache will be a hike from there, but the historical sights (a town virtually untouched since it was abandon) brought the excitement level of this hide up a few notches. I'll avoid the rating discussion in this thread. I've got an easy cache on an island, but because it requires a boat, it's a 5 (should be a 3 tops in my opinion).
  24. It would depend on the caches.....D/T ratings, attributes, etc. Interested? Hell YES!! I won't do caches where I don't feel safe trying to retrieve them. I certainly won't attempt any extreme caches where I don't have the proper experience, tools, or skill level. What do you want to see from these caches? Do you enjoy seeing lots of find logs? Or do you enjoy seeing fewer but more quality logs? What is your target audience? If you set a more extreme cache series, be prepared for limited traffic Safety is a big concern of mine (comes with the work environment I work in). For each cache, I'll provide enough information to get the cacher going in their research and planning. Any info regarding location risks, or information I obtained through a local will be provided of course. Not all the locations I am targeting I have personally visited already. The one cache I am currently researching for is a good example. I'll describe it at the bottom of this post. Required tools and skills or at least what I used will be identified. The difficulty will be mainly in preparing for the cache (research, etc) and of course the physical aspect of hiking, biking, bush whacking, etc. As for the target audience... I'm looking for cachers like myself. Those that are looking for an adventure, and something they can talk about after the fact. I expect probably very few finds. Of those finds, I'm sure they will be a whole lot more then "TFTC". I was thinking ammo can for sure. I've seen how well they have handled our winters and summer. These won't caches I'll visit every summer, but I will be back out their way every once and a while. As for bata testing them... I think I'll burn my budget creating them and getting them out there. I have full intention to have a little something special for the first few finders. Maybe an embroided hat or something. Not huge value, but definately bragging rights they can wear. If you are ever in Northern Ontario (Canada), you'll be able to hit them up. No question about it as far as containers. Ammo can should be your only thought there. Those caches are going to be out there for a long time and you're not going to want to run out after dinner to perform maintenance on them. Are you familiar with Ontario's 4.5lb Walleye geocache? That should give you an idea of what to expect from your series. I haven't looked at that cache. Will do so now that you mention it. The problem with following those rating rules is a water cache, say a bright orange cache on an island, would be of the same rating as probably some of my tough caches, which may be an over night or two trip. Not even in the same ball park, but because it requires specialty tools (boat), it's an instant 5 territory. I would consider having to pre-plan and research a fair bit, added difficulty. If you do, take me! I don't know if a helicopter would be able to get you into some area. Would also be super expensive. If you have that kind of caching budget.... need a caching buddy? I have them days too sometimes. As mentioned in the first quote, here is a bit about the first cache I am working on. I suspect it'll be one of the better of the bunch. The first cache is based on discussions I had with an old highschool and college buddy. His extended family had least property from the queen way back when in Northern Ontario. It was located near a river and old saw mill that was shut down in the 1930's. To get to their cabin (which we don't know if it's still standing), you had to go via train, and get off at a specific mile post. You will have to pre-schedule to be picked up at the mile post when the train is passing that area. From what I heard, There is a nice river with a decent falls on it which is about a half day hike from the cabin. The cache will probably be near the falls. Now, I am just starting to research this area. I am going to be sitting down with my buddy and his great uncle who is the only one still alive that has been to the cabin. From what I have been told, he has a few topo maps that are hand marked up with locations of trails (if still there) and a few other important points of interest. So... Long story short... To get this cache, the cacher will take the train to mile post X, hope off and travel to GZ. At the scheduled time and date, meet the train back at mile post X and go home. Suitable camping area and maybe points of interest (fishing, etc) will be offered as I'll be doing the same trip to get there and back.
  25. I have been kicking this idea around for a while now (actually, over a year now), and have decided to get the ball rolling and start the research. The idea is to have 3-5 caches, scattered around Northern Ontario (huge play ground) which would challenge those of us that believe we are good outdoors people. The locations will be areas worth the trek (plus the smilie face), and have a little something for the first number of finders. Inspired by the Ishpatina Ridge Earth cache, these won't be a cake walk for anyone. So, with that, I have two questions.... If these caches (some or all) was within a reasonable distance, would you be interested in these challenging caches? The second question would be containers, what to use that will be fairly bullet proof, and survive? I'm planning on spending a few dollars to make sure these caches are going to last. Was thinking large ammo cans, with maybe a pelican case or lock and lock inside (and moisture absorbers inside). Thoughts?
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