DaysJourney

Hi all, We recently moved from Seattle to Houston so we'd like to offer up our active caches for adoption. They are: GC3G6YZ Strigoii Mort GC25ZKK By Me GC24G66 PEACE SIGN SERIES # 30: Give Peace a Chance GC24GB3 PEACE SIGN SERIES # 33: Better Late than Never GC1V2GQ The Fallen GC1TGRE Why Soitenly! Please let us know at daysjourneygeo AT gmail, if you're interested in any of them. Thanks, Team Daysjourney

Really, this isn't rocket science. 11 DNF's for a 1/1? Owner hasn't logged on since '14? Forget the 'smartphone doesn't count their log ons' nonsense, they are most likely gone or are irresponsible. Make a Needs Maintenance log - this will alert the owner (again) that something is wrong. AND make a Needs Archived log, which will get the reviewer involved. That is the only way to open up the spot for new cache placement. You can search the owner's history, email, message them and all that but it's the reveiwer's job to figure out what is going on. There is no harm in getting them involved.

Yes, you will need GPS of some sort. If you don't have GPS on your phone, then you will need to get a hand held device. Look in pawn shops, online, etc. you may find a cheap used one somewhere. Other than that, I guess you could try using Google Earth or something to narrow down your search, before you head out. Keep in mind that GPS only gets you to a radius near where the cache is hidden. Not all coordinates are totally accurate (for a variety of reasons) and many caches are more deliberately hidden than others, hence the difficulty/terrain ratings. Why don't you try to enlist a friend to maybe share the cost of a GPS device or find cachers in your area who can help you get started?

To me, virtual (read fake) discoveries are the same as logging a cache as found even though you never really did so. Sure geocaching is only a game but all games have rules. I have a hand crafted trackable that only goes to Groundspeak's yearly mega event here in Seattle. But the continual fake discoveries it gets from people in Germany breaks, at least, the spirit of the rules. It pisses me off that I can't do anything to stop it... Other than delete these bs logs each time - or sadly - archive the trackable. The latter is seriously becoming an option if something doesn't change.

The worst for me was a 'front yard' cache that my wife decided to look for. I am not a fan of private property hides. Even if the description states that its ok with the property owner, to me it still feels weird. I sat in the car, reading another cache page as she stood on the sidewalk, poking around in the hedges in front of some house. It wasn't long before she attracted the attention of a neighbor, who approached and asked what she was doing. He wasn't unfriendly but was - concerned. She explained that she was geocaching and that the person living in the house was the one who placed it (as per the cache description). So the 'concerned' neighbor got the homeowner, who, knowing nothing about a cache in their front yard, also became concerned and came out to see what was going on. While that was taking place, my wife happened to find the cache. It was a disposable, plastic food container, cracked and missing the lid. Turned out that the person who had hid the cache had moved away over a year before and had basically abandoned the cache - even though they had a couple of other, active caches nearby. The new homeowner was not impressed and wanted my wife to take the cache with her, which she did. Needless to say, the situation ended with my wife embarrassed and two homeowners having a bad impression of that 'geocaching thing.' We threw what was left of the crappy container (no trackables) in the trash and left a 'needs archived' log.

The first time I noticed CO 'found it' log, I thought it was silly. Obviously, by the number of comments, similar threads, etc. others think so as well. Because it is, well... silly.

Its not petty if you put a lot of effort, time or expense into a cache only to have someone thoughtlessly reveal spoilers in their online log. Or even worse, post a picture of the container at GZ. You wouldn't believe how often this happens. I know people are happy they made the find and are sharing the experience and that's great. But when people are oblivious about what they reveal in their log or photo they can easily turn a difficulty 3 hide into a 1. It is really disappointing sometimes.

I wouldn't worry too much about being a cache cop for a container that has been MIA for a month and the owner hasn't logged on in six. Add a 'needs maintenance' log to the cache. Think of it this way, wouldn't it be better to clear out the old, abandoned stuff and open up that area for someone else? Helping a cache out (replacing log sheets, drying the container out, etc) is cool in small doses but I think its better to archive a barely cared for cache and get some new stuff into the area before too long.

I look at it this way: signing a log is the one thing that everyone is expected to do to signify that they indeed found the cache. However, it's really up to each cache owner to enforce whatever standards they find acceptable. As far as my caches are concerned, if someone logged that they didn't like nanos and did not want to be bothered with unrolling a log, small space, etc, then I would not consider that a find and would probably delete that log. I don't think its fair that everyone else is going to the trouble to finish the job, except for a few others decided they don't have to. Now, if you let me know that you had a physical limitation, then I would absolutely give you the find. The same goes for the log being soaked, cache broken or other reason that's beyond your control. The finder is responsible for signing the log and the owner is just as responsible for making sure the cache is maintained so that they can sign it.

Honestly, I never knew there was any controversy regarding PAF'ing someone. Its just something you do after an exhaustive search. Not really cheating, just nudging, I'd say. Oh, by the way Lam - your log for Saturday's CITO was hilarious. And the most truthful...

Circumstances are important as well. If the cache description tells you that you're looking for a black nano and the difficulty is 1.5. GZ is a black park bench, with nothing else nearby. Don't know about you but I'm not going to spend much more than 10 minutes on it. Your choices are to contact the cache owner, who you don't know, (probably by email since most CO's don't list their phone # on the cache page) or call a friend who has already found it, who are you gonna contact? I not looking for a free handout. But I don't want to spend a half hour looking for a container that is probably gone either.

Whether to enforce signing logs or not is really up to the individual Cache Owner. Some of my friends are rather strict, others could care less if someone signs the log or not. Personally, I think signing a log is the one thing that all cachers are expected to do to signify that they did indeed find it. Call me a jerk if you want but if someone logs online that they forgot their pen or couldn't be bothered to unroll a log sheet on a cache I own, then they didn't find it. Of course, every circumstance is unique. If the finder genuinely tries to demonstrate that they did find it (take a pic, mark the log with dirt, etc) then I'm cool, otherwise, their 'find' is removed. Occasionally, I'll audit a log sheet and delete a find - if I can be certain the online logger did not sign the log in some form. I'm up front about it and always say that the log has to be signed in the cache description. That way, hopefully, there won't be any surprises. Basically, I feel that we're all expected to sign a log on a cache we find. Deciding that you don't have to for whatever reason, isn't very fair to everyone else who is making that effort.

When I come across a cache that has a soaked/full log, broken, etc. I read the previous logs to see how many other people have reported the problem. Often, I will look up the owner's profile to see when they last logged in. I don't know how many caches I've found where the owner hasn't signed in for a year... Maybe I'm a little heartless but if the owner doesn't care about the cache anymore I'm not too inclined to help out. If the owner seems active and takes care of their caches, I have extra waterproof paper and baggies in my geobag and I'm happy to give the cache some help.

We just hit #300 tonight, at Stumped!! (GC17X4P) Whoo-hoo!

We live just outside of Seattle, with a search range of 15 miles and get about 3-5 or more a day. Its kind of like comparing apples and oranges though, if you think about it. Obviously in places like northern Illinois in February, you're going to be doing a lot less caching than someone in say, Los Angeles. I do have to mention that we got 43 all at once last Sunday. Took about five minutes to get them all on my phone. It was a series of puzzle caches released for GeoWoodstock VIII. Here's the link for anyone interested: Peacemaker's Series (full)

We just put our window decal up yesterday. Was a little confused about what to do with the tags but that has now been answered here. Thanks. I never really worried about how many discoveries we'd get from it and never even thought about dipping it into a cache. The most important thing, to me anyway, is that it will identify us to fellow cachers. I'm sure we will get questions about that 'weird bug sticker' on our car from the curious but that's cool too.

Thanks for the input, everyone! It would be so cool to have more night-friendly and night-only caches in the area...

I'm trying to add a background image to my new cache, before it is published. The only field I see is "Background Image URL: Optional field. This will change the background image on the web page to the location you define." I tried adding a complete url to this field, and nothing happens. I found instructions elsewhere on this forum, for adding a background image by uploading an image to the gallery, and then taking that url and pasting it into the html-enabled description. This works, on my existing cache page, but for a brand new listing, I am not able to upload an image to the gallery. Can anyone help me? Thanks! DaysJourney

Anyone know of some night caches in the north Seattle, or East side area? A few night caches I've stumbled across are connected to bookmark lists for night caches, but the majority on those lists are like 70 or so miles from where I live. We checked out one the other night (more of an urban cache, rather than on a trail) and would like to know if there are any other local ones around? I love to have something to do at night, being a total insomniac!

Hi everyone! My name is Tami, and the other half of DaysJourney is my husband Dan. I first heard about Geocaching in 2005, and although I didn't have a gps at that time, I signed up for a free account hoping I could talk a friend into lending me one. I didn't end up getting a usable gps right away, and my geocaching interest had to be stifled for the time being. I got a Garmin for my car last Christmas, and whoo-hoo! One night Dan and I were driving, and I had a waypoint downloaded onto the Garmin, and we decided to give it a try. GC1APBH was probably a bit small for two n00bs stumbling around in the pitch blackness of the rural night, and predictably had a DNF! I felt somewhat vindicated when it turned out MIA, and the owner has since checked it out and got it back up and running. Maybe we'll give it a try again next time we're up that way. That was March 22nd, and we've been cachin' ever since, whenever the weather is good.

No, the reviewers don't go out and check each cache placement in the field (or in the hedge, in the parking mall, in the forest...). They review your cache page to see that it meets the listing guidelines. They are aware of the areas on their patch which require special permits. They will have a range of on-line mapping tools with which to judge your cache location. They are able to see whether there are any final locations of multicaches or puzzle caches nearby, of which you, the cache setter, may be unaware. They have special powers bestowed on them by the magical Frog which allows them to make a considered judgement on whether your cache is OK to fly. They probably have an especially toned and well-muscled index finger for pressing that "Publish" button too... MrsB Thanks! That totally makes sense. I just got my listing published! My first one! Whoo-hoo! GC1PQDT We put quite a bit of effort into the placement, theme, etc, and I didn't want to mess anything up. I have only been caching since 22 March, so I wanted to be careful with my listing. Also - I got a reviewer's note that said "CACHE COORDINATES N 47° 45.092 W 122° 04.967" (the same coordinates I entered)...with no other comments. Is that an automated note?

I really appreciate everyone's tips! I worked on my listing for a couple of hours until it looked right. I was thrown off by the "short description" box, and the longer field. I figured it out, and made it look fairly ok! I posted it, and of course had to revise a couple of times - which really didn't matter, since it was at 3:00 AM. That was this morning (Thursday) at 3:00 AM, and I'm nervously awaiting reviewer comments. Maybe some of you veteran cachers can settle a debate. Do the reviewers actually go out and physically look at the cache? My understanding is that they do. My husband thinks he read somewhere that they only review online. How does this work?

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the info....

I've searched around, and I just can't seem to find the answer - so if this has been asked and answered, please forgive me. I am going to list my very first hide, and I was wondering if you can preview your listing before you actually post? If not, is it editable once submitted online? I would like to edit in html, which sometimes doesn't look like it was intended to look. Can anyone tell me the answer or where to find the information? Thanks in advance!

I was just noticing the same thing! I've been caching for a few weeks now, so I'm really new to this. I am planning a trip to SoCal at the end of the month, and I've been searching for at least one TB to take with me. Last several caches, the TB's were missing. I saw that someone had added a TB to a cache near my house that I'd already been to - so I went back and grabbed it. Now I'm not sure how to log that I went back. I can't put "found it", since it was my second visit to that cache. Should I just "add a note" and explain that I went back for the TB?