GSPD

There is a new "Cache Along a Route" feature for premium members. I just created my first one for a trip across 6 states. You can find it on the 'My Account' page.

It is fairly obvious who in here supports illegally placed caches for their own benefit and thrill...

Since you haven't really gotten the good complete answers yet, let me try... 1. My first hide was taken as well. It was a key-hider attached to a structure along a drainage ditch. Since it was a good place to hide it, and I could hide it out of sight, I replaced it. My assumption was that someone living close by seen someone find it the first day and went to investigate. They may have thought it cool to steal it... Who knows. So, if it was a good secure hiding place, place it in the same spot. 2. Since I had lost a cache with several travel bugs in it, there is a way to report them as location unknown. Nobody in their right mind will stalk you down and kill you, so don't worry about it. I lost a geocoin in a cache that was muggled, it was reported as lost and someone else logged it in a few days later. Sometimes you get lucky. Just visit the caches from your cache webpage and see what you can do. 3. You can edit your listing and change the coordinates yourself if it is a minor location change. If it is a 1/10 of a mile or something, the reviewer that posted it can help you change the location. Best bet is to find a very close location and adjust the coordinates yourself. Hope that helps and good luck!

It is pretty bad, and obvious, when someone breaks the rules either on purpose or without paying attention to the rules. I have found several caches that were buried or the external container was buried. When I contacted the owner each time, I was ignored. When I reported to the GS admins, most were archived immediately with the stipulation that they would be un-archived if they were fixed. None were. Obviously there was no other way to hide these in each of these areas without the benefit of being underground. I have taken the issue up with out regional reviewer who recommended I not take on cache policing. Since then, I have contacted 3 additional owners of buried caches and have gotten one reply. Common sense does not work with some of these people. My assumption is that many new cachers, like I was a short time ago, read many things, including the rules, before starting to cache. This is so you can have an idea of what to look for. If you are looking above the ground level, because a cache shouldn't be underground, then it is rather upsetting when you discover it has been placed illegally. What really bothers me is the fact that 50 experienced previous cachers have found it and never said a thing. They post a comment like: "Nice hide!" which only encourages the rule breakers to continue. Another case of "Lack of any Sense" This weekend alone I drive 150+ miles to a cache and found a 'No Trespassing" sign at the waypoint the owner suggested for the entry into the area. Another a short distance away was supposed to be an abandon mining area. I was nearly run over by an 18 wheeler as I was sitting at the entrance reading the 'No Trespassing' sign. It upsets you when you have driven 2 hours to get there to only find out you shouldn't be in that area looking around. Of course I will now be strung up by rope from the nearest tree by the crew in our area that seem hell-bent on hanging someone for reporting illegal caches. Did I mention Lack-O-Sense? If everyone cooperated and at least tried to play by the rules, the game would be more fun. For me, it is now handled by putting certain cache placers immediately into my ignore category. There are plenty of good cachers out there to search for their hides rather than to waste my time with the ID-10-t types.