Sol seaker

I don't watch TV, but I'd think they would be all over this by now. For those of you like me, who don't watch it, or haven't lately while planning your weekend caching trip, you might want to hold off on those Rattlesnake Ridge caches that I have been recently mentioning. They found the bunker of the guy who shot his wife and daughter in North Bend WA. They say it's near the Rattlesnake Ridge trailhead, but they don't say which one. Bunker found on Rattlesnake Ridge But best, in this case, to put off til tomorrow (or next week) what you might have done today (or this weekend). Maybe work on that new blackout challenge cache for Cougar Mtn or something.

Agreed. To do it manually you at very least need to wait and hour and come back. Then another hour. The idea is to give the satellites a chance to move around. You are very correct about needing a real GPS and not hiding caches with a phone. I've seen caches hidden with a phone be 100 feet off.

uh.... right off of the middle of the top of that page, not even in fine print, "Please do not host these geocache log sheets on another site or link directly to them." Uhh, what's the problem? Lieblweb didn't link directly to any of them, but rather to the page. I'm not sure if you're being a smart-aleck or if you are just quoting fact. It is true it is not clear on that page. I emailed him to ask clarification. Perhaps it is just to the actual logs sheets themselves. and yes, you would just add a sheet, rather than replacing, since the cache owner may wish to see the signatures. If the container is too small to fit two log sheets (which happens) you can either just write a "needs maintenance" note, or save the log sheet and email the owner and ask if they would like it mailed to them. Some people will take photos of it and send those to the cache owner. I've done it both of the first two ways. It depends on the situation. Most caches you can just add paper though.

Newbie to Geocaching here, but eventually I want to start placing caches. (Long time from now, probably). How do I know, when placing it, whether it's "evil" or not? I don't want to be evil Some people like evil caches. But if you place one you've got to be prepared for unhappy cachers. Yeah, best to start with standard caches. Evil hides are those that are difficult to find because the cache owner has intentionally made them really, really hard to find. For instance, a fake rock cache, in a large field of rocks, or in a rock wall, behind another rock. Many evil hides you can look right at them and not know you're seeing them. You can touch them and not know they are a cache. Things that are made to blend in really well. Let's see, one of the best I found was a metal plate on the leg of a guardrail. The plate was well done,the same color as the metal it was attached to. It was held on by magnets. The only way to know it was the cache was to notice that the bolts on the other side did not go all the way through. That was a high quality evil cache. The low quality evil caches are "needle in a haystack" sort of hides. I love the high quality ones. I hate the low quality ones. I'll walk away from needle in haystack hides. I'll keep coming back and searching for a high quality evil hide. You can avoid looking for any evil hide for a while by checking the difficulty rating. The evil hides will generally be 3 difficulty and above, although not all caches that are in that difficulty range are evil. It depends on the placement. It can be a standard hide that is just well hidden.

There aren't any rules as to when you log your find, but I prefer to do it right away. That way I remember the cache 1. which one I did 2. any maintenance notes the owner needs to know 3. any special fun remarks I can make about my journey to find it (or not find it) 4. If I didn't find it, then the owner knows right away, in case it's missing. If I can't find a cache today, and don't log it for a few months then the owner won't have that log that can help him determine he needs to check on the cache or not. If I find a cache today, and log it three months later (or two weeks) then the last 4 people may not have found it, and then the owner may see my log and determine the cache is really still there, when it's not. You can carefully track the dates to keep mix-ups like that from happening, or you can just log them right away and make it easy on yourself. Logging a cache is also a thank you to the cache owner. they invest money and time in keeping their cache up and running. It's good to appreciate it. Crayons are great!! If it's a really big log book you can even draw pictures. (for nano's you will need a pen to be legible though)

Yes, the log is inside the cache box. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. Sometimes the log gets wet. A lot of us like to carry spare log paper and baggies to put them in. It's not mandatory. But if you come across a log too wet to sign it's nice to be prepared. I'm not sure where you are at, but here in the Northwest US it happens a lot. If you're in a drier region, it may not be necessary, I don't know. You had asked what else to take, so I just thought I'd mention it. No biggie. The first thing is to have fun!!

Good to have a new best friend then. I can always use more. Will you be at the Block Party BF? Be sure and have a large name tag and I'll come by and say hello!

Wow, that is so sad. They were so young. Please pass my condolences on to their families. Let me know if more caches need adopting.

I love ziplines, but you can put a zipline many places. that is an old second growth forest that is becoming more and more rare. Think about coming across a cache in the woods that people can't find. Just came across one of those Sunday. There are trails all over, vegetation trampled. Plants can't grow in those areas. Just how many cachers actually show up at any of those caches? Perhaps one a day? Maybe not that many. Now imagine how trampled an area would be with 12 ziplines criss-crossing it. They are trying to attract the 350000 tourists that come to that area for the wineries with shuttles from 22 of them. They also are trying to attract locals. There will be a gift shop, and many other buildings there. How many people per day are going to be trampling that forest? A hundred? more? Imagine if a hundred people came to a cache deep in the woods. What would that area look like? I guess it comes down to a question of values. What is important to us? If you like ziplines, there are already parks available. Or they can build more in areas that aren't really nice forest areas. There are many possible places that are not such nice natural wild forest areas. There's one in Bellevue. Here's a couple more. Camano Island (at the Kristoferson Farm) Canopy Tours Northwest 332 NE Camano Dr. Camano Island, WA 98282 360-387-5807 http://www.canopytoursnw.com > Breathtaking Forest Adventures: 6 double-cable zip lines, log bridge, and dramatic 54-foot final rappel. Just an hour's drive from Seattle at historic Kristoferson Farm. San Juan Island Zip San Juan Friday Harbor San Juan, Washington 98250 360 378 5947 http://www.zipsanjuan.com > 8 zip lines and a bridge between trees and over lakes and wetlands on 40 acres of forest on San Juan island. 3 hour zip line course comprised of six main zip lines, plus two practice zip lines at the beginning. They range from from 15 to 50 feet above the ground. The tour includes transport from downtown Friday Harbor and back.

uh.... right off of the middle of the top of that page, not even in fine print, "Please do not host these geocache log sheets on another site or link directly to them."

Don't worry if you have trouble finding your first couple of caches. That's common. After a while you'll see how people hide them and it will get easier. If you're looking for them in the woods, generally it will be easier. At least that's how it is around here. You don't have to trade items, but I always carry something just in case. I take foreign coins, because people like those and they're easy to carry. I also save small nice stuff that I don't need anymore. Think about what you'd like to find in a cache. I also picked up some mini-screwdrivers from the dollar store, two for a dollar. Those are good trade items, I think. They say, "Trade even or trade up". Sometimes it's fun to just leave nice stuff for the next guy. Often people carry spare paper for logs in case the log is wet. I like to carry paper that is called "write in the rain" paper because it holds up better, but it's hard to find, so any regular paper is good. I got little tiny notebooks from the party store, so I use those too. You can't tell whether the cache has been taken or if you just can't find it, so just mark it "DNF" (did not find) and the owner will figure it out. Have a lot of fun!!!

I agree that if you use your hands to climb, it should be at least a 4. You've got to remember, that those tree caches may be fine for a 12 year old, or 16 year old, but a great deal of the cachers out there are over 50 and haven't climbed a tree in 35 years. It's not going to be very easy. I've done 5 caches that were easier than some of the tree climbs I've attempted. Like the one this week. He rated it a 4.5 which is fair. I didn't make it even part of the way up. I had the wrong shoes anyway (didn't know I was going to it, or even that it was there) and slipped and my full weight was on the center of one of my arm bones. If I didn't have such strong bones it would have snapped. I got down. No cache. I've done 5's that were easier.

Are you sure it's a joke? Has anyone replied and asked what he charges??? Dare ya... Here's the ad, since this thread will live on forever, but the ad won't. Don't have the time to go Geocaching? High gas prices got your Geocache find ratio down? I am a professional Geocacher and I will do the Geocaching for you. I guarantee to boost your Geocaching stats with a zero DNF rate. Just choose the number of smileys you would like per day in a certain area and watch your numbers go through the roof. I also provide a First To Find service that is unmatched. So, remember, It's all about the numbers...otherwise, they wouldn't keep score! Cheers!

It wasn't that long ago that I went, but they have moved. They're not far from where they were before, but I think I'll go again before long. If you can come out around the time of the Block Party, it was a total blast last year!!! I went early, planning on leaving after an hour at most, and I stayed all the way until after it was over. A whole lot of fun!!! I'm glad I was there early. I still didn't get to do everything that was available. The only thing is that I don't know if they'll be giving tours during the party. I seem to remember they weren't, but I could be wrong. They had the party Saturday last year, so it would be easy to visit on Friday before. I'd make really early reservations for that day though!!!! I enjoyed my visit there. Have fun, and be sure to hit some of the other caches in the area. I recommend the "Tubular Series" by Dayspring Those are the best!!! Also, the day after the Block Party there is a mega-event up highway 90 at the Snoqualmie Tunnel near the Ape cache replacement. That's also across the freeway from the oldest cache in WA. Have fun!!

I had a new cacher log, "Found it again." I checked and he had logged it previously. I wrote him an email and politely explained the game, that you can only "find" a cache once, and after that you already know where it is, so you can't "find" it and asked him to delete one of the logs himself. He never did so I finally did. Another new cacher didn't sign the log, saying they had forgotten a pen. That cache is about a mile and a half from a car. I let it slide that time, but wrote an email explaining that it's a rule they have to sign it and that as a cacher they have to learn to carry pens with them. Oh, I remember. I asked them to describe the container. It's highly unusual. They did and I let it stand. I guess it just depends what mood you're in. It's good they learn the rules early on really. But it's good to not be a hard-a**. I'd write them an email nicely explaining it all and ask them to delete it themselves. Maybe if they didn't I'd let it go.

Finding bodies while geocaching is something I keep in mind a lot. I've been in a whole lot of areas where I'm sure that is a distinct possibility. Some were so creepy I was almost sure of it. I've cached in a lot of areas where the Green River killer dumped his bodies. They don't know if they've found them all, so I stick to the trails. The killer doesn't remember how many he killed. Somewhere over 90 I guess. Once place I was at where he dumped bodies, I was way off in the woods looking for the cache and I really felt like I was being watched. I couldn't see or hear anyone, but it was really intense. I got out of there as fast as I could. There was once I almost made that bookmark list myself. We were finding a cache by small boat. We found the cache and pulled up on the shore nearby to dump out the leaves or something. I walked a short distance away, before my partner's insistence called me back. It was a few months later that they found a body there that had been there over 6 months. It was certainly there when I was. I don't know why my partner had so insistently called me back. Sometimes we have a sixth sense about these things I'm sure.

and they kindly moved it anyway. I've got an etrex H and I love it. Mind you, I've got an Oregon 400T to use along side of it, but my H is much more accurate than my 400T. You CAN enter coords by hand. I used mine for a long time before I got the cable. You hit "mark" which gives you where you are, then you change the coords for that spot. You have to scroll through them and use the arrow up and down keys to change them, it's a pain in the fingertips but it works.

Every time I get stuck on searching some object, it turns out not to be on that object at all. I've spent eons on multiple trips, searching one fence and come to find out it's in the plants nearby. Try taking some other cachers with you. More eyes are usually better. It always makes me search harder too for some reason. Maybe the self-esteem thing again.

You put a question mark after "clothes"? Hey, there are a lot of people who don't bother. Say "Nudecacher" and he always shows up here. See if he does this time. I've put about 20.00 into my caches, 150. GPS (ebay), I've bought a little swag, but usually just use what I find when I declutter. I've placed some good stuff. Gas, well I would have gone there for those hikes anyway, so I don't really count that. Yes I've used more but I can't even guess. On a weekly basis I travel around a lot so I tend to grab caches where I go. I try to plan my caching around other trips. Overall, I really spend very little for a hobby I enjoy so much. I used to be into sports that were really expensive. I put around $20,000.00 into gear for one of them. Skiing was expensive too. I'm glad they don't sell 50.00 per day lift tickets for caching. Or are they more now?

If that is the case then the way to get even is to beat T.Y. at the FTF game, not put out a cache that may or may not have been in jest that can be interpreted to have one obvious meaning. T.Y. lives near the center of the state of NH where the majority of caches are placed and has a chance to get FTFs if he wants to put the time and effort (and diesel!) into getting them. I've been FTF on 175 in the last 9 months alone and although I'm sure T.Y. mutters under his breath when he sees my name first in a logbook, as he has several times, we still co-exist at the weekly get-together at Milly's where everyone has a great time exchanging good natured barbs face to face. I can't condone, at all, putting out a cache that calls out another cacher. That is really bad form, in my opinion. However, is it really necessary to enumerate your count of FTF's in this post? Does it matter in the context of this thread, other than "you find a lot of them, and this apparently annoys some?" Listing this just comes off as bragging, and might be considered mildly obnoxious. Taking the high-ground just makes the person who created the F.U.T.Y. cache look like even more of a bad sport, in my opinion. You know, you bring up an excellent point there, MR. B. TY could have just come here and said "he's ticked because I have a lot of FTF's". But he enumerates them in a specific time period, and talks about having one in Virginia, and hoping to get one in Florida. What the heck does getting a Florida FTF have to do with someone making an FU cache about you in New Hampshire? Now that you mention it, there is what can be considered the bragging that turns many people off about the FTF side game, written all over that post. Sorry, TY, but I do agree there!. Hmmmmm,, Actually I just mentioned it here.. Never do I brag about my FTF's at events or when I meet people.. I don't even update my profile on the number of FTF counts that I have or when I log them when I find them.. So, am I bragging?? I don't even think I'm coming close.. Good news is, I did get 2 more today.. LOL.. .. So you only brag on the forums then? I find that hard to believe since someone put out a cache like that for you. I think there is more to this story than we're hearing... as usual.

A really great cache hider in this area has a series of caches that are PVC pipes. It's the "tubular" series in Seattle. He's got them all attached to fence posts with zip ties. Non-permanent, easy to remove. They're all painted black to match the fence. He's had a multi up for years in a really crowded park along the shore of the Puget Sound. Hundreds of people walk by these tubes that are in plain sight every day. No one bothers them. They're really not easy to notice.

My ex got his Garmin Oregon 401T for 200.00 off of retail brand new, when the unit was new on the market. That was many years ago, and he still uses it to this day. Great machine! I bought my Oregon 401T (hey, lost use of his in the break-up) on ebay for 50. bucks last year. They were honest about what was wrong with it, and I got it fixed for 99. when the lowest units were running 300. + at that time. I paid half the going used price, and got a unit with a warranty. I used to buy tons off of ebay. You've got to be careful who you buy from and never buy something without a sellers warranty. I tend to buy from the same people, and they have given me even better deals than the general public.

My take on them is that they're not always muggles. I was signing a log along side of the road yesterday, and a woman pulled up in a van, rolled down her window and yelled, "Congratulations! You found it!! We found that one last week!" I was looking for a cache in a really crowded area next to a beach on Saturday. There were people everywhere. It was a hard one. I figured if I had to search that hard, KNOWING what I was looking for, they weren't likely to find it on accident. I was going by the ole, "if you ignore them they ignore you" idea. It usually works. One guy came up to me and said he was an electrical contractor (the cache was on electrical boxes) and he wanted to know what I was doing. I told him I was inspecting them. Then laughed and told him the truth. He gave me some suggestions of where to look. Neither of us found it. He walked off saying, "I'd hate to ruin it for you." NO WAIT!! I could have used the help. Oh well. Another time.

I am having fun exploring areas I've never been before. I found an area to hike in 2 weeks ago that I didn't even know was there. It's beautiful!!! It's going to take me a few more visits to find all the caches. Life is rough. I did the WA State Island Hopping Challenge cache last summer. Wow!!! I found caches on over 23 islands in Washington. It was the most amazing cache I've ever found. I took my inflatable boat to islands in lakes and rivers. I climbed two ropes, hand over hand up two cliffs to get to two caches. I took ferries to islands. I took sailboats to islands. I drove onto islands. I saw such incredible beauty and wildlife!! I saw 2 schools of dolphins. I saw a huge whale come up right near my little boat. I parked my boat in a cove that Great Blue Herons came to roost at. Hundreds of them. I explored islands I didn't even known existed!! It was so much fun I want to do the whole thing all over again!!

:laughing: :laughing: I was just reading the latest logs in the cache I just mentioned. I really love reading the logs of that cache. Did I say it's my favorite? Here's a good one: "For the record, when the boys 5th grade teacher asks him on Tuesday what he did over Easter vacation and he replies, “there ain’t no “F” in whey”, I’m having her call you. You might be able to explain it better. On the bright side, if he gets suspended we have time to run up and do another one!" The CO has a few of these extreme caches it seems. What fun!!!