ByronForestPreserve

Three little girls ran up to me Saturday (their dad was lagging behind) and saw the container full of little toys I'd just opened at the edge of a parking lot in the middle of a park. I let them take one each from my stash, and then quickly explained geocaching when dad arrived, because out of context that would seem super creepy. Other than those kinds of situations, I usually explain if someone seems to be paying attention to what I'm doing, and don't if they aren't. I've never been concerned that anyone would go back and take the container...can't imagine anyone would care that much.

Mmm...I used to prefer regulars, but I've found all of the ones fairly close by. I've also found a few micros and nanos done really well recently, so I've changed my mind about them. I also did part of a power trail that was all micros. While the hides themselves weren't super unique, they got me to ride 6 miles on a bike trail in a lovely area. I suppose I'm still a bit biased toward smalls and regulars, if only because I still like finding travel bugs and coins. Regardless, it's just nice to get out, yeah?

A couple of years ago, a young man committed suicide under a bridge across from the forest preserve where I work. We heard about it a couple hours after it happened. I knew there was a cache there, and I gave the CO a heads-up that it should probably be disabled while the police investigation was going on. I checked on the area (and the cache) a couple weeks later, and found some unspent bullets. Though I haven't found bodies on any of our properties, I did find a set of (prom?) clothes out in the woods once while checking on a cache-- underwear, shoes, dress, and all. Called that into the police.

"I got to GZ, which was a small patch of trees behind a store completely buried in garbage. The cache was laying on the ground, open with the contents strewn all over, about 60' from where my GPSr showed it should be. I cleaned it up, and as GZ was a pile of garbage, I left the cache in the bole of a tree near where I found it so that the CO could find it easily and put it back where it should be." Only I was more polite about it.

I generally have to get out in the spring to do a maintenance run even if the recent logs say everything is fine...our restoration crew doesn't know where all of my caches are, and occasionally one gets caught in a prescribed burn. I found one a few days ago melted into a pile of plastic slag, but had thought ahead and had a replacement ready to go. Fortunately it didn't have any trackables in it. (Honestly that's the only one I've ever lost to fire, but I check 'em anyhow.) As for the best caching window...agreed! Decent weather and no growth yet.

What are the odds, indeed?? I just had two coins I thought were missing have new logs pop up. One had been listed in a cache that was published and immediately archived three years ago (I tried to find it and couldn't) and the other was at the final of a Wherigo for a year. Plenty of found it logs but no mention of the coin until this week on that one. Gives me hope for a few of my other missing ones.

I cleaned out a couple caches in the last couple days and put in new small bags of swag. Some of the stuff was just gross and unrecognizable...a mass of lumpy plastic glued together with wet, moldy business cards. One had what I guess might have been a preschooler's hand-made Christmas ornament once--a big Styrofoam oval covered with glitter. Unfortunately it had started to fall apart, and the cache was coated with smaller Styrofoam pills and glitter. I've found bullets, clods of dirt, balls of embroidery thread (wet), single plastic beads, and countless broken bits and bobs. The worst was probably paint sample strips (Wet. I can't imagine they happened to have them in their pockets, so must have planned that beforehand. But why?)

A hammock strap would work well, and they aren't too expensive. You can get two for under ten dollars, and they come with an "S" hook that could hold a cache with some fiddling.

I bought three 10s to use with Boy Scouts, and the units work really well. I even took one on a run to do 20 or so caches in a park to try 'em out. I'd say it depends on what kind of caching you do. I think it holds something like 200 caches, which isn't a lot, but probably more than you'd do in a day. The other problem is the lack of maps, yes. But if you check out where you plan to go (I always do, anyway), it isn't a huge issue. I will say that even in the little park, I got out my phone at least twice just to see where the trails went and which I should head for next...but I do that with my Delorme that has good maps, so. The thing that annoys me most (which may also be a problem with the 20) is that I have to hit a lot of buttons! "Where To" "Geocaches" *select cache* then back to the main menu, then "Compass" to actually navigate. That may not sound terrible, but for example on my Delorme, there's a page button that toggles the map view vs. the compass view, and I don't have to get myself back to the main menu between every darn thing I want to do. I used the 10s for a geocaching program (not scouts) last weekend, and I just gave up and selected the caches myself and then handed it back over on the compass screen, because it was too complicated to tell each person how to select and view the next cache. (We also had like 300 people come through, so it was a lot faster than I normally teach geocaching.)

B. Heyyyyyyyyyyy I pay for mine!

Ughhh, electrical boxes. I DNFd a cache recently that could have either been somewhere on a telephone pole OR on any of the dozen or so cable, electric, etc. boxes on the side of a building a few feet from the pole. The hint was something like "You will not be shocked by how easy this is." Wait...does that mean it is on the electrical stuff, or isn't? It was also listed as a D1, and several logs stated something about how hard it was to find. Glanced at all the bits for a minute and walked away. Not interested. A while later I found a magnetic hide-a-key on the underside of a big green electrical box that could be seen standing a few feet away...no issues there. I will say that working for a forest preserve, I have been sorely tempted to stick a pill fob into one of the holes left after we collect maple sap for syrup--they are just the right size. Maybe some time I'll make one of the buckets into a cache and leave it out there, instead...I wonder if I would get reviewer permission for that?

I hadn't visited a TB hotel for the sole purpose of dropping off TBs before, and finally got around to doing an experiment. I dropped off 6 TBs in two rest stop TB hotels. The results so far, 3 weeks later: One is missing (no log, but a cacher has since said there are no TBs in the cache); two are still sitting around, and have gotten discover logs with the note "I didn't take it because I didn't have anything to trade." The others were all logged; one has gone nowhere, but the other two have traveled 2,500 miles with an awesome cacher. He's dropped off one and is taking photos at earth caches with the other. I got really lucky with those! That's all aside from the listed inventories in those caches that have been missing for who knows how long, of course. Though honestly, I don't think it's worse than what I see with caches not designed as TB hotels.

This is all the same cache (including the NM log that was posted before all of them by a different cacher):

Not in my bag, but in my car: one of those long-handled grabbers. I am short, and sometimes that nano or micro is juuuuuuust out of reach. As a bonus, I can pretend I'm out just picking up trash if I need a few extra moments to look with muggles around. Also a bonus: not having to touch garbage I pick up.

Not a bad idea, but I imagine at least one reason it hasn't happened is because cachers like to read recent logs while looking for caches. Liking something would be okay, but replies would take up space on the GPSr or phone, which only load so many at a time. Sending a quick note via the profile page works well, though I think most people who post nice, descriptive logs already know the cache owner appreciates it!

Off topic a bit, but I have noticed a few new logs that are only hashtags and nothing else. Things like: #micro #sunnyday and that's it. I really hope that's not going to be a new trend. As for the rest of the containers on Pinterest, I can tell you that several are duplicates (maybe different locations, but the same basic cache), mostly of the log cache that a guy could buy from Groundspeak. Several others are preforms or bison tubes in holes with a plastic animal glued to the end (so inspirational!). There were quite a few nice puzzle boxes, but nothing that I'd be able to look at and duplicate from a photo.

I've used a few different GPSr units, and sometimes the unit stores files in a place I wouldn't expect it to. My Garmin has a folder called GPX where it stores cache info. My Delorme stores 'em in Waypoints and not, for some reason, in the Geocaches folder. Try downloading a single cache from the map using the Garmin plugin and then looking around for where it stored it. Put your pocket query in the same place. One more possibility--you may have both internal and external storage on the device (such as an SD card). If you're transferring the pocket query to the internal storage and looking on your GPSr set up to use external storage, you won't see it. Should be under settings. I'm not sure, but I think it's possible for the GPSr to be set to use the external (SD card) setting even without one in the slot. I should ask--can you see that the file transferred? It shows on the device when it's hooked up?

I like the new TB tags with the QR code. With all of the phone caching nowadays, it makes sense, and will hopefully lead to more accurate logging. I've released about five of them recently...I'll see how it goes. Of course, I left them in TB hotels... My area has its share of missing trackables; it's maybe a 50/50 chance that it's there. Maybe a bit better than that, really. If I'm going to cache and make finding trackables part of the outing, of course I'm sure to check recent logs for each trackable. I haven't been disappointed in a while, actually. Have picked up about a dozen in the last couple weeks.

You're a lot more optimistic than I am It's smoother than paper and takes ink better, IMO. Regular ink does run slightly when wet, but not to illegibility. And...I can only hope! Read somewhere that stone paper doesn't do well in Sunlight (maybe due to the milk bottle plastic added), so clear plastic hides might not hold up. Could change with more companies getting into it and a little tweaking if enough interest in outdoor use. Seems it'd be great for ammo cans. Please do a product review (after a couple months) if you think of it. We still use Rite In Rain paper in all hides. I read about the problems degrading in sunlight, also. I'd think most hides and containers would protect it enough (reviews were saying 3-4 months in direct sunlight started the paper decomposing). I do like the little Rite in the Rain notebooks...otherwise, I have small sheets printed that I cut up for smaller caches on regular paper. It would be nice to get loose sheets of either paper that would go through a standard printer. Hmmm...I had to Google that. A pack of 200 sheets of Rite in the Rain copy paper is $32 on Amazon. Could be worse. That would produce a lot of nano and micro logs. I'll let you know how the stone paper holds up.

As far as waterproof paper, companies have started making stone paper...some kind of calcium carbonate polyethylene stuff that uses "waste" materials to make. We've gotten a few sample note pads of it. Totally waterproof and fairly tear-proof, too. Feels a bit like very thin plastic. It's new enough to be slightly more expensive than regular paper, but I'm betting that will change soon. I haven't seen loose sheets of it yet, but that might change, too. I'm going to try it for log books for the next few caches I put out. Maybe once this kind of paper becomes more common, finding wads of unreadable pulp in caches will be a thing of the past.

I had considered making it part of our geotour. It certainly could be a bonus cache after finding the others, but I thought a standalone one would be better. Maybe? I want at least the one to be wheelchair accessible and family friendly. Some of the caches for the geotour will involve a bit of a hike. It would be nice, also, to be able to use it with Scout badges, and we wouldn't be able to travel between our different properties. Those look like neat caches, though. I don't think the museum will be large enough to do anything with a tour between exhibits. It's not exactly a huge museum.

The other cache is a traditional that's been in place not quite a year. Putting a physical container in place with instructions to find the final inside means I still need to abide by the 528' rule. Figured I could get away with it if the entire thing were inside. Maybe I can put the instructions right inside the front door...Guess maybe I should start a conversation with the local reviewer sooner rather than later... Ah, I didn't realize there was another cache nearby. Unfortunately, the saturation guideline is still in affect even if one cache is inside of a building. Some reviewers might make a slight exception if it's something like 450 feet away. It would be best to just talk to your reviewer, you're right. I sent a message; I'll see what he says. I can certainly move my own cache if I need to. I checked on geodistance, and the front door of the building is not quite 528' from the final of a multi that I don't own (the cache inside the museum would be). I could fiddle with things, I suppose, but I'd love for the whole cache to be a true terrain 1 and wheelchair accessible. I'd hate to have the initial stage around the back just to get that extra 20' or whatever. So...I started thinking about a puzzle cache. Of course the coords would still point inside the building, but we're for sure installing a touchscreen/smartboard with maps and events and museum info near the front door. It would be simple to have a page that acts as the instructions to find the cache in the museum (with an intro to geocaching for muggle visitors, perhaps, and a map of our geotour. I know that might make any trackable issues worse, but I'd be sure to put very clear instructions with it all). That might get around some of the issues, and it would be kind of hard to miss if I state on the cache page to look for a giant smartboard. I didn't think it would get so complicated. I will make it work! Regardless, I still have to design the final hide...

The other cache is a traditional that's been in place not quite a year. Putting a physical container in place with instructions to find the final inside means I still need to abide by the 528' rule. Figured I could get away with it if the entire thing were inside. Maybe I can put the instructions right inside the front door...Guess maybe I should start a conversation with the local reviewer sooner rather than later...

I have done that with larger caches--put in a separate container for the logbook and trackables with info about how to log and move them. Thanks, too, to the rest of you for some good info. I might have to rearrange a cache I have behind the museum on a trail to comply with the 528' rule if I put a container outside with instructions. I'll check with my local reviewer; maybe the cache being inside the building will constitute enough of a "barrier" that I won't have to worry about it. Otherwise, I'll keep thinking about it. We have no idea what the design studio proposals will look like...I'll know at the end of the month and maybe have a better idea of what's possible. Fake badger with a cache in its hole? Fake underwater cache? I'm thinking about it a lot.

Our small natural history museum is getting a complete renovation over the next 1.5 years. All of the taxidermy is on its way out, and we're in the planning stage with a design studio. Our director thought it would be a cool idea to design a geocache into the new museum...I absolutely agree! I know it's on the edge of being inside a business, but our local history museum has a letterbox hybrid in one of their exhibits. And yes, we're a free museum. I've been mulling this over, and finally figured that you all would have way better ideas than I might come up with. The sky's the limit, or nearly so. It could be under a fake log in our woodland section for a more traditional feel or in a secret compartment in the rear end of a climbable buffalo statue. Most of the museum will be hands-on, but being indoors I don't foresee too many problems with muggles. I'm not sure what the timing will be, but we're also in the early stages of planning a geotour. I'd kind of like to get the geotour done this year, so whether the museum cache is part of it or not is up in the air. I mention that because we'll have geocoin prizes for the tour, so people will be coming into the museum to collect those...a nice little "bonus" cache seems like it would be fun. Throw any and every idea at me! It will have to fit in with our design, obviously, so things like a miniature space station wouldn't be appropriate (as cool as that would be), but anything that would fit in with a woodland/prairie/river nature theme would probably be do-able.