Salvelinus

Its now a coin flip as to which bonfire was better. Burning Micro...or Polgara's beach bonfire. Don't tell Amy I said that or one of my caches will go missing again There will be potato guns at the next beach bonfire!!! Salvelinus

6...no 7. The one in Cabelas parking lot already took up more time than it was worth so I never logged it. However, my ignore list has 100's on it. Salvelinus

Central PA cachers have their own forum for sharing ideas, opinions and events. It can be located in the forum section Here. Feel free to sign up and join us! Salvelinus

And some may choose to make a counter-statement as their response to the angst created by nattering negativists. I find it a stretch to say that "everyone is welcome," but hey, anyone is entitled to an opinion and I will respect others' rights to theirs. Hmmmm? I always though those who prefer all kinds of caches didn't have any spite? I guess I was wrong. I do understand what you mean about not feeling welcome. I always felt the same way about those cache machine events. But, I always respected their right to have their kind of fun as well. Salvelinus

None taken at all! But bad caches do give me angst Salvelinus

Your right...its much more constructive to talk about your doggies, overweight cachers and little red flags seen in the woods than to have the occasional civil discussion on cache quality. Some of you may wish to attend This Event just to get rid of some the "angst". Everyone is welcome! Salvelinus

However...regardless of your favorite flavor, if it was served to you in a leaky container or cracked cone, dripped all over your hand, and you were not offered a spoon and a napkin... would you still smile? Why does that seem almost always happen everytime I go for the raspberry? Salvelinus

lol...No offense, but you seem to be the one who is not able to move on. Just don't open the thread and read it if your not interested...or don't want to engage in the discussion anymore. Salvelinus

Ummmm...I think its the other way around. I once found a micro attached to a light pole in Cabelas parking lot near Reading, Pennsylvania. It had about 35 finds in a month. A few miles down the road was a wonderful cache hidden about a mile off the road along a very serene stream. It was a very peaceful area with wildlife all over the place. This cache had two finders (me and my friend) in the same month's time. I really didn't need a cache on a light pole to attract me to Cabela's, but I never would of had the memories of that wonderful half day if that cache at the end of that trail wasn't there. Too bad those other 34 finders of the Cabelas light pole cache missed this one. I guess the other micro hidden on the front porch of the nearby Cracker Barrel diverted them. My agnst is against un-maintained, poorly thought out caches where you have to be "stealthy"...not any particular size. Its just a vast majority of the lousy ones I have come across tend to be micros. Since it seems totally senseless to cache for smiley faces, my disdain for these junk caches, regardless of size, will not yield. Salvelinus

I would suggest checking out TRIGO in Yahoo groups. They are the Pittsburgh area geocaching group and they are very active. Salvelinus

I didn't know that. Thanks! Paul Actually, that is not entirely true. In Pennsylvania, wetlands are regulated by the State Department of Environmental Resources. The Feds have nothing to do with it other than to make sure the state program is in complience with the federal regulations. Permits for the type of project you are describing are also issued by the same agency in PA. I know all this because one aspect of my job as a state fisheries biologist is to review these permits for possible wetland and riparian disturbances. However, I don't know how the process works in your state. I may have confused you more, but if you are interested in "fixing" the location, I would contact local agencies first and they will advise you if you need to take it up to a higher level. Salvelinus

Many of Quest Masters caches can be accessed by 4WD. Polly Takes the Plunge can be a fun 4X4 experience. You may want to drop him an email. Better yet, if your in the area, talk with him at his Upcoming Event. I know QM personally, and he is an "old school", and very proficient cacher. He favors caches with elevated terrain ratings that also have a sense of adventure! Heck, the guy drove his Dodge Colt to the North Pole!! I'm sure he could give you plenty of options. I could give you some 4X4 caches in Central PA if your interested. Salvelinus

I've done something similar to that with some caching friends. However, as previously stated, something like that cannot be listed here. Maybe E-mail some of your local cachers and see if they would want to participate? Salvelinus

This is why I hate the forums. Your being absolutly no help except to personally offend the OP just because he's not as articulate as most. I guess your smiley face makes is all ok... but I find it rude. I've seen others moderated for much less...what gives? Salvelinus

Pennsylvania has a quite extensive hiking trail system through its State Forests. In many places there are trail registers put out by the DCNR Bureau of Forestry. A similar thiing except they are located at trail junctions rather than at summits. The log book entries on the trail registers I have seen are amazingly similar to geocache logs. I was chatting with a Forest Manager about geocaching awhile back and the best way for him to understand what a geocache is, was to say that it is exactly like a trail register except you can trade things with others who find it. Had my geocache permit from him 3 days later! Salvelinus

I have a very extensive Multi Cache that is 9 stages and a total of 50+ miles from start to finish. Frankly, I designed it so that those who will look for it and finish it, will greatly appreciate it. The logs bear that out. Also, if certain local cachers don't ever attempt it, then I know I did it right. Salvelinus

Maybe its local cachers doing their own thing? I have had local cachers place special caches for other cachers around here. You really don't need a website to geocache. It just makes it nicer. Now that you have heard a few legimite reasons of why it possibly could of gotten there are you going to return it? Salvelinus

I think even the OP would agree that if the caches are being maintained than the number of hides is a non-issue. But it seems the OP, like myself, has experienced cachers getting new caches approved while they still have maintenance issues on caches they have previously placed. Frankly, some of these people need to be "reeled" in. I guess you could have a new guideline for cache approval that says you cannot have new caches approved until your current caches are adaquately maintained. But that may end up being a nighmare for the approvers because some situations are not as obvious as others. And your vision of adaquate maintence may be different from anothers. Personally, I can't maintain more than about a dozen caches at any one time. Then again, very few of my hides are easy to get to, and I'm a stickler for maintence to begin with. Salvelinus

"Most commonly found in Urban areas, along roadside ditches, unmanaged yards and vacant lots" Im Safe! and so are you if you look for my caches. Seriously though...interesting information. I never heard of it before. Salvelinus

I say the same thing about all those micros hidden in parking lots, guardrails, or stuck on the sides of road bridges. That hasn't stopped anyone from hiding them or looking for them. I say go for it Dino. I bet you get some great logs! Salvelinus

True...but that dosn't mean there wouldn't be geocaching. If someone who dosn't log online is still having fun then we are not allowed to be critical because having fun is all that matters...right? Salvelinus

I don't really understand what you mean by rural cacher. Although I live and own 3 caches in an urban area (that's .68% within a 25 mile radius of my home coordinates), nearly all of my finds are rural. 70% of my owned caches are more than 40 miles from my home. 50% of my owned (adopted) caches are more than 1,800 miles from my home; all five of them are rated Difficulty 5. So I'm still not clear on what you mean by rural cacher. I agree! Dosn't sound like many of the responses live in areas I would consider rural. What you are getting is what percentage of the local caches have you placed. I have 63 within 25 miles, which is the lowest number I've seen posted, and 8 are mine. However, I live very near Penn State University which I would not consider rural at all. Why would anyone hide caches much farther than 25 miles from their home coordinates? Maintenance becomes much more difficult. Salvelinus

I agree that using the auto-rating thingy would help, but sometimes terrain ratings need to be kept in perspective based on the hiders experience. A gradual increase in elevation may seem like a steep hike for someone who rarly hikes, but hardly noticed by someone who hikes frequently. Same goes for bushwacking. Salvelinus

You should be happy to know that situation can never happen. Only the owner or an approver can archive caches. Approvers will ALWAYS give the owner a chance to fix the problem by posting a note on the cache page. Salvelinus

Interesting...I recently was very successful at doing this. Check out the history of This cache. The owners are nice people and seem to have other interests so they just needed an extra personal "push" to finally remind them to get this cache taken care of. The approver rightly gave them plenty of time to deal with it too. I think in the end it went very well. Now I have to find time to get my cache in there like I said I was going to do. Salvelinus