The red-haired witch

Honest comments are certainly allowed (as long as they are polite). But there is a big difference between being nice and being dishonest. (Note : I didn't read any of the actual comment you wrote, I'm just talking in general). No, other people are not supposed to use the log as a forum, and we're certainly not supposed to attack each other in logs, but I can't know if that really is what happened. What people can do is give a different review on the same points and contradict you. So, if you say "there were no activities, I was bored" they can say "there were lots of activities and I had fun". Sometimes you have to consider if your expectations are realistic, and adjust them before giving a review... This was an event run by a group of volunteers. They work for free, trying to give back to the community. Consider that when judging their work. You wouldn't review a free meal at a friend's house the same as a meal you pay 100$ for at a 5 star restaurant, would you? Reading event descriptions might help you choose which events to attend in the future, but keep in mind that most event are "gather at this place at that hour, we'll spend some time together eating, drinking and chatting about geocaching. Most events don't have much more organized activities than that, except for Mega events...

While I suppose this is perfectly true on gun ranges, 3D archery ranges on a wooded trail are somewhat different in that there is not really a backstop. So, as an archer, I would see someone standing between me and the target (and wouldn't shoot!), but someone standing behind the vegetation 20 or 30 meters behind the target could be in some danger if I miss the target (that happens, especially with a longbow). Normally the range would be in a clearly posted area, and the targets are set so that no one following the trail is ever behind a target (e.g. circular trail, with targets towards the outside of the circle). If the area is not fenced, then there is indeed a risk for oblivious hikers, geocachers, birdwatchers, etc. I'd like to add my thanks to gaz zippy on doing the correct thing and quickly contacting the CO! And on the CO for acting on the situation. As for the OP, I guess he thought that posting on this forum and insulting everyone (as a geocacher and a bow hunter, I feel doubly insulted... ethical archers don't hunt? I hope the OP is a vegetarian ) while witholdin the actual usefull information about the location was better than contacting someone in a position to do something about it, like the administrators of his archery club, who probably knew about the cache, or Groundspeak (and a statement about not knowing that Groundspeak existed doesn't make much sense when it is posted on the Groundspeak forum ) Anyway, no one got hurt, everyone can happily go back to caching and/or shooting

Well, GAG (GC35E3) started a few months before GHAGAFAP, but I guess it doesn't qualify in the "annual event" category because at some point we became overly enthusiastic and decided to have it every 6-8 months instead of once a year So we'll be up to GAG 18 this fall

I think it was redundant : - It's a guideline - It says should (The posted coordinates should be no more than 1-2 miles (2-3 km) away from the true cache location.) To me, that already means that, with a good enough reason, an exception can be made. A puzzle that includes multi-cche elements might be a good reason, for example. Doing a pretty design in a field with icons might not be

Ça devient ridicule? C'est plutôt le contraire : des caches aussi ridicules ne sont plus publiées. Cette cache date de 2002. Elle est listée comme virtuelle mais ressemble pas mal plus à une "locationless" et devrait probablememt avoir été archivée avec le reste de celles-ci. Mais bon, son existence ne fait de mal à personne, tant qu'elle ne donne pas l'idée à d'autres d'essayer de créér d'autres caches de ce genre...

I'm very prone to blisters on my feet, so here are my shopping suggestions built on years of experimentation : 1) Buy anti-blister socks. The ones that are actually designed for that exact purpose. Many company make them, you'll find them wherever they sell good hiking equipment. I find the best ones are synthetic and kinda fuzzy on the inside. I tried wearing two pairs of socks, thin socks, thick socks, wool, cotton, nylon. I thought spending 15-20$ on a pair of socks was crazy. Then I bought a pair of anti-blister socks. I went hiking. Went back to the store and bought more pairs, it's pretty much all I wear nowadays. 2) Wear those socks and go shopping for good hiking boots. Good hiking boots are not the ones the seller suggests, nor the ones with the best reviews, they're the one that feel comfortable. Try every pair in the store if needed. Walk around the store with the boots on. Forget about "breaking them in"... sure, you don't go for a full day of hiking the first time you wear new boots, but if they are already uncomfortable after 2 minutes walking around the store, buy something else. Often all boots from one company have a similar fit, so once you found a good pair you know which ones to try first next time you need a pair (sadly, models change so you can't always get the same you bought last time) 3) Increase length of hikes gradually, keep your feet dry, bring moleskin in case a hotspot starts forming. Find lots of caches, it lets your feet rest while you search

Lots of good advice all through this thread. I would just like to put emphasis on two points : 1) A topo map of the area (assuming you know how to use one) is usually more useful than a compass to find your way back. Unless you live in a featureless plain, it's easier to navigate with just a map than with just a compass. The map is better to find a trail, a road or a high point, and to avoid swamps and cliffs. 2) More important than anything you can bring is telling someone trustworthy where you are going and when you should be back. Even if you are sure it's a place where you can't get lost, you could simply step in a rabbit hole and break an ankle. And giving that person a list of the caches you are going for (with coordinates if they're puzzles) would be better than "I'll be in national park X, coming back in 3 days". Much narrower search area, and SAR teams use GPS now. Just as a note, I wonder where those stats come from : All the recent stats I've seen and my personal experience indicate that this is not the case. In North America, at least, a majority of searches are now for people with dementia (such as Alzeimer) and/or despondants. But I agree with the general sentiment that people going for an afternoon hike are more likely to run into trouble they are not prepared for than people on a multi-week wilderness expedition.

I agree. By specifically exclude, I believe the guidelines mean that a challenge including things like "you have to be a charter members" or "you have to be a woman" or "you have to be less than 18 years old" won't be published. Asking for people to find specific types of caches is not the same as specifically excluding a segement of geocachers. Sure, some specific caches could be impossible for some individuals, but a challenge cannot be based on a specific list of caches. And you could always team up with someone else to help you solve some high difficulty puzzles or to help you get up some mountains. I've also found terrain 5 caches that a paraplegic could find, using a kayak.

I think it is much better, if the cache owner is not able to write in English, to leave the cache description in whatever language he does understand. That way, if I don't understand that language, I can run it through a translation software myself when I want to read it. That way, I'll get to read a recent translation, not an old one, and as those translation software improve over time, that can make a large difference. The results of automated translation are much better now than they were 5 years ago. In my opinion, those saying that every geocacher should know English because everyone going to international conferences do are totally ridiculous. Sure, most "international level" scientists and businesspeople know English, that doesn't mean that everyone who has access to geocaching.com and to a GPS receiver does . Really, when travelling in non anglophone countries, you should expect that not everything is going to be in English. To me, the people complaining about that sound like those who want to travel to exotic destinations yet eat the same food they eat every day at home. Enjoy the flavour of those exotic caches, even if you have to work a bit for it

Please email contact@geocaching.com as suggested above. If the original cache owner has passed away, the cache can be adopted to a person chosen by the family/ succession of the original cache owner. But you'll need the Lackeys to help you with that.

A Mason jar is likely to break, too large to fit in most caches, and could easily leak. Some type of small container with thick plexiglass walls, completely sealed with epoxy, and with the water not completely filling the space inside (to allow for freezing) could hold the water safely enough for it to travel from cache to cache. I've seen some keychains like that and wouldn'T worry about them leaking. It getting to Malaysia would still be extremely unlikely though, considering the paranoia over taking liquids and strange objects on planes. What geocacher is going to risk having that in his luggage to bring it over the ocean?

It would not be a long shot at all if the e-mail to Groundspeak came from the husband of the deceased geocacher. If the gentleman requests that the caches be adopted to hydrashok407, I'm almost certain that Groundspeak will oblige.

The OP didn't say the advice had to come from a lady, just that it should be about ladies footwear But I agree that my answer would be the same no matter the gender of the person who will wear the footwear Most of the time, good waterproof hiking boots. They'll protect your feet and ankles in rough terrain, from mud, rocks, pointy branches, etc. Hybrid shoes (water shoes) are a good choice for canoe caching, they have less suction in the mud than the hiking boots. In the winter, in most of Canada, those hiking boots will still do for park and grabs, but for spending hours outside good winter boots are a must. And if you want to go off-trail, snowshoes are a must around here, so pick boots that have proper reinforcments where the snowshoe straps go.

You guys do realise that "visible from space" was impressive when it meant something like "visible from the naked eye from a spaceship in orbit"? Nowadays, if you use the definition as meaning "you can see it on Google maps or Google Earth" pretty much everything that can be seen from above is "visible from space". Zooming on some parks around here, I can see the deer trails Hey, my house is so big it's visible from space!

Fringe? So they are from a parallel universe! I knew it! I know, I know, I'm a geek and I watch too much sci-fi

So you're judging the hundreds of members of Canada's Capital Cachers as being "all about the numbers" and "harsh", yet you promise that the group you form won't be judgemental? Surely you're being sarcastic... As Kirok said, please try coming to at least one event and meeting people before you decide what you think of them. I've always found the CCC people to be very friendly in person (even those with whom I have heated arguments on the forums). Or maybe you somehow met the evil version of the CCC in a parallel universe? According to the Star Trek tradition, the evil version of people can usually be recognized by the beard (for men) or sexier outfits (women)

I didn't say you did. But some other people in the thread did. To clarify, I was answering this thread in general, not your post in particular.

To me, this is just making official something that cachers have been doing unofficially for a long time. How many times is there an event with a description of "get together to chat", but where you know very well that groups are using mailing lists or local forums to get organized and get together to cache before or after the official event of "getting together to chat". With the new trial, I think the event description will be allowed to actually say "come cache with us for a few hours, then we'll chat over drinks" or "come eat breakfast, then we'll form groups to go caching together". To me, that's more honest, and it gives a chance to the new people (who may not be on mailing list or local forums) to get involved in group hunts if they'd like. I'm not really concerned about "numbers", but it seems much simpler and practical to keep those events as events (with or without a different event type, as they are not, in my opinion, really different from many events I've attended. Making them different (ie not a geocache), so that they don't appear on the map or in notifications would defeat the purpose. And how is meeting with a group to go caching together less deserving of a smiley than other events, such as a flashmob? I'm sure the people would spend more time talking and socializing at one of those group hunts than they do at one of those 15 minutes events

That type of cache works well as a multi, like this : GC127QE The main issue is finding an area with room for all those stages. If there are 3 possible choices after the first waypoint (A, B, C), and 3 possible choices after each of the second waypoints (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3)... well, you probably see what I mean. Of course, you can reduce this effect a bit by mergin paths if, for example, A1, B2 and C2 lead you to the same coordinates D1

He was at that cache : The Gold Bug! Check the gallery for pictures

If the land where your cache is placed is public (and not a park), maybe you can prove that to the reviewer. A link to a map of public land in your area might do, or some other source that demonstrates that you are allowed to place a cache there. Or maybe the reviewer has a reason to believe that this land is owned by someone? Discussing it with the reviewer might be helpful.

I guess that's a good illustration of how things can be ok to leave in caches in one location and not in another. It never occured to me that crayons could melt in a cache. Crayons melt at about 130F (according to the main manufacturer ). I've never found a cache where that was likely to happen. Maybe if an ammo can was left in the sun in the middle of a parking lot in July... I think the list of "bad swag" from the guidelines is pretty good, no need to expand it. It covers the things the lackeys were describing as bad. But of course people should use "common" sense, avoid things that may melt in Florida, things that may rust in an underwater cache, things that may freeze (and then break) in Canada, etc

A. It is possible that the trees were just planted (and very small), that they were about to be planted and the sign was put up early, or that the plantation failed, all the trees died but the sign was not removed B. You don't need to be warned for your protection, but for the protection of the trees. Young trees are fragile, so people driving their ATVs, Snowmobiles or any off-road vehicle right on top of the plantation would be bad. I've also seen those sign placed along roads by paper companies, probably for PR, because they want to show that they are re-planting trees in clear-cut areas. C. I don't deny that clear information is often hard to find on government websites, be they municipal, provincial or federal. Quebec is no exception. But that's not at all what the Clarity act was about (the very short version is that it's about the federal government controlling what question the Quebec government can ask Quebec citizens in a referendum... but I'm not here to discuss politics.)

It's a nice log indeed. But I'd like to note that being a strong swimmer doesn't mean you shouldn't wear a PFD. You may not be able to swim to shore if a drunken idiot in a jetski collides with your kayak, or if the water is too cold, or if there is an undertow... really, why not wear one? I'm sure "showing off your bikini" is not your reason, right? Last year I was shocked (and very sad) to learn that a former member of my search and rescue group had drowned. Swimming from a sinking boat about 100 feet from shore. He was in very good shape and a strong swimmer. He disappeared about 50 feet from shore, presumably when an undertow caught him. No one knows why he wasn't wearing his PFD. It took several weeks and hundreds of man-hours of searching before his body was recovered. For those who think it is just a "nanny state" thing, well, consider that if you drown, efforts and money will have to be spent on recovering your body. So, of course the state cares for your well being . Personally, I'd rather have my tax money spent on enforcing a "silly rule" than on body recovery.

It's a sign for a tree plantation, and it seems clear enough, since most people who seriously tried were able to guess. Some people prefer to take any excuse to bash Quebec. "Clarity act" indeed ... one of the most ridiculous law Canadian politicians ever came up with, and it really has nothing to do with this thread or with geocaching. Usually those signs are smaller than "normal" road signs, as they are directed to ATV/snowmobiles users. There is not much in the picture to let me guess the size of the sign, but it doesn't seem to be in the proper position for a road sign.