Luckless
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Posts posted by Luckless
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I'm not convinced the FTF hounds did anything wrong.
First to find?- Maybe they were honestly FTF if the coordinates were published and then retracted. We had that happen once here at an event only in this case the guy who went to look for the cache didn't find it because it hadn't been placed. The people who owned the property did have fun watching this guy going crazy looking for a cache that wasn't there. The cacher didn't think he was doing anything wrong. There was no mention of the cache being an event cache in the listing. Usually the event planner waits to publish her event caches at the same time of the event or later, but this was a mix up. Either she failed to tell the reviewer or the reviewer published it at the wrong time. It was not the FTF seeker's fault.
Tresspassing? -Our state parks have a certain time when admission is required, but come early or later after that time and you can enter the park for no fee and no one is manning the entrance booth. If the FTF hounds were in the park when an admission fee was required or they snuck into an area clearly marked as off limits then maybe they should be charged for tresspassing, but you're going to have to prove that. (I always tried to hide my caches in the park far enough away from park boundaries so people couldn't just park outside the park and run in to grab them because I knew that action would reflect badly on geocaching to the park staff.)
It sounds like mistakes were made, but hopefully you can learn from them and hopefully everyone had a good time with the camaraderie of the event.
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Let me ask people: when I'm trekking out into the woods for more than a park and grab, I already have a financial ocmmitment involved. Gas, Tolls, Hiking expenses, and so-on. What does it harm me to put an extra $1-$5 on that to grab a piece of nice swag?
Honest to goodness, the best piece of swag I found was tissues, since the girlfriend was there and had to pee -oh so bad-. Since then, she's enjoyed geocaching, and seeing that it can help her :-P
So, as experienced, mature, geocachers, what kind of swag would you honestly like to see for the <$5 and <$10 ranges?
I've personally thrown in a few maps of the area in one large cache I found, $6. But hopefuly somebody without one will take it, and return to the area and enjoy it that much more since they can find all the signifigant points.
I think for <$5, things like decks of cards, post-cards, little notebooks work great.
For <$10, perhaps an unactivated geocoin, or travel bug. A map of the area.
PS, as a side note, I work as a photographer, and love to shoot alot of these areas. Do you think printing some 4x6/5x7, putting them in a ziploc and leaving them in a cache is a good idea?
Paper items don't usually do well. They get wet or dirty. Even condensation could ruin the pictures. Then again there's no reason you couldn't try leaving a few. I wouldn't recommend leaving a lot.- perhaps laminating them?
I have left $5 FTF gift certificates to the local ice cream parlors for my 5 stage multis.
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As I watch the price of gas go up and up ($4.09 a gal.) I think more and more about getting one.
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I probably would have done the same thing as you, but afterward I would have been kicking myself for letting him take the cache. Best to have asked for it back, agreeing to removing it and also mentioning that the owner would be contacted to see if he had permission to place it there. Afterall, you felt that man was not the cemetery manager and probably didn't know about permission. At least he'd be more apt to hand it over. Hope there weren't any TBs in there.
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I like swag. I like looking in the cache and seeing if there is anything interesting. Surprise me. I like bringing home my little keepsakes and displaying them where everyone else looks to see what I found today. They are my trophies for finding the cache. When I'm done looking at them they'll probably go back in another cache for someone else to find. I like loading up caches with swag. I like that the next person is in for a surprise- I hope. I scour the clearance aisles for stuff. Nothing expensive. It might not be more than a few stickers or fancy pencils or even a toy from the cereal box, but it's often better than what I find in the cache and I know some kid will be happy finding it. I look for sturdy stuff that can take a licking when it gets knocked about by people searching through the container. I like sticking something really cool in a cache once in a while and reading the log of the person who found it.
Dirt is the enemy. I'm starting to wrap my swag up in plastic wrap or small bags to keep it clean. An awful lot of good swag gets CITOed by me simply becase it got too dirty.
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I'm confused- You say it is in the middle of a parking lot, but the other loggers mention a long hike. Maybe check your GPS.
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Well if I find a situation to be dangerous I'm sure to mention it in my log. Maybe in nice big letters, something like: I ALMOST WITNESSED AN ACCIDENT AT THIS CACHE WHEN A CACHER PARKED HIS CAR ON THE BRIDGE AND A TRUCK CAME AROUND THE BLIND CURVE! PLEASE DON'T PARK ON THE BRIDGE WHEN HUNTING THIS CACHE!
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Don't know if I'm old school -caching 5 years. I have all kinds of caches. Nice hikes (usually not much longer than two (some may be four) miles. If someone wants a longer hike they can park farther away), P&Gs, multi puzzles. An assortment for everybody. (oh darn no LP caches) Hopefully all enjoyable.
I see the beautiful pictures that people post here from the tops of mountains, but I'll never be able to do anything like that- asthma. Yet give me level terrain and I'll walk miles.
I always loved to hike (I hike alone), but didn't do it because I was afraid of carnivores in the woods. But now I'm old and ---what the heck. Funny thing is there were a lot less carnivores in the woods back when I was younger and afraid to go hiking than there are now.
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I'm confused, why are you asking us? You think the cache was replaced with a munzee by another cacher? Send an email to the owner and ask him if he knows about this.
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Because this is a Nature center you will want to monitor caches and where they are placed. It's possible you have areas that you do not want disturbed.
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But there is the good possibility of seeing Aurora Borealis.
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Not really near Montreal but, a few years back our local geocaching organization put 21 geocaches in Glimmerglass State Park near Cooperstown. No micros. Great for beginners. They have great swimming on the sandy beach by the lake and there's also that hall of fame thing if you're into that.
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With all the negative response to the cache I would just go ahead and take the cache. Then I'd send a note to the owner that said :I have your cache which I took because one of its neighbors was very upset by its placement and threatened to throw it in the trash. Please contact me if you want the cache returned to you.
Then I'd send a note to the reviewer explaining what I had done and post a note in the log that it was no longer there explaining that I felt it necessary to take the cache.
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Ugh, I was the victim of cut-and-paste logging today. I didn't think it bothered me, but it does.
I hid an interesting cache container on a gorgeous beach and I get the same log as a nano someone stuck to a park bench.
For what it's worth... Interesting people write interesting logs. (You may read into that all that you want!)
people get lazy when they're logging from a phone in the field.
I have to disagree. I was a phoner for my first year. I always took the time to write a few sentences about each cache and if your cache impressed me or made me smile I took extra time to thank you with a good size log. If you take the time to put out a well thought out interesting cache in an interesting place you will be rewarded, But if you have a pill bottle in a guardrail and are expecting a fancy log...good luck,
While I commend you for your actions in field logging good cache reviews, I think you are the exception rather than the rule. I'm bettng that you would find that most TFTC only logs are sent from iPhones.
I seem to be getting a lot more TFTC logs. Now I'm wondering if it's because they are logging from a phone. Hmm.
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I own over 170 geocaches in two states. For the most part, it's been an awesome experience. However, I've developed a couple of pet peeves in regards to my fellow cachers. Here they are. Feel free to either flame away or post your own cache-owner pet peeves.
- Cachers blatantly trading down on swag. I'd like to think that we ALL know it's about the find itself, not the goodies you get in the container, but that's clearly not the case. I had this one called "The World Bank," which was supposed to hold foreign currency only (plain as day on the cache description). It started out with a bunch of Korean Won, Afghan Afghani, Iraqi Denari, etc. I unfortunately had to archive it because the area was getting clear-cut. When I went to pull the cache, know what I found in it? Rocks. It was STUFFED with rocks . . . not even SHINY ones . . . with nary a foreign bill or coin around. Someone had obviously rationalized, "Well, I'm swapping something, so it's O.K." Because geocaching is secretive by nature, we like to think that all our fellow geocachers are somehow imbued with higher morals than the average bear. Not always the case. It's for this reason that I don't put swag in my caches, anymore.
- Cachers who merely post "TFTC" on their logs. I put these things out there because I get a kick out of reading the stories behind the finds, etc. Even if you're getting a bunch of caches in one location at a time, just briefly tell the story behind the find, then use copy/paste. I've even gotten "TFTC" on First to Finds! Incredibly maddening.
Your turn.
Was the foreign currancy cache a members only? Limiting that cache to members could have made a difference. Also placing it where it's least apt to be found by muggles.
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My geocaching partner and I like to go on daytrips so I will look for an area/town where we can spend the day and do several caches. We're old so we don't do any caches that require very long hikes, moderate hikes are okay and my partner doesn't climb. A variety of different cache types is nice. We also explore the area and visit any special landmarks. My partner likes looking for old buildings and historical sites, I like waterfalls and parks so if there are any caches near those we're more apt to do them. Just make a fun day of it for cachers. Even so, don't expect a lot of people, that's just the way it goes sometimes.
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You say you have to guess the username/password? If this were me and I came to a webpage where I had to enter information without any knowlege of what it was I'd be upset too. I wouldn't know that they did't want personal info. With all the problems of identity theft and malware designed to infiltrate your computer and steal info guess I'd have to wonder about using the website too. Maybe you just need to take the info on the webpage ( the final encryption for the cache) and put it into a physical cache somewhere (multi).
I recently got a mystery cache (Unknown cache) with an online puzzle published. The D/T difficulty was set to 4.5/1.5. The (aparently quite challenging) puzzle eventually led the cacher to a URL which presented him/her with a username and password dialogue box. After guessing the (easy) username/password combo, the cacher was then presented with web page and the coordinates encrypted in a very simple way. This is all hosted on my own, private web server which is physically located in the attic of my house.
At no point is the cacher required to leave any personal information behind, nothing needs to be downloaded and no web site registration needs to be done.
This has sent a cabal of the more seasoned geocachers in the area up in arms. They wondered - in the now edited logs - if this is actually within Groundspeak's guidelines and that the whole thing was rather "unsympathetic" and cruel. They also didn't like the fact that the web page visits were logged. The latter is in my opinion a by-effect of serving web content in the first place, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I disabled the cache until the matter could be resolved, since I have no intention of getting into an argument with the ... uhh ... Tribal Elders.
So, is an unknown of this type within the guidelines or not? What do you think?
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I'm current working on an underwater Multi-Cache of sorts.
Without giving too much away, it involves a 15 inch rubber fish, some weights and a net.
It's the first time I've tried to do something like this but i'm hoping it works really well and gives cachers in my area something a bit different.
Love it! I've been wondering how to do something like this.
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Drat! Too far to go. He sounds like a really cool guy.
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I wondered what to do with my spray once it reached its expiration date. Maybe I'll shoot mine off too once it expires. That woodchuck in the hole under my shed is in for a rude awakening.
Has anyone every used a weapon (come in contact by beating, stabbing, shooting, spraying - not just brandishing the weapon) to defend themselves against the 2-legged or 4-legged variety of animal while out geocaching?
I'm fortunate that I haven't needed to use my bear spray -- all the bears I have encountered have been far enough away that I could avoid them.
The canister I have "expires" this year so I plan to shoot it off after I buy a new one just so the first time I actually use it isn't when I REALLY need it.
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I was alone in the middle of the woods. I looked around and saw nothing but trees and I asked myself what would I do if a bear suddenly appeared. I decided I needed protection and later bought a can of bear spray.
I assume the spray will work well on other critters, both two and four-legged as well.
Still your best defense when outdoors is to use common sense and know to avoid trouble. I am always on heightened alert. If something looks like trouble (and even if it doesn't) I am out of there. I'll size up the location of a cache and possible dangers. No cache is that important that I have to look for it.
When I was young my girlfriend and I went for a walk in the country. Sounds so nice and peaceful doesn't it? - walking through the picturesque countryside. You don't think about things like farm dogs. We came around a bend and found ourselves surrounded by 12 dogs- a pack of 12 growling, snearing, mean-looking farm dogs. My girlfriend looked around and saw a little boy about six years of age playing in the yard next door. "Are these your dogs!", she yelled at him. The little boy came over with a big grin on his face. "Yes, they won't hurt you." he told us. Somehow we did not find that comforting, but the dogs backed off seeing the little boy there. We continued on our way and later in the day returned home along the same route. Again we were surrounded by the dogs only this time the little boy was no where to be seen. Now what do we do? They had us surrounded. They were snarling and staring at us, all except for this one small dog who had stepped in a little closer and was wagging his tail and smiling at us. My girlfriend remembered the little dog's name which the boy had told to us. She called the little dog over to her and began to make a fuss over him. This totally confused the other dogs who really didn't know what to make of this. To them we were a threat, but here this little dog apparently knew us and if this little dog thought we were okay then it appears they wouldn't attack. We used the little dog as an escort through the pack of dogs and once away from them headed on home.
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When my uncle had his quad it was considered a fairly new procedure. Think they've long since passed that number.
Sending you plenty of feel better soon wishes.
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Saying a prayer for your surgery. Amazing what doctors can do now that they couldn't do a few years ago. God be with you.
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People like pathtags around here. I like your bumper sticker idea- they'd probably be a hit.
An FTF Tale
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Perhaps these caches that were in restricted areas should not have been published and instead just used for the event- making a special announcement that under normal circumstances this area was restricted. Publishing them opens them up the general public which is liable to create more problems.