The Sneaky Snakes

So we took a 900+ mile road trip last week and thought it would be fun to hide a geocache along the way. We found a good spot to make the hide, and I did my homework on the geocaching app and made sure there were no other caches within .1 miles. I did a search of the area in advance and saved the geocaches and maps so I could view them offline, since there is no service in the area of the cache. I hid the cache and when I got home, submitted the cache for the review process. A few days later I got a message back from the reviewer saying there is already a cache in that location, only 63 feet away from where I hid my cache. It turns out that the existing cache is a 'premium members only' cache and that is why it did not turn up in my search results since I do not have a current premium subscription. This post is not about how irritated I am that it is not enough to use the official geocaching app to determine whether there are caches in the area or not. The only way I could have known is to go to the geocaching website and type in my coordinates on the advanced search page (who does that?) - There is no way I could have done this on the road as there is no Verizon service in the area so I could not just get online on my 3G iPad to check the coordinates, and we didn't have the coordinates in advance of the hide. I really think there needs to be something added to the app that we can use to prevent this situation. How are people to hide caches when they are traveling in no-service areas? And please spare me the advice, "Why don't you just buy a premium membership?" Ok, now for the point of my post: I am over 300 miles away now, and there is no way I will be getting back to the area in the foreseeable future. There is a brand new geocache container sitting out there, all ready to go. It is a decon container and has an empty log book, pencil, sharpener, etc, a 'FTF' prize, a traveling geocoin, and a trade item. It would be awesome if someone would go get it, re-hide it, and send me the coordinates so I can re-submit the cache, but if that's too much to ask then I'm willing to just give it away to anyone who will go get it, make it yours and hide it wherever you want. I want to get that brand new geocoin in circulation at the very least. The cache is just off of Route 12 in southern Utah, near Bryce Canyon National Park. I'd like it to stay on Route 12, but again, I'll be glad if somebody will just go and get it. If you are interested, send me a private message and I will send you the coordinates. Whoever ends up retrieving the cache, please come back here and tell us that you went and got it so that we all know its not there anymore. Thanks

I once came across a cache that was in a decon container that had a cracked lid. If I would have had an extra decon container with me I would have put everything in a new decon container and discarded the cracked one. If someone did the same thing to a cache of mine, I'd appreciate it. Sometimes, the fact that a cache needs maintenance doesn't get posted for a while, and in the meantime the log gets soaked and everything inside gets ruined. If it were some type of specialty container that the owner had made himself or something, or I had a question about whether the owner would be offended, I'd just post a maintenance log, but I don't think that swapping out a decon container for a decon container should offend anyone. Someone here may prove me wrong.

Actually, there isn't a single rating on a single cache within 20 miles of me. Maybe more, I quit looking.

I think the concept is an interesting idea, but mostly I'd just like to keep track of my own ratings on caches I've found - so if I want to go back or introduce someone new, I know which ones I liked best. I installed it and found that on the first page of the caches in my immediate area, not a single one has a single rating, so as far as that goes, it will probably be useless for me until/unless it gets a following. I don't think Groundspeak should implement a 'rating' system as a regular site feature because ratings are so subjective - as has been pointed out. I would like to see some kind of personal rating system on the site, so you can rate your own finds without everyone else knowing how you rated their cache.

Just as a side note, I know that some folks pack an extra container or log book etc, in case they come upon a cache that has a cracked container or missing/filled log book. I think it's nice that people are willing to perform maintenance on caches that they aren't technically responsible for, and you don't have to become the 'owner' to do that. Taking over the official responsibility for the cache is a great idea. There are many missing and abandoned caches out there - maybe more of us can follow suit and adopt some of them, whether officially or unofficially.

I think they will approve, but I'm not sure. Personally, I think it should be approved. Being close enough to take care of maintenance for the cache is a good idea, but there are many geocachers who have hidden way too many caches to personally keep track of the maintenance on. Just my opinion.

I know that a few people have made custom topo maps generated from USGS data - My area (Utah) has been done, search the forums to see if your area has been mapped. I like these custom maps better than Garmin's, and they're free. (A big THANK YOU to the person(s) who have taken the time to generate those custom maps for us!) see http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_main.html

I use USAPhotoMaps to print USGS topo maps, and it's worked great for me. It's a free program, but I found it so helpful I made a donation to the author. I recommend it. http://jdmcox.com/

sorry for the double post

just ask those who have 2000+ finds to their name! (I still consider myself a newbie with only 29, but I say it is addicting too)

Hello, while I agree you do NOT need maps in order to go caching, in my opinion it is a lot more fun. I had the same question as you when I started so I thought I'd come up with a little demo of what you get and don't get with different map options. You see here on the top row the same location, in the city, with 3 different map sets. As you can see, the basemap is very minimal and the actual shape of the road is lost. The MetroGuide map is routable and has more street-level data than the TOPO map, which shows contour lines and trails but is NOT routable. The second row shows the same map sets, but in a canyon 5 miles up the road. I use the TOPO maps when I'm geocaching and the MetroGuide maps when I'm driving. Note that these images are not from Garmin's most recent releases of Metroguide or TOPO, so they newest versions may have better/different data. I know that a few people have made custom topo maps generated from USGS data - My area (Utah) has been done, search the forums to see if your area has been mapped. I like these custom maps better than Garmin's, and they're free. (A big THANK YOU to the person(s) who have taken the time to generate those custom maps for us!)

I'm a software developer. Right now I'm working on a little spare time project that will organize geocache info in a similar way that GSAK does. I am by all means not trying to replace or even come close to competing with GSAK as it is a very good solution that I really like. In fact, my little project won't be made available to the public, I just thought I'd throw in a little note about how I mix work with play...

I made the big assumption that you have a Garmin unit... oops

Hi - I've got my paperless system setup configured in a way I really like - It involves using Custom Points of Interest (there are other posts & tutorials on Custom POI so I won't explain it here, basically you can store a LOT more info in POI's than you can in the normal waypoints) but in GSAK in the Export GPX/LOC dialog, I use this code in the "Waypoint Name" box: %drop2 [%last4] (%Dif/%Ter) %con1%typ1 (set "Maximum Characters" to 25) and this code in the "Cache Description" box: %Name by %By [%hint] Then I export this GPX file and upload it to my GPSr using Garmin's POI Loader. Now on my GPSr I can see at a glance the Geocache's code, Last 4 log types, difficulty, terrain, container size and cache type. It appears like this on the GPSr: 17MX5 [FFFF] (3/3) MT With one click I can see the Cache's name, owner's name, and the hint. On the Cachemate export dialog, I use this code in the "Cachemate Waypoint" box: %drop2 [%last4] (%dif/%ter) %con1%typ1 (set "Maximum Characters" to 25) and this code in the "CacheMate Name" box: %name by %ownerName: %con1%typ1 Then under "List Options" I set 'Extra Info' to 'none' Now in CacheMate I can browse by either the Cache name & owner, or if I sort by Wpt I can see at a glance the code, last4 logs, difficulty, terrain, container size and cache type, just like on my GPSr. It's a little bit to set up, but the motivation is that it minimizes button pressing, displaying almost everything at once. I can look at my GPSr's map and instantly determine which caches I want to hunt without having to navigate all over the GPSr and Palm to find difficulty, terrain, size, etc on each cache. The only info I don't have in the GPSr is the actual log text, and the descriptions - I go to the palm for those. Some people won't like my system cause the "don't fool with custom POI's" but if you take a little time to learn what you are doing, you'll reap the benefits. I can update both the GPSr and Cachemate with my weekly pocket query in only a few minutes, I just save the export settings. You could customize the codes to meet your needs - these codes are what I've settled on after trying a lot of different things. Sorry for the long post. Hope it helps someone.

Ah! I took a trip 300 mi. from home a few weeks ago and loaded up my waypoints before I left so I could find some caches in that area. Now I'm back home are there are only 3 found that are 'nearest'... I'm sure that is what happened. I actually had gone and 'reset' my waypoints memory a minute ago already so I can't go back and check that now, but I am 99.9% sure you hit the nail on the head. Thanks Pat!

Hello - I've never seen this before with my Garmin Vista CX. I only have 3 waypoints marked and when I try to save another, I get the message, "Waypoint Memory Full" ?? This hasn't ever happened before, I've been able to save up to 500 in the past. From what I understand, the waypoint memory on these units is separate from the micro-SD card I have installed, but I'll mention my card anyway: I have a 1gb card installed with a lot of maps and custom points of interest. Under Setup->System-CardInfo it shows that my 1gb card is 43% full. I also have 3 track logs saved, but I can't imagine why it says my waypoint memory is full. Is it possible to store anything in the waypoint memory besides waypoints? Just to see what happens, I took out my 1gb card and tried it again - now I have no maps, but I still get "Waypoint Memory Full" even though I have only 3 waypoints saved. Any ideas? I'm stumped.

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-S60 that I've really liked. I also do a lot of fishing and this model has a nice waterproof shell that can be had for about $30 now on ebay. The shell also fits the DSC-S90 model, which is nearly identical but it has a larger lcd and comes with rechargeable batteries. It's a 4MP camera and It's been a great little camera. It's also a good camera for short little video clips - it takes movies at 30 frames per second. I haven't priced the camera itself on ebay lately, but the model is a few years old, so you can get it pretty cheaply. I once 'upgraded' to one of the newer cybershots (a 7 MP camera) and didn't like it as well as this one so I took it back to the store. It didn't feel as solidly built and had less features that I considered more important than megapixels. Go for the DSC-S90 model for the larger LCD. If/when I need to get another point-and-shoot camera, I'd buy this same camera in a heartbeat. You can check out all it's features at Steve'sDigicams.com - it also received a great review there.

Thanks to all for the helpful responses and all the great ideas! I'd love to have these sort of caches in my area, but haven't found very many that are so involved. Thanks again.

I have never heard of a 'calendar update' ... When I got my Vista CX I just did my own personalization to it ... ie, page order, select data fields, load up some waypoints, custom POI, etc. The Garmin website had a firmware update for it, so I downloaded that. I had an older version of MapSource MetroGuide from 2002 that I used with an old Garmin GPS V. After another update from Garmin, it worked fine on my Vista CX. It's worth a try anyway. I got a 1GB card on ebay for $15 shipped - I thought it would be better to go that way rather than buy a pre-loaded card. I'm pretty sure TOPO 2008 can be had on Amazon for $60. I don't own any of Garmin's TOPO products though so I can't speak for them. There is a method of downloading contour data from the usgs website and converting it to maps you can load up in your GPSr. It works and can give you better contour detail than the 1:100,000 topo products, but it's a pretty cumbersome process.

The interface does take a little getting used to. Here's a link for the user manual if you don't have one: http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexVenture_OwnersManual.pdf If it's the same as my Vista, you can press and hold the enter button (on the front) until the Mark Waypoint page comes up. Then highlight the 'location' section and press the enter button again to edit the coordinates.

The icons are for the type of cache - green is a 'traditional', the ghost is a 'virtual' cache. D/T is difficulty and terrain rating, on a scale from 1 to 5 The compass distance and direction from the place you entered the search from. (ie, if you used a zip code, and the compass says 1.2 mi east, then the cache is 1.2 mi east of the 'zip code') sort of. I'm sure someone will explain it better than me. and, welcome !

When I go caching and find a travel bug, it often doesn't have the 'goal' stated there with the bug. To find the goal, I have to go back home and look it up. So when I'm at the cache and find a bug, do I move the bug even if I don't know what it's 'goal' is, or do I leave it there and only move bugs that I am sure that I am 'helping' ?

disregard my post

I bought a Vista CX on ebay and it had the gasket that was coming off. I also just put a bead of super glue under the rubber gasket and it's been fine since.

ie, would you hunt for a cache like this, or would you read the description and not even bother?