niraD

Until they grab it back and drop it in the cache where they left it.

I find your emphasis on parking interesting, mainly because I've seen complaints about the lack of parking for caches along a roadside multi-use trail. Those complaining were upset that there was no safe parking at the cache site, that they weren't P&G caches. Which was true, because there was no stopping or parking allowed on the 2-lane road. But the multi-use trail next to the road provided a nice walk (or jog, or bike ride, or whatever) from multiple safe parking locations.

Immediately? Not everyone logs everything in the field with a smartphone. Give the person who dropped it in the cache where you found it time to log it. But with that said, a week and a half is enough time.

The guidelines state, "The cache owner must visit the geocache location to get accurate coordinates with a GPS-enabled device." So as, RuideAlmeida wrote, use the coordinates you collected yourself with a GPS-enabled device at the actual location. I used to live in an area where Google's satellite imagery was spot on, or at least calibrated as accurately as any consumer GPS device. But I always confirmed my coordinates with a GPS-enabled device at the actual location. And I've seen areas where it was off by significant distances, and I've seen the calibration error change when the satellite imagery is updated. Anyway, if you don't trust your coordinates, then test them. Enter your coordinates into your device, and then approach the cache location from at least 100ft/30m away. The arrow should point right at the cache location as you approach. Repeat the process, approaching the cache location from various directions, from at least 100ft/30m away each time. No matter which direction you approach from, the arrow should point right at the cache location. If it doesn't, then adjust your coordinates until it does. Bonus points for repeating the test on another day when the GPS satellites are in a different configuration. Also, the Help Center article How to Get Accurate Coordinates should prove useful.

A week should be plenty of time for the other geocacher to at least get back to you. At this point, I'd grab the trackable, drop it into the cache where I found it, and then retrieve it. (I'd also send the other geocacher email explaining what I did and why.) If there's no rush, then you could wait a little longer, but definitely get it done before your trip abroad.

Note that COs and watchers will see only your original log in the email notices sent by the geocaching.com site. Editing the log does not send a new email with the new (real) log content.

As much as I agree with the sentiment, I don't expect this to happen. Once upon a time, logs supported BBCode. A lot of old logs still include BBCode. When Groundspeak first implemented Markdown, all those logs with BBCode became gibberish.

Yep. People award FP for all sorts of reasons: it's a buddy's cache, or they were FTF, or it's a new (to them) hide style, or the weather was nice, or they had a great conversation with a friend on the way to the cache, or any number of other reasons. That's part of why I'd like a "you may also enjoy" feature that takes into account the FPs I have awarded and how they correlate with the FPs others have awarded.

The percentage of FP is definitely more useful than the raw number of FP. I've also been able to narrow down a search to a relatively rare cache category (e.g., EarthCaches or LBH caches or multi-caches, possibly limited further based on terrain/difficulty ratings), and then sort that list based on the raw number of FP. But without narrowing down the search first, the raw number of FP just tells me the quick P&G caches at busy tourist spots.

Yep. One of the reasons i oppose suggestions that would hand out more FP (e.g., to any CO for each FP received by one of that CO's caches) is that it would change the meaning of FP. It's still there: http://gcvote.com/ Yep. I've actually bought products based on 1-star reviews, because the text of the review told me what I needed to know about the product. But the number of stars was meaningless to me. Fortunately, geocachers can already leave text comments for every cache they find. One thing that I think would improve the Favorites system is for it to compare the caches to which I've awarded FP and to which others have awarded FP, and then to produce a list of caches that were enjoyed by people who also enjoyed the caches that I enjoyed.

When I've introduced people to geocaching, I have never had them create a geocaching.com account or install an app (any app). As kunarion pointed out, that's a lot of finicky technical work, and it's more productive to introduce them to the "finding tupperware in the woods" part of geocaching. When I've taught one-hour classes on geocaching (usually, but not exclusively, to kids at church), I've spent the first half of the class explaining geocaching with as many hands-on examples as possible. Then I've taken everyone outside to a nearby spot where I've hidden a bunch of varied containers, and I've had them raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. In the class, I start by explaining that geocaching is like a modern scavenger hunt or game of hide the thimble, using GPS coordinates to show roughly where the container is hidden. (I specifically avoid the term "treasure hunt" because that gives people the wrong idea about what geocaching is.) To demystify GPS, I have three colored strings/ropes hanging from the ceiling. I explain that the GPS device (whether built into a phone or a separate handheld device) measures the precise distance from it to a GPS satellite. I grab one string and show that with one satellite, it defines a circle. Then I grab a second string and show that two satellites define two points, the places where the two circles intersect. I grab the third string and show that three satellites define a single point... except that there's another point "up there" so you have to assume I'm on the ground and not "up there". All this takes just a few minutes. The bulk of the explanation part is explaining and showing them different containers (sizes, types, camouflage), different trade items ("Trade up, trade even, or don't trade."), and different trackables (and that they are NOT trade items). I also explain difficulty and terrain ratings, and I briefly explain that most caches are traditional (a container at the GPS coordinates), but that some are more complicated (multi-caches, puzzles, etc.). By then, it's time to go outside to look for hidden containers. I generally try to have at least one hidden container per kid. If you don't have enough real cache containers, then any recycled jars/bottles covered in camo tape will do. Before the class, I hide them in an area where there are plenty of bushes, trees, and other landscaping features. Vary the hiding spots, and make a few of them really hard. I have the kids stay behind a line and raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. I try to call on everyone once before I call on anyone a second time. It's important to have a count of the number of containers hidden, and the number of containers spotted so far. As we get to the end, I let the kids know how many containers are left to find. If we run out of time, then I reveal the ones they missed. The other style of class that I've helped with has met at a trailhead parking lot in a county park. After a brief "chalk talk" explaining the basics (pretty much the same way I described above, without the colored strings/ropes to explain GPS), the new geocachers break up into small groups, with one experienced geocacher assigned to each group as a coach. Each group receives a preprogrammed GPS with real caches hidden along the trail. We used a popular trail that had become naturally saturated with a variety of caches placed by different owners (what we called a "power trail" before the advent of modern numbers trails like the ET Highway trail). Over the course of 2-3 hours, the new geocachers could find an assortment of different caches and be back at the trailhead in time for lunch. The experienced coach in each group was there mainly to answer questions, and to make sure there wasn't any confusion about trackables or replacing the cache as found or things like that.

Spoiling all the caches with hidden waypoints is not the answer either. Are we at an impasse yet? Showing caches where you have provided corrected coordinates at those corrected coordinates will help. Showing caches where you have provided corrected coordinates at those corrected coordinates on the planning map will help too. I fully support both of these suggestions. But there will almost certainly still be hidden waypoints that don't show on the map, for example, intermediate stages of caches with 3+ stages, or multi-caches with posted coordinates outside your "blast radius". Asking the volunteer reviewers for a coordinate check will still be advisable before investing significant location-specific resources into a new cache. And ultimately, cramming yet another cache into a gap in the map of a saturated area is a losing battle. At some point, even those gaps will be filled, and wannabe cache owners will have to find a new place to hide caches anyway.

It sounds like the info in the Reviewers forum is the database. I've heard it said that the guidelines are already long enough that many wannabe cache owners don't bother reading them, and that including more details about specific rulings would just make that worse. With that said, I have found two-stage multi-caches where I could touch the first stage with one hand while touching the final stage with the other. That probably involved taking "a complete step away" from the first stage, but not much more than that. I've also found mystery/puzzle caches where there were easy-to-find "this is not the cache you're looking for" decoys at the solution coordinates, as well as the actual harder-to-find cache container. But that's a different cache type, with different guidelines.

What country icon would you get if you found that one? The page says, "In Arquipélago dos Açores, Portugal" so I would assume Portugal.

PMO = Premium Member Only See the Help Center article Premium-only caches.

When I plan a road trip, I don't usually have a hard deadline for when we have to arrive at our destination. If there's an event that starts at a particular time (e.g., a family reunion), then I try to arrive the day before that event, or even earlier. And I always leave time for rest stops, meal breaks, any geocaching that I might do, etc. Expecting to spend the whole time driving is unrealistic, and time spent geocaching is just a small part of that.

Once upon a time, the guidelines actually stated that one of the goals of the saturation guideline is "to encourage you to seek out new places to hide caches rather than putting them in areas where caches already exist". IMHO, if the only way you can find a place to hide a cache is to look for holes in the saturation map, then the area already has plenty of caches and doesn't really need any more. Perhaps it would be better to seek out new places to hide caches, places that aren't already so saturated.

One of the best things about geocaching is that anyone can play. One of the worst things about geocaching is that anyone can play.

A lot depends on who it was that took it. For example, you'd talk very differently to a church custodian who didn't realize it was supposed to be there, than you would to a bored preacher's kid who got into some mischief.

As I wrote earlier: Specifically, the first paragraph reads: "A local reviewer checks your cache page against our guidelines and regional policies, but does not visit the physical location of your cache. Typically, review begins within 7 days of the date that you submit your cache. But reviews may take longer in the week before or after holidays and large geocaching events." Or, if you want to know more about your local volunteer reviewers, see the Help Center articles Community volunteer reviewers and Contact your local reviewer.

The only cache that comes to mind as being at all scary was EYES OF THE NEIGHBORS, which is a night cache in a cemetery.

When I lived in California, I attended a few of the "Little Shop of Horrors" events hosted by workerofwood. They were great opportunities for "evil cache building and storytelling", with tools, materials, and inspiration readily available. I'm looking forward to attending a Maker Magic event here in East Tennessee!

How you find a multi-cache depends a lot on the specific multi-cache. The common characteristic is that they "involve two or more locations," but other than that, there's a lot of variation. There is good general advice in the Help Center article Multi-Caches.

Most of the questions? sounds like a pass to me! Yeah, it's owners like this who give EarthCaches a bad name. As an EarthCache owner, I might delete a Find log if it's clear that the person didn't even try. But even if all the answers are wrong, if it's clear the person tried, I'll respond with corrections and explanations, not threats to delete the Find log.

Yes, a number of volunteer reviewers have made the point that they don't approve of many of the caches they publish, but as long as they meet the guidelines, they are published.