SunshineGang
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Posts posted by SunshineGang
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I wondered about a plane with Pontoons..
Not speaking with any knowledge of such things but I suspect the waters of lake michigan would need to be pretty calm given there is no harbor to calm the waters.
Two years ago our ferry was delayed by 5 hours because the waters were to rough.... When we arrived in the morning we were told to check back later in the day to see if the ferry would be coming. Luckily it did come and we able to get home that day.
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There is an old landing strip on the island but it does not appear to be maintained and I am pretty confident that the National Parks service does not allow such activity. But how very cool would it be if someone could fly in for the event.
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North Manitou Island is part of the Sleeping bear National Lakeshore in North West Michigan. We will be hosting our 3rd Annual Event on this island June 27, 2010. The island is 15,000 acres of designated wilderness area.
The only amenities on this island are a potable water source and a pit toilet located near the doc. Otherwise visitors are completely on their own.
here is the cache page for anyone that is interested in such an adventure
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I am hoping GC.com will write an Android Wherigo App. I heard they are starting work on a geocaching app for Android
I just got a Sprint Hero last week and am loving the phone. THe hardware requirements have kept me from Wherigo in the past
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I have heard that Geocaching.com is working on an official Geocaching.com app for the Android Phones similar to the iphone app that is currently availible.
hoping to find an official source to confirm or deny
thanks!
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My boss just showed me his Droid phone today and it looks pretty cool.
I have been wanting to get an Iphone because of all the cool things I have heard about the geocaching app for Iphone.
SO the big question on my mind is how th Google geocaching Apps compare to the IPHONe geocaching app.
Up until now I have not been willing to spend an extra $30 a month for a data plan (on top of my regular cell bill) but it looks like my work may be willing to pay so I may be shopping very soon
I was leaning towards Iphone but that was before I heard about the Droid phones
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There is always a certain degree of error... But can not think of any reason that itwould be acceptable to intentionally post any coordinates that were less than the best that the hider could get.
If you want to make your cache harder try adding some sort of camouflage so that the hide does not stick out or if it is in plain view it looks like it belongs there. Those are my favorites
Keep in mind that there is always a certain degree of error when using GPS units. Especially when using the civilian units that we use for geocaching. Add in tree cover and or lack of experience on the cache hider’s part and it is not unheard of for a cache to be 60ft from where my GPS is pointing. So be careful before you accuse someone of softening their coordinates….
IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not forget that there are also some poor cachers out there using Magellan GPS units and no matter how hard they try to get good coordinates the odds are stacked against them
By the way I also like the term you chose to desribe the the act of intenitionally post less accurate coords than a hider has availible them.... "Soften coords"
So I guess the harder coordinates the better
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Seriously some people really need to drop the whole Liar Claim.
GC.com reviewer disputed SF's claim... It is a bit of a stretch to say that SF was called a liar
For example
If I post that the sun is green and Joe Cacher posts "No the sun is yellow"
did Joe Cacher just called me a liar, or might you say that they simply disputed or disagreed with me.
CONCLUSION
GC.com (or it's representatives) DID NOT call SF a liar
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I think I have the perfect solution to help solve this once and for all!
I am a very well known/established cacher.
I also live in the same neighborhood as Team Desert Eagle (previously known as Superfly). The
cache in question is only a few miles from our homes.
I volunteer to re-hide Team Desert Eagle's cache and am willing to list it
under my account. I will, of course, give TDE full credit for the
creativity of the hide in my cache description. If TDE is willing to
allow me to rehide his container, this will totally prove that GC was in
the wrong to archive this cache.
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thanks to all who have purchased coins supporting our event. We only have a couple of the silvers left.
All orders to date have shipped.
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COIN ARE IN STOCK AND NOW SHIPPING
GC.com Trackable!
ALL PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE EVENT! (GC1V1FY) THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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J-way
thanks for clarifing your opinion
And I would agree with you that it is a stretch to call a tent "Very Specialized equipment". I don't think that there is any single part of of this cache listing that is extreme by itself (no extreme temperatures, no death defing rock climbing or hang gliding, no impossible puzzles etc]... But rather the sum of all the less than extreme factors that do make the event a serious Mental and physical challenge for the average cacher
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So.... I can accept that I am not likely gonna get you to endorse the 5 difficulty.... But I am wondering if you would endorse a level 4 difficulty rating. Surely you would agree that this cache event does at a minimum require in-depth preparation and MAY require multiple days? According to the clayjar system (endorsed by Geocaching.com) these two factors alone would justify a difficulty rating of 4.
I wouldn't worry about trying to satisfy my interpretation or anybody else's. Rate it a 5 if you feel that's what it should be. The worst that will happen is that people may whisper about you at another event or lump you in with people that log their own caches or people that copy/paste logs. You know, the freaks.
But, yeah. I'd back a 4.
I am not that worried but I admit I was hoping for a little affirmation from you that we are not as far off as base as my first critic suggested in this thread. I believe he originally suggested that there was no reason for this event to be rated more than a 1 difficulty.
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Just my opinion, but don't consider anything I can buy at Wal-Mart to (tent, sleeping bag) be "specialized equipment". Now if the temp was around -30 and you had to go to a outfitters to get you a really effective sleeping bag and/or tent...
Castle Mischief,
So.... I can accept that I am not likely gonna get you to endorse the 5 difficulty.... But I am wondering if you would endorse a level 4 difficulty rating. Surely you would agree that this cache event does at a minimum require in-depth preparation and MAY require multiple days? According to the clayjar system (endorsed by Geocaching.com) these two factors alone would justify a difficulty rating of 4.
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It think it would be a nice idea
However I am guessing that GC.com would need a partnership with with a well organized and established group that would volunteer to screen all the cache listing submissions... similar to the way earth caches are being handled.
I like virtuals... even though I understand and appreciate why GC.com stopped allowing new virtual listings.
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Also if your goal is to hide a 5-5 cache I would suggest you not use a regular key holder... find a tiny fake rock key holder.... then toss it into a pile of hundreds of rocks that look exactly like it... if you want to make it really hard try NOT to get good coords..... that will really make it hard
Good advice about the container. I've never seen a dry standard hide-a-key unless it hadn't rained in the area for a month, or the hiding spot was completely out of the weather. Unfortunately, the soft coords advice is horrible. Almost everyone here has mentioned how much the needle-in-a-haystack hide is despised. Soft coord hides are even worse. Good coords are If you add soft coords to a needle-in-a-haystack, and word gets around, the cache will never be found because everyone will add it to their ignore list.
Just to clarify I would never suggest using less that good coords... Well perhaps I just did but it was intended to be a bit saracastic as my next line read "However if you are looking to hide a fun cache that cachers will enjoy my advice is ....."
My assumption is that everyone that hides a cache wants it to be fun for those who seek it... Even though I have known caches that I am confident that the hider had other intent... and/or has a twisted sense of what fun is
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We did the APE cache near chicago a few years ago before it was archived... to bad there is only two left I know that a lot of people want to get the icon.
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Also if your goal is to hide a 5-5 cache I would suggest you not use a regular key holder... find a tiny fake rock key holder.... then toss it into a pile of hundreds of rocks that look exactly like it... if you want to make it really hard try NOT to get good coords..... that will really make it hard
However if you are looking to hide a fun cache that cachers will enjoy my advice is not to focus on the rating and hide an ammo box on the island...
I really like island caches.... There is one near us that is a blast... Not Gilligan’s Island
I think that some people in this forum think a TRUE 5-5 cache needs to be almost impossible. Personally I think a 5-5 rating simply represents a cache that requires an significantly above average amount of time, preparation, special equipment etc.
But you will find plenty of folks in this forums that will be quick to disagree with me
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for your reference here is the clayjar rating system which is endorsed by geocaching.com
The system basically consists of 7 questions.
Questions 1-6 help you determine the terrain rating. If you answer yes to question 1 (is special equipment required?) then you automatically get a 5 terrain rating
Question 7 determines your difficulty rating...
How easy is it to find the cache?
1. Cache is in plain sight or location is fairly obvious.
2. Cache could be in one of several locations. Hunter may have to look for a while.
3. Cache may be very well hidden, may be multi-leg, or may use clues to location.
4. Cache likely requires special skills, knowledge, or in-depth preparation to find. May require multiple days or trips to find
5. Finding this cache requires very specialized knowledge, skills, or equipment. This is a serious mental or physical challenge.
***Please consider visibility, accessibility, and relative signal strength due to tree cover or other obstructions when answering this question.
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"Difficulty relates to the mental challenge of finding a cache."
Bingo. For this to be a 5 difficulty cache you would have to obfuscate the location in such a manner as actually finding the event would be really, really tough. Difficulty has nothing to do with training, supplies, grade of inclination, lack of food, or the proximity to a bade and hot water.
ACTUALLY
According to geocaching.com THIS is the recommended test used to rate your cache. According to geocaching.com special equipment and knowledge can up the difficulty level. (not just the terrain)
Basically the first 6 questions help determine the terrain rating. Of course if you answer yes to the first question (is special equipment required) then you automatically get a Terrain rating of 5 regardless of how you answer questions 2-6
The last question basically determines the difficulty rating. So really this entire debate really boils down to that one question
(question 7)
How easy is it to find the cache?
-Cache is in plain sight or location is fairly obvious.
-Cache could be in one of several locations. Hunter may have to look for a while.
-Cache may be very well hidden, may be multi-leg, or may use clues to location.
-Cache likely requires special skills, knowledge, or in-depth preparation to find. May require multiple days or trips to find
-Finding this cache requires very specialized knowledge, skills, OR equipment. This is a serious mental OR physical challenge.
So the bottom line here is that if the last Answer is TRUE... -Finding this cache requires very specialized knowledge, skills, OR equipment. This is a serious mental OR physical challenge. Then this is in fact a 5/5 cache listing according to geocaching.com. Of course I expect a few people will want to debate whether spending one night in a tent is "very specialized" skills and equipment and whether or not this is a "serious" mental or physical challenge or perhaps it is just a "normal" mental/physical challenge.
Again relative to the average geocacher and average geocaching event I believe the last answer to the last question is true.
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Everything is relative...
In the backpacking world I am confident that this trip is not an extreme adventure, perhaps it would only get a 2/2 rating... if that... (assuming a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the most extreme)
However, I did not post this event in the Backpacking World, I posted it in the Geocaching World. In the Geocaching world the average event is hosted near parking and is handicap accessible. I think it is important for folks to keep in mind that the average Geocacher is not the average backpacker. While I am sure we have plenty of veteran backpackers among us, I am confident that we have plenty more Urbanites (otherwise known as city slickers with no outdoor skills) and we even have wheelchair bound cachers among us
So relative to the "Average" Geocacher and the "average" Geocaching event I don't think our 5/5 rating is a stretch.
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Roarmeister & 9Key
I would like to ask you the same question I asked J-way
In your opinion - Is it possible to have a 5 star difficulty Event? and if so what might such an event include to justify the rating?
Event opportunities for North and South Manitou Island
in General geocaching topics
Posted
In an Earlier thread I posted about our Survivor event on North Manitou Island June 27, 2010 GC22C87
We just listed an Event on South Manitou Island for July 10, 2010 GC248HT
These island are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore located in Northern Michigan. Both Islands require a 10 mile ferry ride and are great back packing destinations
South Manitou island is the smaller and more traveled island. The camp sites are marked and there are more potable water sources and toliets available in various spots on the island.
North Manitou is the larger and less traveled island. There is only 1 potable water source & toilet located at the dock. The rest of the 15,000 acres is pure wilderness. Campsites are not marked you simply find a spot and setup camp.
I am planning to do North Manitou with my geocaching friends and am planning to take my 11 year old daughter to South Manitou for her first backpacking adventure.