michigansnorkelers

I agree with everyone who states that these caches make them nervous. I also agree with those who say that these have been some of the most creative hides they've ever found. I've found yard caches: In a beehive In an outhouse Under a rock, down a tube in the ground etc, etc, etc. However, I always check the full description and recent logs in my Palm Pilot!

What a coincidence; this just happened to me! I was contacted out of the blue by someone asking for help on one stage of a multi. It was published about a month ago and the only two logs since included my shared FTF. Now, this multi was cleverly done and took a lot of effort to set up. In over 800 finds, I have never run across anything to match it. I almost posted a DNF myself until another geocacher came along. It took both of us to get to the final stage. However, this person did not post a DNF to the cache page, and had not contacted the CO. But, they had already gone through the effort to find the first two stages. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to be friendly, and helpful, but didn't want to step on anybody's toes. So, I came up with a suitable hint that I forwarded to the CO. After getting his permission, I emailed the hint to the cacher, along with friendly advice on geocaching etiquette in the future. I feel satisfied that I helped a fellow geocacher without upsetting the CO of a fantastic multi.

This looks like a PERFECT first cache for you! Terrain 1, Difficulty 1, regular size. For even more help, you can click on the purple VIEW THE IMAGE GALLERY link. Please be careful not to attract attention to yourselves because this is a large container in a high muggle area. Likewise, make sure you replace it as well hidden as you find it. Welcome to the obsession!

You GOTTA get a kayak!

OK. I once found a decoy covered with braches. On closer inspection, one of the branches didn't look just right. I managed to pull a wooden "plug" out of the end of the branch, and found a bison tube inside! Now, THAT was evil!

I'll carefully cut the ends off the batteries, clean them out, and with a little ingenuity turn them into evil micros in discarded toys! Now, I'll leave you a red and white daredevil lure, minus the hooks.

When we go geocaching, my wife makes me go out of our way to visit cemetery caches. She is still recovering from major surgery on her Achilles Tendon, and prefers these quick finds in a peaceful and interesting setting to searching for LPCs in a parking lot! We have seen some absolutely fascinating headstones and monuments, including those made of zinc! Some are carved into elaborate shapes such as tree trunks. Others have beautiful scenes etched into them; I have no idea how it is done, but it is beautiful. Knowing a little about the history of cemetery monuments adds to the enjoyment. For example: http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/pages/Cem_Monuments.htm

As a premium member, how many times have you run PQs looking for TBs and geocoins, only to find them missing from the caches? About 90% of the time in Metro Detroit. So, that's likely the fate of whatever you put out there. It has been the fate of every TB I've ever put out there. I've seen one or two proxys that looked pretty good. They were sharp photographs cut to size and placed inside a protective plastic geocoin case. I actually thought they were geocoins at first. But most proxys don't look that good. Personally, I've never cared much for proxys. But then I started thinking about TBs. A TB is simply a NUMBER on a tag, associated with WHATEVER you want to chain it to. It COULD even be a picture of something, for example, your geocoin! So, in a way, a proxy is form of TB, except that the tracking number is in the picture rather than on a little metal tag. Either way, there is a tracking number. So, send out a proxy if you want to , just don't expect a lot of OOOHs and AAAAHs from it.

One of my most memorable finds was a cache inside a PVC tube in the ground. It was on the owners property. Assuming the big concern here is a copycat burying a cache without permission, I suppose the cache and the cache log could contain a note warning others not to copy such an idea without the landowners permission. Personally, I believe that caches where you could get electrocuted are a bigger problem. This includes all LPCs, yet there are hundreds of LPCs that are approved. Sooner or later, someone is going to die.

Did you buy your unit for geocaching, or are you just trying to use it for that? A friend of mine just bought a Garmin GPSMAP 60SCX for $199. It is a great unit, and can also route you where you want to go, although the screen is smaller than the NUVI and it won't "talk" to you.

Looks like most of you, as well as I, are in the minority. I believe that there should be SOME method to better determine if a TB is still in a cache. I've started several posts regarding trackables, but was disappointed to find little support for my concern or suggestions. What I currently do is run a PQ for TBs. I make the assumption that a TB will be picked up by the next finder or two. If there have been 2 finders since the TB was dropped, it probably isn't there any more. This is generally true. Conversely, if the last cache log date = the TB drop date, then there is a very good chance the TB is still in the cache. So, I load the PQ into GSAK which shows me the date of the last cache log and a list of all TBs that are logged as being in the cache. I click on the TB number (which opens the Geocaching.com TB page) and quickly see the date it was dropped. I then USER TICK the cache if the dates were the same, or if there were some other reason I thought the TB might still be there (TB hotel, etc). Easy for a small list, tedious for a long one. PQs only indicate the name of the TBs that were logged as dropped in a cache at some time in the past. They contain no date information. If the PQ indicated the DATE of the latest TB drop, then some automatic method (GSAK?) could filter the caches to flag those where the TB drop date = last cache log date. Even more helpful would be if the PQ could filter for this. Sure, it wouldn't be foolproof, but it would be a LOT more helpful than what we have today. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

I wonder how true this is, because I visited a TB hotel in Central Park of NYC which should have had 8 or 9 trackables, but it only had 1. I left a TB there, and a couple days later it got moved to another cache in the city, and then on to Austria. I look at more than just missing Bugs. Cache location (poorly hidded at a teen hangout = bad). Contains only extremely low-quality Swag (such as candy wrappers or expired pizza coupons). Things like that. But I wouldn't place a TB at the "TB Hotel" you mentioned, without doing a little research on those TBs first (that's just me, I'm not saying you have to). If it's popular with cachers that can't manage TBs, that's also less than optimal. Well, I did use the word MIGHT. But when a cache shows multiple TBs and they are all gone, it makes you wonder. And, if the cache IS subject to thieves or muggles, I wouldn't expect them to attack daily. I sure feel lousy when I drop a TB and that is the last time it is ever seen.

The Geomate Jr. is actually a great little unit, as long as you understand its limitations. First of all, you HAVE to get the upgrade kit (cable) for it. This will get you a lot more geocaches than what ship with the unit. Then, you can download the traditional caches in the Eastern or Western US. Of course, you won't have access to Premium Member, Multis, Unknowns, etc. Just traditionals. I own a Garmin 60cs as well as a Geomate Jr. I've used them together and they both seem to have the same caches, as long as they are traditional.

This is totally unacceptable! There is no way a parent should allow their son or daughter to hunt a parking lot cache! What has this world come to? We should shield our children's eye from lame parking lot caches and LPCs. We should lead by example and show them the world of quality caches in beautiful park-like settings.

Some ideas: You might scout out the caches ahead of time to make sure you can find them. Clean them up and add nice swag, if desired, a day or two before. Then you KNOW they'll find something nice. Of course, let them "find" the cache. Give each $5 and go to the dollar store, or Target, or Michael's, etc. Let them pick out what they would like to leave as swag. This could be an eye opener for you too. Have each record some notes in the field, or even take a picture of themselves at the cache, etc. Then, have them help you enter the logs at home. Remember, you may be working with short attention spans. Be ready to call it quits for the day.

Can anybody explain why a cache found on 10/10/10 deserves any kind of a souvenir at all? Suddenly dates with pretty patterns are important or interesting somehow? (Aside from those who are Hitchhikers Guide fans...and even that's a pretty big stretch). Are we going to celebrate 9/10/11 the same way or will we let Oct 9 next year (or Sept 10 if you read it that way). I can hardly wait! 42'nd find 420'th find 4200'th find 4242'th find So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Finding TBs can be an exercise in futility. Many times, the TBs are gone but the owner just doesn't have the heart to list it as missing. I know. Other times, the TB owner is no longer active anyway. You could send a note to the cache owner too. They have the ability to remove a TB from their cache. However, many cache owners won't do this even if contacted. In addition, many caches are alive and well months or years after their owners are no longer active. Often you will find an orphaned TB in an orphaned cache. If you would like to find a TB in the future, there are three methods. 1) Luck 2) Run a PQ for TBs, or just look for caches that list TBs on their pages. BE AWARE THAT MANY OF THESE WILL NOT HAVE A TB IN THEM! Now, look at the cache page for two dates: The date that the TB was dropped in the cache, and the date of the last cache log. If they are the SAME, then there is a reasonable CHANCE that it is still in the cache. If they are different the TB is probably gone, because most cachers pick up a TB when they find one ... usually. Obviously, if the TB was dropped 6 weeks ago and the cache has subsequently been found 6 times, the TB is gone. 3) TB hotel: These mega-caches are meant as TB post offices and can contain a dozen or more TBs. However, I've been to several that had NO tbs! One last word of advice. If the cache shows several TBs which are missing, then you might not want to DROP a TB in it. It might be subject to periodic raids by muggles or worse.

Today, I logged a FTF on a cache that was over 40 feet from where the GPSr showed it to be. Here are some previous posts that you might find helpful. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0&p=4505058 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0&p=4504150 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0&p=4495124

I just noticed this option in my profile. Did some searching on Google, because it was too short to search the forums. Looks like this has something to do with Attributes. I have a Garmin GPSMAP 60cs, not csx. I use the older version of GSAK 6.6.5. Should I leave well enough alone, or am I missing out on something?

Here is something I've seen several times. Hide the FTF prize somewhere else and put an extra slip of paper in the cache with the location. This way, the FTF prize can be any size you'd like. FTF prizes are always optional, and most caches don't come with one. However, I've been lucky enough to find an unactivated TB or geocoin. I've also seen gift cards for Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. I even found a lottery ticket (didn't win).

Thanks for all the suggestions. The only problem is that these programs cost around $80 for something I would only use occasionally. Any other free or cheap methods?

Thanks, but this method won't work with my unit. It is for the Colorado and newer units that can show images. However, I DO follow the first several steps before I draw my route over the trails.

Sorry if this was covered elsewhere, but I cannot find it. What I would like to do is take a paper map of a park, and somehow copy the trails into my Garmin 60cs (not 60csx). Currently, I load the scanned image into Google Earth and try to line up the imported map with the corresponding area on Google Earth. The trick is trying to resize the map and superimpose it on the Google Earth screen. This is really tricky. Once accomplished, I trace the trails as a route and download that route to Mapquest. Not fancy, but it works. There has to be an easier way. No?

I once found a micro that was embedded IN an animal skull! Cool, but creepy.

By all means, DON'T hide anything on the statue ... or extremely close to it either. Let me tell you of a bad experience that I regret to this day involving a tombstone, not a statue. I was in an old graveyard. I was a very new cacher with NO experience in graveyard caches. I also assumed that the GPSr should point directly to the cache. I kept walking around, and the GPSr kept pointing to the tombstone. It was a three-foot tall obelisk atop a stone platform. I was SURE the cache was here, so I kept searching the tombstone up and down. That's when I accidentally leaned against it and sent it crashing to the ground! Fortunately it did not break! But there it lay. Did you ever try to move an obelisk? It was so heavy that I found it impossible to move, let alone return it to it's stone platform. I was alone so there was nobody to help. And, it was in a location far from home, so I wouldn't be back in that area again. It's still there, as far as I know. I still feel bad about it. Hiding something on a statue is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.