MMaru

Have you tried contacting the CO? Maybe they don't realize that there is an issue with their cache, and they might appreciate a more experienced cacher reaching out to them to help them improve!

I finally read my first issue, which I've had for almost a month, but it got shuffled away! I really enjoyed it - actually ended up e-mailing a few of the geocachers featured in it because I enjoyed reading about their experiences so much! It's also through the magazine that I found out about MOGA, which is taking place just a few hours away from me this year. We're not going to be there for a whole weekend, but I'm definitely going to drag my guy to it! So excited to go to my first Mega! All in all, I hemmed and hawed about subscribing initially because 1. I am a very casual player, not nearly as hardcore as a lot of others, and 2. money was a little tight, and this was a luxury, not a necessity. Now that I've experienced my first issue, though, it was well-worth it, especially with the geocoins included with my subscription. Good, fun read, and the only potentially "dated" material I noticed was the list of events. Otherwise, the magazine is full of anecdotes and such whose timing doesn't effect the readers.

Make sure your lamp post has a terrible paint job. Before I got a grown-up GPSr, I was using an auto one which got me in the general area, and with LPCs, once I figured out how they worked (accidentally when I bumped a base once!) I would just look around to see which lamp post had scrapes and scratches from the skirt being lifted. Not sure how this would work, but you might be able to add a "skirt" that looks like some commonly found (here in America, at least) trash... a plastic bag fixed to it or some such. Are cachers in your area commonly familiar with LPCs? You could even use the acronym in your description - Lovely Perfect Cache just waiting to be found!

Welcome to the madness! If you haven't already, I'd suggest checking Facebook to see if there is a local geocaching group in your area and attend some event caches - can not tell you how much I learned just from hearing stories from other cachers!

I try not to be a geosnob, but the whole idea of throwdowns makes me a bit twitchy. If I can't find a cache but have found a pretty obvious spot for a 1/1 or something else easy, I'll log a DNF with something along the lines of, "not sure if the cache is gone or I'm just missing it..." so that the CO can check on it. My concern is more for the containers that I find, but that are badly damaged (smashed pill bottles, containers missing lids so the contents are getting wet, etc.) After raising this topic with my local geocaching group, I'm keeping some containers in my car, but certainly would never replace one unless I found the container and it was just brutalized beyond usefulness.

I'm hoping to attend MOGA 2015. This will be my first mega event. I've checked out the GC page for it and the main website, but I had some questions for anyone who may have attended previous MOGA events. Are there generally things to do other than the challenges? For example, are there panels or workshops, vendors who sell related items, etc.? We'd only be able to make it for about half a day - is it worth going to if you're not going to be able to stay the whole weekend? I'm not terribly interested in the competitions, cool as they sound - I'm still sort of a neophyte geocacher and can't see myself keeping up with the big kids! I'm interested in learning more about geocaching in a live setting, meeting other cachers, etc. Are Megas worth going to for people like me? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

I think I would retire from geocaching if I got caught up in messy geopolitics or drama. I have zero tolerance for that and tend to just shut the door on that sort of thing rather than put up with it. As to how... I'd just stop. I don't currently have any caches of my own to look after, but if I did at the time of retirement, I'd probably try to adopt them out, and if no one wanted to tend to it, I'd archive. As a hunter, I sometimes get frustrated when I see a cache that has a NM note, or several logs commenting that it needs some help, and nothing has been done in months to maintain it. Then see that the CO has not registered any activity on a long time, and possibly has quit the game and left his/her caches to rot. I would not want to be that CO to another hunter, so I'd try to be responsible. Kudos to the writer of the letter in the OP. I maintain a "Bucket List" cache list, and I'd appreciate a heads up if one of them was about to get archived, so that's great that he's giving some warning.

Thank you all for your replies! I don't want to step on any toes and I'm not so much concerned about numbers and challenges - my general life philosophy is to leave the world a better place than I found it, and when it comes to the game, if I can help out and save someone the time and trouble, I would like to. I hadn't considered the aspect of enabling lazy CO's. But it seems the majority here prefer to do their own maintenance, so I'll hold off on replacing containers. Incidentally, I posted this question to my local caching group to get a better feel for some of the area CO's - hadn't thought of that before I posted here! I'm still newish to the area and while I've been trying to go to events, I haven't gotten to know more than a couple of the local geocachers much, so I can't judge what anyone would want done with damaged containers. I really appreciate the feedback! I'm still learning about geocaching and I appreciate that whenever I've posed a question here, everyone's been pretty quick and mostly respectful about responding!

Yea, I meant my post to be more tongue-in-cheek than actually guilty! I do log those finds regardless - I got myself to the location, and would have hunted, and still participated in the game by trying to put the container back together. I generally note in my log or shoot an email to the CO about it, too. When that happens, it just feels like a Sudoku puzzle where someone's filled in all but one square for you already!

LOVE 'EM! I drive from Springfield, Missouri to Erie, Pennsylvania and back fairly often (new home to old home!) and since it's a fourteen hour drive, I like to find interesting things to pull over and check out along the way. I often hop on Trip Advisor to see what neat features are in the area I'm going to or through, then see if there is a cache nearby - takes the sting out of a DNF if you at least get to see something cool! I also really like seeing what sort of landmarks that particular city or town has chosen to be their big attraction, and especially since I tend to cache and travel alone, it feels a lot safer going to these tourist traps and caching than going down some country road I'm not familiar with. Also a great way to get some more state badges - wish I'd known about geocaching years ago when I did more travelling!

When you find a cache container that has either fallen or been muggled - either way, it's out in the open where it clearly was not meant to be. I generally place them where the cords take me and try to give them some natural camo and make a note of the situation in my log, but I can't help but feel a twinge of guilt when I log the find later, knowing that I didn't really HUNT for it but am still taking credit for the find! They should make a SHEEPISH SMILEY for these sorts of finds!

Like many of us, I sometimes come across caches that are in need of some lovin'. I've taken to keeping spare log sheets and plastic baggies in my car, and when I come across a log that is full or wet, I add a clean, blank log. I make sure to leave the old log (sometimes putting it in a new baggie if it's wet) since my understanding is that etiquette says to never take an old log. I currently work in a job where part of my work requires disposing of old medication bottles, and rather than throw them away, I've been offering them to local cachers. I was thinking about keeping some on hand for when I go out caching and come across containers that are missing lids, or have been completely crushed (like my 200th find - no lid, had to pop the container back into shape just to get the log out, and there were holes in the container, making everything wet.) and replacing them with sound containers. My question is, as a cache owner, would someone doing this be more helpful or hurtful? I'm not talking about dropping a cache when I fail to find it and assume that it has gone missing, but rather, when I have found the cache and it is in dire condition. I intend to inform the CO of the condition and let them know what I did so that they can replace my container if they'd like. I want to be helpful but I definitely don't want to step on any toes or disrespect the efforts of a CO, so if replacing jenky containers would be more problematic than helpful, I won't start doing this. I also would only replace them with similar containers, like pill bottle with another pill bottle, not a lock-and-lock with a pill bottle or anything like that. I appreciate any feedback!

Hmm... wonder if there's something wrong with the website messaging system. This is the second or third time within the past month or two that I've sent a message and it didn't get a response - didn't know it wasn't going through Thanks for trying to host this all the same!

Haven't heard anything about this since I submitted my info for it - are we still on for the exchange?

Thanks for the responses! It may have just been my assumption that you need to wait for confirmation before logging. I've gone ahead and logged my find.

I'm working on getting more virtual and earth cache finds, something that I love doing because you always get to learn something new and see something cool! However, since they typically require you to contact the CO before logging, I was wondering - how long do you wait for a response from the CO before you just go ahead and log a find? I went pretty far out of my way on a recent trip for a really cool-sounding earth cache, and as much as I enjoyed the site for its own sake, I also did the extra research and hunted down the clues and would like to get the credit for the find. I e-mailed the CO about three weeks ago and never heard back with any sort of approval or disapproval. Is it okay to go ahead and log this? How long do you suggest waiting in a situation like this?

I didn't know what that was until just now. Thanks for this LOL, I didn't realize that either for one of my first caches...my husband accidentally kicked the skirt, saw that it moved, and we peeked under. I was literally ready to start pulling up bricks but luckily I was saved from that I've also learned that when people say a cache is easy, that doesn't mean easy for me! I just have to accept my own learning curve, no matter how steep it is. There are still a few that I've missed but I'm hoping this winter is kind (and since no gross bugs!) and I can go back and explore without fear of creeper crawlers. /Shudder, lol. This reminds me, too, that because you quickly learn that a cache hidden as such in one of these light fixtures is generally called a 'skirt lifter' - the first time I came across a clue that read, "She doesn't mind if you peek under her skirt," I felt REALLY awkward. The cache was in a parking lot that was adjacent to a private property and I kept looking at the home's garden to see if there was some sort of statue or something with a movable skirt that I could look for the cache under! I think once you get some of these basics down, it becomes a lot easier! And you learn something new every hunt!

I would love to participate in this!

I've only been caching for a year and some change but I've already learned some valuable lessons! I was thinking today about some of the struggles I had when I first started. One was the fact that I didn't know what a 'preform' was, and went after a cache whose encrypted hint was 'soda can preform.' It was hidden right across from a Pepsi plant, so I interpreted the hint as, "What form does a soda can take before it's actually a soda can?" and started looking around for some sort of aluminum container. I was so frustrated by my struggle to find it when it was only a 1.5 difficulty rating that I never went back for it even when I learned what's actually meant by 'preform!' Another lesson that I wish I'd known from the start was the fact that the skirts on light posts lift! I probably spent a good half an hour scrutinizing a lamp post outside of a Starbucks one day, poking at cracks, combing the grass around it, picking up the tiny pebbles at the base even though they were WAY too tiny to be a possibility. It wasn't till I accidentally nudged a skirt when looking for another cache whose GZ brought me to a lamp post that I learned those things lift up! I ended up going back for SO many DNFs after that day! What are some of your early geocaching blunders and lessons?

Thank you! You just use a general search engine for something like that, or is there a special search function on the GC site?

I sometimes read in the logs that a find was made to meet a specific challenge, i.e. the ABC Challenge, or the SpiritQuest Challenge, etc. Is there a particular site where these challenges are listed and you can sign up to participate? How can I find out more?

I just got my first FTF the other day! I woke up really early and while idling about on the computer, saw that two new caches had just been published. Getting a FTF was my new goal for my second year of geocaching, so I ran out the door to try and get them! We have a couple of FTF masters in the area, so I was excited to see two different options yet untouched, and both just over a mile from my house on this gorgeous walking trail. Well, when I got to the first cache, one of our local FTF masters (he has almost 1,000 FTFs) had beaten me to it by just FOUR MINUTES! I figured since the other one was right along this same trail less than half a mile away, he had already gotten that one, too, but I might as well add it to my smileys, right? So I walked the trail, startled and photographed some deer, then started to hunt for the cache. I saw a flash of jacket around the trail's bend and quickly dropped my GPS in my purse and pulled out my camera, pretending I was just there taking pictures of the sunlight filtering through the trees. The fellow hiker called out a greeting and when I turned around, I saw a GPS in his hand - ends up this is the very FTF master that had already gotten the other cache, but he hadn't found this one yet! After introductions, we ended up getting the cache together - I spotted it and pointed it out, and he grabbed it up. We co-signed the log's FTF spot and chatted a bit. Later when I logged the find, I gave this story, and when he logged it, he mentioned what a pleasure it was to be there for someone's first FTF. It was just a really fun experience overall. So, two things stemming from this: 1. Another etiquette question would be in these circumstances, when two people are looking for the cache, who gets the FTF? The one who spotted it or the one who actually grabbed it? 2. FTF 'hogs' aren't out to ruin your experience. I have yet to meet a geocacher who DOESN'T love to share about their hobby. If you're having trouble getting that special FTF, try contacting some of the FTF hounds in your area. Ask for tips or even ask if you and your daughter can tag along.

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Methinks I am going to go with the safety vest idea.

I was thinking about carving my pumpkin this year with a geocaching theme. I ended up doing something else instead, but was tickled to see that suggested in one of the recent geocaching e-mails. Did anyone do this? If so, mind showing off??

I've always been one to geocache solo and sometimes I worry about how suspicious I must look at times. I've been considering getting a bright-colored shirt with "Geocacher" across the front and back partly to make it very obvious that I am not casing any joints, dropping any drugs, or anything else that the casual passer-by might think I am doing when I am poking around in bushes or acting VERY interested in street signs or picking up rocks and then putting them down right back in the same spot. I don't know if this would be a good idea to make people feel safer, or just aggravate some of the issues that cachers have with muggles. I've also considered getting a normal safety vest for more or less the same reason. Any thoughts or feedback on this?