Crafty Turtle
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Posts posted by Crafty Turtle
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Forgive me - I saw the photo and said "Ooh look! A Honda CR-V! I drive a Honda CR-V" I did not spot the GC sticker.
We notice what we notice....
Now I'm the one who's weird.
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Do log the DNF. Do explain why. It either circumstance (muggles, fading daylight, started to rain, ran out of time, etc) or it is your own newbie-ness (we don't know whether we are permitted to walk on the flowerbeds, we didn't have boots to wade across the creek, we are getting used to a new GPS, etc)
The CO is interested in your reason, and so are other cachers. And so are you! A record goes in your profile page - you can refer back to your previous DNFs and re-visit them later.
If you want to ask questions of the cache owner, then do so in a private message. Try not to put spoilers in the log.
You might have a 50/50 find/DNF rate early on in your career. Don't worry about it. 5 DNFs out of 10 caches is pretty common. You are new to this.
OTOH, if you've got 50 DNFs out of 100 caches, then you have a problem.
The only times I don't log a DNF is when I plan to return - eg the next day, to continue my search.
Everyone is different.
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I live in a small town, pop 3000.
i'm sorry, but that's not a small town. my town has fewer than a thousand and it's not even a small town.
I moved from a city of 5 million.
Trust me, this is small.
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I turned a blind eye to my dog's destruction of all things 'possum, but we never allowed her to chase rabbits. Koalas and kangas were not an option.Are they native field mice that have more right to the forest than you do? Or are they introduced pests who have come from Europe and are a blight on the local wildlife?
That'll tell you whether to evict them or not. (I let my dog chase & kill rabbits, but not possums, koalas or kangaroos.)
But I do prefer the option of archiving it, and letting someone else place a cache in the vicinity. (That way, you get the smiley).
win-win-win
Geez, I thought my dog was goofy for chasing sticks! Slow, too!
I was never able to get my dog to chase a stick or a ball, which was kind of a bummer because one of the reasons that I got her was my fond memories of throwing the ball for my childhood pup. Still, she was a great dog.
My dog has never seen the attraction for playing fetch. You throw the ball once he brings it back. You throw it twice he goes and lays down next to it and stares at you. It's almost like he's saying "It's over here dummy. Get it yourself."
When I throw a stick for my dog she's like "You show me the treat, I'll fetch you the stick."
At least a rabbit is its own built-in treat.
And "treats" are in plague proportions right now. -
Hmmmm. I cache alone. At night. I am female.
Maybe my neighbourhood is safer than your neighbourhood.
I live in a small town, pop 3000.
I also cache with my dog. She'd probably be completely useless in a crisis, but she makes me feel safe.
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I like to wear my (conservation & environment) Departmental jacket as worn by firefighters (bushfires) when doing caches in rural residential areas. As this time of year, I just look like I'm checking to see if people have cleared away potential fuel - dead leaves, branches, bark, etc. I look like I have every right to be there, and like police, people are reluctant to approach.
But I also have this story in my arsenal about climate change and the septimus optii beetle. ....after a drought when you get a month of rain, they've been known to breed ferociously, and migrate up to a hundred miles away. They were detected in this area 4 years ago....blah blah blah. ....It's all hooey. There is no such beetle.
Moral of the story - as long as you look and sound convincing, they'll believe you. You only have to say a small amount - people really aren't interested in a beetle.
Make up a story that suits the type of cache you do (urban, rural, etc) and keep it handy, just in case.
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I was a scout in two different countries!
Started out as a jealous too-young sister of a brownie, and made my way up to leader / camp counselor.
PS. Australia, in it's attempt to be politically correct, has opened the old "boy scouts" to girls, but funnily enough, the brownies and guides are still for girls only. ?!
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We notice things. Anomalies. Nooks. Crannies. We have finely honed powers of observation from constantly looking for where things are hidden, or where we can hide them.
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Are they native field mice that have more right to the forest than you do? Or are they introduced pests who have come from Europe and are a blight on the local wildlife?
That'll tell you whether to evict them or not. (I let my dog chase & kill rabbits, but not possums, koalas or kangaroos.)
But I do prefer the option of archiving it, and letting someone else place a cache in the vicinity. (That way, you get the smiley).
win-win-win
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The one that I've placed so far took less than 24 hours.
Since I don't know exactly what time it was published, I can't say closer than that.
The second person found it the following day.
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I too think a fake memorial would be disrespectful towards those people who have lost a loved one in a road fatality. Again - that's just me.
You could make it a cairn denoting a survey marker, historical event or site of cultural significance. Either real or fake. If you put a brass plaque on it, you could write what you like, but be warned there are people who will believe it, so make sure it is either insignificant or completely ridiculous. (Like aliens landed there, or something)
In the building where I work, outside the bathrooms, there is this brass disc on the floor about 4 inches across. I have no idea why it is there, but I am so tempted to write on it "This brass plaque was placed to denote a site of historical or cultural significance. <--Ladies | Gents-->"
I know you can't please everyone, but as long as you try to eliminate the big social faux pas, you should be okay.
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Ok, so here's what I'm thinking:
I name the cache "A wheely good cache" or similar. When cachers approach the ravine, they see the tire (It's actually the whole wheel, with the metal hub and all) and they know that's the spot. They find a way to climb down, get to the tire, but the cache is not immediately obvious. That's cos I've hidden it under a tree root about 3 feet away.
I'm using the tire for the name, not for the hide itself.
So if ever someone decides to remove the tire, I have to change the name of the cache.
Doable?
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Urban caches are good to begin with (1 or 2 star) because you immediately eliminate so much of the 40 foot radius area, because of buildings, flat sidewalk, roadway, etc. No cache can hide there. This leaves you with the wall, the gutter, and the street furniture (postbox, lamp post, fire hydrant)
Also use Google earth to verify the location - even if it's in a park, you'll know it's that clump of trees, not another one. Once you get out on the ground, you GPS can give you a greater search area that what Google earth did, so you want to rely on Google earth to narrow your search area.
This is especially true in urban areas, because there are a lot of different features in a small area. - unlike wilderness caches where GZ is blanketed in trees or rocks, and you can't distinguish one from the next.
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I have heard of an underwater (SCUBA) cache where the waterproof log is attached to a submerged car wreck. Now obviously no cacher could CITO a car, but what about a lesser version of the same thing?
Exploring a wonderful cache-worthy ravine today, I saw a car tire which has evidently been there for quite some time. It can be seen from the top of the ravine (the approach) and I thought it would be a wheely good spot for a cache. (get it? "wheely"
)But in good CITO spirit, should I remove the tire (or ring the municipal council) to clean up the area? It is just one tire, but still too heavy for me to get it up the steep ravine wall.
Thoughts?
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I would never say a cache sucked. I might say "A very easy hide. Good drive-by for getting the numbers up." Cachers who read logs before going out, might like to know this is a dead easy cache where you might as well leave the wife, kids, dog and GPS in the car, nab the thing, sign the log, then get on with another find.
And who's to say one hiding spot is "better" than the next? I mean, if every cache was hidden in the most obvious spot, it would be boring. If there was no challenge, I'd have given up caching 2 weeks after I started. By the same token, if they were all too difficult, I'd have given up too.
Maybe their preferred type of cache is different to yours, but saying it "sucked" is just rude.
If they have no hides, maybe a politely phrased note to "put your money where your mouth is" could do the trick.
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I particularly like the ones that are micros blown up to be HUGE! Some people put in a lot of work on those. I'm impressed.
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I got my first cache hidden just in time for the town market day. A couple of people have found it and the reports say they liked it.
PHEW! I'm so glad, cos when you are new to something and you're amongst folks who have 1000+ finds, you tend to get a bit nervous.
I'm all fired up for my 2nd hide now.
WOOHOO! I feel worthy of the title "geocacher" now.
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Thanks. Yeah, I've seen that thread. There a couple of bigguns in there, but a lot of micros also.
I'm after practical ideas for large caches in public places, and was wondering if ppl had found/made some.
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How do I find the CCC thread? I can't search for 3 letters.
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What is the physically largest cache container you have come across? Briefcase sized? Garbage bin sized? Fridge sized?
I don't mean where an ammo box was placed inside an old fridge, I mean where the cache itself was that big.
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Phew, I don't feel quite so paranoid now. My first hide was published on Wednesday. A DNF appeared Wednesday night, then nada.
I guess I should wait a few years. ....or place a few more caches.
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I've lived in this town for just over a year. Geocaching is a great way to acquaint myself with the area. I would never have found so many parks, reserves, forests, creeks, mountains and views if it wasn't for geocaching.
I moved to this area for the tranquility of the bush, to get away from the rat race. Geocaching is helping me find that tranquility.
<standing up> Hi, my name's Wendy, and I'm a geocacher. I've been caching now for 2 months. I've got about 25 finds, and I just placed my first hide.
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What locations bother you most?
Boring locations.
Locations where I wonder why the heck somebody brought me here. Locations that make me think someone stuck a pin in a map of town that had no cache, and then went and put a cache there. I think there might be a reason nobody has put a cache there. ...it is boring.
I'm not an urban cacher. I'm a bush cacher. Show me a new gully or mountain or view or some neck of the woods I haven't seen yet. Make me walk/climb/bush-bash/wade/jump etc.
I like a cache where my GPS screen has a chest/trunk symbol, and an arrow moving towards it, trailing a dotted line. Nothing else: no roads or landmarks to navigate by. No maps or google-products will help. Navigation by a blip on a screen: perfect.
Oh, and the original question: What container do I like? I'd have to say Systema - the Aussie equivalent to the American Lock&Lock
Although a recent find was a tin disguised as a cigarette packet. (It may have contained ciggies originally) It looked like garbage just lying between concrete supports, where a bit of rubbish could easily be.
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I think you first need to find a rain-sodden cache with soggy log and rusty swag. THEN you'll understand the importance of w-e-a-t-h-e-r-p-r-o-o-f-i-n-g.
Can you say ammo can or Lock'n'Lock? Anything else gets wet.
Jim
Exactly my point. If you've ever found a soggy cache, you'll know how important it is to use an appropriate container. If you haven't had this problem, you might not realise how important it is to have the right container.
I can't make it plainer than that.
)
Cruel and unusual
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Wow. I wish someone would give me such a cool puzzle.
I think it is inventive and unique.