sbukosky

Really, what's the problem with less than ideal caches as long as they don't multiply to the point that they prevent good ones from being created because of the .10 mile rule? In this vein I think a local organization could possibly excersize geocaching "manifest destiny". It seems to be the trend for government cache approval to issue permits on a yearly basis. As caches multiply, the time will come that some have to be voted off the island. Yeah, I know. Save the quotes. Who to judge what is "less than ideal" and how do you know what to bump for a so called potentially good cache? Thats the tough decisions that the board of directors has to make. Then again, perhaps a local organization shouldn't be able to do that. Perhaps a sister city type of agreement where a club across the country makes those decision. No hard feelings among the local members or the approvers then.

In the earlier days of Geocaching, the popular description of one was to take you to an interesting place that you would have otherwise not visited. To me that was out in the country away from developement. As we publicized the activity, it was bound to be populated with people having different ideas of what a fun cache experience was. I was strongly opposed to our approver letting what I considered a spamming or dozens of small caches in a so called series which were predominately in an urban area. It ran contrary to what I believed was a quality caching experience. Well the acceptance was very positive and I ate crow over it. More caches contrary to what I deemed good were popping up and people seemingly were enjoying them. No longer was my search page clean for fifty miles around me. My hobby became influenced by many others. Last spring, I had surgery to correct damage done to my foot. I litterally wore my heel out from the many miles of geocaching. Now, on a good day I might do several miles. On a bad day, I look for the * and * which may be in the Walmart lot and am thankful that there are some that I can still find. Yeah, I actually have a pocket query for those! If you don't like the simple ones or think one is just plain nasty for some reason, many times you can tell that from the logs or the area that it is located in. Use the new ignore feature and look for something else more promising to satisfy your expectations. If you do a cache that is a stinker in your opinion, find some decent way of expressing your opinion in the log.

Not if you're still knee draggin on that Suzook. It seems pretty clear that the coordinates should take one to a location where the danger of mistaking a live junction box versus a dummy cache box should be a problem. If not, I would hope that the finders have the good sense to post the potential danger in their log and that the approver or local geocaching club would contend with it should the cache owner not.

No one has to read the hint. My biggest point is any hint given should be reviewed by the approver for being worthy of spending the time with a cache sheet, decoding each letter. Elsewhere I make a case for requiring hints. But again, no one has to decode them. If you are really interested in a challenge, sell your GPSR and use a topo map and a compass.

No, I would think its up to the owner for the cache to be as difficult, or as easy as he wants it to be and if he thinks hints will make it too easy its his right to leave them out. Nowhere is it written that a cache has to be found on the first try. You miss the point. I'm not talking about * and * type of caches. I'm talking about hints when it becomes apparent that they are needed. People phoning and messaging the owner for help. Not giving the help on the cache page for all to get the benefit of is akin to enabling a friend to always be the first to find.

Think it through. Those associated with geocaching.com want acceptance and approval by land managers. How approving are they when they see an area trampled down, bark pulled from trees, logs and stumps and other things upset and contrary to the leave no trace concept? Lakes are managed so fishermen can catch fish. Game is managed so hunters can get their bag. How will land managers like it if they find out that the cache on their land is there only to be as difficult as possible for visitors to find? I don’t think it would be welcomed.

Did you ever fail to find a cache or waypoint and wonder why other people are finding it only to find out that they are calling or emailing the cache owner for hints? Wouldn't you think the cache owner would have the decency to add a hint to the cache page or clarify the hint? I find that as the price of gasoline rises and my free time dwindles, DNF's are becoming a bit more frustrating and upseting.

Yeah, I know the approvers have enough to do but this one has been burning me for a few years now. Useless hints, useless cute comments and a lack of hints in general. My philosophy on hiding a cache or waypoint marker is for a cacher to be able to find them but a casual hiker to not notice them. In respect for people's time, I have always provided good hints for all but the most obvious of caches. As further demonstration for the need of good hints, I've seen far too many areas trashed by people trying to find a waypoint. Deep in the woods is one thing. In sight of a trail is horrible for our image. Lets have the approvers check on the hints too. If obviously inappropriate, don't approve it. If one is not desired to be added, so be it. But I'd like to see hints required for each waypoint.

''Two steps will get you there'' This the only hint for a multi cache. No stairs near the coordinates. Two steps off the trail? Which side? Two steps versus how many feet in accuracy? No description of what we are looking for, but they do say to look carefully! Oh, I love wasting gasoline and time on these things!

Much could be said about his post but it reminds me of a local fight against widening a highway. You see, years ago a few people moved out of the city to live in the country. Then some more people thought it was a good idea. Now it is no longer out in the country and the old country road can't handle all the suburbanites going to and coming from work and the malls. Like it or not, he and we share some common ground. Personally, my ax to grind is again unchecked home building. It becomes harder and harder to climb a hill here in SE Wisconsin and not see land being surveyed out for subdivision roads. My point is to recognize what we do have in common and work together to that end.

1. Most environmental impact heals in short order 2. Most impact can be minimized by adding useful clues to the cache page and if none are given, log that they should be! 3. If an area is being negatively impacted, log it as such. Logs don't have to be nothing but happy chat.

I discourage actually hiding even a tag in private property that is publicly accessable. However I have seen waypoints on such property that use existing numbers, such as on light poles, fire hydrants, signs and such. For example, I've used numbers that when multiplied by another number are the coordinates for the next waypoint. So, if a light pole has a tag with a number such as 1234 or whatever, divide the next coordinate by it and post that number on the cache page. Sometimes bolt heads have special numbers on them. There are all sorts of posibilities. Numbers are everywhere. We can use them instead of defacing private property.

One of the most challenging and fun caches in our area was call Scarabedai Delta Gibbosum's Delight. I'm sure I butchered the spelling. Translated it refers to the African dung beetle, which was a hint of was to look for. The cache was a film canister fastend under a piece of shingle that was covered in deer "scat" and some other likely ground clutter. I've taken bewildered DNF'ers to it and pointed to it and they still could not see it.

While standing in the doorway of an abandoned farm yard building and looking at the waypoint marker that was hidden, a man and some boys walk by and he gives me a dirty look. Later, after finishing the series and approaching my car, two squads descend upon me. I'm patted down and asked a bunch of questions. Turns out the guy reported me for shooting up drugs!!!

Point system? I've been wanting that for years instead of a simple virtual counting the same as a double five star.

How about marking where your dog does his duty so you can come back and clean up later when you get a "doggy bag"? Yeah, I've had to do that already. Funny how I remembered the GPS but forgot the baggie.

I have cached in Nashville. While on business, I was staying at the downtown Sheraton and was happy to find a few micros within a few hundred feet of the hotel. I enjoyed these very well, but if they were on my turf, would consider them less than the ideal caching experience. Thus my long standing reply to such questions is to ''let the logs reflect the quality''. I expect I'll be at the Sheraton again in the future and hope there are some new micros to save me from killing time at the lounges in the evening!

Summer is for motorcycling. Fall and winter is for geocaching. There is a good side to global warming. Not as much snow.

Or, just part of the fun of hunt. I like to check out the area via photos and see if I can preplan my route through the woods or whatever. Enjoy, just don't overdose.

Forget the numbers. Enjoy the journey. I found that I go back to some areas that I discovered while doing a hunt. It cut back on my numbers rise but I'm enjoying nature more. But if you still have the burning need to get the numbers up there, be sure to attend the events and log the temps on different days so they count towards your total finds.

A find is a find whether by sweating it out or by happenstance. You deserve to log it as much as anyone.

I had heel surgery last spring after wearing out the achilles and bone. Also have a little neuropathy in the foot so I appreciate comfortable hiking boots, but don't have a lot of money to waste on names rather than performance. That being said, The Brahma boots that I bought at Walmart are perhaps the most comfortable shoes/boots that I've had. The waterproofing comes in handy for those sloppy trails. Best of all, they cost only $30.

Clouds will indeed attenuate the signal. Think about water and a microwave oven. Why is a lock easier to get in the forest in the winter? No leaves. What is it about leaves? They contain water! But to the topic, I find that the accuracy from day to day can exceed what the supposed error radius shows. I've frequently experimented with waypoint averaging using WAAS and getting down to a few feet accuracy. Come back a time later and one time it might be spot on and other times twenty feet off when the circle of accuracy shows to be eight feet. I'd like to know if it is feasible to create a GPSR that can better the present handheld accuracy. Something getting closer to a surveyor's GPSR.

Today I had two police officers do a pat down on me! First off, I'm a good sized, fifty something guy. No tattos or hardware hanging from my face. I wore blue jeans, hiking boots, a plaid button down shirt and a camo cap with a Wisconsin Geocaching Association button on it. The area was rural and I was exiting the back of a large county park. To make the story short, I was on a two mile multi that had one waypoint in what must have been an old chicken coop or something. The waypoint (important) was an AOL CD mailer and inside of it was a small while envelope with the next waypoint and a device that was a piece of wire, a metal washer and rubber band. As I'm standing in the doorway handling this stuff, I guy walks by with three boys and asks me what I'm doing. I said "I'm Geocaching" The guy seems to have a frown but I didn't think anything of it other than the guy needs to mind his own business. This was the beginning of the two mile hike. Apparently during this time the guy calls the police that some guy is shooting drugs in an old abandoned building!! When I come down the old road to where I parked my car, two squad cars were waiting for me. After being told to keep my hands out of my pockets, show ID, empty my pockets and submit to a pat down, I was asked what I was doing back there. Once they explain what the complaint was, it all fell into place! Quickly, the officers understood the situation and we parted our ways. This is the second time in 600 caches that I've had a run in with the law. The first was nothing compared to this! I'm sure if I was not hunting solo, this would not have happened. And before you ask, I am not aware of such problems happening in this park. It is close to home.

Yes, WAAS with delay locks but I do find that test coordinates made with WAAS and averaging will be more accure days later when searched for with WAAS enabled. Haveing the unit off or off without batteries will delay a lock also. The more recent it has been used, the faster it will lock.