Eagle and the nuts

I found a few caches a couple years ago, but a tragic event in my family prevented me from logging them in a timely manner. For the next few months my life was in such turmoil, that logging those caches was the last thing on my mind. I ended up in the witness relocation program which ended all hope of ever logging them. But, three months ago there were events that led to me being able to return to my life. I was able to log most of the 13 caches I had found that day years ago. Okay, this whole story is a load of crap, but it shows there are reasons for late logging.

In early Dec, 2008, I went with my son's Boy Scout patrol on a hike. His scoutmaster had a GPS with him. He mentioned a couple times on the hike about a geocache in the area that he couldn't find. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was interested in that fancy electronic compass he had. I guess I talked about it a lot at home, cause Santa brought me a Magellan Triton. The scoutmaster gave me the website and a new hobby was born.

I hunted one this last weekend that had been in my GPS for over a year. I found a container melted by a controlled burn. When I tried to post a "needs maint" log, I found it had been archived. I was back out in the area the next day trying to find the trail to a different cache and found myself near the melted container. I picked it up and disposed of it properly since the CO didn't bother with it. Since I "found it", and cleaned up when the CO did not, I felt it was my right to log it.

Joey is the newest member of our team. He is an eight month old goldadore. He is also a guide dog puppy for Southeast Guide Dogs. We will be caching with him for about a year, then we return him to the school for his final training. I would love to add a picture, but I haven't been able to figure out how to attach it. Can anyone help?

There is a 14 stage multi GCW387 in my area that is almost a legend. It is along an orienteering course set up in a wilderness park. The final stage is a puzzle requiring info from each stage. It can easily take over eight hours to complete, and many people take two or more days. The cache owner is very helpful if you are having problems finding any of the stages and is very quick to to replace any of the 14 ammo cans that may need it. You can tell from the logs that everyone that completes this, loves it. I probably would not have considered wasting my time on it when I could have easily gotten 20 or more other caches in the same park. But, we were at an event in the park and there was a lot of talk about it. My wife wanted to try it. I spent the better part of two days on this multi with my family, and would happily accompany other geocaching friends on their quest, but only after finding a bunch of the others first.

That is the easiest puzzle cache I have seen yet. Takes two minutes to solve. Anybody asking for help on this one has to smack themselves on the head and be very embarrased to have asked for help. Anyone helping them to solve it on this forum need to spank themselves. And no, I am NOT familiar with this code, (that is why it took me more than 5 seconds to decode it) but it should be instantly recognizable to almost anyone. I applaud the cache owner for drawing our attention to this code and the reason it was developed. They could have made this puzzle much more challenging, but that clearly was not their intent.

The first name in the log is the FTF, but you will never convince your friend of this. He can play the game any way he wants. If he really feels he earned the FTF, let him add it to his stats. But, since he didn't find it, how does he know he was the first one to not find it? How many other caches has he logged, but not found?Most cachers will agree that you earned it, so you can put it in your stats too. Groundspeack doesn't care.

I find some caches that way, and I know others do too. Just don't hide any till you get a GPS.

If somebody dared to hide a micro right where you had been planning to hide an ammo can for the last two years, but just haven't gotten around to it yet, then they deserve to have it go missing. Several times. Keep it up till they archive it in frustration. Then start planning that ammo can again. OK, I am kidding. I also hate when I find a new micro hidden someplace where a lock & lock or ammo can would have been much better. But, I can only get mad at myself for not getting there first with a "real" cache. To all you micro hiders, go right ahead and put your caches out. We will still go out and look for them. We may curse them, and fill the forums with our opinions. But we will still look for them. Just don't try to mislead us by checking the "other" size. Be proud of your micro.

Sometimes a missing and reappearing cache is just a matter of timing. I was after what seemed like a new, simple lamp post hide in a medical center parking lot, but couldn't find a thing. I logged the DNF and after a few days, checked the logs to see if there were any more finds or DNFs. There was a log from a finder that had to leave the area because of a security guard before she was able to return the cache to it's hiding place. By the time she put it back the next day, I had tried to find it. I appreciated her log and was soon able to log my own smiley.

I just finished viewing all the videos and evidence on this and have to say this is really wild. I will keep my eyes open down here in the Brandon area, just in case MOAC shows up here.

GC386C has been archived.

Be responsible with trackables and stop stealing them. It is a lot more fun to watch their progress aound the world than to throw them in the trash.

I am from the same area and and saw a very dramatic rise in missing trackables in just the last three or four months. The caches still have the regular swag. We have a thief in the area that gets his jollies by taking trackables. He probably prints out these forum posts and wallpapers his room with them like all the sickos you see on TV.

You probably haven't seen in these forums all the people talking about how "lame" altoids tins are for caches. That might be why they go missing so often, lots of cachers don't like them. Cachers really like ammo cans, which may be why they go missing, too.

That comment is just plain rude. I have asked the CO for a hint. The only reason I asked here was for a better understanding of the cache type since I had not done one of these before. And yes, I have read the logs. Sorry, I did not mean to be rude. There are a lot of comments in the forums that might sound rude, but weren't meant that way. You didn't mention asking the CO for a hint. But I do stand by my feelings that asking in a forum like this is a last resort when all other attempts to solve the puzzle have failed. You probably don't want a cheap shortcut, but that is what will (and did) happen. I also enjoy the puzzle caches and I have asked for hints, but I am always afraid I will get a bigger hint than I want. Please enjoy the puzzle and forgive my comment.

This cache DOES give enough info to solve the puzzle. It just takes some "searching" (hint hint) to figure out the hint. If you still can't get it, I think it is much better to review the logs for hints, or ask the CO or somebody who has logged the find to give another hint. Asking in a forum seems to be a cheap shortcut to a smiley. Even if you are only wanting a hint to help get started in the right direction, somebody will spoil it by blurting out the complete answer. My family was very frustrated on our first "OYR Wannabe" cache, but once we figured it out, we loved the concept! There is a very funny story about we loved this one so much, but there is no way to tell the story without spoiling the puzzle.

I just found some clipart on-line and used Microsoft Paint (included in almost every version of Windows) to make modifications.

I, like most cachers, will agree that “newbies” should refrain from hiding caches until they have some experience, but we don’t need to put restrictions on it. It is impossible to set a standard on experience. There are cachers out there with lots of experience on their family’s account, that finally get their own. My son has has over 300 finds with our family, but will soon be getting his own account and placing his first hide as part of the new Geocaching merit badge. There are also cachers out there with over a thousand finds, that I would question. I know a few couples that have separate accounts, but only one of them actually hunts them while the other stays in the car or even stays at home. Yet, they both log the finds. I am not saying what they are doing is wrong, they are playing the game they way they want to and not hurting anybody. Almost all newbies started because of a friend that helped them on their first find. That same friend needs to help them on their first hide. Remember that this is a game, it is intended to be fun. Let’s not ruin it with a lot more complicated rules. Which cache is more fun for you: the lightpost skirt in the Walmart parking lot, or the one where you weren’t sure just what side of the street it was on? You fell down a few times learning to ride a bike, but it was easier when somebody helped you. When your own kid was learning to ride a bike, did you just watch from the window and get upset every time he fell? Maybe complain if he fell against your car and put a small scratch on it? Or did you go out and help him learn? If somebody goes out and hides a cache without a full understanding of what they should be doing, it just makes it a little more challenging to find. Whether you are out there for the numbers, or the challenge, these newbie hides will give it to you. Yes, they should use more common sense and get more experience first, but they will sometimes hide before they are ready. They will make mistakes, but what good is our experience if we don’t use it to politely help them learn?

I ran a My Finds pocket query today to update my Logicweave Cachestats, and every cache is showing todays date. I am running the latest version of cachestats, 3.0.6 I update my stats every week, this is the first time I have seen this problem. Does anyone know how to fix this, or do I just wait a week till I can run a new pocket query and hope it works right?

I swear I saw Elvis near a cache a couple weeks ago. The National Enquirer confirmed my sighting.

I was caching with my family at a park in Florida. My wife and 8 year old son were a few yards ahead of me on a trail beside a lake. I was very startled when a 8-10 ft alligator suddenly bolted out of grass about two feet away from me and into the lake. Yea, startled, not scared. Then I realized that my wife and young son had passed the same gator just a few seconds before me. That is what scared me.

Lawyers are going to be the reason for the end of civilization

There is a 14 stage multi GCW387 in my area that is almost a legend. It is along an orienteering course set up in a wilderness park. The final stage is a puzzle requiring info from each stage. It can easily take over eight hours to complete, and many people take two or more days. The cache owner is very helpful if you are having problems finding any of the stages and is very quick to to replace any of the 14 ammo cans that may need it. You can tell from the logs that everyone that completes this, loves it. I spent the better part of two days on this multi with my family, and would happily accompany other geocaching friends on their quest.

My family is thinking about camping in Georgia for a week this April. We would appreciate any suggestions from locals for state parks or other places for a family with grade school aged children to camp, hike, bike, geocache, etc. We would also like to be able to take day trips to other tourist type attractions. Any ideas out there?