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Printess Caroline

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Posts posted by Printess Caroline

  1. Hi there everyone,

     

    First off let me say the whole idea of this activity is thrilling to my 8 year old son and I. We are trying to jump in full-tilt.

     

    We are brand new to geocaching and are not sure we are doing it correctly. I am signed up at geocaching.com etc. and my user name is radioscooter. We live about .25 mile from the Pot O'' Gold: Green microcache.

     

    We tried to locate the cache today with no luck and just want to make sure of a few things that maybe you can help us with. We don't even know WHAT we are doing wrong.We read about the cache, decrypted the hint and then put the coordinates in our GPS unit which got us only to the park. Then we used my iPhone with the geocaching app to get closer. We thought we were right on top of it at the telephone pole but we couldn't find it. So a few questions:

     

    * First - I read one log that said they didn't even use GPS, just "tracks and maps". What tracks and maps are they talking abut? Are we using the wrong tools? I loaded the coordinates into the GPS and the iPhone app seems to work on its own. But we didn't see any map or "tracks" and I don't know what they mean.

     

    * We are not sure what exactly we are looking FOR. How are most microcaches stored? Is it really 2 film cannisters or is that just a size reference? I see that some caches say "it's an ammo box" or similar but how do we know? We picked up a lot of trashy container looking things that turned out to just be trash.

     

    * We are not sure if we are meant to dig or climb or what? How "in plain sight" are these caches? Is it up to the cache-er? Specifically with this one - we didn't know if we were supposed to look inside a trash container as that seems unsanitary or in a tree that would require climbing - aren't those requirements listed by icons? And if not - can they be buried or..?

     

    Where is the best resource area to learn and get started?

     

    Thanks

    Radioscooter (and son)

     

    Hi Radioscooter and welcome!

     

    *Your tools sound just fine to me. The person who used "tracks and maps" to find the cache did some preparation at home, probably using Google maps and heaven knows what. As a very low tech. geocacher, I certainly don't know!

     

    *The cache that you were looking for is a micro, which means that it could be the size of a film canister or even smaller! A "nano" is the smallest micro, and it is quite small. There is no separate icon for those, but often the cache owner will tell you in the cache description that you are looking for a nano.

     

    *Caches cannot be buried. Other than that, the hide location is determined by the cacher who hid the cache. Some are in plain sight, and others are in places that you will need to move something to reveal them. From just reading the hint at my computer many miles away, it gives me no help that I can share with you about that cache's location.

     

    The most helpful thing that I can think of to suggest is that you leave this one for a time when you are more experienced. Instead, look for a regular sized cache ( an ammo can or Tupperware-type container, generally) that is rated one star in difficulty. However, I would also suggest staying away from "A Tribute to Mom" cache that I saw listed in the caches nearby. From the description and some of the logs, I think that one looks like it could be a little freaky, especially for an eight year old.

     

    Good luck!

  2. Do you ever just clean out the trash left in a cache? I've come across a couple that had broken toys, etc. Should you just take that junk out and throw it away or notify the cache owner to do that?

     

    I have. Then, I will add a few new items to replace the trash I removed.

     

    I also will add something occasionally without taking anything if the swag seems to be lacking. If a cache has only kid stuff in it and it isn't themed to cater to the younger cachers, I will often leave an item like an eyeglass repair kit that might appeal to an adult. If I come across a cache with no items for kids, I always leave a little something a child might like such as a toy car or an old computer game that my older children have outgrown.

     

    That reminds me to suggest that you might look around your house for swag items. About half of my swag is made up of items that my family no longer wants or that I have picked up at a garage sale.

  3. A few questions: Let's say a person has done some really great hides in your area. Is it, I don't know what the term would be, "giving props to drop a cool travel bug or geocoin into one of his caches or does it just not matter?

     

    Lets just say I get to a cache and it's in need of maintenance that I can handle on the scene, say a ziplock for the log or a new log all together. Is it bad form for me to take it upon myself to repair the cache or should I just notify the owner of its needs?

     

    Thanks in advance.

     

    If someone has placed a cache that I think is a really enjoyable cache, I will reward the owner with a log entry that expresses my gratitude and appreciation. If I have a cool travel bug or geocoin, I will also drop that in the cache to encourage others to come and enjoy the cache, too.... if the cache is big enough to hold travelers.

     

    As to your other question, most cache owners appreciate friendly cachers doing maintenance when it is needed and they are able.

  4. It happens... Unfortunately, more often than most of us would like, especially those who own travelers. I hope that this won't ruin the fun for you too much. After all, it is only part of the enjoyment of geocaching. Just do your best to be a good escort to any travelers that you pick up and have fun!

  5.  

    I've seen mention in here of making replicas (i.e. scans or photocopies of genuine 'registered' pieces), laminated for protection from handling, & 'launched' on their journey. This seems to me to be a good preventive measure, since it removes much of the 'attractiveness' of the item, & the token can still serve the purpose it was intended for. If I ever did decide to get into 'em, I think that's about the only way I'd do it. Do others consider this an acceptable practice?

     

    ~*

     

    i think it's cheap.

     

    you can either circulate a trackable, or you can keep it. you cannot do both.

     

    ...unless you don't mind living a lie.

     

    maybe one might log facsimiles of caches as well? it's like seeing a sign that gives you the tracking number to a coin you never see so you can "discover" it.

     

    what'd you discover? the trackable? not hardly. you "discovered" a sign.

     

     

    when i find one of these cheesy things, i use 'em to pick my nose and then put 'em back. they're not real trackables.

     

    I think that I found one of those "coins" after you, flask. I thought someone was just really sloppy with the Gorilla Glue!

  6. Consider hiding a new mystery cache with a hard to solve puzzle. You could even name it after the cacher that has been taking the trackables and keeping for months. In the description of the new cache you could put in a statement to the effect "if you have any of my trackables return as many as you take".

     

    Wouldn't this just give reason for angst? If the other person feels like they're being singled out, you may make more trouble than you want! I agree with the idea of placing a new cache and making it tough, but I'd never call out another player like this...

     

    That's hilarious! I like it! :mellow:

     

    It may be fun to consider such a cache, but the drama and ill will that it could produce would not be fun at all. A polite email to the cacher as others suggested would be best.

  7. Nick Scots, I just took the time to read a couple of your cache descriptions. Being a cacher who always reads the description and makes her judgement on whether or not to do a cache at least partially on that description, I would probably not do the two I read unless I saw some amazing pictures of the location or read an awesome log. It seemed to me that your descriptions told me right where to find the cache. I consider it my job as the finder to figure that out. If I did see the pictures and logs that would entice me to search for your cache, I would actually try to ignore your description.

  8. Well looks like I thought, that not al people read the descriptions, first.

     

    I own a cache that says to dig a few inches under a standing stone to find the cache,lots of users don't dig down.

     

    Ta for readinmg my post.

     

    Nick

     

    How ironic! Here you are upset that people aren't reading your description and you haven't done your required reading. Perhaps the cachers who don't read the descriptions are the reason that you have anyone search for your cache at all. Certainly, I would immediately weed a cache with such a direction out of my caching itinerary.

  9. I always read them and at least the most recent posts. My husband and I aren't into big number runs, so I take the time to weed out caches that don't look interesting. I appreciate a well-written description and will avoid a cache if it has a particularly poorly written description. I suspect that the owner who can't take the time to write something that doesn't make them look like a 2nd grade drop-out has given just as little time and thought to the hide.

  10. I've been FTF several times but have only been rewarded once with a prize. It was a generous $25 gift card for Duncan Donuts. Now that was a taste-full surprize!

     

    I, personally, like to leave a FTF prize that relates in some way to the cache I've hidden. Some of the prizes I've left are an admission ticket to a museum, an unactivated coin, a $5 gift card, a carved beaver, and a $10 bill. And sometimes, I leave nothing but the thrill of signing a clean logbook for the FTF.

  11. Premise:

    An "experienced" geocacher goes looking for a cache. Let's say he's been geocaching for 1+ years and has 500+ finds. The point being he isn't a newbie.

     

    Situation:

    The geocacher believes the cache description (or cache title) highly suggests the likely hiding place for this cache. However, after searching for 40 minutes or so, he doesn't find it. The cache log on the Internet shows a half dozen consecutive DNFs within the last four months. The cache owner hasn't responded with a log or note of any kind.

     

    Dilemma:

    How do you feel this situation should be handled? Which number below comes closest to your response:

     

    1. Don't log anything.

     

    2. Log a DNF as the others have done.

     

    3. Log an assertive DNF that attempts to get the owner to investigate.

     

    4. Physically replace the cache with one you hide yourself in the likely spot. Log a DNF

    stating you believe the cache is missing, but that you have now replaced it for the owner.

     

    5. Physically replace the cache with one you hide yourself in the likely spot. Log a FIND

    stating you believe the cache is missing, but that you have now replaced it for the owner.

     

    6. Other action. Please describe.

     

    Does anyone know if geocaching.com has an official position to this situation?

     

    I probably would not waste my time looking for a cache with so many consecutive DNFs. If I were to do such and unusual thing and not find the cache, then I would add my DNF to the string. I might also email the owner and add a needs maintenance, if I got no response to the email.

     

    I really was surprised to read your 4th and 5th options, though. Why would anyone consider replacing the cache of an owner whom they suspect to be inattentive??? If the cache of such an owner goes missing, I would consider it good riddance.

  12. The best are the ones that have a reason for being besides no one having a cache in that area:

     

    A great location

    A clever hide

    An interesting puzzle (not mathmatical or decoding for me, though)

    Something to teach

     

    These are the ones that take a little thought to place and make me happy to find.

  13. this one may have been looked at before, and its a type of puzzle cache, but basivcally, part one will have an problem that has two answers, you get one of those, you get the path to one cache, get the other, and get a second cache instead of the first!

     

    tell me what you think

     

    Will you tell searchers that there are two possible answers? If you do, it might be especially attractive to the puzzle loving cachers who will want to find both finals... and less intimidating for those cachers who aren't big puzzle fans who will be satisfied finding one of the correct answers.

  14. YOU might not be hacking down trees, and such, but plenty of cachers do bushwack....just look at old posts. They also overturn rocks, disturb plants and wildlife, etc. These are issues that our parks admisnistrators have to worry about. It is, after all, their job to preserve the land for future use and enjoyment.

     

    When I go for a walk at a park I'm not taking an item to leave behind that the park owner might not want present. When I swing on a swingset that was constructed by the park owner, I am using equipment that was placed by the owner for a specified usage. Bringing a frisbie into the park would also suggest that I bring it out. If I did not, it would be considered littering and I could be fined for that. Again, you don't have to agree with me. The law does, however. I don't care what Groundspeak gave you for guidelines, they don't supersede the government or the land owner in a court of law when it pertains to the allowed usage of the owned land (land not owned by YOU). By the way, your taxes don't give you sole ownership to that land, it is "owned" collectively by the rest of the taxpaying population.

     

    Wow! you are just completely lost in your own single thought aren't you? You basically just called geocaching "littering". I think you need to stop being a $%^& house lawyer and start using your head. You are acting as if, becuase it is "public" land, "nobody" gets to use it without express written permission, signed in triplicate, and noterized.

     

    Public land is public for the enjoyment of THE PEOPLE. Guess what. WE ARE THE PEOPLE. WE have just as much right to use the land for our enjoyment as any other group of people get to use it for thiers.

     

    I know you don't understand this though, you have repeated the same diatribe post after post in this thread. You can live in your world, I'll live in the real one.

     

    2006-01-18.gif

  15. Only the land owner has the right to determine what he or she will or will not allow on their land. It's so simple to ask and I think you will find that most land owners, when approached with a reasonable request, will allow you to place a cache. If the answer is no, then move on. If you want to make choices about a particular area......buy the land yourself.

     

    Public land was bought by each and every one of us.

     

    That's correct. What makes you any better than all of those other people who also helped to buy that land?

  16. People were just "getting away" with it, which they clearly had no right to do.

     

    No right? Unless there are existing policies or regulations, I ought to have a right to engage in any activities that are legal and essentially harmless on public lands.

     

    :sad: ACK! It is particularly upsetting to me to see a moderator on this forum holding this position. What are you afraid of briansnat? Why not just approach the land manager, explain geocaching and its benefits, and get the proper permission? Scared of rejection?

  17. It's always annoyed me to some degree when I see the sense of entitlement many people show toward "public" land.

     

    Me too! I think that it is pretty nervy to think that they personally can decide how the land should be used. That is the job of the land managers who have the interests of the land itself, the wildlife and the general public to consider. Often times, in the situations when a geocacher hides a cache without permission, I suspect that only the quality of the hide and the lack of a cache in that area is considered.

     

    quote name='elmuyloco5' date='Dec 29 2007, 10:14 AM' post='3226488']

     

    I think the point is that not asking permission can cause land owners to take drastic measures even if those measures are over-the-top. They probably completely banned it because they don't feel the geocaching community wants to play "nice" with them. That's what happens when people come in with the "place now, ask later" attitude. They ruin the game/sport/whatever you want to call it for everyone.

     

    There have been instances where the park management gave geocaching their tacit approval by ignoring it, but when a well meaning geocacher demanded their official blessing, they ruined it for everyone else.

     

    Maybe it's just your choice of wording, but where was someone speaking of DEMANDING permission? I said that people should ASK. If asking gettings geocaching banned in an area, then it was truly never allowed there to begin with. People were just "getting away" with it, which they clearly had no right to do.

     

    I agree with elmuyloco5.

     

    It seems pretty juvenile to not ask for permission because the answer may be "no". That's the tactic of a scheming teenager. I love to geocache and to hide caches, but I also understand that there are reasons that caches shouldn't be hidden in some places. One of those reasons being that some geocachers have demonstrated by their lack of playing by the rules (of the park and geocaching.com) that geocachers are neither respectful nor responsible people.

     

    It would be great if every geocacher could behave as an adult and get the required permission. After all, the worst you might hear is a "no", and if that is the answer, move on and find another good place to hide your cache. Grow up, people!

     

    (made my addition bold typed to make this easier to decipher since the quote boxes don't show)

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