TheLimeCat

I live in the Seattle metro area. We don't really have power trails, though PnGs are abundant, especially within the metro area. Seattle, like many major cities, seems to have a disproportionate number of puzzle caches, many of which are really difficult, and there is of course a dedicated community who really enjoy puzzles. I think there is another large camp in the Pacific Northwest who combine geocaching with backcountry exploration. We have a huge number of incredibly difficult, dangerous mountain caches, some involving multi-pitch rock climbing, glacier travel, or multi-night trips off-trail. Paddle caching is also a big deal here, with a decent number of caches in the Puget Sound. Overall, I think there is a fairly sizeable culture here that revolves around benchmarking difficult trips and encouraging others to follow your lead. As it relates to reviewers, I think any differences will be more about the individual reviewer than the culture around them. Some are more lenient, while others aren't, and that's true even when multiple reviewers govern the same area. I can't say much about Europe since I didn't meet any cachers there, but I think there are plenty of younger cachers around me, mostly because HQ provides its employees with memberships and encourages them to get out and about around the city, and these employees happen to be younger than the average cacher.

If we ban geocaching in Russia, I'm sure they'll finally think twice about this whole war thing.

Perhaps this is not obvious from the photo, but even the thinnest decorative pieces of the arbor are made of thick steel sheets. Unless you are Thor, it is definitely not fragile enough for you to have any kind of noticeable impact on it, short of using power tools or your handy geocaching ice pick. The previous cache was there for 9 years and there has never any damage done to the arbor, not by geocachers, nor by the thousands of people who pass (and yes, sit on) it each week.

The place on the sculpture where it sits is actually the backside of an identical plate that lists the installation date and organization responsible for the art. I sanded the backside of the magnets and the plate with some coarse grit to introduce scratches in preparation for super gluing the magnets in place. I guess that the scratches give the glue a better foothold in both materials.

One of my favorite magnetic containers was a custom cut steel plate that was meant to fit in a specific spot on an existing piece of artwork. The art was completely rusted over, and the CO had allowed the container to rust to the same degree before magnetizing it into the square notch in the art. The logbook was contained in a pouch on the backside of the plate, sandwiched between it and the art. It was unfortunately stolen, archived, and subsequently lovingly recreated (by me). I think you should find something that is both magnetic and fun to look at, then choose a container that blends in on the object.

I am going to say whoever dares to write "thanks for the FTF!" in their log first. I lost an FTF that way once.

We should put little cameras inside our caches that take a candid photo of the cacher when they open the container

It will depend on what kind of property you are seeking permission for. Many large agencies in my state, like the state park and national forest systems already have well-established procedures and rules. Other times, you'll have trouble even finding someone to talk to. I tried to get permission for two caches recently, one on city property and one on county property. It has been more than a month and neither have responded, nor will they respond. I usually explain that I will be storing a container on the property for an extended period of time, summarize the container type, location, and contents. Tell the landowner how many visitors to expect based on nearby caches, and maybe link to the geocaching introductory material online here - https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=114&pgid=629 I am very seldom given permission unless a member of my state's geocaching association has already done the legwork to get the agency on board, or its a private owner I know personally.

The gist of it is, people want criteria that favor themselves, and they want virtuals to be placed only in locations that are most accessible to them.

I think there is a place for both kinds of caches. Some of my favorite caches, and the ones that were most memorable, were the ones that are seldom found, virtuals included. The only new virtuals that I dislike are the ones placed at a landmark that is already highlighted by an existing cache in approximately the same location. Otherwise, I am supportive of any location a person might choose, whether in the heart of a city or incredibly remote, at home or abroad, in an area with many caches, or an area with very few.

These are exactly the kind I enjoy and aspire to place. In my home state, we have https://coord.info/GC1192, https://coord.info/GC8D7C, https://coord.info/GC9P6V5, and https://coord.info/GC8A3B to name a few, which are all 8 miles or more with several thousand feet of elevation gain. Some around Mt Rainier approach 20 miles and 5000ft.

I agree with your first point, but I really like the quintessential "go there and take a photo" virtuals. It's the virtuals with tremendous locations that need the fewest trimmings, and my favorites are often the remote ones at trophy locations that don't necessarily need to be a puzzle. The exception are the "go there AND there AND there and take a photo" virtuals where all the locations are fantastic. There have been 3 that I've really liked that went above and beyond. The first asked multiple questions to be answered by exploring a single museum, not telling us exactly where to find the answers. The second had multiple thematically similar locations where each one led to the next. The last asked us to enter a business and play an arcade game. I probably wouldn't remember any of these if they were just "take a pic at this museum", "take a pic of this plaque in the ground", or "take a pic of this arcade", but others like "take a pic of the crater on Mt St Helens" or "take a pic of this enormous volcanic sinkhole", or "take a pic at this fire lookout overlooking a volcano" Stand entirely on their locations, which are unforgettable. Bonus points for places I wouldn't have planned trips for otherwise. In fact, if the experience of arriving at a virtual location is especially fulfilling, I don't necessarily want to jump through a ton of hoops once I get there. Point being, I think that there is beauty in simplicity, and many of the most well-liked virtuals on the planet rely entirely on their locations, be they hidden gems or well-known local landmarks. To stay on topic, my current plan for my virtual is going to be "go there and take a photo and describe X and Y about your trip"

Sorry to those who didn't receive one. Seems strange that an active cacher who met the requirements and applied each time would be passed over 4 consecutive times. But then again, if there have been 4 rounds, there's always hope for more. For the most part, they seem to have all gone well. I'm excited to finally place one and have had the spot picked out since round 1. It's still open and I have permission! Now I just need to visit the spot and create the dream virtual.

When you add caches to a list, you can select the list menu and download the caches to your device, making them available while offline. This will not download any logs or attached photos. The app does not provide navigation support whether offline or not. For that, you can use Google Maps. You can zoom to the area you expect to be driving in and download the visible map extent in Google Maps. This will allow navigation to function as usual within the downloaded area.

You can read the original thread here: I believe the wording was "only 10 attributes per listing", meaning it didn't start with precisely 10 attributes. Maybe someone that was caching at the time can say more.

There are a wide variety of GPS devices and phones on the market which will all vary in accuracy, so it depends on the device, but often a high quality GPS will be more accurate than a phone of comparable quality. But you have to consider that geocaches are not placed with survey grade accuracy and often not even with a GPS, so a super accurate GPS-centric device probably isn't going to be as valuable in this hobby as it would be in professional surveying, for example. All the accuracy in the world won't overcome inaccurate cache coordinates.

"You wouldn't steal a car. You wouldn't steal a handbag. You wouldn't steal a television. You wouldn't steal my geocache. Taking my geocache home with you is STEALING. STEALING. IS. A. CRIME". *lights and sirens flash* *cool guitar riffs play*

Amazing photos. That would've been a fav for me as well. Well, I've had a nice long cry now, but that is a great place for a virtual.

Yes, same problem. I don't know why the app is making these adjustments to my images. Is it assuming that I am uploading them at an angle and trying to correct that? Every time I upload an image through the app, it is incorrectly rotated.

If I get a virtual reward on Jan 17th, my goal will be to place it at the summit of Mount Rainier (don't take my spot!). I'll hopefully be at the summit in July, which will be a tough goal in itself. Otherwise, I have no plans for my stats, but I do have a few specific caches that will more than occupy most of my summer planning: GC2C00R Russian Butte GC24KA6 Gifford Lakes GC3XP2B Mt Price GC15YMQ Mt. Index All 4 of these caches have been on my wish list forever, but they are all incredibly difficult, and should be done with a partner. Needless to say, it's difficult to find partners for such expeditions.

It's difficult to say, since, as a rule, revealing the code used in a puzzle cache would defeat the purpose of the puzzle. I don't think there is an official census on the topic, but you could always try to look at a representative sample. I have solved a few thousand mysteries, and just based on my experience, I think the most common encryptions have been binary codes, morse, digital root, rot ciphers, and number puzzles like sudoku. I have no idea how to rank them, but ROT, being the official hint encryption, is very common.

I've gotten really into states' oldests this year as well. The few I have done have all had terrific locations, so I like to go out of my way for them as much as possible. I was visiting family in Milwaukee this summer and decided to make the long drive down to the oldest cache in Illinois. Funny enough, after logging it, I realized that you and I were there on the exact same day, probably only a couple hours apart. It's a small world. Anyway, since I started the thread, I should post my own favorite, and I also can't pick between two. The first was GC1W6RW Going to the Preacher, and I think I only appreciate it in hindsight because it was one of the most difficult to reach caches I have ever attempted. At the time I severely underestimated how difficult it would be, and stretched my limits far more than I should've. While rappelling down a cliff, I slammed into a sharp outcrop and punched a nasty gouge into the front of my leg. Now I wear a scar on my shin that will probably be with me forever. The cache taught me something about preparedness for future backcountry exploration and also helped remind me that there are people in my life who will worry if I'm not back at the car before nightfall. So it's a mark of shame, but also one of the most acute memories from the last year, making it one of the most notable caches, if not necessarily a favorite. In short, I am proud to have gotten there, and immensely embarrassed by how I did it. The second was GC64A1F Great Expectations! which was not nearly as difficult thanks to a well-worn and popular trail to carry us to the cache site. It was however far more beautiful. In fact, I think this was one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on. I visited with friends at just the right time of year to see the area in its fall attire. I couldn't think of a more classic place for a cache.

Given that 2023 is quickly coming to a close, I think it would be nice to give thanks for another year of excellent caches and to hear about everyone's favorite finds from 2023. Partly to give myself some ideas for next year, and partly to give everyone an opportunity to brag about a difficult accomplishment, proud moment, or fun travel story. So, what was your favorite find from 2023 and what made it so great?

Haha that was a provocative title. You had me worried for a second.

If you place it, they will come. You don't need decoy ducks to lure in geocachers. In fact, many cachers are even more enticed by caches that haven't been found. Logging your own remote caches seems like a way to drive away the outsiders who may have considered driving further in search of an FTF.