wildchld97

I wish I was near LA. I'm an historical nut and I would LOVE to just hunt this cache...even if I'm not the FTF. I'm sure you'll have a FTF soon, if they haven't found it already and haven't logged it. A couple of mine took over a week and I live in a cache saturated area.

That's exactly what I do when I cache. I really hate seeing ANY garbage (even cigarette butts) when I'm in the middle of some pristine paradise surrounded by nature. I try to carry a bag with me and I'll pick up what I can, but there are some lines that I'll draw when it comes to stuff that even I refuse to mention on a public forum. If the place is really bad, I'll keep it in mind for a CITO event. (I've never held a CITO event, but fortunately I haven't found an area that is seriously in need yet. Yes,there IS a happy medium. lol. Welcome to the world of geocaching!

I've never given this subject much thought, but now that I think about it....If my other half ever wants to divorce me...the first thing I'm going to make sure I get in the settlement is my geocaching account and my trusty geobeast. He can get his own account.

I've had several wonderful geocaching adventures. A couple of my favorites were: Bakers Rocks and 60's Treasure I liked those caches because I can remember laughing so hard about our misadventures that my belly hurt for days.

If it's an unsafe cache by my standards (and not those of knowschad obviously)I will write a full log mentioning the unsafe conditions to warn others. On one particular cache I wrote, "Didn't have any problem with figuring the coord's. Found the final cache in less than 10 minutes. The area definitely needs a CITO though. It's a shame that a pretty place can get trashed like that.TFTC" The area was littered with garbage and broken glass everywhere. THAT one was in a supposedly safe area. There were a dozen other places that they could have hidden the micro, but they chose a big cinder block in the middle of garbage. In any case, I didn't want someone with a child hunting this cache clueless. I'm a concerned parent first and a geocacher second. If on the other hand, it's not dangerous but just boring or lame...the four finger salute will do. Lame cache, lame log. Sorry, I'll let someone else get all mushy gushy over the wallyworld hides. You are either misunderstanding me, or putting words in my mouth. What I am saying is that, if the cache is good enough for you to stick around and find and claim a smiley for, then its good enough for you to thank the hider. If not... just leave. If you feel the need to warn future cachers about a bad situation, you can do that with your DNF or a note. Chad, I'm going to say this nice and slow....I-DO-THANK-THEM with a minimum of a tiny "tftc." No more, no less on on some hides. On unsafe hides, they will get a full log outline of what I think makes the cache unsafe but they'll still get the "tftc" at the end. There is not a post anywhere where I have stated that I refuse to even thank them for the smiley. If I found it, I'll thank them, but I'm not going to talk about a cache at wallyworld like I would a cache in the woods for cripes sake. This thread was started by someone who felt that geocachers should always leave a nice little paragraph on their logs intead of a simple "found it" or "tftc". The issue was never about whether you should or shouldn't CLAIM A FIND on a cache that sucks. This issue is whether the finder is obligated to leave MORE than a four letter word of thanks. My point has always been that there are SOME cases in which a cache really doesn't warrant a paragraph to expand upon their experience unless it's been a completely positive one or a really negative one. The OP solicited opinions on what the rest of the geocaching community thought about his issue and I gave my opinion on how I play the game. If it's not how you play...so be it. Feel free to write your little heart out. I'm not ripping on you. It's not my concern.

I guess the farthest geocache that I can think of is the International Space Station. I don't think I'll be able to hunt that one any time soon.

If it's an unsafe cache by my standards (and not those of knowschad obviously)I will write a full log mentioning the unsafe conditions to warn others. On one particular cache I wrote, "Didn't have any problem with figuring the coord's. Found the final cache in less than 10 minutes. The area definitely needs a CITO though. It's a shame that a pretty place can get trashed like that.TFTC" The area was littered with garbage and broken glass everywhere. THAT one was in a supposedly safe area. There were a dozen other places that they could have hidden the micro, but they chose a big cinder block in the middle of garbage. In any case, I didn't want someone with a child hunting this cache clueless. I'm a concerned parent first and a geocacher second. If on the other hand, it's not dangerous but just boring or lame...the four finger salute will do. Lame cache, lame log. Sorry, I'll let someone else get all mushy gushy over the wallyworld hides.

Of course, you walked away from those, didn't you? Surely you would not have stuck around long enough to make the find and collect your smily! Oh of COURSE I grabbed the smiley...but my log reflected that it sucked. If I spent the time to hunt it, I'm not going to leave it go based on principle. That's just silly. My point is... why did you spend the time to hunt it? You didn't realize until after you found it that it was on a guardrail in a crack alley? And MY point is...Whether I may or may not have realized that it was in "crack alley" is irrelevant. It shouldn't have been selected as a cache site in the first place IF the cache owner wants more than a "tftc." Some people consider a mountain climb to be an adrenaline rush, others perhaps consider going to a "crack alley" to be the same. If you find yourself in a situation like that, leave. Don't stick around, find the cache, and post some lame log because of it. You have only yourself to blame for your bad experience. Oh sure, I'm sure there are some folks out there that get their kicks going to crack alley at night. They get an even bigger rush when they run out at 2am with their toddler in tow to be the FTF. I'm not unlike anyone else. I will hunt it if it pops up regardless of where it is. If it sucks I'll still write about how much it sucks to warn others or I'll give it the four finger salute. tftc.

Well, a cache owner could write their preference on the cache description, but it doesn't mean that the finders will actually follow up with it. Actually, sometimes the less said IS better. There have been quite a few caches I have hunted which were placed in areas such as: a dumpster behind a restaurant, a trash strewn hillside littered with glass, an electrical box on a busy street, an active camp for a homeless person, and a guardrail in crack alley. To me, these are not fun, they are not interesting, and they do not deserve anything more than a TFTC. The only people that they might interest are those simply looking to bump their find numbers. Trust me, if I DO write more than TFTC for a cache such as these...you might not like what I have to say. I will be writing more elaborately merely to WARN other cachers of dangerous conditions. As a new cacher, just follow your gut. If the cache was fun and you had a wonderful adventure finding it, it's actually for YOUR benefit to write about it, because someday you might want to go back through your logs and remind yourself of some great times. If you don't write much more than TFTC on a great adventure, then both you and the CO will miss out on some good smiles. Now, if you didn't like the experience, you can write about that too...nicely...or just stick with the TFTC...and leave it at that. I personally would prefer that you post a note warning the rest of us. After going to two dangerous homeless hide outs and getting human feces on us, we sure would have appreciated the previous finders giving us a warning that all is not well. I want to know if you found broken bottles, if it is a crack hang out, etc. Then, I won't take the kids nor myself for that matter. That's why I get aggravated sometimes when someone just doesn't put enough thought into where they place things. I get concerned about kids who may be brought to these places or visitors from out of town who may not know the area. To the owners credit though, he archived the cache after getting a few negative logs. Homeless Camp

I guess that's what it means when it says "projecting waypoints from locations defined by coordinates is permissible..."? Listings must contain accurate GPS coordinates. You must visit the geocache site and obtain all the coordinates with a GPS device. GPS usage is an integral and essential element of both hiding and finding geocaches and must be demonstrated for all cache submissions. Projecting waypoints from locations defined by coordinates is permissible

I'm not too familiar with a "note find", however I did take a look at the page. It looks like there was an issue with someone who claimed a FTF because this note was left on the cache page: Write note 11/29/2010 Hehe It was just pointed out to me that this new cache has a note special for me on the page. "Any and all "Note" finds will be deleted! NO EXCEPTIONS." I love it! I generally do not even look at the traditional caches unless I am going for the FTF, so thanks to the caching family for pointing this out. I guess if I get a FTF on a JNS cache, from now on, no one will know and will not know that the log book was signed before they went out of their way for that cache. Wow, it almost sounds like a challenge for me, hehe, I better save my gas money to run when the next one gets published, hehe. Thanks Wayne for my big smile for today! The member sounds like he/she might need therapy.

Of course, you walked away from those, didn't you? Surely you would not have stuck around long enough to make the find and collect your smily! Oh of COURSE I grabbed the smiley...but my log reflected that it sucked. If I spent the time to hunt it, I'm not going to leave it go based on principle. That's just silly. My point is... why did you spend the time to hunt it? You didn't realize until after you found it that it was on a guardrail in a crack alley? And MY point is...Whether I may or may not have realized that it was in "crack alley" is irrelevant. It shouldn't have been selected as a cache site in the first place IF the cache owner wants more than a "tftc."

Here are a few examples of my logs when the cache is Unsafe Awesome Amazing with pics even! guardrail These are typical logs for me. If it's unsafe or dangerous..I'll leave a good paragraph letting others know. If it's a great cache, I'll write at least a few lines and thank the CO. If it's an amazing cache, I'll include pictures with a paragraph or two. If the cache is just a guardrail..oh well..it gets a "tftc!". Rule of thumb for me is, if you want me to leave more than four letters, then you have to leave me more than a film container in a guardrail. Period. I don't know why that's so hard for some people to understand. It's common sense.

Of course, you walked away from those, didn't you? Surely you would not have stuck around long enough to make the find and collect your smily! Oh of COURSE I grabbed the smiley...but my log reflected that it sucked. If I spent the time to hunt it, I'm not going to leave it go based on principle. That's just silly.

Well, a cache owner could write their preference on the cache description, but it doesn't mean that the finders will actually follow up with it. Actually, sometimes the less said IS better. There have been quite a few caches I have hunted which were placed in areas such as: a dumpster behind a restaurant, a trash strewn hillside littered with glass, an electrical box on a busy street, an active camp for a homeless person, and a guardrail in crack alley. To me, these are not fun, they are not interesting, and they do not deserve anything more than a TFTC. The only people that they might interest are those simply looking to bump their find numbers. Trust me, if I DO write more than TFTC for a cache such as these...you might not like what I have to say. I will be writing more elaborately merely to WARN other cachers of dangerous conditions. As a new cacher, just follow your gut. If the cache was fun and you had a wonderful adventure finding it, it's actually for YOUR benefit to write about it, because someday you might want to go back through your logs and remind yourself of some great times. If you don't write much more than TFTC on a great adventure, then both you and the CO will miss out on some good smiles. Now, if you didn't like the experience, you can write about that too...nicely...or just stick with the TFTC...and leave it at that.

LMAO! I finally found something to help keep me awake on nightshifts..... Can you use smaller words, please? I'm actually Injun and the white man took away my Big Book of English Words. Is "policy" the same thing as policy? If so, why the need for quotes? Well darn..I'm sorry to hear that some "white man" took away one of your books. Feel free to call the local police. I'm sure they'll catch that varmint. You're going to have to give the officer a better description though. In the mean time, feel free to use mine. Big Book of English Words

Oh my. How ostentatious! This whole nitpicking thing on spelling, grammar and word usage is rather very pedantic. Actually the word, "disingenuous" was used in the right context. It just means making a situation overly simple. I don't think the person really cares in this case whether another person is indigenous or not. Actually the word indigenous shouldn't have been capitalized. It's not derived from a proper noun. Now, for the issue at hand, the Knowledge Book clearly states: "Can I log a find on my own cache? What about when I go back to visit? It is considered "bad form" to log a find on your own cache, no matter when you do it. The same is true if you re-visit another traditional cache (for example to place or retrieve a travel bug). Use the "post a note" log option to record your visit in these circumstances. In either case, you're not "finding" a cache because you already know where it is. Save the smiley face for use when you've truly discovered a hidden cache." "Bad form" is not a "policy". It's not even a rule. It just says that you're not playing the game right if you do that. I could tell someone to go jump in the lake...it's considered "bad form", but there's no law against it.

GC2WTP4 I recently checked out a cache page near me. It's a 5/5 cache. I was curious as to who the FTF was, and I saw this log: helped to hide = found. I just had to laugh. Whatever floats your boat.

Posted Yesterday, 10:30 PM What? Wrong thread... Yep.

Ok..I have NO idea how I ended up responding to an old thread. I must have been surfing around, found the subject interesting and forgot to check the date of the last response. My bad. In any case, it's still a subject that is relevant from time to time and there's a lot of good responses. Newer cachers can still learn from it, but they probably won't see it if it's tucked away on page 40. My good. At least I didn't point out that this thread is two years old on the WRONG thread. How embarrassing would that be?

I'm actually the worst offender when I create a cache and try to get it published. LOL. I love history and I want people to know *why* I'm placing the cache. I inevitably get all wordy and I end up including words that should know by now would scream agenda. Actually,I just made a new cache and after reading this thread, I realized that hot dog..butter my buns and call me a biscuit...I did it again! lol I think I managed to edit it before Keystone caught me again.

Two of my caches memorialize individuals, but they were people who died at least 50 years ago. I think a tasteful memorial cache would be a fitting tribute. I wouldn't expand too much on the accident itself though, I'd focus on who the person was as a person.

A D5 will definitely be harder than a D4, D3, D2, and D1. Seriously though. A D1 is generally a no brainer. A toddler could find it. A D2 is maybe hidden just a little better, but is still a piece of cake to an experienced cacher. A D3 is a cache that we find ourselves running in circles and looking in and under every tree stump. A D4 means that you might have to solve some type of puzzle, it might be a multi-cache or it just might mean that you have to prepare a lot for it. A D5 means that you'll more than likely be using special equipment or knowledge to find it. A boat, climbing gear, skis, whatever. A D4 might be a puzzle or multi-cache, but so could a D1, D2, D3, or D5. Difficulty is not related to the cache type. That said, many of the D4 or D5 caches that you'll see will use a puzzle to achieve that rating. In that case, the difficulty is a combination of the puzzle must solve to obtain the coordinates and how difficult that contain is to find once you've arrived at the location. In general, the difference between a D3 and D4 cache essentially boils down to how long it will take, on average, for a geocacher to find the container once they've arrived at the coordinates. For a D3 cache that could be an hour or so. For a D4 cache it might take several hours, which often means it might require several attempts to search for it before it's finally found. There's a D4 cache near me that took me four different visits and over three hours of searching before I finally found it. I've been watching and multiple visits to find it is the norm rather than the exception. That, to me, is a D4. I've also seen cache listings that have over 100 DNFs and before someone finds it (and the CO frequently verifies it's still there) that are rated a D5. The use of special equipment like a boat or climbing gear has nothing to do with the Difficulty rating. If special equipment is required, that effects the Terrain rating. You are absolutely right about the puzzle reference and the special equipment reference. I was tired and my hands were typing faster than my brain. The rum didn't help either I guess...LOL. Carry on.

Awwww...don't let these remarks scare you off. Some of us are just blowing off steam I suppose. The only thing I can suggest to you is to try and put some thought behind your hide if you want the finder to relate their experience. I mean really...how much excitement and wonder can you write about a guardrail? Ask yourself if *you* as a cacher would enjoy being brought to this particular spot? Would you like to spend some time here? Is there something interesting to see? Is there something to learn about this place? If you see where I'm going with this...then I'm sure that more often than not, people will write logs that are more than four letters long.

I did the same thing but only with ONE geocache and it didn't involve sharing any secrets. LOL! I placed the cache, went home and realized that I had forgotten to put the log book inside the cache. It was on the front seat of my car. It was late and I knew I wouldn't be able to find the cache in the dark, so I got up early the next morning and rushed out. I saw a car with some people pull up to the trailhead and I KNEW that they were geocachers. Off through the woods, crashing and thrashing a short cut. Luckily I managed to beat them to it...but only barely. Spit happens. lol