Gryffindork

I'm in WV and gun season starts here on Monday. The weather hasnt been very cooperative on my days off lately anyway, but now i'm extra hesitant because i really dont want to get shot at. Do you guys know if a cacher has ever been shot before? Maybe I'm just paranoid... I just moved here and I have visions of my previously nice friendly woods turning into a war zone.

There was one cache that I was having trouble finding, and it was in a spot where there was an awful lot of trash. So i went back a few weeks later with a large glad bag and proceded to fill it up! Needless to say while I not only did a good deed, I also found the cache in the process, and I probably wouldnt have ever seen it if it werent for my mad trash collecting skillz. I mentioned my method for finding this cache when i logged the find, but I really dont think i need a icon for it, or some kind of tracking number. I just enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling I get knowing I did the right thing.

LOL those are all great! I wish i lived nearer to one of them. There is a virtual cache near me thats on a civil war battlefield, so maybe i can go there for my halloween caching adventure.

Perhaps I'm just easily pleased, or maybe its because i live in a wonderful area for geocaching, but I've never found a cache that i'd describe as "bad". Even if the cache itself was super easy to find, I've always been pleased with the area, the drive, or just the fact that the cache got me out of the house that day. The only cache's i've ever been unhappy with are the ones i cant find, and i'm sure once i've found them i'll be totally thrilled with them as well. I havent hid my first cache yet (still looking for the perfect spot!), but personally i'd like a little criticism, to make my future hides better ones. Granted, i'd probably be very upset if anyone was rude about it. and btw, i dont get people who complain about micros. It should say on the web page what size the cache is, and if you dont like mircos, dont hunt them!

here in West Virgnia the park service is all about geocaching and has a section of their site all about it here.. Also, one of my favorite new places to visit Canaan Valley Resort rents out gpsr's and even has a geocaching billboard adverising it on the road up, and the geocaching logo on a sign at one of their trailheads. (though not all trails leading to gecaches are marked like that). I get excited when I see places that are so pro-geocaching.

I drive a 98 Mustang. And yes... I've taken it offroad before. I've only scraped the bottom a couple times before. I know its not the ideal cacheing vehicle, but I just got it paid off, and I think i'm goint to greatly enjoy not making a car payment.

awesome, thanks everyone! I think i'll sneak out and fetch it right now. Its night and raining, but hey, no muggles about.

Not sure If I should post this here or in the newbie forum, but i decided to post it here since more geocoin owners would see it. If it should be moved please do so. Anyway, i'm still new (13 finds) and i have yet to log any kind of trackable, and i'm DYING to do so. I just say today that someone placed a coin in a cache near my house. Would anyone be bothered if i took it and logged it, and just moved it to another cache in the same area? Or should one only take a coin if they can move it large distances?

heh, well I searched for about a 150 foot radius from the general area where the GPSr said the cache should be. I think i just have problems when EVERYWHERE I look I see a potential hiding place. I actually have much better luck with things like micros. go figure. Though i guess it may help that micros usually arent under a thick canopy...

Thanks everyone for the advice! I actually already had Bickles Knob on my watchlist, mainly because I'm pretty convinced it isnt there. Once someone else finds the stage 1 cache again, i'll try to go out there like the next day. As for Middle Mtn, I'd probably be more tempted to go back next weekend if it werent so far out of the way. But you're right, I should throw that on the watchlist too. Interesting suggestion about looking again after the leaves fall. Then again of course i'll have the leaves on the ground to contend with. But I suppose knowing exactly where to look is better than having a confused GPSr. Thanks again everyone!

Hi, just moved to WV over the summer and am trying to use geocaching as a way to explore my new home. Unfortunately before I had no money for gas, and now I'm about to have very little time. But I go out when I can! I'd be happy to team up with someone nearby sometime for some finds so I can learn the tricks of the trade.

I'm still a newbie with only 6 finds, but my 2 DNF's are driving me NUTS. The two i cant find are in very similar looking locations - on the side of hill in a forest. They also both have completely unhelpful clues. One says the cache is under a rock (on a hill COVERED in rocks) and the other is under a fallen log on a hill COVERED in fallen logs. And naturally, since this is in a forest, reception is really bad, and I cant count on the GPSr to point me right to it. So what am I supposed to do? I totally scoured these two areas for HOURS before I coundnt take it anymore and had to leave in order to maintain my sanity. How often does a cache like this get so buried in leaves or forest.. debris, that its unfindable? I'm actually considering seeing if i can find another geocacher in the area who may want to team up to look for these hard ones, but as i'm about to start a new job I'm not sure when I'll have time to go hunting cache's again.

Thanks for the replies! I learned the hard way that finding benchmarks isn't as easy as it sounds, so why would it be cheating to not use something that makes it easier. I went on a walking tour of my downtown area where I *should* have found four markers, and instead only found one. My printer is broken, so i wrote vague directions down on a piece of paper to take with me. Now i see I should have written the EXACT descriptions, and not my abbreviated versions of them. Thanks for the tip about bringing a tape measure. I think i'll go back in the next day or two and look for the other three again.

Thanks everyone! Sorry for the slow reply, my internet access is being sporadic. But the good news is that i should have a GPS in just two more days!

Is it considered cheating to go benchmark hunting without a GPS? I'm still waiting for my GPSr to come in the mail, but it seems like there are a lot of benchmarks I can find locally without the help of GPS. I have a digital camera, so I can prove I was there. I was just thinking benchmarking would be something to occupy myself while waiting.

I live about 3 hrs drive south of Pittsburgh, and I'd love to find caches in old cemetaries. The older the better, I say! I honestly dont think its disrespectful at all. At least the place isnt forgotten. Why would people mark graves at all if they didnt want to be remembered and visited?

LOL I'm stupid. I clicked the link, and... hey! Why did I just get black box!? ... Its just past midnight. Duh.

Thanks for the advice! Now i just need the GPSr. Edit: oh wow, ajayhawkfan, that site is cool, I didnt know it was there. Thanks for posting the link!

I've ordered my GPS, and I've never done this sort of thing before, so while I'm waiting, I'm of course obsessing, and I have a few questions. First, are you allowed to go back to a cache you've already found before? For example if you get a travel bug thats on a quest, is it cool to put it in a cache you've already visted in the past? Also, I've been keeping an eye out for places to hide a cache around me. I've already read the guidelines for placing a cache, but I didnt see anything that said where its legal to put one, or what kind of places where you need to get a permit. I live in the mountains of WV, (I just moved here a month ago) so there's a LOT of undeveloped land, and I'm really not sure whats private property and whats a park, or if its even okay to place one in a park. A lot of private property is marked, but there's a ton of land around here that doesnt seem to be marked at all. help? thanks!