Arby Gee

Sounds great! I've always been curious myself what makes some lakes "salty" and other ones not. You might also be able to talk about how the lake was formed and what's causing it to evaporate. For an educational task maybe you could even have people taste the water and describe how salty it is?? Let us know if and when you get it published. I'd love to read about it!

And they all lived happily ever after. Nicely done!

By the way, I just wanted to add that your questions look good too. The fact that they have to get the answers off of signs at the site, and the answers are different than what they'll find on the Internet, is a good way to catch cheaters! I have a cache like that myself. Fortunately so far I haven't caught anyone cheating at that one.

Well, I just went in and took a look at the cache itself. (Nice cache, BTW) Their log entry sounds like it could be legit, and the pictures look to me like they're genuine amateur photos and they certainly don't look like anything you'd find around here. Do they look like they could have been taken at the scene? If so, my guess is that they were really there but they logged the wrong date and forgot (or didn't realize) that they needed to find the answers. Personally I won't delete a log for wrong answers as long as I have "probably cause" to believe they were on site and made an effort. But I have deleted a lot of logs for no answers. It will be interesting to hear how they reply to your latest e-mail.

You're right, it does sound suspicious. If they didn't send you the information you were looking for, I'd say delete it. You might want to send them another e-mail first though explaining how their answers are incorrect and giving them one more chance. It's a judgement call of course and it's all subjective, but it sounds to me like you've gone the extra mile. I will NEVER understand though why people armchair log Earthcaches - or any other caches for that matter.

A cacher in our area (Northeast Ohio) contacted the "Interpretive and Education Specialist" at our National Park a couple years ago to set up an Earthcaching program there. It took over a year to get it started, but now they are ardent supporters of Earthcaching and we have over half a dozen Earthcaches in the park. In order to place an EC in this park you need to fill out a Volunteer Agreement form and submit the entire cache writeup for approval and revision. You also have to track your hours and submit them. The park gets funding from the Federal government based on the number of volunteer hours worked, so this is a big plus for them.

I have an Earthcache where you walk right past a really awesome tree on your way from one geological point of interest to another. I mention the tree in the write-up and provide a waypoint. (And I get a lot of positive feedback about the tree too). But as for an EC that focuses on a tree itself, I think that would be such a stretch that you'd probably never be able to get it approved.

Well, aside from global warming. Seriously though, that's great. I get kind of bugged by people saying that Earthcaches are crowding out geocaches. Your entry proves that it's just the opposite. I wish all parks would support both, but there are some that just will not go for geocaching. But if they support EarthCaching, that still makes them available to us. Well done!

Esker be the one!

I've always had a curiosity about geology. Then I took a geology course in college. The most boring teacher in the world! (We called him "borehole" ) That was a long time ago though, and I can honestly say that the only thing I remember from that class was the teacher's nickname. But even so I've continued to be curious about it and have followed geology stories in the news. Then I started finding Earthcaches as part of geocaching and really got hooked. I've done a lot of reading in geology since then. I wonder if my life and career-choice might have been different if I had had a good teacher for that first geology class...

It would make a great Earthcache. Check this out: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...71-b4450952c556

It's always seemed to me if there's any kind of cache you'd want to dip a TB through, it's an Earthcache.

No need to resubmit an EC for approval just because you changed the logging requirements (as long as they stay within the guidelines). I do it all the time. People interpret things differently, and you never really know how people are going to interpret your questions until they start answering them. In fact I always plan on doing some tweaking to my ECs in the first few months after they're published. After a few months though things should be pretty stable, unless of course conditions change at the site, which may require more tweaking. (I actually had to archive an EC once because construction work at the site destroyed one of the main features I was showcasing. )

My vote - put an Earthcache in for sure! They're always the first thing I look for when visiting a new area. If you want to leave the micro there, that's fine. Two-fers rock!!

IMO, if someone completes the requirements of an Earthcache they ought to be able to log it, no matter when they visited it. I suppose you could put a time restriction on it for future logs, but why would you want to? If someone's already been there and done that, why make them do it again?

I believe I saw somewhere on this forum that it does, but hopefully someone can confirm that.

Just took a look at it and it looks pretty interesting. I have to admit the religious references made me a little uneasy at first - so often religion can be at odds with science. But that doesn't appear to be the case here. I'll probably try a couple lessons and see how it goes. I don't know of any other online resources, but I thought I'd mention a couple books I use. One is called A Field Manual for the Amateur Geologist by Alan M. Cvancara. A really good practically-oriented book that teaches you how to think like a geologist. Another book, which a lot of Earthcachers probably know about already, is the "Roadside Geology" series. Here in Ohio just about everyone used the Roadside Geology of Ohio by Mark J. Camp. It's chock-full of good candidate sites for Earthcaches and gives some good basic information about the sites to get you started. Then of course there's always online research and on-site signage. You've got to be careful about both of these though - there's a lot of misinformation out there! P.S. - Forgot to mention the Peterson Field Guides. I have the Geology Eastern North America edition. This one has an introductory chapter on basic geology, and then goes on to discuss the geology of different regions of eastern North America. I've found it to be an extremely useful learning tool, but it hasn't been too helpful as a practical, hands-on reference. You might want to save yourself a few bucks and check this one out of your local library. :-)

Under the old system, in the U.S. at least, it was necessary to get permission from a cache owner if you put an Earthcache within 500 feet of any other cache. I haven't published an Earthcache under the new system, but isn't it now that you are just plain not allowed to do it? If so, I think that's sad. I love a good two-fer, and have never had any problem getting permission from other cache owners. Without exception, they've all been happy about it. It's hard for me to understand what the real beef is here, but maybe things are different in other countries. As for Earthcaches being educational, I've learned a world of really interesting information doing Earthcaches, and retained as much as my pointy little head can hold.

If you develop an Earthcache for the National Parks, they'll ask you to log the hours you put into it. (They get federal funding in proportion to the number of volunteer hours that are logged at the park.) I logged 42 hours on an Earthcache I did for them, which is the most elaborate Earthcache I've ever done. I've put in as few as about 3 or 4 hours on a couple others. But most of them have been somewhere in between.

Perfectly legit to log it. You were there and met all the requirements. Hard to believe that's the highest waterfall in Maryland though!

No, PMs are not superior, and I don't ever have any intention of making any of my caches, EC or not, subscriber only. BUT, if I came across a land manager who was unwilling to permit an Earthcache unless I restricted it to subscribers only, I would probably do it. Better some than none.

I agree that Earthcaches should be accessible to as many people as possible. But I can see the rare circumstance where it might be necessary to list an Earthcache for premium members only. If a site is particularly sensitive, or if a land manager is particularly sensitive, it might give them greater peace of mind to know that only premium members will be able to visit.

I've been getting this a lot over the past several months. Usually the log entry is something ridiculously short too - like "Found it". And usually the cacher only has a few finds. I'm guessing it's newbies starting right into paperless caching. They think all they have to do is go to the posted coords and tada! I've seen the same thing happen on multicaches too. Anyway, in my write-ups I tell people they have 3 days to send me the answers after logging their find. I'll usually give them a week, and if I don't get answers I'll send them a "reminder". If I don't hear anything within a few days after that, it's hasta la vista baby!

I've heard the same from other cachers with roadside Earthcaches. If the cache is on a public road, permission is generally not needed. Of course that is all subject to approval of the reviewers.

Absolutely!! They're having fun because they're out there enjoying nature, whether they've got a camera with them or not. For those pathetic individuals who would prefer to sit at home in front of their computer and log caches that they never visited - let 'em! It's their loss, not mine. I'm not about to babysit the wretches. (They'd be better off logging my traditional caches though, because I don't crosscheck the logbooks. If they want to log my ECs they better send me some good answers.) And anyone who wants to post pictures on my ECs is more than welcome to - the more the merrier. I'm just not going to require it for those who'd rather not.