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Yes, after my recent run-in with this that saw months of cache preparation go down the gurgler, I'll give it as many up-votes as I can. This is supposed to be the Year of the Hide and there's been much talk about the contribution COs make to the game, but this is something that would actually be really helpful to cache owners. The Help Centre says "Solve nearby geocaches, including Mystery and Multi-Caches, to discover hidden stages" but that's of no help once you've found those solved mysteries and multis because all you see on any of the site's maps is a smiley face at the posted coordinates.

Just like GC didn't update the database with new info from NGS, NGS does not have all the recovery info and pictures that have been posted here. Can't compare the two, sadly. Please note, if anyone submits information, to keep it professional, and only update it if it hasn't been in a year or more, OR, if something major has changed. No names, no funny stories. Those are used by professionals, and whatever you put in there is never deleted, never removed, and will be publicly available forever. I'll be removing the links to the GC site from my Android app and GE plugin then. They were useful before, with additional pictures and all, but if they're all gonna be wiped, there's absolutely no reason to link to GC anymore. Whatever this new project is, I won't even be interested. Frankly, if GC shows it 1/10th the love that it showed benchmarks in the last 22 years, the 'new project' will be gone in 5 years, and I don't have the time to set up a new API and program in new info trading for something that's not gonna last. Sadly, same here. I was a premium member for one time, and when BM code updates stopped happening, it wasn't worth it. I don't geocache, it bores me. (And the one time I DID? Someone stole the geocoin.) While the BM Forum has died down to a quiet whisper, I still checked it regularly, and enjoyed the talk and banter. Disappointed, but not surprised that it was going to happen, just am that it happening this soon. [Edited by Moderator to remove potty language.]

This is just another thing that GC is taking away from me, all of those places and logs and pictures that are just going to be deleted forever. My dead husband and I spent many hours, miles and love of a sport that is now going to be gone. I could come here and at least relive those times he and I had together. So, this is truly goodbye GC. On November 1, without our benchmarking logs and without being able to go to Off Topic to talk to friends that I had made there, there will be no reason for me to return. You have caused me many tears and heartache this year. There is nothing else you could do, as we had archived all our caches before John died in 2019. So this year you killed off, Off Topic and now Benchmark Hunting plus deleting all mention of any of the logs and the Benchmark forum as well. I have a very bad case of heartache right now, thanks to a place that we used to love coming to and where I could come to be with people who remembered John. There, I have had my say, and I know it won't mean a whit to anyone. But, it had to be said. Sincerely, Shirley Bloomfield

Wow, that's impressive. I sometimes wish TB's could talk, and let us know the story of their journey between the logs. Was it someone that simply stopped caching and found the TB's after a while and sent them out again? Someone that passed away and their partner / relative / friend set the TB's free? Did someone buy them at a garage sale not knowing what they were? A TB hoarder who was visited by the ghosts of caches past?

Ironic that you include Wherigos on there. Talk about something you all have let stagnate forever that had so much potential that just became quizzes and reverse solvable before you go junk. Benchmarks are a part of history. No move of a level playing field, actually. It's there or it's not. Just like a cache. OMG what a concept. And even when it's not people still log it as a cache. Cool - so other parts of the world don't have benchmarks. SO? Kinda like a HQ or Maze or Giga icon. Sure, maybe they get around, but to the masses? Rationale for this is weak. Nobody: Nobody: Cachers: Benchmarkers: Newbies: Literally nobody ever in any way shape or form: Groundspeak: Yeah, let's go ahead and stop doing something that takes us literally no effort and that, while only a small group of people love it they really do love it, and just up and cancel it for no reason whatsoever with nominal notice and call it 'progress'.

Hej! I am swedish and would like to know more words and phrases!

I should clarify: the OP is more than welcome to learn how to tree/rock/whatever-climb. I'm not trying to gatekeep this sport. But because it's being presented as "I want to find a couple caches that are high up in trees, where can I buy rope?", I am anxious for the OPs safety. It is not the right mindset here. The question they really should have asked is "where can I learn how to climb trees/rocks/whatever safety." OP: Learn how to climb rocks/trees/whatever in a rock/tree/whatever-climbing class. Use the gear provided by instructors. Make sure you are comfortable. Talk to the instructors. They will be more than happy to help you find rope, harnesses, etc. They are the experts, not random strangers on a Geocaching forum.

We've all had good times caching. A memorable day, a record setting PT run, or finding the perfect spot for a perfect cache by accident. What about the other side of the coin? Lets share our failure days/puzzles/hides.... whatever. I'm really hoping this thread doesn't turn into any sort of negative attack thread, please lets just keep it to our own (or our groups) failure days, and lets keep it fun. Over the last several days, I've been planning a trip for today. Trying to figure out where to go, find somebody to go with me, figure out which caches, etc... I decided on Bodega Bay, CA. 15-20 caches planned, two of which are some of the oldest in California. My son and I were going to spend a special day at the ocean, caching, and just relaxing. That was before I was up all night with stuff flying out of both ends of me like I was Linda Blair. Very, very uncool. Your turn....

So I'm getting ready to hide a few new caches and decided to use a .30 cal ammo can and a decon container for two of them. There is a small military surplus dealer in town so I stopped by to pick some up. I hadn't been there for three years but the last time I was there .30 cal ammo cans were $6.99 and decon containers were about three or four bucks. So I went in and asked for a decon container and they guy asked me weather I wanted the regular one or the geocache version. I ask what the difference is and he says the geocache version just has a note pad and a pencil in it. I ask about price and he says $10 for a regular and $30 for a geocache!!! I think my jaw hit the counter top. I didn't even bother to ask about ammo can prices but I did notice a couple of .30 cal cans sitting on the floor with price tags of $24.99! Don't think I'll be going back there again.

I'm certain I'm not alone in becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of feedback and information from Groundspeak about the overwhelming dissatisfaction of what looks to be the majority of Geocaching.com's users. As a Premium Member who gave money in good faith to use your service, when that service is seriously downgraded (in my opinion--here in the UK we have no satellite/hybrid maps, and MapQuest is not as accurate as it should be), you have an obligation to address our concerns with more than a "I hope you get used to the new maps." Tell us in plain words what you are doing to restore your service to its previous level, or say straight out that we're going to have to like it or leave it. The vague comments and subtle snipes I've seen from Groundspeak forum moderators are creating even more bad feelings and frustration amongst those who are unhappy about the changes, so instead of allowing them to continue to communicate in this manner, please, I'd like a member of Groundspeak who has the authority to speak on the company's behalf to address the Geocaching.com community. To fellow Premium Members: I for one will not be giving any more money to Groundspeak unless the maps are sorted. I would like to let Groundspeak see how many others feel the same way. Please speak up on this thread to let them know if you will or will not be re-subscribing.

This puzzle cache was a 5 difficulty and went unfound for a couple of years. It was eventually found, and has since been archived. I have what I believe are the right coords. Any one know what the GC number was, and anyone know anyone who found it, who I can bounce my coords off of, and talk about how they solved it? I have picture of the puzzle, it was a short story, with the coords buried in it.

A hearty ARRRG! to my fellow cachers, Travel bugs, love them. I absolutely love this idea - it is one of the aspects of caching that drew me to the game. When we first started I was more eager, I think, to get bugs out into the world than actually looking for caches. But, being a good little rule follower, we waited - learning the tricks of the trade, scoping out the possibilities, and earning our time in the trenches. Finally we felt it was time to put out our first bug, a pirate coin - with a mission to wander the world hitting all the pirate hot spots. It was picked up from its starter cache, but not moved along - after a few months I contacted the cacher, and, after two or three e-mails, she finally got back to me. She said how sorry she was, and that she would move it along the next time she was out. She still has it. Our second bug was in honor of a dear pet who had recently passed away. After a good run of a few weeks in our area he was taken to Hawaii and then to Washington state - where he was picked up (I'm pretty sure by a new cacher, if my detective work is worth its salt) but not moved along. I e-mailed the cacher - no response. Do I try again? At what point does it become obsessive? Our third bug is in honor of a TV program that I have loved since I was a kid. After a good run of several weeks in our area it was picked up, and so far not moved along...although, after contacting the cacher, he has promised to place it back into play as soon as he can (I'm giving it until the end of March - it was picked up in November, if I recall - before I give up on it). What do I do? I'm kind of burnt out on losing bugs. Is it better to cut my losses and just enjoy the hunting, or should I get back on that horse and not let the sticky-fingered cachers get me down? Is there a help group for lost bugs? If not, perhaps one should be organized - we can't be the only ones that have loved and lost. Thanks. Daddy Pirate (of weepirates3)

The approach I've used for locations that haven't already had official geocaching policies has been to ask who I should talk to about getting permission. I don't ask "random employees" for permission. But I do my best to find someone who might know, and then ask that person who I should talk to.

Come watch Geocache Talk on Sunday night - this podcast show's topic is desirable attributes, which may include talk related to identifying gadget caches At this point though, the Field Puzzle attribute is most relevant to identifying potential gadget caches.

Not wishing to sound negative, but these days that's not as easy as it looks. Some years back, a large multinational media company bought up all the regional newspapers in Australia and, under the pretext of COVID, shut down the print editions and put the online editions behind their national newspaper's paywall. Notwithstanding, though, there have been occasional radio segments about geocaching, both on the local radio stations and the state-wide broadcaster, and I think at one time a presenter on one of the local stations was actually a geocacher. We also had a mega nearby in 2018 that got a lot of local publicity and I'm pretty sure Geocaching NSW ran a series of newcomer-welcoming events in recent times. As far as I can tell, though, this type of publicity has a pretty low success rate, with most of the longer-term cachers around here coming into the game by either knowing an existing cacher or discovering it through their own browsings. I saw it in an article in an outdoor adventure magazine, though I'd heard of it prior to that but hadn't paid it much attention, but it was only by actually going out into the bush on my own terms and finding some caches that I really got hooked. Just reading about it, listening to a talk or even watching a demonstration won't do that. I don't know what the number of cachers as a percentage of population is nationally but I'd imagine it'd be pretty low, probably about one in ten thousand. The muggle population of my local area (the Woy Woy Peninsula) is about 36,000 and the whole of the Central Coast is about ten times that, so our number of cachers probably isn't that low as a percentage, it's just we don't have very many people to start with. I think the bigger problem we have here is that the focus of the game has shifted from outdoor adventure to quick points-scoring. The newer P&G caches around here don't seem to have any shortage of finders, like GX8P7PD at Terrigal that was published in April and has 23 finders, or GC92TXE at Mooney Mooney that was published in February and has 21 finds. Top of the list on the Central Coast is the Adventure Lab bonus cache GC9M49Z that was published in January and has 35 finds. It's the bushland hides that are really languishing, like GC9QR5W that's only had one finder (me) since it was published in April, yet I really think it's the non-P&G hides that keep people in the game long-term. For me at any rate, if the only caches available in 2013 had been mint tins in parking lot guard rails, I'd have lost interest in a matter of weeks.

Your town has caches owned by several different folks that are at least logging into the website in the last few weeks and granted 200ish caches within 30 miles is not a large amount I bet the number of folks that feel similarly are higher than you'd guess. My point is business as usual is not going to change things so try something different, all we hear is doom and gloom. From old GS blog: "`But there might be one you own that most local geocachers have already found and the location is not frequented by tourists. It could be time to archive it and free up the area, or you might consider creating a new and improved cache!" As I recall this blog post was not well received here, but I agree with it. Talk to the local hiders. Try something new something different. Encourage your unknown neighbors to hide new caches. Not everyone goes to events so they may be out there. Take that rusty tin with mushy log and throw it away and replace it with a shiny new cache. I had a local cacher approach me if I wanted to join their competition to find lonely caches as I had recently found 2, do something with hides maybe. Click on any new finders and see if they are local and encourage them to join. Just trying to help

There's been a lot of talk lately about Power Trails, with very heated opinions on both sides of the coin. Seems to me the crux of the con argument is the uninspiredness (I'm aware that's not a real word) of a film can or hide-a-key every 528'. That kind of got me thinking. We have some pretty good rail trails around my town. I'm thinking a power trail of sorts geared toward newbies, kind of a way for them to "get their numbers up" and address one of my little annoyances, caches with the wrong size rating. Start out with the micros: Cache 1 is a blinky, cache 2 a bison tube, then film cannister, etc. Move on up the food chain, culminating in a five gallon bucket. If done right, I could wind up with a 20-30 cache "Power Trail". Now if I can just get the time off work and get the wife to let me out of painting the house this spring, I'll be all over it.

Why do some people drive 10 mph under the speed limit in the left lane? Why do some people sit directly behind you in an almost empty movie theater, then talk throughout the movie? It's because they're jerks, and they're doing it because they can. If they get a reaction from you, it's all the better for them. Sadly, there's not much you can do about them - jerks will always find a way to be a jerk.

Some people talk about High D/T ratings. Some people talk about solving a difficult puzzle. Some people talk about the cool places they go. But I'll be honest, I'm still chasing that high from the first time I submitted an EC to the Geoaware and said "looking for feedback on what needs to change" and he said "I can publish it right now." Whoosh. Blew. My. Mind.

Hi all, I'm trying to locate someone in the NYC area who might want to speak at an event we run called Hobby. It's a monthly event where we invite 4 speakers to talk about their hobbies for 5 minutes each, and answer some questions from a group of very interested semi-strangers. We've got an event coming up very soon, (Tuesday, November 16th, from 7pm-8pm), and we'd be thrilled if someone in the NYC area wanted to share with us? Here's our HOBBY page: http://www.getHarvest.com/hobby and here's out HOBBY channel, with video of previous lectures: http://vimeo.com/channels/hobby What do you think? Anyone game? Feel free to contact me directly at karen [at] getHarvest [dot] com - We'd love to have one of you geo-caching mavens share with us about what you do! Best Wishes, Karen — Karen Community Manager, Harvest — Harvest / 212.226.4160 / 187 Lafayette St, 6th Fl, New York City http://www.getHarvest.com http://twitter.com/harvest

To start off, I was in Maine yesterday and met a customer right at the Delorme building exit off of I-95. I went in and bought a spiral bound atlas. Looked at the software for the pn-60, NEAT!!! My question is... Can you use your laptop as the screen for a pn-60. Bascially, if I have a mount for my laptop in the truck, can the gps talk back to the laptop and display the information? Since the 60 has a small screen I thought thismight be kind of cool. I know thay offer the small gps units to plug into the laptop, but I thought this might just save some $$$. Don't know why I didn't ask when I as at Delorme. Thanks Hud

Just figured I would post an update here, since we're partway (most of the way) through the summer. This has been a fun project for me, and some of our scouts really took interest too, while others didn't really. We had the whole gamut. What worked well -- having the scouts "vote" or submit ideas on where they wanted the TB to travel talking with the older (3rd/4th graders moving onto next grade) about geocaching, rules, and how to do things right. This age group wanted to follow the rules. posting updates about where the TB travelled on the pack FB group and public FB page. Those who were interested asked about it more. Asking my local geocaching group for help to get the TB moving. I met up with a couple cachers, who took the TB to events and meetups, allowing them to get out of state. hosting an "unofficial" cache event for the cub scouts (grades K-5th) -- they got to learn about geocaching, have fun finding caches, signing names, etc ....but when some kids didn't get the rules, it didn't mess with any official caches. (we had a couple kids empting swag and not replacing, even though we had a "swag bin" you could grab from. Other scouts kept them honest, but still....). What didn't / or what could have been done better -- I wasn't able to monitor/lead all the kids through the idea of geocaching. I think it would have been awesome, retrospectively, to get help from a couple local geocachers willing to talk about / lead interested scouts on a hike and talk about geocaching. This wouldn't work at the pack level, but at a den level, and only for the older kids, I think. Obviously I transitioned away from my idea for the pack planting actual caches. That wouldn't have worked. We did hide a couple caches, with interested scouts, but it's something that will be maintained by me. I think at this age, the parent needs to be willing to help maintain the cache for it to be a go. Some of the parents didn't really understand (or care) about geocaching. It would be good to have a couple adults (i.e. more than just one) who know how to do it, and how to teach kids the basics. Other takeaways I got a ton of help from my local (state) geocaching group. I wish I had known about that earlier. Sometimes kids who love geocaching are just not in the mood to geocache. It's okay, and don't take it personally. There are a bunch of people who are willing to offer tips/advice for you if you message them. My kids regularly ask me to ask for additional tips. And people are very kind. scouts will be much more interested in geocaching at the older ages (middle/high school)....BSA troop level. At cub scout level, Trackables are cool enough to keep them interested ("ooh, look, our trackable made it to Wyoming!"). Thanks so much for all your help, I really appreciate it.

It's only "lost" if you don't provide it - that's what the description is for. You can't get the whole grasp of a cache's difficulty and terrain from the D/T rating only, but it's a good place to start. The cache description is a good place to talk about the specifics of the rating, and how it applies to your particular cache. Add necessary attributes (boat/watercraft required, etc) and someone looking at the whole of the cache page can get a good idea of what's in store when they go after your cache.

Let me put it to you very simply. Yes, if you waved the American Flag and posted an exhortation on your cache page to vote for this guy or that guy, or call your Congressman about this issue or that, or even posted a picture of the UNofficial POW/MIA flag, then THIS American and most likely every other on the site who 'gets' what we're doing here would complain about you. This is my HOBBY. This is not my CAUSE. There isn't ANY other space on the internet where I can talk about how pretty my wife's garden is without being subjected to political rancor from all sides and accosted by commercial noise looking to separate me from my money. This is my HOBBY. NO agendas, meaning no CAUSES. Your cache pages should be about what you hid and where you hid it. Creativity and distraction, subterfuge and humor, brain-teasers and plain-text "GO FIND" descriptions are all great and welcome, but DO NOT try to convince me of anything, here in my HOBBY. ------------------ Even seemingly innocuous stuff like a cache page dedicated to collecting money to rebuild a school, or establish a foundation, or send a kid to camp has downsides. Everybody who went to that school would start posting about how bad it was or how great it was instead of what we SHOULD be reading here, and people would complain about the Foundation and the people of this or that persuasion who would inappropriately benefit, or the MYRIAD of complaints I've read about inner-city kids and camps, and suddenly we're a Social Media site. Then, there'll be the claims of bias because THAT Foundation gets a cache page and MINE doesn't, and if it's successful at collecting money, they EVERYBODY who likes money would go through the minimal bother of getting a Cache Page approved, and we're a opportunistic fund-raising site. Then, there's the inevitable physical backlash against your cache by morons who don't believe in YOUR agenda, or worse, by ones who DO! So, keep your opinions and your causes to yourself,....HERE. GS bites back on this rule fiercely (I hope ...still) because it's such a slippery slope. The description of my second cache was rejected because I used the word 'CHEVY', as in, "I was riding in my Chevy". "Commercial tie-in", I was told. I didn't really grok it then, but I do now. It makes NO difference to me whether or not I agree with you and your agenda; take it somewhere else. This...is...a...refuge. There are so many aspects of this thing of ours that are uncharacteristic of the 'internet', that we need to protect it vigorously. I'm out in the woods having a good time, and I don't want to have to weed through everybody's carp when I'm battling mosquitos. </Rant>

Our Prague Giga trip we talk about playing AL and how those could be shown in app. Now creator can select AL start location and it could be miles away where is actual visit loacations. This should be change to sequential AL. If LAB creator select sequential order then lab location should be in main map latest unvisited location. It would be helpful to all players. Also in non-sequential LAB start point should show in middle point of unvisited locations. In progress LABs should view in map different color dot. Now all is viewed in green and then you need open filter to find "in progress" labs.