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Even this, although a good rule of thumb, is not always the rule to follow. I found a cache a few weeks ago, nice big ammo can at the final of a Wherigo. It had visitors discover the TB's that were in it, but the TB's had been in there for nearly 2 years!!! I took all 4 of them, and didn't leave any; if it takes from April 2017 til January 2019 for someone to come along and grab them, I'd rather have it traveling with me for a month or two, taking photos, and gaining miles than just sitting in a cache for months on end, waiting for someone who can further its mission. Well, I claim that what you're saying you did was moving them, so I think you're following little-leggs rule. But I basically agree with you: the rule shouldn't talk about the absolute notion "soon", it should talk about whether you can move them sooner than they're likely to move if you leave them where they are. Clearly these four TBs were stuck, so almost anything would move them sooner than where they are. And I feel like, in general, that's true for any active cacher taking a TB from any given cache. The times I sometimes pause and leave some behind is when there are many TBs. In this day and age, it can take me a while to find 4 caches large enough to take a TB, so I'm more likely to leave a couple where they are under the theory that the next finder will be able to share the burden so all four TBs will move more quickly.

Well, I did find that Costco has the 64x for $199 which is a great price. Most of the 60csx's are going for $130-150 on ebay, so I may as well spend a little more and get a new one! I did use my new phone and Locus to find a cache today, and it was one I'd looked for twice before, so I was happy to finally find it. The Pixel 4a 5G works well even in the trees. My old phone, a Samsung Galaxy J7 Crown (a cheap straight talk version) did not, and I had been pretty far off before. Thanks again everyone for all the discussion and assistance. My daughter and I are looking forward to doing more caching this year and I think we're already off to a good start. Oh, and one of the goals this year: dispersed camping in the Olympic National Forest. And wouldn't you know, several spots are marked in Locus, I'm guessing by others users. Very cool, and worth the cost of entry by itself!

Okay looking for a little assistance on a new EC(s?) I'm building in Alaska. Southeast Alaska has a LOT of ECs on Glaciers (it's what we're famous for) however I notice most of them talk about the glacier formation, retreat, causes of shrinkage etc, but they don't talk about (or only mention in passing in the description) about the "left behind," geologic features: kettle ponds, glacial striations, erratics etc. NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE I can hear you saying it already "Glacial Erratics are no longer an accepted form of ECs." What I'm proposing is incorporating these features into a "Track the Glacier" EC, where evidence is taken from several points around the park and analyzed to determine facts about the glacier. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My queries 1) Is the fact that other Earth Caches mention some of this data in their descriptions going to limit my placement of the Earth Cache or will this violate the "unique geological feature" rule? A note on this, none of the logging tasks for the nearby ECs mention anything about the above mentioned features. 2) Would it be better to separate each feature into it's own EC or should it be fine to "lump them all in" as one? 3) If I do lump them all in as one, is it fine if the cache focuses on the scientific process of determining information about the glacier given the geologic evidence at hand or does it need to focus more directly on the evidence and not the analysis of the evidence? (Mainly I'm trying to gauge whether or not it would fall under "Tools used by geologists, such as index fossils, rocks, and historical geology sites." which is an accepted category, or if it would stray too far from the geologic roots.) Thank you in advance for your help! I'll keep you all posted as I move forward!

Wait a minute. It says "that negatively affects society" and not "that made the society change something". A disaster doesn't necessarily have the effect that the society changes something. What do they do after an earthquake? The accident negatively affected society by killing several people. And maybe they haven't changed traffic patterns (as if that would stop a drunken driver), but at least they created that memorial to maybe make some people think before they enter their car with alcohol in their blood. Edited to add: It's not that easy to find photos of these memorials for Europeans (the provided link doesn't work here), but finally I saw them in a video I found. Now that I have seen them, I would also suggest the Citizen Memorial category, because the plaques don't even mention the accident, but instead talk about the killed persons.

I ran into some technical issues when I tried to post this before so this may be a duplicate post. Please ignore and remove this one if it is. Thanks. ================================ Hi there - I'm trying to put out a cache that has a picture but I want the picture to be a surprise so that people only see it when they click on the right link. However when I upload the picture to the actual cache, it shows up in the gallery and is listed at the bottom of the description as well. I don't want it to be visible there (or anywhere else ideally). Is there a "official" solution to hiding the picture somehow? As far as I know you're not allowed to use 3rd party hosting sites any more so I didn't even bother trying. I've also read some forum posts that talk about adding the picture to an archived cache instead and then using a link for it in my new cache but my concern is the picture is still "visible" in that archived cache. People could come across it accidentally there (or maybe on purpose). Is there any other options out there or is there a setting somewhere that hides pictures from the gallery and the cache description listing? I was thinking about maybe loading the picture into my unpublished archived cache because, as far as I know, no one else can see those caches, but I can't edit those archived caches to add any pictures. Plus I'm not sure if the website will allow other people to see those pictures anyways. ie I'd be able to see the picture because I have rights or permissions to my unpublished caches but no one else does. I also considered loading pictures via a Reviewer Note on my new cache and linking to them from there. Those Reviewer Notes get "removed" when the cache is published but do any pictures associated to those logs get deleted too? Or would the links keep working? It's hard to test all these things out obviously so I'm hoping someone knows the more official way of doing this. I don't want to implement something that may suddenly break a few years later either when GS changes a policy, like the 3rd party hosting thing. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Amazing. Just as we talk about it in this thread, I've got another finder in the process of working through it! You brought the cache some good luck by starting the thread! Will be interesting to see his log. Stage 4 is pretty easy since the distances really do call for driving, though it can certainly be done easily enough on a bicycle, so there's that to sort out if pedaling, I guess. As for power, it's a secret! Stage one is a particular power hog due to distance between xmitter and posted coordinates, and propagation requirements. The others employ high gain (very directional) antenna systems.

What is official then? Because nothing is Official then, you can log a find even you haven´t found it. You can place a cache and say you find it. You can co with the CO and say you found it. Because, even tho a cache as been archived by Groundspeak you can still log a found (in caches not locked). Hoooooo...but wait, why would Groundspeak lock a cache if it is still part of the game? Why did Groundspeak locked almost all virtual caches that are archived? I don't know if answering is a feeding, or actually helpful... Here goes, and the reply will tell me everything I need to know: The game of geocaching has been loosely adopted by Groundspeak Inc. and a listing service was created at Geocaching.com back in the year 2000. The game of geocaching (lower "g") was started after GPS Selective Availability was turned off, allowing consumer-level GPS units to have a huge improvement in accuracy. Some people started to talk about how accurate their GPS units would become, and a fun test, of sorts, was created. Dave Ulmer decided to place a container in the woods outside of Portland, Oregon, post the coordinates for the container online, and invited others to look for it. A great success! Someone found it, and proved that accuracy was better, and a game could be played where people hide containers and have people find them. Wahoo! Caches started out with containers, logbooks (not unlike a summit register), and some fun items to trade. The game most certainly had races to see who could get there first, and still does to this day. When geocaching was "formalized" and listing services hosted by Groundspeak, there were, and continue to be, other sites hosting geocache locations online for people to seek. Geocaching became Geocaching (as in Geocaching.com, big "G"), and the Geocaching.com site became the most visited and comprehensive hosting service for the game. Cache types were developed, and guidelines were hammered out on these very forums for the first handful of years. (You can still search here for some of the old, very relevant discussions about cache types, log types, use of logs, etc. Very interesting stuff, and fun to read. History is good to know when taking on this game and how it is played on this website.) The guidelines for the game hosted by Geocaching.com were "published" online, and are updated here and there still to this day. The main tennent for the game is still the same: Hide a cache, record its coordinates, publish it online, someone seeks it, finds it, signs the logbook, and then logs their find online to talk about their experience. When the game was "new", many people took the time to talk about the hike, the scenery, the cache, the fun they had seeking, and more. As the game grew, people had fun placing fun prizes for people to trade--and some also started to place items for the first person there to keep for themselves as a special prize for finding what was, at that time, a new and exciting test of emerging gameplay technology. It may have been a gift card, a small piece of art, an unactivated trackable item, etc. The guidelines remain essentially the same, yet one thing has never been entered into the guidelines on Geocaching.com/Groundspeak's sites: "First-to-find" guidelines. That side-game developed out of the funloving and creative minds of people playing the game and paying it forward with their generosity. As more and more people came to the game, the race was on within moments of publication, and many had fun challenging others to "beat them to it if they could". As with any side-bet or lighthearted competition, there are variations on ability, skill, and involvement. Some took it very seriously, others dabbled in it, and others just didn't care. Those same camps exist today, 14 years later. The guidelines as posted for guiding the gameplay and publication of Geocaches on Geocaching.com are "official". They are the way we all agree to play the game when we sign up for an account, or click the "I have read the..." checkboxes when we publish caches. If we ignore the guidelines, logs are deleted, caches are not published, listings are archived, and more. That much is enforcable on this website, and for all listings and accounts under the Geocaching.com/Groundspeak umbrella. Because this game is rooted in 14 years of history, there are certain ways the game is played. Owners are able to delete logs--liek if the logbook is not signed. So if you decide that actually finding a cache or not signing a log is ok because you think the guidelines and owner responsibilities are not "official", then you are up for a surprise when your logs are deleted, and you suddenly find yourself on the outs with the Geocaching.com community for repeatedly logging armchair or 'bogus' logs. Essentially, this is herd mentality. If you don't follow the guidelines that have been created and managed (mostly) by the community input, you won't find yourself enjoying playing the game here at Geocaching.com, or others enjoying that you're playing in their community. That's because deleting improper logs is the responsibility of listing owners, and is backed by "common practice" over the last 14 years of how this game is played. That is what separates "FTF" from bogus logs and archived caches. Geocaching.com does not own the listings or geocaches themselves, but they do have the right to archive listings that no longer meet the guidelines or cache types hosted by this site. If an owner no longer manages their listing--as is set out in the Terms of Use and Guidelines--then their caches can and will be archived. That is why Virtuals are now archived--the owners are no longer managing the listing, the cache type is no longer publishable, and users can--and have--abused the logging of these caches because they are fully aware that an owner will not delete their bogus log. The same goes for archived caches; however an active owner will delete a bogus log of their archived cache if they decide to do so. Groundspeak can also lock any archived cache as requested or seen fit according to the terms of use. Geocaching.com is both of those things. A place that hosts record of the Geocaches you have found, and a host of the listings that are published if they meet guidelines for listing and existence posted by Geocaching.com and Groundspeak. Play by the "rules", or play elsewhere. As there is no guideline outlining when someone can or cannot claim a "FTF", it is not an official Geocaching.com activity. They may talk about it on the blog or in videos, but that's just because it has been a part of the Geocaching lexicon for years. They can talk all they want, but they don't run the FTF show. That side-game is, as we've said, played differently by different people. So long as you're playing the game here at Geocaching.com, you have be be ready to be ok that others play that side-game differently than you do. Sharks and Jets, man. I do think that it is you that doesn't "get it". Either that or you're trolling us. Your replies will tell us that answer, I think. There are no "purists" or "puritans" of the FTF game, because anyone can claim that they way they play that side-game is the "way" it should be played. True "FTF" puritanical idealism would stay at the root of the phrase: "First to find". If you found it first, it doesn't matter if it was before or after publication. Once that cache is hidden, it can be found by anyone. And if nobody else but the hider has been to that site and found the cache yet, they are first. Now, if your gang of Sharks says that FTF only happens after publication, that's great. Just know that there are Jets out there that think a FTF can happen before publication. And then there's other gangs out there who dance differently than those two gangs...because there is no "official" way to play this side game. Why does my post say NeverSummer?

What is official then? Because nothing is Official then, you can log a find even you haven´t found it. You can place a cache and say you find it. You can co with the CO and say you found it. Because, even tho a cache as been archived by Groundspeak you can still log a found (in caches not locked). Hoooooo...but wait, why would Groundspeak lock a cache if it is still part of the game? Why did Groundspeak locked almost all virtual caches that are archived? I don't know if answering is a feeding, or actually helpful... Here goes, and the reply will tell me everything I need to know: The game of geocaching has been loosely adopted by Groundspeak Inc. and a listing service was created at Geocaching.com back in the year 2000. The game of geocaching (lower "g") was started after GPS Selective Availability was turned off, allowing consumer-level GPS units to have a huge improvement in accuracy. Some people started to talk about how accurate their GPS units would become, and a fun test, of sorts, was created. Dave Ulmer decided to place a container in the woods outside of Portland, Oregon, post the coordinates for the container online, and invited others to look for it. A great success! Someone found it, and proved that accuracy was better, and a game could be played where people hide containers and have people find them. Wahoo! Caches started out with containers, logbooks (not unlike a summit register), and some fun items to trade. The game most certainly had races to see who could get there first, and still does to this day. When geocaching was "formalized" and listing services hosted by Groundspeak, there were, and continue to be, other sites hosting geocache locations online for people to seek. Geocaching became Geocaching (as in Geocaching.com, big "G"), and the Geocaching.com site became the most visited and comprehensive hosting service for the game. Cache types were developed, and guidelines were hammered out on these very forums for the first handful of years. (You can still search here for some of the old, very relevant discussions about cache types, log types, use of logs, etc. Very interesting stuff, and fun to read. History is good to know when taking on this game and how it is played on this website.) The guidelines for the game hosted by Geocaching.com were "published" online, and are updated here and there still to this day. The main tennent for the game is still the same: Hide a cache, record its coordinates, publish it online, someone seeks it, finds it, signs the logbook, and then logs their find online to talk about their experience. When the game was "new", many people took the time to talk about the hike, the scenery, the cache, the fun they had seeking, and more. As the game grew, people had fun placing fun prizes for people to trade--and some also started to place items for the first person there to keep for themselves as a special prize for finding what was, at that time, a new and exciting test of emerging gameplay technology. It may have been a gift card, a small piece of art, an unactivated trackable item, etc. The guidelines remain essentially the same, yet one thing has never been entered into the guidelines on Geocaching.com/Groundspeak's sites: "First-to-find" guidelines. That side-game developed out of the funloving and creative minds of people playing the game and paying it forward with their generosity. As more and more people came to the game, the race was on within moments of publication, and many had fun challenging others to "beat them to it if they could". As with any side-bet or lighthearted competition, there are variations on ability, skill, and involvement. Some took it very seriously, others dabbled in it, and others just didn't care. Those same camps exist today, 14 years later. The guidelines as posted for guiding the gameplay and publication of Geocaches on Geocaching.com are "official". They are the way we all agree to play the game when we sign up for an account, or click the "I have read the..." checkboxes when we publish caches. If we ignore the guidelines, logs are deleted, caches are not published, listings are archived, and more. That much is enforcable on this website, and for all listings and accounts under the Geocaching.com/Groundspeak umbrella. Because this game is rooted in 14 years of history, there are certain ways the game is played. Owners are able to delete logs--liek if the logbook is not signed. So if you decide that actually finding a cache or not signing a log is ok because you think the guidelines and owner responsibilities are not "official", then you are up for a surprise when your logs are deleted, and you suddenly find yourself on the outs with the Geocaching.com community for repeatedly logging armchair or 'bogus' logs. Essentially, this is herd mentality. If you don't follow the guidelines that have been created and managed (mostly) by the community input, you won't find yourself enjoying playing the game here at Geocaching.com, or others enjoying that you're playing in their community. That's because deleting improper logs is the responsibility of listing owners, and is backed by "common practice" over the last 14 years of how this game is played. That is what separates "FTF" from bogus logs and archived caches. Geocaching.com does not own the listings or geocaches themselves, but they do have the right to archive listings that no longer meet the guidelines or cache types hosted by this site. If an owner no longer manages their listing--as is set out in the Terms of Use and Guidelines--then their caches can and will be archived. That is why Virtuals are now archived--the owners are no longer managing the listing, the cache type is no longer publishable, and users can--and have--abused the logging of these caches because they are fully aware that an owner will not delete their bogus log. The same goes for archived caches; however an active owner will delete a bogus log of their archived cache if they decide to do so. Groundspeak can also lock any archived cache as requested or seen fit according to the terms of use. Geocaching.com is both of those things. A place that hosts record of the Geocaches you have found, and a host of the listings that are published if they meet guidelines for listing and existence posted by Geocaching.com and Groundspeak. Play by the "rules", or play elsewhere. As there is no guideline outlining when someone can or cannot claim a "FTF", it is not an official Geocaching.com activity. They may talk about it on the blog or in videos, but that's just because it has been a part of the Geocaching lexicon for years. They can talk all they want, but they don't run the FTF show. That side-game is, as we've said, played differently by different people. So long as you're playing the game here at Geocaching.com, you have be be ready to be ok that others play that side-game differently than you do. Sharks and Jets, man. I do think that it is you that doesn't "get it". Either that or you're trolling us. Your replies will tell us that answer, I think. There are no "purists" or "puritans" of the FTF game, because anyone can claim that they way they play that side-game is the "way" it should be played. True "FTF" puritanical idealism would stay at the root of the phrase: "First to find". If you found it first, it doesn't matter if it was before or after publication. Once that cache is hidden, it can be found by anyone. And if nobody else but the hider has been to that site and found the cache yet, they are first. Now, if your gang of Sharks says that FTF only happens after publication, that's great. Just know that there are Jets out there that think a FTF can happen before publication. And then there's other gangs out there who dance differently than those two gangs...because there is no "official" way to play this side game.

As of Thursday, stats showed that there were 7 more geocaches with the Challenge Cache attribute than mystery caches with "challenge" in the title. That spread has reduced month over month (we track it every month on the Challenge Talk podcast) and this is the closest they've been yet; but it shows that there are either non-challenge caches incorrectly tagged with the attribute, or valid challenge caches without "challenge" in the title.

That seems to be more for inappropriate placements, though I don't know what happens after I enter my email address and select Other as the problem - whether it then gives me a text field I can explain the problem. However unlike normal caches where you can see there are a few other DNFs (so it isn't just me suffering cache blindness on the day) you don't know if you are just being stupid or if there is really a problem, unless of course you talk to others in the local community who may have run up against the same problem (as was the case with this one with the missing sign). Side note - in this case the CO has provided the answer in the question temporarily until he can get there next weekend and pick another sign, so it's not a problem here. But as ALs get abandoned by owners who lose interest I can see it could be.

I'm planning a trip and would like todo a pocket querrie. Or what ever it is called. I can't do it. Geocahing does not respond to any of my Messages. Can anyone help me with it. I'm new to using a phone. I'm back to caching after some years. I got the premium membership yet wondering why I wasted the time .. Is there a class on this. Is there a place where I can talk to a person? Is there someone who can talk to me like a three year old without a phone.. I don't understand the lingo..of the phone.. pinch, blahhhh.. Isthere anyone near who can help me/ I'm going to quit due to no events...no where to learn no emails answered .. I'm aggravated as hell. I'mplanning a month in advance and I can't get anyone to show me the ropes.. I probalby won't even be able to find this page again. Been asking for a week and now have three weeks until schedule departure. Does anyone have the time , energy to help me.. I never knew I have to be an expert on the laptop and phone to play a game that is outdorors.. smh. I'll have to find something else.. I'm so tired of it.

Don't spoil it, but after reading a bunch of articles, and looking at various pictures, I still don't know what to look for when it's time to look for it. Will it be a readable, identifiable tracking number (as a typical 6-digit/letter Tracking Code), or is it a puzzle to first "decode" which then reveals an official Tracking Code? How do I know what to look for when "the image" is published? Or is that also a secret? This may have been answered, but I scrolled through 4 pages of this thread, and read the TB page, and didn't see an explanation. External news articles that talk about all the "Easter eggs" say the image on the target (and I think they are more confused than I am) is "a Geocache" or "geocaching", if the article mentions it at all. EDIT: Nevermind. I tried an obvious thing, and it looks like it will be tough to be more specific without spoiling the surprise. But it sure brings up some questions, so I'll be back later.

Ah, merci bien pour l'information! But can we talk English now, please? How did you do that - quote my English spoken post in French? :-) This one looks difficult if many leaves (or snow) are covering the ground. This might explain the many DNFs. I don't know why you have used the snow attribute here ("availabe in winter" doesn't match the picture too perfectly - with the snow flake it should be "available with snow"). I don't think you have good chances to find the cache if it is covored in snow. Keystone has given you the right information - the mail was sent before your log - but I still think you could use the (wrongly sent?) mail to rethink the cache. Or do you want a found it quote lower than 50 percent? If not there are several ways to help the cachers finding it, give a hint for example? That's a nice spot in the forest and I hope it doesn't get destroyed by the non-finders searching this hide. Micro without hint in the forest....

I assumed Tahoe Skier5000 was worried about what happens when the battery's lifetime is up, not what happens when the fixed source of power runs out and needs to be recharged. He says the battery is not replaceable, but you say you can carry spare AAs. How does that work? The specs on garmin.com don't talk about AA batteries. My 66st would have been a brick if I couldn't replace the lithium batteries when the first set faded out after a year. Well, I suppose I could use it with a wire running to an external battery in my pocket, but I think I might have given up geocaching if that was my only option.

Hey, I found a thread you can talk about quantity & quality I am pretty sure the discussion would fit better in it Thanks

Can we just remember that there are people who love "quality geocaches" as well as people who love "quality time". Some won't prioritize a "quality geocache container" but a "quality location" or a "quality time with friends". Flip the table and you may have people criticizing someone who puts a long multi around a trail system when there could be multiple geocaches. Who should have higher priority? Neither. Because both are enjoyed and both are allowable. Find a place that works for the kind of cache you like, while also realizing that if you place a cache for an experience you like you may well be removing the option for a cache experience someone else likes that you don't. (and I'm not arguing for numbers - I have one of those single-cache-that-takes-up-a-trail-system caches; only arguing for remembering that people like different things (as we all know) but how we talk about people who like different things really sets a tone for the community.

Absolutely. The puzzle could be connecting to the wifi then visiting a URL by ip address which serves a website. (or who knows what other experiences could be provided by that sandboxed wifi) 100% feasible! I'm the developer of a couple of web based applications that use a web server and browser but are intended to be used without (or very limited) internet access. One of them has been installed in hundreds of research locations around the world, exclusively in developing countries. Another similar project is something called SolarSpell (https://solarspell.org/) that basically a solar powered digital library that can be built (instructions are on the web site) by a local institution in a developing country. I've met with the the developer of the project several times to talk about some potential collaboration.

For the same reason you do not stick to logging one type only? Would you be happy if you eat the same meal every day? Sorry to say, but it almost sounds like you are against a level playing field? As was mentioned, some prefer one type over another, and that right there should be enough! To be honest, I feel a remark like that can only come from someone who sits neck deep in geocaching luxury and is spoiled for choice with no reason to complain about anything. Your remark about quality also suggests we do not have quality caches, somewhat arrogant and not appreciated! According to your profile, you are located in Germany (beautiful country btw), more specifically Karlsruhe, I could not help but notice that you have about as many caches in a radius of 8km as we have in entire Malaysia, an area of 330.800 km². I do not know how many active players Germany has, be we have about a dozen only, half of them expats (read: temps), please refer to the geocaching map for detail. Before you say, "place more caches" , another thing I have noticed is that I have created twice the amount caches than you have. In any case, you definitely get more out of the game as a seeker! Before the virtual rewards we had only 1 virtual, nothing else. When Virtual Rewards 1.0 came out, exactly 2 were dropped in Asia. Only 0.1% had landed outside North America and Europe! We had to remind HQ that the world is larger than that! They tried to correct the situation with Virtual Rewards 2.0, but yeah, you can't distribute caches when there are no players to distribute them to, right? If you want to check "geographic spread", feel free to check the distribution maps for virtuals and adventures! But the list goes on, no webcams, no mega/giga events, no reviewers or lackeys visiting with their pockets full of goodies, none of that. We do not run out for FTFs, we save the caches we have for the souvenir runs, and the demands for those are not always friendly to cachers in remote regions! You tackle me when I talk about cache diversity, and suggest to go for quality instead. About quality, we have spent years cleaning up the scene of zombie caches, and have brought up the quality of our game significantly! The number of caches has increased significantly too! We have also successfully lobbied for our country souvenir, we had articles published in newspapers, started social media, we handed out caches, promoted however and whenever possible! But... we're only a dozen strong, and we can only do so much! Any player has a limited reach, and can only realistically maintain a certain amount of caches. So why should we not ask HQ to look our way and ask for extra support? We are few, and virtual caches allow us to expand the game beyond our reach and personal limits. I doubt they will unlock the game to allow geocaching to grow unrestricted, but supplying virtual types to the few players who keep the game going outside North America and Europe, the same ones that allow HQ to keep touting the game as "global", that comes at no extra cost for HQ and should be a no-brainer. Mind you, because there are few cachers in Malaysia, most of the geocaching traffic, say 99%, comes from tourism, so we are not so much placing caches for ourselves, but for the many tourists (many Germans btw) that visit. Right now we suffer lockdown and restrictions, but while the game is going strong in Germany and is actually promoted as an outdoor activity, the game is flat on its behind in Malaysia since March 2020 and unfortunately it will be for some time to come. So excuse me if I suggest that HQ should invest more in the few players that currently keep the game going against all odds. As I so often say, we too are part of the game, and deserve more than the odd bone thrown, a bone for which we actually have to remind them (beg?) every so often. As NLBokkie mentioned a few posts ago, personal preferences are subjective, and of course quality caches are a must, but it would be good to be aware that not all countries bathe in geocaching luxury the way Germany does. And it is not because Germany has been served, and you have a distinct preference, that we have to settle for the standard cache types! If you look at the geocaching maps, any of them, it is clear that HQ should invest more virtuals in the countries that could use a leg up. As said, it cost them nothing, but it would make a huge difference on the map! If you know that there are cities with more virtuals and adventures than some continents, you really have to question "geographic distribution" as it is today. They love to refer to their own rules when it comes to "requests", but they seem to forget they also make the rules. In an effort to allow left behind countries a fair chance to catch up, why not handpick a few prominent cachers and supply them with 10-20 virtuals and a handful of adventures? More caches on the ground (virtuals tend to be reliable and have a longer lifespan), more chances to attract new players, ... do it right and everyone benefits! Cost for HQ to drop credits based on reviewer feedback is minimal, and requires good will more than anything else. Apologies for the long post, only because I care. Cheers!

I found out about this because you popped in on Geocache Talk one night and talked about it. I have a feeling that led to an increase of participants this year.

We've been talking about L5 here in the forum for a while, and are looking forward to GPSIII satellites in the future as well. L5 should help to resolve some of the issues that degrade positioning performance. GPSIII will mean that we no longer need to depend upon ground based references like WAAS and EGNOS, which will be nice as well. And more birds in the sky has already improved ephemeris issues and the occasional lousy HDOP that we used to encounter for a couple of hours on particular days when the constellation was a bit whacked relative to our ground position. But there will still be challenges to getting the level of precision described in that talk in anything but ideal conditions. Multipath issues, which I think will likely be improved by L5, will always remain a bugaboo that has to be dealt with in software to some lesser or greater benefit. Quickly sorting whether a signal is direct or reflected is certainly something that continues to perplex some GPSr manufacturers now. S/N ratios will remain an ongoing technical challenge as well. Again, not an issue under ideal open sky conditions, but we don't always cache in an ideal environment. Heck, I don't even know if Garmin's clocks (or any others in consumer goods) are tight enough to resolve the levels that this guy is talking about (0.63m?) Would be interesting to know whether the GPSr chip manufacturers are going to have to improve their own specs to take advantage of this, and how difficult or costly it might be. They may be there now, or it could pose a hurdle. No way to know from where most of us sit. As an aside: Good on them for finally preparing to dump NAD83 in favor of a more realistic model. Long overdue.

I would hope that number of finds or "popularity" doesn't become a measure of cache quality. The ones that get the most finds are the urban P&G micros in tourist hotspots, whereas the ones that get the fewest finds tend to be the more challenging and, for me at least, rewarding ones. Sure, that's what we'd hope, but that wouldn't be the reality of the situation. Popularity can only mean quantity of activity -- given the measures we have, how else can it be determined? Favourite points are just as subjective, find count is only a measure of activity, there's no universal quality rating system. "Popular" right now means that the caches found the most tend to be the ones that most people enjoy (not that I agree with that in the slightest). 'Awesome' caches (which is also subjective) that get few visits will be drowned out by the quantity of caches that people BOTH place and find. What we should hope is that HQ realizes that quantity cannot be considered the sole indicator of popularity. The only other way really is by listening to buzz. What do people talk about the most? Or wish they could do the most? There's no metric for that. But that aspect tends to put everything on an even playing field. LPCs may be super populous, but how much buzz is there about LPCs? Consider that general sentiment with all the talk about bucket list caches, which by comparison are found only a fraction of the time and you can count on your fingers relatively speaking. I'd argue there's a whole lot more buzz and excitement about such caches despite being far fewer and rarely found by comparison. But again, there's no metric for that. So, the only measure of popularity is by what people place the most and find the most. Activity will determine what the landscape of geocaches will look like in the short and long term, varied somewhat by region and local community makeup. It's the promotional strategies of geocaching that can only help to retain that feel of what "quality geocaching" looks like (not just 'geocache quality'), by catering to the social buzz, the word on the street -- not merely statistical data.

I will be on Geocache talk podcast show #222 discussing creating Adventure Labs that go beyond the "magical history tour" model that is so common. You don't have to have anything interesting to make an AL that can amuse. I just published one that tells a story but uses nothing from the environment. It could be transplanted to Iowa and play the same. It uses simple puzzles and riddles for the player to solve in the field. A very simple way to do something in an area with nothing of interest, is an I Spy game - particularly good for kids. Listen in Live or watch it later. November 1, 6 pm Pacific.

That seems like the best answer to me. GerandKat's rules of thumb only talk about the specific physical location. I find that often the least significant part of a cache.

Here are your logs from last week: Nov 25 11:38:36 signal2 postfix/error[9786]: 0469C6C0779: to=<REDACTED@comcast.net>, relay=none, delay=0.1, delays=0.1/0/0/0, dsn=4.0.0, status=deferred (delivery temporarily suspended: host mx2.comcast.net[76.96.40.147] refused to talk to me: 421 imta27.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net comcast Try again later) Nov 25 12:27:42 signal2 postfix/error[2474]: 0469C6C0779: to=<REDACTED@comcast.net>, relay=none, delay=2946, delays=2946/0/0/0, dsn=4.0.0, status=deferred (delivery temporarily suspended: host mx1.comcast.net[68.87.26.147] refused to talk to me: 421 imta35.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net comcast Try again later) Nov 25 13:26:40 signal2 postfix/error[8597]: 0469C6C0779: to=<REDACTED@comcast.net>, relay=none, delay=6485, delays=6485/0/0/0, dsn=4.0.0, status=deferred (delivery temporarily suspended: host mx1.comcast.net[68.87.26.147] refused to talk to me: 421 imta07.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net comcast Try again later) Nov 25 15:27:01 signal2 postfix/error[17378]: 0469C6C0779: to=<REDACTED@comcast.net>, relay=none, delay=13706, delays=13705/0/0/0, dsn=4.0.0, status=deferred (delivery temporarily suspended: host mx2.comcast.net[76.96.40.147] refused to talk to me: 421 imta37.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net comcast Try again later) Nov 25 19:25:22 signal2 postfix/smtp[7216]: 0469C6C0779: to=<REDACTED@comcast.net>, relay=mx2.comcast.net[76.96.40.147]:25, delay=28006, delays=27949/57/0.1/0, dsn=5.0.0, status=bounced (host mx2.comcast.net[76.96.40.147] refused to talk to me: 554 imta03.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net comcast 66.150.167.158 Comcast Blocked for spam. Please see http://postmaster.comcast.net/smtp-error-codes.php#BL000000) It appears that we were added to their blocklist sometime last Monday between 15:27 and 19:25 PST.

You might be a Social Butterfly if... You walk the walk and talk the talk—as in you like to go to events! You are fully immersed in the geocaching community and Event Caches are totally your thing. You love meeting all of your fellow geocachers and have a knack for helping newbies fall in love with the game! To earn the Social Butterfly souvenir, earn 70 points individually on your Friend League starting October 29 at noon UTC through December 3 at noon UTC. This month earn higher points for attending Event Caches! https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2018/10/you-might-be-a-social-butterfly-if/?newsletter=PM