PlantAKiss

It's also the shortened name for QuarkXPress, a page layout program used by graphic professionals. Not related to geocaching though. Shoot... I was hopeful that Quark was going to somehow be related to something with caching.

I thought I read in the rules that the cache sat rule of .1mi applied to each stage of a cache as well. If it does not, then I can simply use stages to guide people along a specific route. If the 528 rules doesn't apply to stages...that opens up a whole 'nother world! lol And I don't know if I'm real clear on a waypoint. Is that just coords that refer to some spot....like you could have coords listed in your description that say "turn right here"?? OH...and another question...a cache with two routes...one way is harder but faster, the other way is easier but longer. How do you rate it...go with the more difficult rating? (For that matter, how would you indicate two routes...). *sigh* I'm confusing myself. But I want to get it ALL worked out tomorrow.

Yes, I was expecting the pounce. There's always someone wanting to yell at you without knowing all the facts. Actually I did go speak to the person who's property it was on (with permission). While she knew it was there, she had kind of forgotten about it. She had recently seeded some bare spots around the cache area to get grass to grow. She asked me if I could contact the cache owner to ask it be removed so her new grass wouldn't get trampled. And I did. I contacted the owner and politely conveyed her request making sure the owner understood he could place the cache somewhere else on her property if he wanted to...just not THAT area near the train tracks. So...mission accomplished without an "SBA", thereby retaining a cache at a really cool place. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Disaster with children averted!! Seeee...I really DID care about the little children. BUT...did the reviewer????

For a while now I have been preparing a few more new caches to put down. I recently discovered there has been some renovation to a little-known park area where I have one cache now. I have been hiking and exploring the areas I knew about plus the new areas trying to plot my "layout." I think two caches will be pretty simple. It's the other ones that are giving me a headache trying to work it all out AND fit the sat. rule. The ideal would be to lead cachers in a logical woodland walk (on trails) with some minor bushwhacking to caches. There are two things preventing me from doing what I'd really like to do. One would be a multi-cache that takes the cacher through a nature trails along a stream with informational singnage. But after stage two I would need to find a way to guide the cacher at certain points to get to the see something unusual in the forest. The turn spots or woodland entrance spots don't fit the cache sat rule so I can't do more stages. So...how can I get cacher to follow a particular route to the final cache so that they get to see the sights I brought them there for when I can't guide them with stages? It is my understanding that stages of a cache must fit the .1 sat rule. Is that always the case? Might a reviewer be a little lenient in order to create a more cohesive and interesting cache hunt? Next point: being out the woods there are actually a number of ways one could approach a cache. In most instances I'm trying to get a cacher to walk a particular trail for the scenery. If its a single-stage cache, how do I set a particular path for the cacher? If I gave trail head coordinates but wanted someone to turn at a specific point, how do I do that unless I add a stage to it.? I'm not sure if what I said made any sense. I am trying to get this completed over my few days off but I'm getting very frustrated. I've been out studying it for the last 2 days and I'm still scratching my head. Any suggestions? Sorry...forum was doing something weird not taking the topic and then took it twice. A mod can delete this one.

For a while now I have been preparing a few more new caches to put down. I recently discovered there has been some renovation to a little-known park area where I have one cache now. I have been hiking and exploring the areas I knew about plus the new areas trying to plot my "layout." I think two caches will be pretty simple. It's the other ones that are giving me a headache trying to work it all out AND fit the sat. rule. The ideal would be to lead cachers in a logical woodland walk (on trails) with some minor bushwhacking to caches. There are two things preventing me from doing what I'd really like to do. One would be a multi-cache that takes the cacher through a nature trails along a stream with informational singnage. But after stage two I would need to find a way to guide the cacher at certain points to get to the see something unusual in the forest. The turn spots or woodland entrance spots don't fit the cache sat rule so I can't do more stages. So...how can I get cacher to follow a particular route to the final cache so that they get to see the sights I brought them there for when I can't guide them with stages? It is my understanding that stages of a cache must fit the .1 sat rule. Is that always the case? Might a reviewer be a little lenient in order to create a more cohesive and interesting cache hunt? Next point: being out the woods there are actually a number of ways one could approach a cache. In most instances I'm trying to get a cacher to walk a particular trail for the scenery. If its a single-stage cache, how do I set a particular path for the cacher? If I gave trail head coordinates but wanted someone to turn at a specific point, how do I do that unless I add a stage to it.? I'm not sure if what I said made any sense. I am trying to get this completed over my few days off but I'm getting very frustrated. I've been out studying it for the last 2 days and I'm still scratching my head. Any suggestions?

I know of a cache that was placed within about 20-25 feet of an extremely busy rail line (passenger and freight). I was surprised as I thought that was against the rules. ??? I thought about how many fast and inquisitive little kids go caching...

It's honor system. And it was honored. I guess cachers 1-14 were very nice people.

In my cache I put a miniature ammo can as FTF gift. And, in honor of folks like me who can't dash out the instant a cache is published, I put a 15th to find prize of a Starbucks card. In the caches I'm working on now, I have FTF prize of a $10 Dairy Queen gift card and a $5 gift card for 15th to find. I guess if you want to do a prize (not required), it depends on how much you want to put into it. I try to keep my swag items as "nice" and useful as possible without it getting tooo expensive. But that's something I find fun to do and not something I expect from others. SWAG is just a fun bonus sometimes...not the point of the hunt.

lol I will be lucky to hit 100. I'm still trying to figure out how people get all this free time to go caching. Obviously I'm doing something wrong. lol Let's see...I figure, I'll hit 1000 sometime around...2013.

I've just been dying to use that smiley...it's so cute! To the OP: 1) Yes, it sucks when you see someone being a jerk in a fun game where the majority of the participants are very nice. It's rare you can explain someone wanting to be a jerk. Usually it's for attention, so the less they get, the better. 2) Geocaching has guidelines ("rules") which outline how the game is played, just like chess or checkers. Someone can sit down and move chess pieces around the board any way they want to...but they aren't playing chess because in chess, you have rules about how pieces can be moved. So while everybody is "free to do as they please"...in my opinion, if you are making rules to suit yourself, you are creating your own personal game, not playing along in a game with established guidelines/rules. 3) OP, you can only control what is under your jurisdiction, so you can delete logs that aren't appropriate. There's just no explaining people who like to do or say hurtful things to others. I'm sorry you had that unfortunate circumstance.

I'm tempted to say I don't like micros but that's not exactly true. I've found some great ones...tricky camos or interesting surroundings. But many are, IN MY OPINION, very boring...say for example...driving 10 miles to find 5 micros hidden at fast food restaurants. Not my cup of tea (and not good for the waistline either ). Mainly I prefer larger caches because I can drop a TB, they are often in the woods, and I enjoy reading logs and poking through swag. Most of the time its junk but I've seen some cool stuff and interesting sig items/cards. IN MY OPINION, I can see where micros have advantages that tempt the hider...sometimes more creative to camo but mostly...it's the fact that there are more placement opportunities. The saturation rule often "fills up" areas where larger caches can be hidden. A micro can be placed just about anywhere. The world is the micro's oyster. So...space-wise...they are easier to place.

I haven't found anything like that IN a cache but recently found "underthings" outside a cache. And apparently I was not a good cacher by not being prepared to deal with such a situation and remove them... I wouldn't leave anything like that in a cache as I consider it a family sport. Although I do think plain ol' nudity shouldn't be a big deal. Nudity and porn are different things. And if any kid has watched TV, then they've seen just about everything anyway.

I think its a shame people feel they have to make this statement prior to expressing or asking for an opinion. I've seen this many times before in posts...feeling like you have to start with a defense before the attacks come.... No rule or law can cover every situation in any sport/hobby/game. But personally I think asking for a few finds before placing a cache might be helpful. That's pretty easy for a reviewer to check. A hider with no finds could always "plead" his or her case to a reviewer to ask for an exception (co-caching experience as mentioned here). Having recently seen one of the worst caches I've ever seen, hidden by someone with no finds at all, I wouldn't object to a guideline requiring a bit of experience. As someone else mentioned, experience is a good teacher. Would a little experience always make for a perfect hide? Heck no! But it might help. Personally I like to learn and have no problem with different avenues to learning how to make a hide better. Like many newbs, I was anxious to place my first hide but the more I cached, the more I realized I needed to take my time. It was a long time before I hid my first and I worked on it for 2 months or more. So far its been well received. I'm glad I waited and learned from more experience. Having expressed my opinion on the OP's musings...heaven forbid I am not dare suggesting anything be changed at all to geocaching rules/guidelines. That's sheer heresy--anarchy--lunacy!!

There have been comments like "who cares" or "so what", etc. to being "first to find." As for who cares, that's up each individual cacher. The OP was not asking whether or not s/he should or should not CARE about being the first to find. For some reason, if someone expresses a question like this here, people jump at the chance to make a mountain out of a molehill. Even the OP stated . In my humble opinion, I think "pre-signed" logs aren't in the spirit of geocaching. I've had a friend "beta test" my coordinates and I didn't let her sign the log for FTF. I let it be open for real hunting once it was an "official geocache" by being published...everyone on an equal playing field. And to Star*Hopper...I totally understand your feelings. You were going for a FTF and put some effort into that and endured miserable conditions to achieve it. I'd be disappointed too. Personally, I want to find and sign a log fair and square. I don't want special favors beforehand from a friend or relative before anyone else even has a chance. Even if I had the ability to be the FTFer on every single cache as soon as its published, I wouldn't. A couple of fun times signing a clean log and I'd "step aside" and give others, especially newbies, a chance at them. I was reared not to be greedy. I think being first to find is something newbies initially find fun and after a while its such not a big thing--you just want to have the fun of hunting. I'd get a big smile if I'm ever the FTFer, but I'm happy just to find the dang cache and have a log to sign at all!

My answer is.....C. Don't hunt for caches in high muggle areas. Oh. That wasn't a choice was it. One day it dawned on me that I don't HAVE to look for any cache I don't like. And I hate caches hidden in high-muggle traffic areas. I feel conspicuous and awkward. In my OPINION, I don't see putting a cache in a very public area as making it difficult or challenging. Sure, I can act "nonchalant" up to a point but when I have an audience of 10 in the Starbucks outdoor cafe watching me poke in little bushes a scant 30 feet away...that creeps me out. And I'm not going to stay out 'til midnite waiting for people to leave so I can snag a dang micro (yeah, I know...I'm not "hardcore"). IF I'm in the area and IF it just happens to be reasonably clear of muggles, I'll go for it. But no more feeling guilty that I'm calling attention to a cache in a public area, no more feeling miserable and uncomfortable. Geocaching is supposed to be fun...so if it's fun...I'll go for it! If its always scads of people around, its off my list. So far, I have only had this experience with micros placed around bars and restaurants. (That's not to say I haven't ever done high-muggle caches...I've been known to wallow on the floor of the porch at Cracker Barrell in the middle of a crowded rummage sale.) If I can use reasonable stealth or blatant balls...I'll go for it. In a few cases where I have been observed by individuals, I've explained what I was doing and the muggles were cool about it.

My first (and currently only) cache, Cache a Trois, was place 9-10-07....and it's STILL GOING! lol Actually, I didn't realize its almost been a year. I'll have to do something special for its year anniversary. The logs have been positive so I guess I did something right. Did a lot reading here before I placed it and worked on it for months. But it was placing this cache that I discovered multis aren't very popular. I had a topic on that and was surprised with the replies. I am just about ready to place another two caches in this park in hopes that the numbers folks will be more likely to visit this relatively hidden park. I WAS planning another multi but...seems that's not popular. I do wish the DNFers would post their DNFs so my logs would be more accurate. But at least my cache has almost made it to the year mark!

Wow. That's an amazing and touching TB story. Maybe mine will show up one day. I know all kinds of things happen with these travellers.

Yes, I know they sometimes reappear and I'm hoping that's the case. I was really hoping it was logged as retrieved so I could contact the holder, but that is not the case. I'll post a note then. Haha! I didn't realize that. Thank you all...I'll get to work on it and see what I can do to find it. Maybe someone found the key to their heart and kept it. lol

More someone who circles over a problem hide hoping that the owner will archive and as soon as they do, they pounce on it with no consideration for the previous owner when the previous owner made their intent to replace publicly known. It's not a "bad" thing to do or a "wrong" thing to do, more an unethical thing to do. I see. No, that wasn't my intention. My question is about caches long archived (many months) but with references to maaaaaybe putting it back at a later time. Thanks everybody!

Perhaps I should have included "temporarily disabled" in my comment. I was talking about "archived"...which I take to mean...done...finished...fini...caput...no longers exists. Except then the owner makes a final note mentioning putting it back "in the future." I would NOT email anybody in regards to a disabled cache. I don't consider disabled the same as archived. And I usually only itch if the skeeters are bad or I hit some poison ivy (as I did recently scouting a brand new hidey spot).

Well that's true. Although I really haven't planned on placing any cache exactly in the same spot. Just that a cache I might place would touch within the archived saturation area. In my recent newbie email, the cache hider admitted she was very new (no finds) and thanked me for the suggestions. But "wet contents" continues to show up in the logs. So...I tried. I guess I am an old dog that welcomes new tricks. As long as someone isn't mean about it, I don't mind suggestions for improvement. I wouldn't care either but...that would not get past a reviewer I assume.

I would agree but...for how long? 2 months? 5 months? I don't know what is considered "polite." Recently a multi I loved sadly was archived but it did open up space for something I wanted to do. In this case, I do know the archive is permanent. But in other cases...I can't tell. What's considered a vulture? Someone who immediately takes the open space?

Thank you for the info. I wasn't sure if posting a note was ok. I'd sure like that to find that bug... My very first TB a flop. How do you know he or she is cranky?

1) I see caches that are archived on both my found list and when I do searches. It's not uncommon to see comments that sound like the cache owner intends to reactivate the cache...but the archive note is many months old (3-4 months). Some archive notes are very clear that the cache is finished. But if a cache owner mentions the possibility of reactivating it at some time in the future, how long does one wait before its alright to consider the space up for grabs? I certainly wouldn't dash right out and grab a spot but it doesn't seem right if someone holds a spot indefinitely saying that they MIGHT put it back at some time in the future. (And I'm not talking about a "down for maintenance" note). 2) Recently I've seen some caches placed by people that appear to be new to caching and the containers used are obviously not water nor weather resistant (i.e. plastic candy container) and were placed where water will be a problem. In one case, the hider had no finds at all. In this case, I did politely email the hider and gently suggested trying a different container. All her logs mention wet contents and I thought it a kindness to let her know she needed a water-tight container. (She was receptive to my comments.) What is the etiquette when it comes to newbie cachers using containers that are obviously poor choices. Is it better to MYOB and just make a log mentioning cache condition (wet)...or is it good education to personally and privately let someone know why the container isn't a good choice and make suggestions for better options? If it were me, I'd appreciate someone letting me know there was a better way to do things. Then again, some people might be offended.

I don't have many travellers but my very first TB seems to have gone MIA. It was last logged as dropped in a cache in December 2007. I'm very sad as it was my first and it didn't get very far. My question is...is there any way to go about trying to find out what happened to it? It is still showing up as being in the cache. There have been numerous cache logs since and no mention (in the logs) of it being picked up. It doesn't seem to be a difficult cache to find (lots of smileys). Since a person isn't holding it, I can't email to ask about it. Is it permissable to email the cache owner to ask if its still in there? Obviously its possible someone picked it up and never logged the retrieve and still has it. I know I might never know its fate, but I'd at least like to try to revive it if possible.