gojkgo

I disagree. My experiences finding different kinds of caches has certainly broadened my understanding of what's out there, what's possible, what works, and what I like. Naturally I've discovered things I don't care for as much, but it's not like people start out with infinite tastes and spend their lives narrowing them as they discover things they don't like. And don't make the mistake of believing that ignorance spawns originality. That's so rarely the case. Look around this forum. How many ideas posted by newbies are brilliant and original? And how many are things that have been suggested a hundred times before? Good ideas are usually alchemy of our knowledge and past experiences. Experience informs that. Being exposed to mediocrity only dooms one to it if they're not creative, interested, or willing to put in the effort. I had no idea my opinion was going to be so controversial!

Not really, when my argument supports waiting to place caches.

No, I do get what you're saying. I just don't agree with it. I think I may have pinpointed a key difference in our mindsets. I don't want to put a cache out there with the lone criterion being that I like well enough. I want to put the best cache out there that I can. Maybe it's the designer in me, because in good design there's always an information-gathering step that comes before design or production. Anyway, we don't have to agree, you know.

Sounds like you'd really appreciate caching with an iPhone. The iPhone allows you to do spur-of-the-moment caching because it will search for caches near your current location, wherever you are. You can also search by address or for a particular cache by it's ID#, but the "find nearby" option is what makes the iPhone really special. Once you find caches nearby, the iPhone displays the coords (which can be manually put in to your GPS unit, or you can use the iPhone as a slightly less accurate GPS unit). Also displayed is the terrain and difficulty ratings, the cache size, the description, the hint (if there is one), and several of the most recent logs. Since the iPhone allows you to access the internet, you can also view the cache listing on the Groundspeak website to view all of the logs or to send an email to the cache owner if you're stumped and hoping for a clue. To save the iPhone's battery, some cachers who have other GPS units in addition to their iPhone will pull up a list of caches they want to do, then use the app's "save for offline use" feature. They can then turn off the internet and GPS capabilities of the iPhone and use their GPS for that part of it, using the iPhone for information on the caches. You can also use the app on the iTouch, but it will not have GPS capabilities. Because of this, I'm not sure the "find nearby caches" thing works, because it doesn't know where you are. I think you can still enter in an address and pull up caches near that address.

Why not put the whole thing near the spot where you want your final cache to be?

What someone likes when they first start geocaching and everything is new and exciting, and what they like after the novelty wears off and they have some finds under their belt, can be two different things. It's kind of like beer. If you've only had one or two beers in your life, and you walk into a bar that sells 200 different kinds of beer, are you as likely to pick one that you'll really like as you would be if you've already tried 50 different kinds of beers? 100? At some point, wouldn't you realize that you like brown ales better than porters or pale ales better than spiced beers? You might have thought those two beers you had were good, even if they were actually swill, because it was new and exciting and you didn't really have a frame of reference. That doesn't mean you'll have the same opinion after you've sampled many more. I'm not really sure how to explain this better, but it probably doesn't matter. It's just my opinion.

I absolutely agree that people have different preferences and that people should place hides that they'd like to find. That's actually at the foundation of my point. I've found it takes some finds and some exposure to different situations to really know what those preferences are. Why not take some time and figure out your preferences, what you think a good cache is, before placing one? That's been my point all along.

Saying or implying that geocaching is just someone hiding a container and someone else finding it is an oversimplification. It ignores the details and the nuances. It actually kind of cheapens the sheer amount of thought and creativity that some people have put into their hides. There's a big difference between a cache hidden under some garbage in a patch of dirty scrub near an industrial park and a cleverly camo'd cache hidden creatively along a lovely nature trail in an underused park. Both are containers hid by someone and found by someone else, but that's where the resemblance stops. Experience broadens our tastes and understanding of the world. That's just how it works. When we first started geocaching, if there was a cache hidden where it was supposed to be, we were ecstatic. It was so novel to us that the rest of the details didn't really matter. There was a hidden cache, and we found it. All was good. As the novelty wore off a bit, other things started becoming more important. We started to develop preferences for certain variables. We most like being taken to parks, for example. We prefer there to be a hint if it's a micro in the woods, or rated high in difficulty. We've noticed certain types of containers work better than others for keeping things dry. I could go on, but I'm sure you don't care. The point is, as a result of our experience, I do think we'd be better able to place a cache we'd most enjoy hunting for now than we would have when we first started.

What's described above is how we enter custom waypoints on our garmin etrex summit HC.

That's so cool! I would love to find art in a cache. Reminds me of ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions, & Originals) I see on Etsy.com. One of these days I'm going to break down and start collecting those, but I'm virtuously trying to resist - I need another cash bandit like I need another time bandit!

Apologies if you know this already, but is your GPS unit powered on when you are trying this?

*sigh* point taken.

Took me a second; I think you mean thumbnail images? As in the smaller versions of the images you see in a cache's gallery? Not sure why that isn't working for you. Where are you clicking on the thumbnail and what happens when you click it?

I'm going to assume the OP is serious and give a serious answer. We've been lucky enough to do a few really remarkable multicaches. In fact, my top three most creative and fun caches we've found are all multis! So far we've done two kinds of multis. One in which there is a physical object, a three dimensional container of some sort, at each stage. You open it to reveal the coords (or a clue) to the next stage. In the other, there isn't a container for any stage but the last; in all but the last stage the coords (or clue) are printed/written/etc and affixed to something. The last stage is the physical cache container with the logbook and such. Doing the former type of multi feels pretty much like finding a bunch of traditional caches in a row. I still don't mind doing them as long as we're enjoying the place in which the caches are hidden. We're not obsessed with numbers and keep a separate record of our personal finds anyway, and add individual stages to our personal find counts. This kind of multi isn't my favorite kind of multi, but I'm sort of pleasantly ambivalent about its multi status and don't really care that we only get one smiley as long as we enjoy the hunt. These mutlis could, however, just as easily be series of regular caches with some sort of clue in each cache in the series, which one puts together to find the last mystery cache. We've done a couple of those too. The latter type of multi is by far my favorite. We have seen some outrageous creativity in the placing of stages. Some of them I still can't get over how well done they are. The coords or clues were hidden in ways and in places that a container could not. It's a different experience looking for these kinds of stages than it is looking for cache containers, which makes it special. That said, all of the multis we've done have been in parks or nature preserves, and every stage was located within the park. In some cases the CO actually led us down a trail or series of trails in one direction the whole time, so there wasn't any backtracking. I liked that a lot. One multi we did was kind of a combination of the two types. It also varied from stage to stage whether we got a clue to follow or coords. It kept things interesting because we didn't always know what exactly we were looking for.

It's customary to log geocaching finds on the geocaching website, which in turn keeps track of your finds in your profile. Whether you keep additional records for yourself is totally up to you. Many do.

The one letterbox hybrid we've done so far was set up exactly as described by palmetto. It was in a very small nature preserve for which there wasn't even a proper parking lot, so we were using our GPS to even figure out where to enter the park. We got on the trail and got to the GPS coordinates at a place where the trail breaks off. We then followed clues the rest of the way to ultimately find the letterbox. As far as making your own stamp, there's ton of information out there. Mostly they are carved out of erasers or special stamp-carving blocks. Try googling "carving stamps" and a ton of tutorials will come up. Good luck!

Yes, exactly that. When you click that button, a little pop-up window will appear. Make sure your GPS is plugged into your computer and the power is on. If you have more than one device connected to your computer (say, an iPod as well), you may have to select your GPS from a pull-down menu on the little pop-up window. Once your GPS is selected, click "write."

There couldn't be two registered geocaches at the same spot. I would email the cache owner of the ammo can listing, explain what you found, and ask them if that's their cache.

I understand your frustration. We've had a few DNFs that drove us nuts. What you have control over here is your approach to looking for caches. As mentioned, start with easier caches. Look at the descriptions, hints, and logs before you ever even go out to get an idea of how much support they will give you. Spend some time looking through the most current few pages of this section of the forum. There are lots of threads about finding caches that are packed with helpful suggestions. Geocaching requires a new way of looking at things. Experience will help with this, but so can the tips and hints you'll find laying around here. Keep at it!

I did this too. Fortunately the TB was close by. I went and got it and then dropped it off in the cache it was logged in to. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

In general terms, I agree. Of course, those people who would not strive to avoid doing unreasonable damage while looking for a cache will not be affected by this thread, at all. Very true - but raising awareness by posting info and reminders of the "leave no trace" mindset would likely have some sort of positive effect, I think. There will always be knuckleheads (such a nice way to put it!), but I think there are also people who generally want to do the right thing, but don't know any better, or haven't thought about it enough, or what-have-you.

I didn't say it was hard. I said there's more to it, and there is. Being open to that and willing to learn from your experiences finding geocaches is going to serve you much better than an assumption that you already know all there is to know from the get-go.

OK. Even if GS didn't go into specifics, if people strove to do their version of "leave no trace," it could only be a good thing.

I know. I posted in that thread too. My point is that it's a bit unfair to assume the worst when we don't know for sure, especially when one considers that for a LPC, this particular cache was placed with care. It shows at least some level of conscientiousness.

I've found this cache. It was actually one of the more well-placed LPCs I've seen or heard about. I think it's a bit unfair to assume the CO didn't get permission. An employee called the cops because he or she thought a cacher was acting suspicious around some cars. This person may not have been told about the cache or may not have put it together. Who knows. Still at the affirmative action comment.