Team Bear-Cat

Got a similar problem -- we picked up a California Highway Patrol geocoin, but when we enter the tracking number, it comes up 'Sorry--unactivated'. It was not in any kind of wrapper, not even a little plastic bag. Where can we find the activation code for this 7-pointed geocoin ?? (Very cool detail and design!)

Merry Christmas to all! Hope that there are (were?) lots of geocoins in your stockings! Team Bear-Cat

Got all the others we posted wanting last week -- thanks for some great trades! Still looking for: * November GeoCoinClub -- benchmark/transit coin * London Phonebooth * Mississippi 2006 Have to trade: GeoQuest 2006 BBB 2006 Personal coin Thorny1 personal coin GEOSET 2006 (all trackable) Thanks again! TBC

ISO: Compass Rose 2006 London Phone booth Absolut Geocaching Temecula Valley (grapes and hot-air balloon) Have to trade: Silver Tennessee 2005 Georgia on my Mind 2005 GA/TN Search 'Engine' (Locomotive) Back Brake Billy 1st PC (cycle wheel) Team Thorny1 (Please e-mail; we're not on the forum a whole lot... ) TIA! TBC

We have a 2004 GGA coin if you need? Please e-mail. Saw several on your trading list that we could use! TBC

We collect state geocoins from states where we have logged caches and we need a New Mexico Land of Enchantment geocoin! We have the Compass Rose, new GA, TN (pewter and silver), older GGA (2004) coins to trade. Others coming in also. TIA! Team Bear-Cat

VERY cool coin! We are in the process of designing our personal coin, and then when they are ready, we will be heading out on a 'trading coins and caching to states we haven't been to yet' road trip! Hope you will still have one in Feb or March! Team Bear-Cat

What can be done with a coin not-yet activated, but the sticker with the activation code is gone?? We ordered a trackable Euro-coin. The system does not recognize the tracking number that is carved on it, and the activation code is apparently gone for good... Team Bear-Cat

It would be nice if Geocoins had their own Forum, so we don't have to sift through all the various and valid TB threads when we're looking to trade coins.

Just ordered two via PayPal.

We're looking for an Alaska Geo Coin. We have the new 2005 GGA coins (mint and uncirculated) to trade, also some foreign coins and currency. TIA! Team Bear-Cat

David, we have family in Maryville and lead hiking/backpacking trips in the Nantahala NF pretty often. We love hike-tos, bridges, waterfalls and really sadistic in-plain-sight caches. We would be glad to adopt several of yours, in this order of preference: Ah...Santeetlah Aquaduct, Cruel & Unusual, Storyteller, Another Greenway Bridge, Fortune Cookie. (Maybe the Riparian Zone ones too, although it looks like some are already requested...) Be safe and well -- hope to be there for the send-off party too! Team Bear-Cat P.S. Anything we can do to help 'rejuvenate' the GSMGC? (We are members...)

The GA and TN approvers have been very fast (sometimes within 1 hour!! ) and courteous. On a couple of occasions they have requested more information or noted a typo, but in a straightforward way -- nothing 'rude'. The 75-mile/100-mile guideline may cause problems in some cases; so far that has been amiably handled with the cooperation/scheming of local cachers. Remember -- the approvers ARE volunteers, generally with full to-do plates and some even have family, jobs, etc beyond the geocaching! It is all a 'work in progress'; changes will be made as necessary down the line... Keep on hunting and having fun meanwhile!

Unfortunately, that is true -- cache-hunting 'wagon-trains' can be fun but there IS such a thing as too much of a 'good thing...' But it is a fun, social hobby/sport/pastime/game all in all -- I vote for 'Quest' or 'Destination'!

I will have an extra Georgia coin and would be interested in a wand -- sounds like a good trade! Feel free to e-mail to work out details so we take it off-forum... Thanks!

We always keep a couple of ammo-cans, a handful of assorted micros and smalls and a couple of plastic containers, plus the usual geo-stuff bag: ziploc baggies, camo-tape, electric tape of various colors, spare log-sheets, etc. Key-finders, magnetic and otherwise are always handy too... you just never know when you will be driving or hiking somewhere and a spot simply begs for a cache! Artificial rocks and the real thing 'altered' to be a cache-container are fun to assemble and have ready for action too! We try to avoid letting too many of ours be released and found using the same kind of container or strategy for the hide. It is supposed to be "Fun" -- not necessarily 'Easy'!!

Fortunately, there are search-criteria and pocket queries and other methods for finding only the caches that appeal to you, or your young children, or your 5000-find+ super-cacher buddy, or whoever! What suits you will not suit everybody else -- thank goodness! Or this would become a dull, over-regulated sport/hobby/game/pastime/etc! If I go find 5 or 10 by the same person and find that I'm bored or disappointed, then I may not look for others by this person, but that does not mean that I would presume to proclaim that those same caches were 'lame' or not enjoyable or suitable to others. "To thine own self be true" and 'one person's trash is another's treasure!' are two quotes that come to mind... Meanwhile, we're heading to a new state next week -- gotta go start searching for the ones we want to hunt...

To us, being an FTF is a nice bonus but (literally!) not worth loosing sleep over! We hunt for the fun of hunting, not the numbers and not the FTF-jolly. Of course, it depends on the prize for the FTF!! If there is a new geo-coin out there in the new cache for the FTF, then we may re-route the day's errands or schedule! On the other side, it is fun to put a nice prize for the FTF in our caches; we have been known to put gift certificates to nearby coffee-shops/restaurants for the FTF, and that does increase competition; a good way to encourage others to compete with a known FTF-hound in the area. For example, when a new high-tech 18-screen movie theater opened, we hustled over, bought several $5 gift certs, put a new cache in the parking lot with a free movie gift cert (partly to compensate for it being a 'light-pole micro' and then went and saw 'Phantom of the Opera' -- altogether a very productive and enjoyable evening! Sure enough, by the next day, 4 people had logged the new cache and the FTF-folks had driven over 50 miles to get it, not just because of the FTF -- they have a lot of those already -- but to check out the fancy new movie optics! So, do what you want and what you can and don't lose any sleep over FTF's -- won or lost, yours or others!

OK, "Pinch-Hitter" (yes, we like puns!) has officially been entered in the 2005 MLB race! Meanwhile, we are looking forward to escorting some entrants in the 2004 MLB and NFL races to Phoenix next week!

That might be overkill; there ARE lots of good reasons and locations for micros, especially in urban areas... But, yes, some limits on how many 1/1 micros there are in a given area is probably a good idea. Also, if it is clearly in a rural or forested area, where typically there are a lot less muggles to worry about, then perhaps the reviewers could/should at least ask the would-be cache owner to place a different kind...

g,Feb 10 2005, 10:21 AM] That WAS maybe the general original idea, but lately, the majority of micros ARE light pole 1/1s

Yep! We just found one in North GA last weekend!

Love those, especially Perfect Cuppa! Reminds me of this one, Caf-Fiend that we launched recently. Yep, photos do add a lot!

Yeah, but how many cachers confess to logging caches they did not actually go to!!!

Fortunately, many things about this sport/hobby/recreation/adventure/social activity/physical-and-mental therapy called 'Geocaching' rely on the honor system! There is really no one out there reading all the cache logs and verifying them against each cacher's list on GC.com. Cache owners can do that of course if they wish, but I doubt most of them would have time or inclination to do so, unless it involves a specific bug-race or other competitive event. How about some other kinds of numbers and rankings? Most miles driven (or hiked!) to log caches? Most states/provinces/countries? (Those 'Visited States' and 'Been There Globes' maps can be fun too!