danielwest76

Has anyone used an RV to do the ET Highway powertrail? What has the experience been?

I would leave it to the CO to police who's logged their caches. The only time I've ever called finds into question on my own caches is when people have logged my challenge caches without first completing the challenge.

Needles is one of the items where I draw a line. I also draw the line at picking up feminine hygiene products (saw at least two on last weekend's expedition), doggy poo bags and full garbage bags (space constraints really, I drive a little Mazda, not a full sized garbage truck)

I can think of probably half a dozen caches right off hand that fit what I'm describing, but only one of them is on a power trail, the rest are stand-alone caches where the CO had the free choice to place it there, rather than just being dictated to by the gps. Roadside power trails do have their own issues with litter that people throw out their windows as they drive by. Last Sunday my fiancee and I were out and did 68 caches on the London Loop and decided to pick up litter at each stop. At a few caches we had to do some looking to find at least one piece of litter to pick up, but at most caches we easily were able to remove several pieces of litter. Sadly there were numerous locations where we simply had to draw the line and stop picking up once our hands were full. We ended the day with three garbage bags, two Walmart bags, about 2 dozen alcohol bottles/cans, several hubcaps and a few other miscellaneous items.

My apologies...has been edited. I don't mind CITO'ing a location where garbage has accumulated, but I refuse to CITO an area where a CO has deliberately place a cache in garbage. That just shows them that someone will clean up after their bad decisions.

Far too often lately I'm coming across caches that have be purposely placed in garbage. Not older caches that have accumulated garbage in the area, but newly placed caches where it's a 99.9% likelihood that the garbage was there first. Are CO's blind when they place these caches? Do they see all the garbage and still somehow think it's a great idea to bring people to this location? And then there's all the cachers that go to find the cache and very few if any make mention of the absolute mess that GZ is, instead complimenting it as a 'great hide!'. I'm sorry, but in my mind litter-strewn areas filled with used needles etc are bad places to hide caches. If we don't speak up a bit more vocally against these kind of hides then we're going to see more and more of them as a new generation of cachers think them to be acceptable. What's other people's thoughts?

We haven't yet had a tar & feathering that I'm aware of...the reviewers turned it down last time it was suggested as an event theme...lol By my count there are at least 8 upcoming events in your area, including my own http://coord.info/GC3C2JY next Saturday. I have no tar, and my little chickens need their feathers themselves.

Well I see they were in a hurry to hear what you have to say on our behalf . I'm curious though: What makes you feel as though you are qualified to be speaking to the OPP on behalf of the geocaching community at large? More specifically, I wonder how some random Joe such as yourself thinks it might be a smart idea to wander into the police station to talk shop when we have an overseeing administrative group in Ontario (OGA) chock full of far more experienced cachers than yourself who'll respond to these incidents? You are neither the cache owner nor a representative of a caching association so I can't fathom why you think this is something you need to be involved with to the level of a personal meeting on your own with the OPP. Speaking personally, based on some of the things I've read from you in these forums, I wouldn't want you representing me for squat, and I imagine that I'm not alone. Let the proper people take the lead on this endeavour and just be patient on the sidelines while you learn a thing or two. You mean several months, 110 finds and 102 forum posts isn't enough to qualify someone as a caching guru and world-wide advocate for the game? The concern is appreciated. In spite of what may appear as flippant responses to the situation on the cache page, Facebook, this forum and other social media, the local caching community at large is deeply concerned about Wednesday's events as they will ultimately shape the direction of the game going forward. Humour though does make things easier to deal with and that's what you're seeing seeing here. I think what we're witnessing here is a situation where a person doesn't yet know how much they don't yet know. Quoting GC.com guidelines for everything and going off half-cocked isn't going to make any situation better, in fact, it may well make things worse. Open yourself to the idea that there is much to learn...and perhaps you may just learn it from those that know...

As of yesterday afternoon there had been no gc code, BUT the OP did email the CO with another rather taunting email

Mr. Yuck, I'll put your name in with the CO, I'm pretty sure he's still looking for names, and I like your style here. Lol

Interesting. Apparently not the first "London Loop" cache where there was a problem, and the cache owner couldn't even friggin' tell which cache of theirs it was that had a problem, or who the land owner was to contact. http://coord.info/GC2TKGD (Long story short, the cache owner obviously talked to the wrong land owner, and as I said previously, had no clue themselves which cache it was). But hey, I'll bet you they were within 5 caches and 2,500 feet of the correct one. Sorry, but if you have a cache out there, and can't even tell which one it is that has a problem, that is just like totally over the top, in my humble opinion. You're very true in saying this isn't the first London Loop cache that's had a problem, and it's unlikely to be the last London Loop cache with a problem. Is that to say that London Loop caches are nothing but problems? No. The more caches you place the greater your odds of encountering a problem with one of them. Show me a CO who has NEVER had a problem with any of their caches and I'll show you someone who has placed very few, if any caches. I have about 45 caches out in the wild, all non-power trail hides and I've had problems with some of them. The key in resolving problems is that when someone reports a problem they take the time to give ALL the specifics to the CO... GC-code, cache name, physical description of the area, co-ordinates...anything and everything that will allow the CO who has more than one hide to quickly and accurately determine which cache is being talked about. For a relative newbie to send a CO an email saying that his neighbor has an issue with a cache placement falls far short of being able to identify where the cache is. As of yet the OP hasn't appeared at any social caching events so that the locals might get to know who he is. None of us yet knows where he lives, as we do with many of our caching friends (if treknschmidt told me their neighbor didn't like my cache being in front of their property I would know exactly which one it was...OP, haven't a clue...) It all comes back to effective communication with a true desire to resolve the issue, if the OP refuses to provide the information needed solve the problem, and instead decides to escalate the problem by sending more hostile emails and starting forum threads nothing will get resolved...though it does make for amusing reading for those of us outside of the situation.

Why didn't the responsible CO reply to the email sent by the OP and ask for the GC code himself if he wasn't clear which cache was being discussed? To further enlighten, the OP is a newbie cacher in the area and by his own admission in a previous thread has taken up the role of 'cache cop' in the area. This current thread is but the latest in a recent string of run-ins between the CO and the OP, to the point that the CO has complained to Groundspeak and has been instructed not to contact the OP. So...the CO is stuck in a catch-22 situation. He wishes to resolve the issue, but for fear of further inflaming the situation can't. Perhaps the OP would lay his cards on the table and post the GC code here for all to see, or do what others have suggested in placing a NA so that at least then the CO would have a positive id on what cache has the issue.

Perhaps I'll elaborate a bit more on my post four comments ago. I know the CO personally, and have been receiving his side of the story over the past week or two. He would be happy to remove the cache as he does not wish any of his caches to cause issues for people. Unfortunately he has nearly 400 caches on this particular trail, and to date has not been provided with enough information (ie. GC-code or cache name) to be able to remove and archive the cache. He's a responsible cache owner and has archived numerous caches along his trail when issues have been brought to his attention.

Here's a thought...have you told the cache owner what the GC code is for the cache? Or perhaps the name of the cache? A lot of cachers have more than one cache, so unless specifics are given as to the exact cache in question it can sometimes be difficult to narrow down which cache needs the attention. I personally have 45 or so caches placed...if someone told me that my cache in the spruce tree needs attention that would only narrow it down to less than 10. Without specifics the CO isn't going to be able to do much unless this is the only cache they own.

Here's the simple answer. If you don't like a particular cacher's style of hides, DON'T DO THEM!!!! There is nothing saying you have to find a cache just because it's there. Click the ignore button. Yes, it takes a bit of time to clear off caches that you don't like, but a lot less time than going out, making the find, discovering you didn't like it, writing a log/series of emails b***hing about it. Just ignore them and get on with life. I've done that with a number of caches in the area, and some regarding specific hiders. Makes my life a whole lot more pleasant not thinking about their caches that I don't like. The beauty of this activity is that there's cache styles for all people. You won't like all the caches out there, get over it! As for wet/frozen, last I looked it's winter out in Southwestern Ontario. That fact alone is hard on the best of caches out there. The good cache owners out there will make a sweep of their caches once winter passes (no point dealing with frozen caches until it thaws).

That's a good idea too...if anyone knows of a location that would work in Edinburgh could they let me know? We'll be staying at the West End Travel Lodge, 69 Belford Road.

My girlfriend (treasuredtrio) and I will be in Edinburgh November 22 visiting from Canada with her two girls. Wondering if anyone would be interested in putting together a casual family-friendly caching event at a restaurant so that we could meet some fellow cachers. We'll be staying about a mile or so north west of the castle, I can email the address to give a better idea to anyone who's interested. I'm somewhat familiar with the city centre as I've been there several times myself. Thanks, Daniel

On my way over to Scotland at the end of August and looking for some recommendations for caches to find. Most of our time will be spent north of Inverness, so plan to systematically find as many caches as possible up there, but looking for ideas for the drive up from Glasgow and back. Our likely route north will be along Loch Lomond-Fort William-Loch Ness-Inverness, and on the way south-bound taking the A9. The way north we'll have just got off an over night flight, so looking for quick easy caches that won't add too much extra time to the 5 hr drive, but would give my cousin a great taste of the Scottish countryside (I'm a many time visitor) The way back down will be a bit more leisurely, so looking for creative/imaginative hides as well as seeing anything a bit different that a tourist might pass by. Spending a couple nights in Glasgow and Edinburgh, so a few must-finds there would be great too.

thanks for this question...was about to ask it myself. planning a trip there in about 7 weeks...