Mike & Jess

I had a TB of mine go into a cache in a near by town. The week after it was placed, the rock the cache was hidden on was blown up to make way for a new building.

Thats the 1 he is refering to...Funny thing is 1 day after this thread was started Grounspeak has asked Dynamic Earth to remove this event... deunderground Premium Member Write note 09/20/2012 Unfortunately, though the event was originally cleared to be posted on geocaching.com, Groundspeak has asked us to remove the event. This does not mean the event is cancelled! Please check dynamicearth.ca/dynamicdash for event details and we look forward to seeing you next Saturday! But you can still follow this event at..... http://saga.forumotion.ca/t10-dynamic-dash-geocache-event and at..... http://forum.northernontariogeocachers.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1591 The event page is still alive. Almost looks like they are still clear to go with the minor edits. On a side note, the Nothern Ontario Geocachers forum address was listed incorrectly as the old sub-domain of Up North Tracks. The thread in question there is Dynamic Dash (NOG forum) Had this gone through as it was, it could have created a type of "book law" type ruling for future events similar. I know a few events with less commercial involvement (my Capreol Days event and Denis's Lumberjack Festival event) that could come back next year has this gone through. I can't speak for the lumberjack festival event, but for my Capreol days event, it was a free meet and greet at our 'What is Geocaching' information table my wife and I have had for the past couple years. Anyway, that is off topic.

They are a placeholder. You will be asked to get published if a proximity issue arises. I did receive confirmation from one of our local reviewers, and this is correct. I will act like a place holder for the specified location. Should another cacher try placing a cache within the ~161M of my draft cache cords, the reviewer will normally contact the draft cache owner and request action of some sort.

The worst one we have locally was a take out container, hidden in a ditch, under a couple planks used as a brdge. The cache just fit under the planks of wood. The instant we got rain, it was soaked.

I've received many of these. Heck, had one going into a town for an event, and one leaving. Both 10kmph over. Interesting they settled out of court. The CO didn't ask the cacher to go where they did, does not own the property they where injured on... Luckly, it's a bit more difficult to sue everyone for anything here. Still doable, but not worth the effort for what you may get if you are lucky.

Guess I know who to ask if I want to do a good puzzle and can't think of anything.

I have sent one of our local reviewers a quick message asking if they can see draft cache pages and if it would act as a kind of place holder with valid cords. If this is the case, it would be a side effect I was not aware of, but a welcome one for the caches I'm doing this for. I'll update the thread as soon as I hear something.

Unless my count is off, we've seen examples of two events with large entry fees, one from two years ago, and another coming up at the end of this month that states on the page "Published with permission from Groundspeak". It's been a few years since I took statistics in college, but I don't see how two events over a two year period=a lot of events. This seems to be a whine in search of an issue. Around here most events take place at restaurants/sports bars where everyone pays their own way. Events held in parks might have a donation jar in the corner of the shelter, but no one is actively soliciting contributions on the listing or at the event. There is a whopping $5/meal ticket fee for the upcoming NCGO Fall Fling event. The point of the thread wasn't for me to list all the caches with entry fees. If you want a list, go looking. The original point was that they are starting to make an appearance and asked if this charge to attend is going to be the new direction. Your counting appears to be fine (to 2 anyway).

I didn't think it would be seen until I hit the make it go button (and check off the check box). I guess I'll annoy one of my locals for a few.

So from what I am getting from your post, it sounds like the draft page does actually count for something (mark the location)?

I don't think that will work without reviewer involvement. If it did, that would be a great reason for me to pre-create these cache and event pages. I'm doing it as I have a fair bit of going into them (Toughest Cache Series previously mentioned here) and want to make sure the pages only require minor adjustments before going live.

There's no automated system that will make a page disappear. Once it's created, it's on the site and viewable from your account. An unpublished listing might be archived by the owner or by a site admin. If it's archived by a site administrator, the owner receives an email notification of the archive log. Usually the archiving admin will inquire about whether the cacher intends to make use of the listing, before they archive it. Any listing you have ever created is viewable. An archived unpublished cache can be seen here http://www.geocaching.com/my/geocaches.aspx?archived=y in the gray pane on the right side of the screen with the title crossed out Thanks for the info. Your response was tack on. I had an earth cache that had disappeared from my listing. It was exactly where and how you said it would be listed. Unfortunately, it looks like if it shows up there, it's archived and can not be recovered like when a normal cache is archived. I guess worse comes to worse, it gets archived, I can always copy and paste the details into another cache page when ready to submit.

Should be a fairly quick question for someone that knows... How long can I keep an unpublished cache (or event) before it disappears from my list? I have a number of caches and events going out that I would like to assemble their cache pages before hand. The caches are not physically in place (yet) and the Events are way too far outside the earliest listing permitted (for non-mega events). I know unpublished cache pages will disappear after so long, but can not remember how long before they go.

Looks like the event is an official event of the Dynamic Earth museum as well. They have it on their calendar: http://www.sciencenorth.ca/calendar/EventList.aspx?fromdate=9/19/2012&todate=11/17/2012&display=Month&type=public&eventidn=333&view=EventDetails&information_id=12125 I see that their general admission is $20, so $60 for a team of 4 is actually a discount I highly doubt that Dynamic Earth did an "after publish" edit. Just like the GPS Adventure Maze exhibits, these science centers/museums "partner" with Groundspeak to host these events. They aren't anything like the typical "event" where people go to a resataurant or even a park to sit around and yak and chat. So the discussion of higher fees for events is rather pointless in this case. As knowschad already asked, and hasn't gotten a reply so far: how many more events are there charging fees? B. First event that came to mind was this one http://coord.info/GC28DY6. It was a charity event however and listed exactly what was covered (also forgot it's price was reasonably high). There are others, but I'm not going through listing them all. I've attended a few caches throughout Ontario, some of which had a donation jar, or a vary small fee to cover accommidations. We've also purchased coins and other items from groups hosting events in order to assist with the costs. The point of the thread wasn't to beat on covering costs, just $60 (plus fuel in the example knowschad mentioned) is getting pretty steep. Unlike my example, the extra funds left over are not going to a charity.

That is actually a pretty good idea. Good idea, oh yes. But bad news, gambling laws in some states. There always has to be a catch in some areas. Kind of like how as an event host, we can technically be held liable if someone gets hurt, health inspectors will have a field day if you have a bbq without proper licensing, etc. What might get you around the gambling rules in some area is a skill testing question. The winners technically earned their prize, and it's simply a trade of services. Might not work everywhere though

Look who owns the event though. Donno if any of the rules apply there.

That is actually a pretty good idea.

+1 I think one or two may have had a donation jar, but even that is exceedingly rare. What would the expenses be? Generally we use picnic shelters in public parks, any food is generally pot-luck. Prizes are donated. MOST municipalities require a reservation fee to use the shelters. Such is the case at Miesville Ravine. However, if you're willing to take your chances that a shelter is available, it is first-come-first-served for free if no one else shows up. I've been lucky five years running at Minnesota Canoe-in Geocaching Event but I suspect some day our luck will run out. Luckily, reservations many times require a minimum window which means, at least in Dakota County, that within 21 days of my event I'll know if the shelter has been officially reserved or not. If it hasn't been reserved within the 21 days I know I'll get the shelter by being there earliest. I guess my point is, public shelters in public parks can easily have a cost that you may or may not be aware of. For my canoe events, there's an optional shuttle fee. You don't have to pay it. But if you don't, you can't get on the bus.. unless you sneak on. I'm not sure about in your case, but locally, city owned buildings and properties that carry a fee to "rent", include insurance in the cost of using these sites. The last time I looked into renting a city owned building for geocaching, it was ~$100, which included the use of the building and insurance. A lot of the time, we'll use buildings owned by volunteer local groups (lion's club, local leagion, etc).

I thought I would see what others thought and do regarding covering event costs. I know personally, Whatever I can't get donated or at a discount, I absorb personally. Sometimes if the cost is a bit high (renting a hall or building), a donation jar is used (all extra funds above the major cost gets rolled back into another event). That being said, I am noticing a lot of events lately are now requesting an upfront charge (some as high as $60 a team). I know in most cases, this would never pass the reviewer, so it's a page edit after the approval. So... even if it's a great event, how high of an admission to an event is too high? Is charging to attend the new direction of GC events? I've been to a couple events where a donation jar was used or a small ($2-$5) fee was requested to cover the cost or renting the facilities.

I know a couple people have been after me to get the trip report (photos and tracks) online for my recent trip to Ishpatina Ridge (highest point in Ontario). After a couple computer issues, and other issues, I finally got everything online. I've been keeping all my info (collected online and through personal experience) in a thread on the Northern Ontario Geocachers forum. The thread can be found here; Ishpatina Ridge (Travel Resource info) The last post contains the most recent "by land" data. If anyone has more information to add (aspecially the by water/canoe trip), please feel free to add more info.

That's how you tell the difference between black bear and grizzley bear scat - black bear scat is smallish and usually contains berries. Grizzley bear scat contains bear bells and tastes like pepper spray. That right there made my day (and made me laugh out loud). You hit the nail on the head! Most likely, if the bear knows you are coming, you will never see him -- he is already gone (speaking of black bears)! You cannot imagine how quickly (and quietly) a large animal can melt into the foliage. You've got to see it once to understand. Normally, a black bear isn't a big problem, they are gonna run when they see/notice you. Two seasons are tricky. Cub season and breeding season -- either time, you are intruding and they just may take offense to that. Cub season is long, breeding season is relatively short. Making noise (bells or otherwise) helps to insure that encounters are held to a minimum. Double quoted the two of you as you are both correct. As for large animals melting into the bush... If you ever get to see a Huge moose dart into the bush with a full rack tucked across his shoulders.. That is amazing to see.

Wow, must be nice. Or tempting at least. Mind if you send me the website-if you don't want to post it on here a PM would be Ok. It's good and bad having a geocaching store. The up side, I can grab what ever I want when I want. The bad, we don't get to really enjoy events as much as we're behind a table. People also assume we make actual money from being vendors. My wife's store is Up North Tracks (http://UpNorthTracks.com). Other then the geobike coins, there really won't be much of interest to those south of the border.

If you hear LOTS of bells, don't worry -- that bear is already full and likely is not hungry anymore! haha, nice Either hunters can have hearing damage from fireing their guns without hearing protection, or they have hearing protection and can't here the bell... Have you ever seen someone hunting with hearing protection? I haven't, unless you count those volume limited hearing aid things. I was suggesting both blazing orange and the bell. Most hunters I know don't loose hearing in both ears.

Ebay? If you pop into your local camera development shop and ask for them, they'll either give them to you for nothing, or save them for you. I did a quick round a year or two ago, and had almost a hundred good film cans between three stores (same mall). To the OP... Swag - Thrift store Containers - Walmart (Lock & locks), surplus shop - Ammo cans Geocaching Specific Stuff - Wife's online store (aka second floor office in the house)

Although slightly off topic, I had just read through this GC page before noticing this thread. Travel and GeoTourism Looks like Groundspeak is already in the tourist market