yellow1961

Being nostalgic, I guess, and thinking that the geodetic survey appreciated our logs to let them know that bench marks are still there. They are THE physical connection we, as geocachers, have to connect us with the latitude and longitude grid lines of the earth. Years ago one of my logs was copied to a datasheet. A few weeks ago several of us were 'FTF' on benchmarks set in the 1940's. While waiting in line at the ferry to Port Townsend I saw that the ONLY photos posted on a datasheet were taken from a log submitted by a geocacher. What a disappointment that our contributions to that will no longer be available to them. I feel that it's shame on us for withdrawing that support.

I am upset by the decision by Geocaching.com to remove Benchmarking from their website. I have just learned about the note posted on the forum on October 17th. That is much too close to the proposed change that they plan to put into effect sometime between November 1st and the end of 2022. It seems that the idea is being slid in without letting the general membership know about this idea. Why wasn't it posted on one of the monthly official blogs for all to see? The reasons for removing it seem pretty thin. Geocaching.com offers to keep Waymarking.com yet they, too, fall under the category of not being owned by community members that can be maintained. - Sure, I have had a few DNFs on destroyed Benchmarks. But, I've gotten a few FTFs on them placed in the 1940s. The premise that they can't be maintained should also apply to Adventure Labs, earth caches, and virtuals. There are a lot of those popping up every day. Also, any cache (physical or virtual) cannot be maintained when the CO becomes in-active. That happens a lot. All geocaches have a limited audience. Depending on the ability for people to travel make some caches unavailable to a lot of people. There is only one APE event and only one HQ (Block party) event available. Yet, they have their own icon on the stats page. Without someone 'policing attendance' there is no way to ensure accuracy or validity for those who may never be able to attend these activities in person. Restricting COs that have challenge caches requiring finding and logging benchmarks seems unfair. Where do you draw the line? Challenges for particular states, countries, continents, or provinces are limiting to those who can't travel to those places. Challenges that require special equipment (like boats or climbing gear) restrict some people from finding caches. Mysteries with a 5 star rating are out of some peoples reach. The nuances of this change may seem small but it may lead to something more complex. Thus, if I have a vote on this matter. I would like to see Benchmarking remain on the Geocaching.com website as a fun and educational aspect of the game.

Can a basic member log a premium cache if they signed the log?