Charlie Fingers

3 words: LAW & ORDER

Not fixed yet. Had to disable a puzzle cache until this gets corrected.

GC29KZE: Post a New Log >> Update Coordinates I get this response when I click the Submit Log Entry button: 500 - Internal server error. There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed. When I check the cache page nothing has been updated.

I was looking for a recently activated cache on the campus of North Georgia College and University. It was pretty easy to figure out even without a GPSr since I worked as a campus police officer there a few years before and knew all of the hidy holes and stash spots. This was a hide a key under a bench on the parade grounds. I saw another gentleman walking along the walk way from the opposite direction and he slide under the guard rail looking at his hand, probably thinking I was a well dressed walker making laps around the field. I approached the same spot he was from the standard access to the field, the stairs, and he seemed to be searching the back of the bench and then stood upright when I came near. I said "Did you find it?" and he seemed to relax and said "I was going to wait for you to walk past here and then get on my hands and knees to look underneath." From my position in front of the bench I thought I saw something unusual and as I said "I will help if you don't mind the assistance." I reached under the nearest leg of the bench and grabbed the shadow I saw (luckily it wasn't a wallet sized spider!) I came up with the hide a key and introduced myself and asked if he would like to sign first since he got to GZ first. Turned out he was as prolific a hider as I was and we have been finding each others' caches for over a year.

This was in the cache itself with the cache number (GC2A0P6) etched into the bottom of it. There also was a small human tooth that appeared to be from a child and it had a hole drilled into it. I didn't touch that.

Do you know any persons that are diabetics? I have been for several years and for some reason I kept the containers that the test strips came in. I was thinking of using them for small screws or other tiny bits I use from time to time. I have only been caching for just over a year and have started using them as micros. For some of the harder to find caches or difficult puzzle caches I use solid silver 1961 dimes as FTF prize and they fit in these containers nicely with a little wiggle room.

I am going to place this one soon. What are your thoughts and are there any ideas where the perfect location could be?

Just my 2 cents on the subject in the form of an anecdote: I have a series in north Georgia that is a sudoku challenge. Each cache page has a reference location and you must solve the puzzle to get the cache coords. This is a portion of the standard text for every cache in the series: "In the gallery images are the two Sudoku puzzles for this challenge. Each puzzle has three yellow highlited boxes. These are the correct last three numerals of the North and West coordinates to be substituted into the coordinates listed above to find the cache location." This is #2 (GC1ZH13) of the series the reference coords are about 100 feet from the actual cache. This is an EASY difficulty cache and all following caches get harder as the series progresses. The anecdote was this log: "okay, I was confused, I thought I was looking for a sudoku puzzle, but never found it. We did find the cache with the clues , though, hhhmm, fun and thanks." It seems that you can get some people read some of the text, but you can't get all of the people to read all of the text

A very easy app. that I use is at this site and is very accurate. I usually include the findings from this with my reviewer note when activating a cache and it has never been wrong. http://boulter.com/gps/distance/

Nice blog article, but some of the responses to the article on the blog page are too vulgar for family reading. just a warning.

This was the only thing in there aside from the log! I swear!!!

If you squint hard enough you can just make out the handle on the ammo box.

I explicitly told you I was not to be disturbed! A new cache? Well, that's different!

Wow!! When they said "Ideal for night caching" at Garmin.com, they weren't kidding!!

Yeah! No one will ever expect this is a cache. Now I just need to get it through the front door so I can place it. By the way...Where did I put the computer?

Edited safety paragraph: For those that are unfamiliar, basic trail safety says that you should let someone know where you are going before going hiking. In other words, the general location of where you would be on a map. This is in case you break a bone or are knocked unconscious. Also have a FRS radio or reliable cell phone. Bring at least a 1 quart or 1 liter bottle of water. Have a walking stick or pole to help keep your balance and to fend off over curious or hostile creatures. Wear appropriate clothing for the weather and always a hat and/ or bandana. Hiking boots with socks are preferable over sandals. And the most important is to know your limits. It is better to be humble and alive, than bold and broken, or dead. Edited twist paragraph: There is a twist to the last three challenges and the Grand Finale that was intentionally not anounced. Each of the hard difficulty caches will be a micro with only a log and a number to the combination lock of the Grand Finale cache. You read correctly. The Grand Finale is not just a puzzle cache but also a locked cache. To get the three number combination you must complete the three previous Hard difficulty Sudoku puzzles AND find the micro caches to get the combination AND solve the Grand Finale puzzle to locate the final cache and use the combination. Finding the Grand Finale cache and not unlocking it does not allow you to log it as a a find. Anyone just finding the Grand Finale and not signing the physical cache log will not be awarded a smiley. This is to ensure participation and also to add a little more challenge to the "Challenge." As stated in the text of every previous challenge page, the Grand Finale will be Diabolical difficulty. I didn't just mean the difficulty of the puzzle either. The location of the Grand Finale will have no attributes or hints to give it away.

. Sorry for the double post

@ Em Space: Good catch. I missed that. I might have been confused by the icy cold 2 liter of Canada Dry Ginger Ale sitting in front of me whispering my thirsty name while I typed that.

@ Em Space: Good catch. I missed that. I might have been confused by the icy cold 2 liter of Canada Dry Ginger Ale sitting in front of me whispering my thirsty name while I typed that.

@ ncfinn: Actually I would recommend going commando. It would add to the experience of "roughing it" As for the other suggestions: I will reword the safety bit. It was mainly aimed at the younger cachers and those that like to bring children along for the adventure. I try to make all of mine family friendly, but I wanted a few for the more advanced cachers that preferred something with a higher difficulty level. If they manage to to figure out the combination (or are given it by another successful cacher ) they can get the smiley as long as their name is in the logbook. That is my only requirement really. Just the name in the log book. It can even be as a co-finder.

Oh, I think you must be referring to the "There is a twist" paragraph. If no one finds anything else abrasive or condescending I will focus on that paragraph in the following for suggestions.

Thank you for pointing that out. Fixed it. Are refering to the trail safety paragraph?

Just to reply to the original question of this thread, and to inject my 2 cents. I have a cache, GC1ZN0T that is in front of an outdoors shop and I got permission from the owner to place it. I took some business cards and they gave me some store decals to put in it. I figured since they were closed on Sundays and Mondays it could be a contact source if some one wanted to check them out but the store was closed at that time. It has met with some very positive reviews.

This is what I have for the third leg of a series that are puzzle caches. I know it is long

Need the cable that has the USB connector. I bought mine second hand and would appreciate if someone had an extra or unwanted one. I would be happy to pay for shipping.