Malpas Wanderer

My diabetes bug has been dropped and retrieved at the Mega event today, (neither action by me).

Once again it's a long distance from you; The Skeg to Ness series - 207 caches on 197miles likely the furthest walk is 0.2mi many are right at the parking.

I'm from Berkshire but even so the terrain where I set my caches is not suitable for the disabled. My caches usually are a reasonable puzzle then a fair walk to the cache. One particular series includes caches in several different counties and many miles of travel. I've been toying with the idea of opening them up in a "co-operative" form for the less able. Essentially the less able person would solve the puzzles but recruit a more able person to do the fieldwork and could be done over large distances much along the lines of how seekers are sought to do the stages of "The Magnificent Journey" I say toying with the idea because it would likely upset the purists of D/T ratings and efforts expended. Would something of this nature interest folk such as yourself? Would it detract not finding a physical container or one at the end of seven and then with a little assistance? I welcome folks views but am too short of time to get into great debates.

Would the list of UK favourites help UK Favourites

I'll usually give help on my puzzles. I say usually because on one I didn't give help for a while. FTF on that one was within a couple of days of publishing Second to find was 5 months later. What I do ask seekers of help for is to provide a work flow of what they have tried and the result they achieved. Even that simple request gets varying results though. Such detail allows me to tailor the guidance though and allow them to still do some work and feel the euphoria. Many of my replies have cryptic messages in them but often those go over peoples heads.

I would say no to the event. That way it's it's all seekers own work until PAF kicks in. At an event you would be likely to get bunching and other problems. Nice idea but expect many will still desire to do all the options if you are talking individual caches rather than one staged cache. Just my opinion and I'm usually different to everyone else.

I suspect every cache owner might think they are producing quality. However many don't seem to effect any quality control when even selecting the type of cache they intend submitting. Recently saw a trad which said it is not at the published coordinates you will have to puzzle some. I was considered arogant by the CO for flagging that one up. Not 5 minutes ago I've just seen another one very similar. If setters cant grasp fundamental guidelines what hope is there.

So you go to the Orienteering course, and go to checkpoint 1, it will have a letter on it Q (the cache page gives you this); you then go to checkpoint 2, it's letter may be (for example) N. So now you know Q=1, N=2, therefore you substitute those numbers in the equation and so N51 (Q+N)(D-H).(C-J)(K/E)(B-G) W003 (U-F)(R-A).(V-P)(S-M)(B-L-E). becomes N51 (1+2)(D-H).(C-J)(K/E)(B-G) W003 (U-F)(R-A).(V-P)(S-M)(B-L-E). which is N51 3 (D-H).(C-J)(K/E)(B-G) W003 (U-F)(R-A).(V-P)(S-M)(B-L-E). By the time you've visited every chekpoint and collected the letter on each one you'll have a value for each letter, and substitute them all into the eqauation, do the maths and you'll end up with a normal set of co-ords which should be the cache location I've been over there a good few times and I have noticed the check points ect ect. They obviously show the cordinations on the Cache page But how did you work it out i there a guide for this???? So how did you work out the letters into numbers? The orienteering point bear both a letter and a number. I notice from your log you do not have a GPSr. How do you intend to arrive at you final calculate coordinates? It's not impossible but is somewhat more difficult without dynamic GPS indication.

I've not found this particular cache and only briefly looked at the page but other than the walk and navigation it seems quite straight forward. You need to visit each orienteering post. Note letter and number engraved on it. Substitute the number for the letter in the equation. Then evaluate the equation. Resulting coordinates should deliver you to the cache. Try to evaluate the equation as early as you can or you might have a long walk back, as there is no defined start point or route.

My expectations are always high and there are many good cache setters out there especially the writer of this post. The 0.1mi limit is needed as there could be two very good locations very close. I've enjoyed some good series too. I do select what I seek and will travel far in my quest for quality but it is becoming very time consuming. My "published in the UK in last 7 days" PQ returned 816 caches this morning.... ....How long can the UK sustain such a placement rate and how many of those caches will be quality. I live in hope.

Must admit caching does not have the appeal it once did and it's harder to select the ones you are really interested in. To me it went downhill when big series began to evolve. The UK Mega series being a prime example; Caches placed for someone's 5 minutes of glory Caches not maintained Now we have someone else setting replacement caches in this series and another mechanism seems to have crept in; "Cache archived because of number of DNF's" setting yet another president To me the biggest benefit to caching at present would be a per day limit of one cache published per team.

To the North look at what Delta68 has to offer, across to the Cotswolds try Griff Groff ones or if you like long walks but plainish hides look at wrighty but there might be a hill or two there. East Midlands Air station 106 Behind Enemy Lines Eternal Triangles Granville Country Park North Wales Dragons Den Aber Falls Or any by Team Marzipan or ZaggCat

Maybe, but the argument is that getting to the log is part of retrieving the cache and it wouldn't be "geocaching" without that. Couldn't agree more that paper logs do not remain in good condition in many circumstances. I personally would welcome a Contact or RF type of logging system but It will never fit Groundspeak's ideal that geocaching will remain open to everyone because of the extra cost incurred. It would be nice to eliminate some of the less ideal placements by the extra set up costs to the CO though. As it stands no signature for a cache with a physical placement and you have no legitimate claim to the find. With a little bit of resolve most can still be signed, just try harder.

Sounds like a family group where the actual account holder writes up the logs. well known that sometimes not all family members can visit every cache. As to my own logging its fairly common for me to wake at 3am cache all the daylight hours or perhaps more, likely be fatigued from driving and then set about writing up logs...There are going to be a few I don't recall well. Looking forward to the day every cache placement is so astounding that I remember them all. :D

All of what MartyBartfast has said + Try triangulation. Walk past where you think ground zero is and make a mental note of the position. Repeat from as many directions as you can. If the arrow won't deliver you to gz. Change the screen view on your GPSr until you have a dynamic coordinate display. Move around until that display matches the figures on the cache page if seeking a Trad or your calculated coordinates if a Multi or Puzzle. Good luck. What area are you from? Including such detail might get you local help.

I would say it's wrongly categorised. Oh well lets shake a few trees and say I'd probably smash it open. In a devilish mood today so you'll just have to decipher if that's true or false statement. :anicute:

I agree, it would be job done and in my opinion, would be the best course of action at this point. I have asked the CO (on the page) if he would be willing to accompany another cacher in the search and if necessary, divulge the cache location (on the proviso that he/she kept quiet) to reassure the caching community that all is well. The CO has stated that he would only be willing to show a reviewer the cache location. This is a disappointing show of 'No Confidence' in his fellow cachers but I guess its the CO's prerogative. Perhaps I shouldn't have declined the offer of this afternoon to be shown the cache. The angst build will turn to delight upon the first legitimate find. The cacher there in the early hours of this morning was from Wales so it isn't only local cachers trying. Lets hope a few more travel to our area, there are plenty of caches to find on a day or longer trip. :D

May be these are revenge on a certain cache setter and you need to borrow the CO's pole ladder. :laughing: That's alright Colin, #6 is at the publishers, and I've dedicated it to you B) #6 on the ignore list but thanks for the honour. :anicute:

May be these are revenge on a certain cache setter and you need to borrow the CO's pole ladder. :laughing:

I think the CO has said in several sources that the cache is indeed present and can be seen in the photos he has posted in this and other postings. I certainly believe that to be true. :lol: I thought I the good doctor would have made a more thorough examination.

No you are just testing us. Keep up the good work. There are around 100000 caches in the UK, folk have a great choice. There will be a temptation to return and beat the illusive one. If that fits your demeanour then get out there and prove yourself.

Would Cacheye do it?

It is going to be fixed in the March 13 upgrade. There is a work around search other forum topics for it.

Since you know who the owner is you should be able to view his profile. Search the list of his published caches and select the ones you need. As long as you know the cache name or cache code or can access as above you should be able to view archived caches. It gets more difficult if you know any less detail. Retracted caches cannot be viewed by members.

As I don't read the hints until I've carried out quite an extensive search I might have missed the full implications of what tool was needed on site. Depending on weight and reach I may have enough kit to fashion a device from what is carried on every major caching trip. Fairly distant from me (over 100 miles) but it is caches of this quality that I mark up and use as a draw on which to base my excursions. Keep up the good work of placing novel caches and only change the text if you are worried about the attention long searches attracts. Sooner or later the ones capable of achieving the find will arrive and a few good logs often outweigh the negative DNF logs.