PlantAKiss

I typically avoid Puzzle caches because I can't solve them. So I was excited to find a chemistry-based Puzzle last week that I could actually solve! I personally don't want to spend a bunch of time trying to figure out some almost impossibly hard puzzle...I'd rather use that time to be out in the woods. There are a couple of Puzzles I'm keeping my eye on and twiddle my brain around when I have a rare free moment. But mostly I don't pay too much attention to them. One thing you'll learn with caching is...you don't HAVE to find them all. You'll figure out which types of caches you like and which types you hate. Recently I came to the decision not to look for highly public caches. I don't enjoy having a bunch of eyes on me poking and prying in weird places so...I no longer look for caches with "high difficulty rating because of high muggle area" type caches. But you might find on down the road that you actually like the Puzzles. ( I do wish Challenge caches [that I personally hate] would get their own icon so they aren't mixed in with true Puzzles. Just my humble opinionated aside from the topic.)

dadgum. lol Thank you Ambrosia. That is good to know! That's great. So much changes in a few years. lol

Hey Manville Possum Hunters--I have a possum living in my backyard you can hunt. (He/she will be living elsewhere soon). I agree...I love VA State Parks! I'm probably way behind the times but I thought caches weren't allowed in National Parks.

There have been a number of times when I have looked and looked and looked for cache, and I'm getting tired and frustrated and just about ready to throw in the towel. I start to leave and then I think… "NO…I'm NOT leaving! I'm not quitting!" And then it's like magic! All of a sudden the cache says "hey you! I'm over here!" And all of a sudden I see what was there when I walked past it a hundred 100 times. DUH! So you experienced that phenomena when you were giving up on the telephone pole and were getting ready to get in the car. You said "I'm not leaving quite yet" and then you found it! It's like magic! Lol

Wow. A lot has changed over the few years I couldn't go caching. Obviously I don't know what a power trail is and a lot of terms I'm reading here. Moving cache containers? I've got to brush up. While I get the "geocaching is what YOU get out it" and "to each his or her own" and all that, I don't really understand finding like 900 caches in a day. While I'm sure going out for a day with friends can be blast, so would just taking a road trip somewhere with friends. Have fun, laugh, see new things. I love a good road trip with friends. But what does the actual CACHING part add to that? Other than huge jumps in your numbers. If a cache is well hidden, then wouldn't it take 10-15 minutes or more to find it??! X 900?! Again,I'll have study up on power trails but it sounds like something I'd choose to leave alone. It sounds like a different game. But I'm glad some people have fun with it.

I don't even know what a power trail is but from the sound of it, I don't think I'd like it. Maybe there needs to be an old school trail...place regular hides in interesting places and go on long walks and hunt for a FOUND or DNF, log it and head to the next cool place. Stop, have a picnic. Chat about how cool the hide was or how clever the container. Then skip on down the trail to the next ammo can. La dih dah la dih dah! And at the end of the day we straggle home tired after the long hikes talking about how fun the day was and log our 6 finds for the day. Now that's POWER! lol But I'd love it! This has certainly been eye opening and enlightening about the things new to me. I think I like caching the way I do it. It suits me. And I've manage to kill many hours here that should have gone to my JQuery final even though I don't understand what the assignment is. *sigh* No more caching for a while.... When this semester is over I can relax a LITTLE and maybe get some more caches I can't log a find on! lol It's SO COLD in here...51! It will be hard to get up. Think I'll sleep in my clothes. I'll dream of following the yellow brick road and finding cool tricky cache containers all the way to Oz while the flying monkeys drop DNF bombs all around......zzzzzzzz

"Near electrical device" attribute.

Recently I went for a cache. I found it laying out exposed on the ground between two small fallen trees. Clearly visible, no attempt to hide. I was shocked but even more so when I saw who had done that. Previous cacher was only about an hour ahead of me and was a well-known, high-numbers local cacher. I hid "better than found" for sure. Often we assume newbies are doing things like that but...you'd be surprised. I sure was. Never would have expected that from such an experienced cacher. But maybe she had a lot on her mind and left in a rush or something?

Just a point about using smart phones.... I HAD a GPSr. It died. I am unemployed, no income, broke. So I HAVE to use my phone because I have one and it's all I have to cache with. So don't be dissing all phone users as idiots. Monetary situations CAN be a reason someone doesn't use a GPSr. They are expensive! I paid for the app on my phone ages ago. I also used to be a Premium member. I can't afford that any more. I do understand the beef here...just leave the door open a little that not all phone cachers are bad. If you have a GPSr, you are quite blessed. Don't take it for granted or look down on all phone cachers. Lose a job and you'll end up like me. I use caching as a way to get outside and get myself away from a miserable life for a few minutes. I'm grateful to still have a smart phone to use! If you go to most mushroom sites, they almost always have an alert disclaimer warning about eating wild mushrooms. While an alert with the most important Geocaching guidelines every time you use the free app wouldn't mean everyone would READ it, at least there would be guaranteed exposure to the rules.

[quoteHere's a local, blatant challenge-helper: 0, Orange, Winter, Jello, Snail, Xena It has: -The number 0 -A colour -A season -A food -An animal -An "X" word] That is one of the things I see in the negative column for Challenges is the creation of caches simply to meet a Challenge requirement. Why increase the potential for crappy caches hidden with no real purpose other than fulfilling a logging requirement? (You get that anyway without encouragement.) "Challenge: you can log a find after you have found 50 Gladware container caches." "Challenge: you can log this find after you find 1,000 nanos in a parking lot on a metal sign."

@ Mudfrog, I knew someone would say that as it is the simple answer to every questioning of a "rule" or guideline. Reasonable question and simple answer: In my Caching Life Part I I had found all the caches in this particular park. In Caching Life Part II, there are several new ones. I'd like to find ALL the caches in this park including the new ones I hadn't seen before. Since the CO said you could hunt for them and log a note, I went for it for the fun of the hunt. If I can't figure out puzzle coords, then I CAN'T look for the cache. If I can't climb a rock face, then I CAN'T look for that cache. If someone sticks a micro out in the woods with posted coords and instruction of being able to post a note if found...then I CAN look for that. And I probably will. I don't LIKE every cache I go for but you don't know if you'll like it or even find it until you go for it. I'm not questioning the CO's right to make a Challenge cache. I'm just wondering how Challenge caches enhance geocaching. Seems to me (being old school) 1) its an ALR which I thought was disallowed and 2) that's ultimately what it's all about (hide, hunt, find, log). Unless one is disallowed from looking for/making any log for a Challenge cache where you don't meet the ALR, I personally feel it's a find deserving of being counted. What's good about a cache where only certain people can log "found it"? I don't see where that is an enhancement. I guess I see caching as a game anyone can play. I don't understand what is cool about a cache that excludes a find when its hunted for, found, and signed. I don't get what makes that a good thing but I don't make the rules. I'll certainly abide by a Challenge "rule" but that doesn't mean I have to LIKE it and that I can't question it. I'm sure there are Challenge caches out there that are less exclusionary. Maybe even some wheelchair challenges? Just as aside since the joke was on me...after yesterday's FTF, I hunted for and found another Challenge cache by the same person. But...I am too short to reach it!!!! lol And don't think I didn't TRY to find a "tool" to help me! Only log I found that I could carry had a black widow spider under it soo....nothin' doing! So on that one, I actually couldn't sign the log even though I found it. Payback! (I've got to figure out some way to get it. Tall cache hiders--think about us shorties out there!) Then disallow signing the log and logging anything online unless you meet the ALR. Simple.

Awwww! The cover depicts a wire-haired fox terrier (although Wikipedia says "Watch" was an Airdale...???)! My geodog was a wire! So very cool to see a book about caching with a wire on the cover. I miss my geodog so much... But that is an interesting list of books. As popular as Geocaching is said to be, I never meet anyone who has ever heard of it. I wonder how many people who read these books learned about caching for the first time and tried it.

I got my second FTF yesterday! Can't log the find though. But still happy I was able to locate the cache when there were several DNFs. It was a nice change of log scenery. So congrats on your TWO FTFs! That's cool.

But answering the questions about an Earth cache is to prove to the CO that you have actually BEEN THERE, is it not? I proved I found a cache by signing the log book. By signing the log, obviously I've been there. I don't see the correlation. ??? I followed the "rules" by the CO. I didn't LOG a find. I did find it. And I was still first to find it. Can't make that evaporate. If I'm not allow to hunt for a Challenge cache, that's fine but put that in the "rules" and I won't hunt for or log a note.

Very interesting read on the "Challenge Stars" subject. Thanks for the link Frinklabs! I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my thinking. And bear in mind while Challenge caches have been around for a while they are new to me since I have been back caching after a long gap. So I'm surprised at the "you can find it but not log a find" deal. It seems counter to what Geocaching is all about. In a puzzle cache you need to solve a puzzle to find the cache. I don't want to put my time there and I'm not good at it. So I read some of them...and go on by because I know I can't find the cache because I can't get the coords. The Challenge caches I've done have said "You're welcome to hunt and log a note." So I did just that (the FTF was really the stab in the heart). I thought ALRs were disallowed but Challenges are all about ALRs. Maybe you could meet the Challenge, prove it and the CO send you the coords to the cache. But really I don't get "you have to have found 200 caches every month for 3 months and then I'll allow you log my micro in the woods." I did see a comment by someone about Challenge caches motivating people to go out and find more caches. Just a note on that--the fact that someone might not have huge numbers of cache finds does NOT necessarily reflect interest, dedication to, enjoyment of or motivation to go out caching. MANY MANY people are like me 1) having responsibilities that prevent caching every day and 2) not having the MONEY to drive and/or fly around the country or world geocaching. Those of you who CAN do that are very lucky!! That's pretty cool that you can. So Challenge caches don't motivate me hunt more...they make me feel bad that I CAN'T play more. It's the eternal "some have" and "some don't" thing. So just don't judge a person's motivation or enjoyment in caching to the numbers. People have jobs, kids, illnesses, school, lack of money and all sorts of real life things that prevent being able to meet some?/alot? of these Challenges. I guess over all I'm not competitive and hung up on people admiring my "grid." (That sounds dirty... ). I just want to work for what I find, have fun finding it, and have my basic stats correct. I've enjoyed reading the opinions and suggestions on the topic though. Food for thought... ------- FYI on the Premium member thing...I WAS a Premium member at one time. But I'm unemployed, uninsured, have no income, in school. I cannot justify spending the money on that at this time. It's not because I don't support it. If I can EVER get a job, I hope to once again be a Premium member (although I'd never put a PMO down.).

I appreciate the non-judgemental discussion (so far). Thank you. As luck would have it, yesterday I was FTF on a Challenge Cache (there has been a series of these micros placed in a park I go to a lot). It took me many hours hunting on a cold day for this "micro in the woods." There were 3 DNFs by previous cachers. But I was persistent and didn't give up. This is only my second FTF EVERRR!! So it was very satisfying personally to be able to sign on that FTF line for all the work I put into it. But it is disappointing I can neither log the find nor get "credit" for the FTF in my stats--so rare for me. The CO allows you to post a note and I did (as I have on the previous two of his challenges I found). But my mini-accomplishment FTF will never show up on my record. :-/ I am still thrilled! But with these types of caches, I will have to just remember or write it down somewhere how many finds/FTFs I have that are not logged. I'd really like my stats to be accurate without having to keep part of them on paper. My experience with Challenge caches is limited so I don't know all the different types of requirements. The ones I have looked for require different combinations of 1, 2 caches found every day for 1, 2, 3, 6 months. So I recognize that these caches aren't for the average cacher--they are for those people who have the free time to be able to meet the requirements of high numbers. I can see how some Challenges could be created that don't require so much time or travel but other skills. And I can see how some people COULD just go bananas trying to come up with all kinds of crazy things to make the logging requirements difficult which just doesn't seem like "geocaching" TO ME. There are MANY caches that I won't be able to do...I don't swim well, don't own a kayak, can't climb a rock wall or afford to hire a helicopter, etc. I get that. However, at least if I DID manage to climb a rock wall or swim a river and find a cache, I could log the find for my accomplishment with the hunt. Not that anyone cares, I know, but my PERSONAL *****OPINION****** is: if you need all this fancy stuff to maintain interest in geocaching, stay at home and play video games where you get the fancy stuff to keep it interesting. I think the original "treasure hunt" idea is just the bee knees all on it's own! Didn't people just LOVE geocaching before all this other stuff came along?? /* end of opinion */ I will cache on in my simplistic way and others can cache on in their ways. To each his or her own. But I think having caches that prevent stats on GC.com from being accurate does SUCK. /* Oh a little more opinion sneaked in there. */ I have been working on placing a new cache anyway so maybe I'll make it a Challenge that has a requirement of finding ONE cache...including the one just found. (I thought of that before reading the above posts.) That would be a challenge that would be possible for most cachers including beginners, occasionals, youngsters, average Joes/Josephines and the "elite" equally to hunt for and be able to log. BTW, I wish Challenge caches had their own icon because every time I see that big question mark I think it's a puzzle cache. And I DO avoid puzzles! I guess you can "LOG" me in the hate 'em cagory or change 'em category. Just saying'.... Hopefully I'll come across some Challenges that will give me a different perspective. ROFL at the Insult to All Challenge Caches! That is hilarious!

"So, why not just carry on with what you are doing? It's the way YOU like to cache, so what difference does it make if other people like to play the game in a different way?" Knew it was coming. There is always a pot stirrer in every post. ""So, why not just carry on with what you are doing?" I DO! That's what I just said. I was not being smug --you read that into it. I don't care if others go for the challenge. More power to them! I spoke about MY opinions for MY caching style and what I like. I ignore caches I'm not interested in. But like I said, by fulfilling a cache requirement but not being allowed to log a find throws off count. I can live with it but I don't understand the reason behind it. Why can't I log a proper find and the others log and proclaim how many caches they found in a row or whatever? Maybe get a certificate or trophy for their accomplishments. I've made it clear I could never meet the challenge. I'm not in a race. Maybe others are...I dunno. Yes, Mud Frog, since a count is KEPT, it would be nice to be able to look at it and see where I am...without having to think back...OH, I did find X cache, and Y cache and Z cache so my find is 100 and add 3. I did two numbers caches tonite...LPCs. I got 2 smileys out of it. Wheee! I wish I had some of that caching purity you mentioned. I'm the one in the minority plodding along with a cache here or there while being trampled by the herds running for badges and souvenirs and full grids and whatever else weird things are out there now. I really just wanted to know if there were two different types of Challenge caches and the answer was, yes there are!

Hi CheetahSpots!! ::waving:: I've never heard of a plastic ammo can. But I sure love the regular ammo cans. They hold up soooo well! When I checked on my archived cache, the can had shifted a bit but all the contents inside were dry as a bone and in perfect shape as the last time I checked and it had been like 2 years. I think ammo cans are the top of the line water proof container. My second choice is the BRAND Lock 'n' Lock containers. They have great seals too. Almost anything else I've seen get wet. You really need to have a gasket type seal. Will be looking forward to your first cache. :-) --PAK

Ohhh Ok. I was just confused by the similarity in title. Yes, I already do ignore caches I don't like and hunt for the ones I do. When I first started caching, while not in the very earliest days of the game, it was still much simpler times--hide, hunt, find, log. Now there are badges and souvenirs and grids and things I don't know about or care about. I'm not really a gamer nor am I competitive. I liked geocaching for being outdoors, finding interesting things, getting exercise, taking photos, seeing cool containers. It was fun and STILL is! I just ignore the other stuff. I appreciate being allowed to sign a Challenge cache log but it does throw off my actual find count. If I find a cache and sign the log, I consider it a find. It's a minor annoyance and not really important since I'm since I'm "all about that hunt, 'bout that hunt, not numbers." I just know my find count will be a weeee bit higher than what's shown. No biggie. Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate the info. :-)

But weren't they "retired?" The challenge caches I've seen were relatively newly placed.

Having been (unwillingly) away from caching for a few years, I've discovered there are new things that didn't exist when I was active before. So I'm trying to pick up the new language. But one thing I'm confused on are Challenge caches. I saw the posting on the ending of Challenge caches back in April. I don't know what the specifics were on those. But I have noticed a number of caches in my area that say something like "30-day Challenge: 1 cache a day every day for 30 consecutive days" to be able to log a found it." "2 a day for 2 months", etc. The descriptions say you can look and post a note if you find it but not get the credit for the find (the smiley) unless you have met the requirements. Being just an average cacher with not a ton of free time I can't meet those requirements. I'm not even sure what a grid is. Anyway, are these Challenge caches? If not what makes them different? I've logged a note with a couple of them. While not a big deal, since I enjoy the journey more than numbers, it is a little bit irritating that I did the hunt, found the cache, and signed the log but...I can't log it--I did the things that geocaching requires for a find. It seems like these types of caches would encourage a lot of simply placed nanos which would allow people to find the great numbers of caches needed to meet the requirements. It's just a fact I can't cache every day. So I do what I can and enjoy it. Are these the retired Challenge caches or something totally different? I must say, when I first started caching, things were much simpler. Get a GPS, download coords, go hunt, find a usually regular container with swag, sometimes trade, oftime not, write about your experience and sign the log and have fun. Now there are grids, and stats, events, and power trails, and challenges and things that seem to orient towards numbers finders, and, nano spew. Anyway...what are the deprecated challenge caches?

What IS a library cache??

Congratulations! You have some wonderful adventures ahead of you! My first find was a key container underneath a sign for an historic battle site in the middle of a parking lot in a shopping center. I frequented that shopping center and never knew that site was there. So you'll find more interesting things on the journey than just a cache. My favorites are bushwhacking through the woods.

Personally I don't like Puzzle caches so I pass 'em by. I'd rather being out actively hunting than sitting around breaking my brain trying to solve something I probably can't. So I subscribe to the Humboldt flier method of puzzle solving.

I used to desire a FTF...but soon realized that it was likely not to be. I'm not free to run out caching at a moments notice, day or night. Typically it's the same cachers getting them most of the time. I finally got ONE...purely by accident. I saw a new listing and went to hunt for it not even thinking about FTF and lo and behold no one had gotten there! Total shock, total accident. It was nice. But I just accept I'll likely never get another. lol And for that reason, when I placed my own caches, I put prizes for other cachers behind the FTF like a "15th-to-Find" prize with a numbered logbook so someone other than the FTFer would get a surprise. That seemed to be appreciated.