Cavalier53

What about this variation of up a tree? Find a tree with a V up high off the ground. Locate a fallen tree or branch large enough for a cacher to safely handle. Lean your tree/branch against your tree V, mark where the two meet. Attach your cache at that point so that it rests in or on the other side of the V. Looks natural and it's hard to see.

Yes it was "Top Ten Lost Treasures". I started caching after watching it last September.

never mind

Hide the cache well and the owner, whoever it is, will never know it's there. As long as the finders are careful, no one will ever know. Just Hide it already!

Tail IS tanned and cleaned. Didn't think about animals taking it though. Good point! I think it should weather pretty well if it's up in a tree hole out of the weather. I think I may start scouting out a good spot.

Any other thoughts/opinions?

I don't recall any words to my song. It's a little banjo melody I picked up from a Burt Reynolds movie quite a few years back. I think Ned Beattie was in it too. What was the name of that movie? Hmmm...can't think of it now. There was a mountain love scene that I vaguely remember. What was the name of that movie? I think there was a pig in it too. Oh well, I'll think of it later. But I always humm that song when I go deep in the woods caching.

I got an idea for a cache from a forum posting. Trying to place a cache that would have a bit of "got ya!" quality to it. Here is my idea. Picked up a racoon tail on ebay. Attached a small container to the end of it. Going to hide it up inside a hollow tree. I'm aware that I'll need to add a hint to get the thing pulled out but, will it last in there? How well will this animal tail survive? Does the idea fare well with cachers? Give me pros and cons.

No, they don't. Not very often anyways but there's always a couple of bad apples in the bunch. I did start a thread over here asking about legal procedures regarding this thread, if say, a certain person might want to pursue something with the guy for posting stuff about his kid earlier (the offending post has been removed). I was un fortunate enough to follow those posts as they came in. I agree with you about the posting that has since been removed. I understand that he was trying to be banned but that was too far. DatumDude...if you're still reading this, and you've calmed down...an apology IS in order.

Do these exchanges happen often? you must be new here

Can't we all just get along?

Thank you to all that have posted thus far. More specifically...I have a flat rock at home. I have thoroughly scrubbed one side clean. I have written coord's on this side and applied several layers of polyurethane to seal. My thought was to place this rock, face down, as the first leg of a multi. Does that change anything?

Would it be acceptable to spraypaint/write coordinates on a rock to be found as the first leg of a multi?

Just a question, how would you handle this if your son and daughter had their own accounts? I'd love to hear the answer to this. Since the OP is local to me, if he ever hides a cache I would like to know if I need to blindfold my daughter, who has her own account. On second thought, even that won't work. I spent Labor Day weekend caching with a group that included a geocacher who is legally blind. He beat the group to 8 or 10 of our finds, both micros and regular sized. It is an amazing thing to watch, and somewhat humbling. I guess if there was a "one find" guideline, I wouldn't go caching with him again because he might feel bad about being beaten to the dozens of other caches that we hunted for, like the one where we got into a footrace and he tripped over a rotten log on the trail to ground zero. Or maybe I would just stop carrying a rotten log in my backpack, just to be fair. And on top of that, I was able to cache with you guys over the phone on one of those caches......you in North Carolina, and me in Washington! Isn't group geocaching great? ....and don't worry everybody, I logged the cache as a note, not a find. Please Please Please know that I am doing nothing more than trying to learn more about something I'm really starting to get into. The last thing I want to do is disrespect anyone. I have a lot to learn and that's what I'm trying to do. Thank you for the feedback.

Who says the "find" is the most important part. Maybe it's the "hunt". Maybe it's going out and enjoying the activity with your friends. I'm sorry if the "find" is the most important part to you. I hope that it doesn't necessarily follow that the "score" (find count) is also important. Unfoturnately, there are many people who put a lot of emphasis on the "score". They complain all the time about the "cheating" that goes on in geocaching because people log a find that they wouldn't count. My advice is to log finds that you are comfortable logging and don't worry about what other people do. Of course, keep in mind that some of the cache hiders are among the people who think the "score", or at least the "find", is important and they have the power to delete logs they feel are invalid. Again, Not trying to open a hornets nest. I agree with you that the "hunt" is also an important part of the hobby. But "personally" the "find" is still the biggie. I cache with my son and daughter. Yes at the end of the day, we had fun getting there and we enjoyed being together but we are out there trying to find something. That's what we're doing, right? I like hiking. Without the "find" wouldn't we just be hiking? Please don't think I'm being critical of anyone. I guess I'm still learning the many faces of geocaching. Just a question, how would you handle this if your son and daughter had their own accounts? The true "finder" logs a find. Both get to sign the logbook. I think.

I see references to "main station" and "azimuth marks", are these the same thing as a "benchmark? Please indulge this newbie. What are the differences between "main station", "azimuth marks" and "benchmarks". Thank you in advance.

Thanks for the help. This site is obviously great because of the people that use it. What a wealth of information! I'll find this one soon.

Just getting started with benchmarking. I have a question. If I find a reference mark, should I expect the benchmark to be relatively close? Here is my dilema. Original data sheet for benchmark (KX2093) led me easily to reference marks, however, there are NO reference points listed between reference marks and benchmark. There are no landmarks in common. See below. KX2093''REFERENCE MARK NO. 1, A STANDARD DISK STAMPED OWENS NO 1 1958, IS SET KX2093''IN A SQUARE CONCRETE POST FLUSH WITH THE SURFACE OF THE KX2093''GROUND. IT IS 31 FEET NORTHWEST OF THE NORTH CORNER OF HOUSE, 17 FEET KX2093''EAST-SOUTHEAST OF A GRAVEL DRIVE AND 2 FEET WEST-NORTHWEST KX2093''OF A POWER LINE POLE. KX2093'' KX2093''REFERENCE MARK NO. 2, A STANDARD DISK STAMPED OWENS NO 2 1958, IS SET KX2093''IN A SQUARE CONCRETE POST WHICH PROJECTS 3 INCHES. IT IS 62 KX2093''FEET WEST OF THE SOUTHEAST GATE POST, 14 FEET SOUTHWEST OF THE CENTER KX2093''OF A GRAVEL ROAD AND 2 FEET EAST-SOUTHEAST OF A POWER LINE KX2093''POLE. KX2093'' KX2093''AZIMUTH MARK IS A STANDARD DISK STAMPED OWENS 1958, SET IN A SQUARE KX2093''CONCRETE POST FLUSH WITH THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND. IT IS 96 KX2093''FEET SOUTHWEST OF THE NORTHEAST END OF GUARD RAIL, 39 FEET NORTHEAST KX2093''OF THE SOUTHWEST END OF GUARD RAIL AND 28.5 FEET NORTH OF KX2093''THE WEST ONE OF TWO 8-INCH TREES. What would be my best course of action as guard rail mentioned no longer exists? And, I'm sure those trees have grown since 1958.