PJPeters

Well, I tried stage 4's #3 last night (except for the 1100pm part). And, of course... Ah, well... that's the way it goes, sometimes. On the other hand, a tenth of a mile further away, and I never would have known about it until the weekly update.

I welcome new folks to the forums, we all do! This game is growing and for everyone, and so are these forums... but you gotta bring a better game than that! It snowed so caches are buried? Welcome to the boards, but don't expect to get far with arguments like that! (Please note the big in the original - it's a JOKE!) ::sheesh:: I'm afraid I tend to have a bit of a sarcastic sense of humour sometimes.

Emphasis added. That doesn't say that you can't use a pointy stick - it says you can't use one to DIG either to hide or find the cache. Surely you can see the difference between covering a cache with limbs and leaves and burying it such that an implement is needed to DIG it up, right? So, what you're saying, is that dang near all the caches in Michigan right now, that aren't off the ground, are in violation? Yeah, we've got a bit of snow.

My first find is gone, but it looks like the hider tends to pull caches and replace them at random intervals.

I think local permission needs to be the standard. Granted, they may have to go to the Regional/Corporate level to get ultimate permission, but the local operator would be the best place to start. First off, s/he would know who to contact at the Main Office. Also, s/he's the one that knows the neighborhood, and whether it would be safe for such a cache, whereas the Corporate Conglomerate-Controlled Puppets (CCCPs) would be more likely to slap a blanket denial for all their operations.

Whilst I'm sure that many (or most) urban caches are without permission, (my example: 28th St. Series - Sleepy), I'm also sure there are several that are with permission. Personally, I won't hunt if I think permission hasn't been granted. That may be the best way to reduce the volume of some of the 'questionable' types (light posts) - if nobody is looking for them, will people stop placing them? I know if somebody placed a cache on my job's property without permission, most of my staff would be on the phone with law enforcement as soon as they saw someone poking around in the shrubs. At the very least, I'd be asking you to leave the property; for our safety (you could look like you're staking us out for a robbery), for your safety (it's a busy place, and not the most wholesome neighborhood), or for image. We don't really want people digging around in the bushes. And it's not just urban caches. I've seen more than a couple cache locations that look like a whirlwind blew through in a woodlot. Some of them are fairly sensitive. Not necessarily the fault of the placer - one I'm thinking of is obtainable from the trail. Whatever happened to 'leave no trace?' We're going to lose many prime locations available to us, unless we start being careful.

Okay, so I haven't been caching all that long. What I'm wondering is, how much time and effort do you spend making sure a cache stays hidden? It is a little different in the winter, what with all the footprints and whatnot, but I'd discovered a couple caches before the snow hit that had a lot of evidence of people looking around the area - footprints, logs flipped over; basically, looks like a whirlwind hit. Besides the obvious (CITO), what else do you do to re-hide? Or is this an isolated incident?

As has been stated previously, an idea of the distance would be nice. There's a couple multis that I'd be able to walk, some I'd bike. I'm sure there's a couple that you'd need to drive in, but I haven't found them yet. As for ponging, I'd be a little miffed about it, but if it wasn't too obnoxious, or didn't cross major streets/highways, not a problem. There is one here that involves either a short drive between points, or crossing a pretty busy street on foot. It's a pretty challenging one, and took me three tries to get, but I didn't mind it at all. That may have been different if I had to bounce back and forth across the street. On the other hand, there's another multi in the same area that's 60' or so from start to finish. Even that was a little challenging, and more than a bit fun.

And here I thought Kansas was flat as a board. I recently decided to hit a few caches in my work neighborhood, which is about half an hour from home. And, of course, while I remembered my caching kit, I didn't remember a change of clothes. So, I'm tromping around in 8" of snow wearing a pair of dress shoes (no grip, no protection from snow), in the dark. Not fun. So not fun, that I did it again the next day.

Must be nice to have free time. I've been in it since Christmas and have about 1/10 your finds. And, it seems I keep seeing your name just above where I'm putting mine on the logbooks. Someday, I'll get one before you.

Now, before we scare off the other newbies... Many of these things aren't really vital. Yeah, the dash mount isn't such a bad idea, if you're driving by yourself. The maps can't hurt when you're in unfamiliar territory, but a little research on GoogleMaps or the like can do nearly the same job. I don't have a need for the case, just use a strap (included with mine) to hang around your neck. About the only money I've spent is for a few trackables (coins and bugs), CacheMate, and my Premium Membership, all things I wanted to do. Fortunately, the GPSr was a gift, but that's only $100 for a basic unit. You could spend more on that, if you had other uses in mind (automapping, etc.). Your costs may vary, but you can get away pretty inexpensively (if you like), or at least not as expensively as above. As mentioned in other places, the biggest cost you may find - after the GPSr - is gasoline. You'll discover you want to travel the area a bit more than is normal. Actually, I'm surprised I haven't upgraded my GPSr and loaded up on stuff. That's my usual trick - get into something, and try to get the 'best' gear I can find.

I own a brick LifeDrive that I use for just about everything, including tracking my caches. I don't take it out of my car (I do mainly urban type caching), but since I'm usually no more than about 1/2 mile from my car while caching, it's not that big of an issue. I just go out, do my thing, and keep track on the LD. Cachemate is probably the best way to go; I used a spreadsheet when I first started, but it doesn't give you enough information. Cachemate will hunt nearest caches, and holds logs and other info from the GC website. If you're really getting into this, look at a Premium membership. For $3 a month, or (I think) $30 a year, you can do Pocket Queries that give you a file with data that you can (fairly easily) transfer to Cachemate. I think it's a worthwile investment. Hope this helps! (Whoops! Looks like you've already done the PM.)

I did the same thing. But, I don't really care, so I'm keeping mine.

Personally, I probably wouldn't hunt for a LPC, nor would I hide any. One of the first comments that I heard when I got my GPSr, from the giver (yeah, it was a Christmas present), was that '...they even hide them in the access panels on light poles....' I know better now, but how many newbies would look there? I wouldn't even have thought to look under the skirt until I read through this post. As has been stated repeatedly, permission needs to be sought and granted when needed to place a geocache. As a business operator, if I saw someone poking around my property, I would be making some serious noises about you being there (suspicious persons?). May even call the cops the first couple times, if I didn't know anything about it. That said, if permission was granted, go for it! (There...have we beaten this horse enough yet?)

My 'kit' is usually pretty small. I keep in the car, a small-ish lock-n-lock, with some ziplocs, my GPSr, spare batteries, a pen a couple flyers about geocaching, and any trackables that I am currently moving about. I also have a TB that isn't activated, in case I find the 'perfect' item to tag. Since nearly all of the caches I do are less than 1/2 mile from my car, I don't see the need to have a kit that I take into the field. I've got pockets for the stuff that I'm taking out to the cache. I also make sure I've got my mobile phone, and my PDA to manage my cache list.

Where else can you stomp around in the snow/mud/30' off the trail and still try to look inconspicuous, yet not feel (very) self-conscious? And, I'm learning more about the area I live in, and exactly how sadistic some cache hiders are. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Yup - that's me, a glutton for punishment.

These three in particular, for me. I find I continually look at fenceposts to see if they may have a cache hidden in them, or could possibly have one hidden there. You did miss a couple: - The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but that doesn't mean I can / am going to take it. - "C'mon, it'll only take a minute to find this, then I'll get back in the car!"

(As I peek out from behind the shrubbery...) Hi. I'm Phil. I'm pretty new to this whole thing; I, like many others here, got a GPS for Christmas (thanks, sis. I'll get ya for that! ). My bigger hobby has been photography. Being from Michigan, I have a thing for taking pictures of lighthouses, waves, weather, and just about any other nature stuff. For some reason, I don't like taking pictures of people. Ok, sorry... back on track... I've started looking into the forums, just to see what other people are thinking and saying. Again, being in Michigan, the weather hasn't been exactly co-operative for caching. Thank goodness it's getting better! I've met a few people out there caching, and hope to meet many more. Kay. I'll be going back to my shrubbery now.