Wheelygood

Greetings Fellow Geocachers, Team ActOr consisting of Bracara, Portugual - Wheelygood, USA and RedGlobe, South Africa seeks Australian member to complete the Australian leg (placed by the SpinDoctors) of the amazing 5 continent world wide cache. Details can be found at World Wide Cache - Oceania waypoint GC1EF7J. You should be located in or around the Vaucluse area. We have all of the other team members in place to complete this cache. Please contact me through my profile. Cheers – Wheelygood, USA Edit to correct country origin, I caught it in another post but not this one.

"Love Em?" I sure do love myself. My caching area is a hot bed for the FTF race with the usual core group of hounds and a constant influx of new or part timers joining in at any given time. It is a part of the game that helps keep me interested in geocaching in general. I have been very lucky to get the ones I have but I am also willing to head out at any time to go after a new cache. I have started to be a little more selective and I try to pass on the drive ups although if I haven’t found at least one for the month I will happily bag a new one. I looked at my FTF stats and found my FTF difficulty/terrain rating average to be a respectable 2.31/2.37 ( in all fairness we do have a fair amount of rating inflation in our area too) and 4% were found after/before daylight.

Even though I started playing in 6/02 and have found many of the early caches placed in NY (including the first). I would consider myself 2nd generation. In my area NAVICACHE was very active in 2001- to mid 2003 The first picnic I went to was hosted by Quinn and even at the first couple of Letchworth Gatherings there was a fair amount of discussion of Navicaches. Back then there was a small core group that I looked at as having if you will, caching experience, that is they were the ones placing the hides or had already found the few dozen that existed in the region at the time.

I am familiar with the OP and can attest to the creativity and difficulty of his hides. We are fortunate to have his (and a few others) influence for well thought out and crafted caches in this area. I am also guilty (on a limited basis) of doing what he wishes we would not do. I did not know it then, now I do. For the most part I do not mind the use of phone a friend on my caches and I agree most times subtle hints are all that is asked for. Some here say it is about the journey. I agree, so enjoy the journey that ended in a DNF, congratulate the hider for doing a good job, post a log about your experience and go look for another cache. To those that feel caches are meant to be found you are correct, but how many caches have you searched for that have not been found? When I first started playing this game and I had placed what I thought was a tricky cache I remember feeling a little bummed when it was found until another cacher reminded me a cache really can not be appreciated unless it can be found. On a couple of my caches I would rather have just a few people appreciate it than a lot due to help being given. If you can not find the cache go look for the next one. I agree phone a friend makes the community more connected. I imagine some of the phone a friend lists are pretty long and you do not know everyone that is on it. I wonder of those that use the phone do they reach out to the cache owner first. I also think the phoning just adds to our instant gratification mentality. Why not wait until you can contact the owner? Some ask how the owner will be affected if help is given. Same way you will be if you do not find the cache. Considering the vast number of caches that are generally available to find, so what that you did not find it while you where there. Maybe you will return some day, maybe not. If cache listings had an icon for no phone a friend, would you abide by it by not helping if asked or by not asking? Ultimately, it boils down to are you willing to not add a cache to your found it list.

I sure would hunt for this one, of course I would need the training/guide service before and during the hunt. That would be fun, I'd even log it as a Found it.

I wouldnt pay attention to any posts today. Prank day is over. Locking

Did I read/hear somewhere they are going to introduce a new icon that is going to look like a feather quill? Is the icon for just signing the log book? Does it represent a cacher signed the log but did not actually find the cache? Instead of choosing Found it, would you select Signed it? I guess it is useful for group caching when one person finds the cache and everyone else lines up to sign the log book. Is this an attempt to appease the purists that feel the find counts are skewed? Or is it an attempt to appease those that want more icons? Are they really going to review all previously written logs and search for typical catch phrases that identify these situations and change their Found it to a Signed it? That could really affect some people’s find counts!

By all means go look for it, sign the log and claim the FTF if you are first to log in. In our area finding a cache prelisting is a "chile", so named after a local that has well documented his numerous attempts and successes geocaching sans coords.

I've opted out of the public numbers game by logging most my finds as notes some I don't log at all. I have no way of knowing most of the numbers you ask about. I do however keep track of my FTFs.

I like to write a little something about the hide or the getting there not just put a mark/sticker in the book. I'm one of the local FTF hounds so I'm usually out of breath when I get the log in my hands, add the panting to my terrible hand writing and that first page becomes pretty ugly. I'd like to see the log books have a spell check feature that would be helpful for me. I've used address label size stickers but they tend to get beat up in the pack or pocket, they didn't stick well to some types of paper and they didn't look that good. Stamps are fine with a few hand written words, I have a nice blue ribbon 1st stamp that looks good.

I have been intrigued with the buried cache concept as well and wish they could be approved after careful review but like many good ideas they would probably end up a victim of popularity and misplacement. IMO there is a listing on Navicache (N01340) that is an excellent example of a perfect spot for one. It is a public beach where the construction of sandcastles, big and small, take place all summer long. I have seen holes dug that were large enough for children to get into, many times larger than a ammo can. As for finding the cache, once we agreed on the “it must be here” we used a primitive homemade tool to narrow the dig area further and we did not dig a bunch of holes to find it. As our log states we waited a couple days before claiming our find by then our tracks were gone. In this setting I do not feel the cache violates the spirit of leave no trace.

I have a few caches that are either in very public locations downtown near where I work or are on a route I travel regularly. The caches downtown are usually found while I’m inside working or after hours so I have not seen anybody at them but I do look when going by. There are 2 caches, GC953C & GCAD25, I have stopped at to watch and meet cachers when I was in the area. I don’t dare stop at my newest hide, GCMC58, because it is too high of an area to get thrown off!

I cache in the same area as ChileHead and I enjoy the competition and the spontaneity (and the consequences that come with it) required to increase my luck to rack up the FTFs. I also like night caching however, I only seem to make time for it while attempting a FTF.

I have a pair from MSR and only use them “off trail” even if this means I am walking beside a packed trail. As recommended earlier pay attention to the weight limits of the snow shoe, your winter clothing and gear will add more than several pounds to your naked weight. Seriously, if you are going to spend 90% of your time on a packed trail or occasionally hike a mile or two in a foot or two of snow you really do not need snowshoes. Get yourself instep crampons for the icy hard pack and a trekking pole. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I like the cache location, just quirky enough to inflict a head scratch. Is it possible to put a few quarters inside so that you can reimburse those cachers that feel they need to be?

In my area if I'm going for a FTF, I'm usually at the cache within 85 minutes. I've had pretty good luck.

Most of the time I do not decode the hint, if I am traveling very far or there will not be phone service then I'll print the hints encrypted and play the decode game trail side as a last resort. I have from time to time phoned in to someone to check the listing and hint at the hint. Often times the hints are to helpful.

You don't say how long it has been but I would wait a couple weeks and watch it. I generally do not provide many hints on my cache listings but I do email every DNF and give them the option of scrolling WAY down for cryptic hints or just hitting delete. Some cachers will acknowledge they received a little help in their logs.

I am competitive for the FTF and a good photograph to share. I do not know how many finds I have, I do know how many FTFs I have though. I do not take much stock in other cachers totals (yours included) due to the irregularities of posting finds which has been discussed in other threads. I have read the forums and have learned that no matter how well thought out you may think your position is on a topic, there are several other well thought out positions as well and usually there is not a right or wrong way to play this game. One thread I did pay close attention to was the discussion of posting at all. I came away that the spirit of the geo community was to inform the cache owner you found their cache. A note posted on a listing does this. This is an excellent point, few rules that most but not all people follow while maintaining the standards of the spirit of geocaching. I am not sure if you are referencing a particular cache I found before you or not. Are you? Either way, my travels take me a long way from home, a cache I FTF after work may not get posted until a few hours later. When I can, I utilize libraries and other publicly accessible internet connections to view or change a current cache status. Your system for checking on a new cache is flawed. If you take the time to do a zip search to see if a cache has a found date the only thing you can assume about that cache (or any cache) is that it is listed. It was pointed out to me by a local cacher here that someone may have logged a DNF or a note commenting on a cache issue. IMO for the length of time it takes to click on the listing and scroll to the bottom of the page for current information is time well spent. Look at this thread, only you have a problem with my notes. I have been to geo events too and nobody has complained to me about it and since I started posting notes I have asked a few higher profile cachers for their opinion. All said it did not bother them but some do think it is odd. The fact that I will not conform to the way you play and whether it brings positive or negative attention is controlled entirely by each reader not you. I looked up your profile and I see that one member of your team is a teacher. I thought one of the tenets of being an educator was fostering a feeling of acceptance and a spirit of diversity within your community.

1. Mostly true, I would rather upload a photo with a note. 2. Not true, see my photo gallery for some examples and I have found caches and not had any photos to upload. The cache owner has received a notification when I posted a note. 3. Not true. You asked me 2x to change my note to a log, I declined. 4. Do you know how? The last time you made a comment to/about me in a forum you disappeared once I replied. Here is the link http://www.ny-geocaching.org/modules.php?n...viewtopic&t=127

Pass up this opportunity…I think not! BerkMom congratulations on your 500th find. I hope your next 500 logs have as much permanence as your first 500 and here’s to your continued success of scooping those unique FTFs and your growing reputation as a celebrity cacher. Way to go BerkMom!

How about belt clips for the different GPS devices.

Just one, I like to give the caches a chance.

I have had 3 come up missing 2 of them were replaced 2 times before I gave up. The part that is most fustrating to me is at least one cacher has to waste their time looking for it before it is confirmed gone.

We have a cache hidden on a seasonal bridge that is convienent to use when it is open to traffic. We recently stopped when we saw a palm reader and sent our 7 & 9 year olds over to pretend they were looking. They looked for a couple minutes and then yelled huckle buckle. The reaction of the cacher….priceless. We have since become caching friends.