A Touchy Subject

[+Team Zappy 45]

Why hide a cache in an acre of thorns? First, I know I don't have to hunt them. Second only people who do these hides can really answer the question.

 

There is no skill in getting to them, you just push through the thorns and get scratched up. Once to ground zero there is nothing interesting. It looks the same in all directions. A reading of 20 ft is good so now the hunt is crawling around in a 20 ft circle of thorns and since you can't see to the ground I mean crawling. When you find the cache it is a container covered with a pile of sticks.

 

I hate to miss any cache, I just want to know your reason.

[+SeventhSon]

I hate to miss any cache, I just want to know your reason.

To get you there ... and it worked

[+ParrotRobAndCeCe]

Why hide a cache in an acre of thorns?

Because there was already one IN the acre of poison ivy?

[ImpalaBob]

Many caches here in S.E. PA were placed in late Winter (February - March) and there was little undergrowth, picker bushes, and poison ivy. Now they are as you stated ...a field of thorns or poison ivy .... no fun to get to them at all! I just save them for late fall. Just wait until you try and find caches in the snow!!!!! ImpalaBob

Edited July 6, 2005 by ImpalaBob

[+Hoppingcrow]

Maybe the owner is hoping you'll come along with a machete and clear his land for him? I think that's what I'm going to have to resort to in order to get to a particular cache that is firmly hemmed in by a combination of devil's club, salmonberries and nettles. Doing it spring or autumn is also an option, but then the leaves are off the devil's club, making it harder to identify.

[+briansnat]

Why hide a cache in an acre of thorns?

 

To make it tough to get to.

[+Mule Ears]

...because in Arizona, everything has thorns. And if I return from cache-hunting and I'm not scratched and bleeding I miss that sense of accomplishment

[+Greymane]

Why? That, indeed, is the question. Why place a scuba cache when only a limited number of people are qualified to reach it? Why place a cache on a rock face where only climbers can get to it? Why place puzzle caches where the lazy will never take the time to figure out the location?

 

THE CHALLENGE!! Isn't that what it is all about. The challenge of attaining new goals and seeing new things.

 

Or, then again, it could just be to pi** you off.

[+Miragee]

I tried to find a cache yesterday that was placed in 2001. The description states that it is a nice walk on a mostly-flat trail.

 

Some of the recent past logs stated that there were lots of thistle plants, but we didn't think that would bother us.

 

Because of all the rain this past winter, the thistles were of several different species, some were six-feet tall, most were dry and sending out clouds of white-headed seeds, and there was no path whatsoever.

 

However, we perservered and arrived at the cache location . . . where, just like the last two brave cachers, we didn't find the cache.

 

I'm going to pay more attention to past logs . . . and I'm going to start refraining from having to find every cache.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

However, we perservered and arrived at the cache location . . . where, just like the last two brave cachers, we didn't find the cache.

 

I'm going to pay more attention to past logs . . . and I'm going to start refraining from having to find every cache.

But now that DNF will haunt you to the ends of the Earth

[+Hoppingcrow]

But now that DNF will haunt you to the ends of the Earth

Precisely the reason I'm probably going to crawl out of "Sulphur Creek Falls" looking like a porcupine...!

[bogleman]

I have placed two caches in very thorny and hard to get to areas. I have first hand knowledge of the areas and how to enter the woods without too much discomfort. I think of it as a mind game, I personally do not have a problem with any type of terrain, dress appropriately and go for it. I feel most people are lazy and if given a choice they will take the easy way - how bad do you want it? I take my kids caching with me so sometimes I have to carry them one at a time through the thick stuff - no big deal that add to the adventure (for me). I want the average cacher to challenge him or herself and think about what they are doing rather than walking in a straight line right up to the cache location. I try my best to warn everyone before they attempt one of my caches the choice is yours. Test yourself - how bad do you want it.

Ian

[+Renegade Knight]

Muggles don't play in thorns. Geocachers do. It helps prevent cache theft.

Edited July 6, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+Harry Dolphin]

Why hide a cache in an acre of thorns?

 

To make it tough to get to.

 

I thought that that was what boulder fields were for.

 

I have two recent DNFs in poison ivy fields. One was just a poorly place stage. Hate it when that happens!

[bogleman]

I was discussing this topic with another geocacher regarding one of my caches. Some caches are hidden in early spring or late fall when the weeds are down, through the spring and summer the thorns arrive and take over. It may not have been the intention of the cache owner to place the cache in the middle of a thorny area. They may have thought this looks like a good spot then later the area becomes overgrown. On the other hand I DID specifically place one in the middle of a thorn patch, it is easy to get to if you can find the correct way in.

[+ohgrl]

No challenge? I just placed one in the middle of a field that happens to have a few thorns and you can practically step on it and not even see it...isnt that a challenge?

 

edited to add I did mention the thorns in the description!! And that placing it in the open field when there were trees surrounding it ups the challenge because 90% of people will look near the trees out of habit...the clues do specify the open field (the trees are within a 30ft margin of error)

Edited August 28, 2005 by ohgrl

[+reveritt]

I have no problem with this kind of hide as long as some warning is given in the cache listing. There is a cache attribute for thorns.

 

I have walked away from caches like this--with no regrets. It's part of the game, and it's how I prove to myself that I'm not really obsessed--merely enthusiastic!

[+JohnnyVegas]

With all the thousnds of cached to find in my area, I just don't bother with them. It's not worth it to me to get my clothes torn just to find a cache

[+dogbreathcanada]

This is more of a prickly subject, is it not?

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

How about some prior warning? Name the cache Brer Rabbit?

[+hndlbr]

no pain no gain. helps you realize you are alive.

[+Rick618]

Alaska and NW cachers have all sorts of extra nasties to fend against. Had not heard of Devils Club before, nor cow parsnip but after some GIS wow, both seem a bit unfriendly. Not to mention when you read over the various back country warnings and find out about all the wildlife dangers to avoid plus the slight drop in temperature it's a wonder you get any caching done at all. Still some gorgeous country that I would like to see first hand some day.

[+Old Bet]

Face it: it's a jungle out there. In our limited caching experience, we've encountered poison ivy, thorns and, the scourge of the northeast, Lyme-bearing deer ticks. I also shifted a rock in a stone wall bordering a cemetry and went face-to-face with a mean ugly spider sitting atop the cache. (The spider was about 3/8ths of an inch across when I found it, but by the time I reported home to my wife it was two inches with 1-inch fangs dripping venom!) And this is copperhead country, so we have not found all of the perils yet.

 

What are ya gonna do? This are not limited to geocaching: if you enjoy the outdoors, you'll find this stuff. A walking stick and long-sleeve shirt should be able to outwit a few thorns.

 

(Edited to correct spelling and sharpen spider fangs.)

Edited August 30, 2005 by The Old Bet Brigade