DocDiTTo

I don't expect anything from a log. I *appreciate* when people take a little time to describe the experience they had (good or bad) with the journey to the cache or the cache itself, because I enjoy reading about the experiences of others almost as much as I enjoy writing about my own experiences.

Ah yes, the conspiracies abound. I guess when you're on the receiving end of angst as much as the reviewers are you tend to be more sensitive of anything that could cast you in a bad light. I should have thought about that before I posted. I was kidding, but I can see how someone might take that silly idea and run with it as if it were gospel truth.

Of course I was kidding. This entire thread is made up of nothing but mere speculation.

Maybe the powers that be just asked each reviewer for a list of names of cachers they knew who would probably hide a good virtual, and there was no magic computer algorithm at all.

I'll just leave this right here

I disagree. Groundspeak is doing just fine. They'll have potentially 4000 more caches listed on their site within the next year, and all 3 million (or however many cachers there are) will potentially benefit from that. The dozen or so folks with an entitlement complex who decide to take their toys and go home likely won't be missed. People with that attitude are seldom as important as they believe themselves to be. And, for all we know, this might just be the "first round" of virtual caches to be handed out. Maybe there will be a next time with 4000 different people. Perhaps this go round is just to set an example of what new virtual caches should be. Who knows? I think Groundspeak had a good idea, and I hope it plays out well. For those who grew up being handed participation trophies all their lives this might be a small dose of reality, but that's the way it goes.

I had a multicache that used a magnetic "High Voltage" sticker on an electrical box inside a pavilion in a park as one stage. One day they tore down the pavilion and of course removed the electrical box along with the cache magnet. A couple weeks later they built a new pavilion and put the same electrical box back in place, with the magnet still attached. So I guess it wasn't actually lost, just relocated for a while.

As I'm in Pennsylvania, I did manage to find this which answers my question to Lep above: NPS managed land in Pennsylvania are off-limits to geocache placements (virtual or physical) without a special usage permit. (Link) I've attempted to deal with the NPS before (years ago) and the results weren't favorable.

Some of the old virtuals are definitely the "cream of the crop". Others were not so good, as there was little of interest to see there. If you find yourself thinking "boy, I wish I was somewhere else right now", it's probably not a great place for a virtual cache. Or any cache, for that matter.

This actually raises a great question - in the case of the NPS, what kind of permission requirement is there? If the public can visit the location anyway, would specific permission need to be granted? I imagine there are a lot of NPS locations where virtual hiders would like to place a cache, so this may become a popular question.

I think the criteria was pretty simple - either you got an email saying you're a recipient, or you didn't. Anything else is speculation. It's already been stated that the way the 4000 were chosen won't be divulged, so there's little choice but to accept the outcome and move on. Or, I guess, waste some time by whining about it in the forums.

I'd agree. The original idea behind virtuals was to to take you some place special where a physical container couldn't be placed for whatever reason. In my mind, if a physical container could be placed there, then do that instead. There are a lot of cool places where there can be no physical caches (National Parks are a good example). But a lot of people go to national parks anyway, so are they a good pick for a virtual cache? It would be a tough decision to determine the perfect spot. Hence the idea of this thread.

If you had the opportunity to place one new virtual cache, where would you put it? The Virtual Rewards surprised 4000 cachers yesterday, so there are probably a lot of people pondering this very question. Maybe you're a recipient, and maybe you're not, and this isn't the thread for whining about the outcome. Just tell us where you'd put one if you had the opportunity. I asked this on a local forum, and a few ideas came out: A local Veteran's memorial The spot of a "UFO" landing in western PA. The Flight 93 memorial in PA A local park with a unique spring that appears to "boil" from the ground. Since this isn't a local forum, I'm sure there are lots of places worldwide that really would make exceptional virtual cache sites. If you had one chance, where would you place your virtual cache?

I started caching in 2004. Never really stopped, but certainly slowed down quite a bit. My reasons don't have anything to do with the website, or the fact that there's a micro hidden in almost every parking lot. (I learned long ago to hunt what I like and ignore what I don't). For me, my kids getting older and involved in more activities pulled me away from geocaching. I now volunteer as a leader in their activities and my spare time has dwindled quite a bit. I still break out the GPSr every now and then, but the hobby just isn't something I have as much time for at this stage of my life. Maybe as they get older I'll have more spare time, but I'm in no rush. The caches will always be around, but my kids won't be kids forever.

Not sure whether I've found a night cache during the day... but I've found a bunch of them at night. If you can find it during the day it's still a find, but not as much fun as doing it the "right" way. My most popular cache is a night cache and you'd have to be very lucky (or have info from a previous finder) if you were going to hunt it during the day. A few reflector tacks placed 50-100 yards apart easily confuses the daytime hunters, yet are still easy to see at night.

The signature I've been using for years in here pretty much says it all.

Hopefully they will, although their trip was planned specifically to do 1000 caches in a day, so doing the ET highway was the goal and they were pretty pumped up about it. (not to mention rather heavily invested with plane tickets, accommodations, rental car, etc) I don't share the desire to do 1000 caches in a day, but I do get the whole concept of having a good time geocaching with friends. I'm sure they'll make the most of it and have a great time anyway.

Are there actually snowplows driving down highways in Nevada? That completely blows my mental image of the desert. Thanks a lot. Now I need a new "desert" stereotype. Slightly more on topic, I know at least 4 or 5 local (PA) folks who have plane tickets and vacation plans that were centered around this series. They'd hoped to complete the whole series in 24 hours. It was actually a discussion topic at our last monthly event, which centered around planning caching trips, vacations, and runs. I'm sure they're disappointed that the series is gone.

Found a bug as I was surfing the site... not sure if this is the right place to post it but here goes... Go to http://www.geocaching.com/local/default.aspx?state_id=39 Choose a city and click on "Get Caches" Try to sort by Favorites -- it takes you to a url like this: http://www.geocaching.com/local/default.aspx?lat=40.327102&lng=-80.037491&sortdir=desc&sort=fav I don't think this is the way it's supposed to work. It's certainly not what I was expecting.

I noticed this same behavior as well. Definitely broken. No way to see all the bookmark lists that a specific cache is listed on now. The "View All Bookmark lists" on a cache page that's listed on more than 3 bookmark lists shouldn't take me to http://www.geocaching.com/my/lists.aspx

Try version 7.7.3 of GSAK; Clyde has introduced a number of fixes as of late for the newest Garmin models. There was no GSAK version 7.7.2.65 so maybe you meant 7.7.2.56? Not sure if that will fix your problem but can't hurt. Also might want to ask on the GSAK message boards as well -- www.gsak.net

The PA Game Commission doesn't require specific permission for cache placements. You're correct about stating the rules regarding orange. I use the following text on my cache pages: Safety Note: This cache is located on State Game Lands. Please be familiar with the Game Lands Regulations that apply in this area. A fluorescent orange hat and vest is required November 15 through December 15 except on Sundays. Hunting occurs other times throughout the year as well. Please check the Game Commission Web Site for more information. Some areas of game lands are designated as propagation and are off limits during certain times of the year. Hiding caches in those areas isn't recommended. Signs should denote the off limits area and date restrictions. There are also off-limits areas on game lands where the Appalachian Trail runs through. The AT is controlled by the National Park Service, which is not geocacher friendly. The NPS has an agreeement with the game commission to manage Game Lands in the "AT Corridor". It's best to run any hide locations near the AT past your reviewer first to make sure they can be published. One thing a number of cachers (myself included) do is temporarily disable our caches on State Game Lands during the 2 weeks of buck season (The first Monday after Thanksgiving until sometime in December) in order to help avoid geocacher/deer hunter encounters. Hunters only get to hunt during the fall, and those 2 weeks are the most popular hunting time. I feel it's best that cachers stay out of their way and let them do their thing without interruption during that time. While not a requirement, I think it's the polite thing to do. If you have any specific questions regarding hiding your cache, email your local reviewer. His/her name should be attached to the "published" log of any recently published cache page. Edit: from the caches you've found it appears you're in eastern PA, which means OReviewer is your local reviewer. He's a good guy and will be happy to help you if you have questions.

Stumbled across a cache located inside a building with limited hours, although they aren't mentioned on the cache page at all. Just because a few folks showed up outside those hours didn't stop them from adding 1 to their smiley count. May 22 by Ima Lyon (900 found) Found it place wasn't open for business TFTC May 24 by NoPenNeeded (357 found) Didn't get there during normal hours, no prize for me. Maybe I'll try it again next time I'm in town. TFTC.

I too would like to see the 40 limit raised, but now that the 500 limit was changed to 1000, I've been able to reduce the number of PQs that I run, which frees up some of my 40 queries for other stuff. Of course, now I can't automate the downloads of the info like I used to be able to do, so I'm still looking for a solution to that...

I know I've found a few stinkers in years past, but most of them are fading from memory. I'm much more selective about what I hunt now, so I pretty much avoid "really bad" caches. And if one somehow slips through the cracks and winds up in my GPS, I have no problem at all simply driving right on by if I don't like the area where the hide is. I can honestly say I don't know what the worst cache I've hunted for is. When you only shoot for the upper side of the bell curve, the stinkers just don't make the cut.