Attacking Geocachers

[+Star2004]

I few geocaches and geocachers have been criticized lately over the past few month’s in the areas that I cache in.

 

Attacking the cacher.

 

One cache was the cachers first cache hidden and it was found by muggles. Because of work reasons the cacher was out of town for a few months and the person they had arranged to maintain the cache did not come though for them so they asked me to replace the cache, which I did, but I used a macro hoping that it would last, but it was also taken.

A geocacher attacked them for not updating the caching page and stated they drove a long distance to find the info incorrect but they found many other caches in the area that day.

 

Attacking the caches.

 

Geocachers have to remember that not every cache is for every cacher. You also have to remember while you are geocaching to look out for the risks and quite if the risk is above you ability or comfort level don’t do it.

 

Don’t attack the cacher because you can’t to it. Some geocachers like a mental or physical challenge while going for a cache. Other caches like a cache that they can drive up to and get the cache without getting out of the car.

 

If you don’t like cemetary’s they don’t go for the caches that mention cemetery in them. If you don’t like churches then don’t go for the caches near churches.

 

Don’t attack the people placing the cache they make geocaching possible. If there is something wrong with a new cache make some suggestions to the cacher though e-mail, help them. They did a lot better job then the cacher that does not hide a cache.

 

Star2004

[+sTeamTraen]

I think a lot of people (myself included, sometimes) get hung up on the "I have to find all the caches near me" thing. So if someone places a really tough or lame one nearby, because you "have" to find it, the owner has "wasted your time".

 

This is yet another example of why Geocaching is great practice for "real life" (for those of us who still have real life beyond caching... I think I do, somewhere ). We all need to get better at accepting that it's our choice to play the game, chase a given cache, or whatever.

[+hamgran]

I have been attacked recently because cachers didn't like the fact they had to wade through mud and water to get to one of my caches, or they didn't like the place where I hid it, or my description, or the bugs, or the fact that the tree cover gave them different co-ords, or... etc., etc., even though the rating system reflected the cache's difficulty quite clearly. Aaah well.

This is why I seldom criticize a cache - I don't like to be criticized myself - although I really have to bite my tongue when I attempt to find a brand-new cache (especially multis) that haven't been trialed by the owners before going online, and thus have calculating errors in them, making them impossible to find. One I went to wasn't even actually placed until three days after it went online. Aaah well!

- hamgran

[+Hard Oiler]

Hamgran: I loved that cache. The problem is that lots of cachers seem to just ignore those cache ratings. I know a case of a cache that was appropriately rated and the hider got a note suggesting it should be archived because it wasn't suitable for small children.

 

You just can't please all of the people all of the time so as long as you please some of the people some of the time that's good enough for me

[+The Blue Quasar]

That point about "Gotta get em all!" is so very true

 

While I understand that emotion, and I know that I DO have to get all the caches near me, that is a choice I've made.

 

I also know that Flick will NOT do one of the caches near me because of the terrain, and I have nothing but respect for that! He knows that he doesn't enjoy that kind, so why do something you don't like?

 

I hate urban micros that aren't placed at a significant location (normally because a Virtual would be more appropriate but not possible under current rules)

 

I do them ONLY to get them off my list as there is nothing of value in these for me.

 

But that is exactly the point.... I have READ the cache page, I know what I am getting into, I am informed!

 

Don't seek a cache unless you KNOW what it involves and you WANT that kind of adventure.

 

It's not like going to the movies..... where your comments don't go straight back to the director.... Caching is far more initimate and personal.

 

Be kind, but honest... there is no need to hurt anyone's feelings with your log entries.... just learn from it what to expect in the future.

 

The Blue Quasar

[+Amazon Annie]

One I went to wasn't even actually placed until three days after it went online. Aaah well!

 

I'm afraid I've done that and will never live it down thanks to my friends Actually it was just an hour or two, truth be told. I thought the page was 'hidden' when I submitted it and wouldn't show until I said so. I now know better!

 

As BQ mentioned in another topic - knowing the environment when you place the cache- time of year and stuff makes a huge difference too! Place it in the spring and the place looks nice and clear. Go back in the height of summer and the place is an impenetrable fortress of vines and poison ivy - little did you know when you put it there.

 

Sometimes it's hard to gauge just how your logs will be read by others. How about "I dug around until I found the cache". Okay so to you and I it might mean that we moved around some bark and twigs. If it's winter time then you might be moving snow around. To others it might mean that you pulled out your trusty shovel and dug a few holes!

 

A local cacher hates cemetaries and we tease each other in the logs over it. I suppose others might take offense not knowing the likes and dislikes. If you saw "Not Annie Friendly" posted in a log it could be taken in many ways and you could even take it as an insult if you're a cache owner. Around here it's a warning that I need to take a friend to reach it for me.

 

It's frustrating when you expend time and money looking for a cache and have a no-find only to find that the owner updated the logs 5 entries ago with new information and not the page. It's especially tough when you've put in a 2 hr drive and 1/2 hr hike to get there; I know from experience. I can't read all of the logs and cache comments before I go for each of them but I try to check out the ones with lots of no-finds so that I'm forewarned. When you have a bunch of no-finds in an area you can get pretty frustrated.

 

If the terrain rating is very low and I am out in a rural area then I will take a 'wait and see' attitude as I have come across some "1" rated caches that I certainly wouldn't want to take even a kid on. Now that I think of it, there were a couple in Toronto like that too.

 

I've done caches that others have rated as "tough" and when I finally got up the nerve I wondered what all the fuss was about. (Sometimes it's all about the approach ya know!) For me it's a matter of experience and attitude.

[+Swifteroo]

If you saw "Not Annie Friendly" posted in a log it could be taken in many ways and you could even take it as an insult if you're a cache owner.

 

Could this perhaps be added to the website as another "Attribute" icon? I wonder what that one would look like? I have to admit, I find myself every now and then wondering if caches are "Annie Friendly" hehe.

 

Anyhow, just a little over 4 weeks ago now I broke my foot doing a geocache that was rated appropriately as a 4.5 or 5 terrain rating. I had to climb a tree, and I knew I was operating just within my limits to do so. In actual fact, I have climbed many trees, and this was no exception. I was very successful in finding the cache by scaling up and down the tree. The cache owner made AMPLE warning on the page that there was much difficulty involved and that the cache was not for everyone. In the end it was my own stupidity that caused my downfall (sorry for the pun).

 

I certainly don't blame the cacher for putting it there. I knew what I was up against, and I thought about, and could have turned around, or not even gone in the first place. Turns out that I enjoyed that cache for many reasons including allowing me to test out my own limits. I guess the bottom line is that caches do NOT HAVE to be done. If there was a cache I could only get to by jumping into a canyon without a parachute, even if it was right next door to my house, I can assure you that I would not go for it. To each their own!

[+Couparangus]

I like to verbally abuse cachers whose hides are:

 

- too easy

- too urban

- not well thought out

 

 

I say this jokingly, but I must admit to disappointment when a cache is placed in a good area where there happens to be a GREAT area nearby. Maybe I'm from the old-school (isn't that where old fools come from?) but I like the cache find to be secondary to the area its in, or the adventure to the area where the container is located. The biggest criticism I get for my hides is that the terrain can be challenging. I do reflect this in the difficulty rating, but like you say some people don't pay attention to this. Most of the really cool areas are just hard to get to!

 

As for ubran caches, I do concede that many people like this type. I've done some that are great but most are really nothing special. I don't need to kill time that badly.

 

As for the easy ones, these really aren't too bad actually if the area is nice or interesting.

 

Just my thoughts!

[+Keith Watson]

People send me hate mail for my micro mania caches all the time. I look at it as a complement.

[CharlieZulu]

You mean "compliment" , dont you Keith?

[+Pharmadude]

Well if the purpose of the cache is to elicit hate mail, then receiving the hate mail "completes" the purpose, and as such is a complement to the cache.

Or maybe he figures he now has a full complement of hate mail.

[+canadazuuk]

I used to hide micros to elicit forum topics chewing me out for doing so. No quantity of illicit pharmaceuticals could ever help such a situation nowadays.

 

Apparently, being ill 'is it'.

[+Couparangus]

Oh I think all the hiders who push the limits of the rules, good taste and physical endurance are apt to take a bit of chiding from others.

[+Algonquin Bound]

A geocacher attacked them for not updating the caching page and stated they drove a long distance to find the info incorrect

Getting back to the original post, the cachers who "went away for a few months" are responsible for maintaining their caches. If they don't have internet access where they are going (one can usually go to a library), then they should have made alternate arrangements. As you have suggested, it sounds like they did that and it fell through, but it also sounds like they were able to contact you, so they could have given you the info that needed to be updated and had you log on on their behalf to fix it.

 

For whatever reason that didn't happen, so one can hardly blame someone for being upset after driving a long distance and possibly wasting a lot of time looking for something that wasn't there. You haven't posted the cache, so we can't really judge from the language as to whether or not it was an attack. As has been suggested, that might be just your take on it, or that of the cache owner.

 

Speaking of misunderstandings, when this topic was posted, I got an e-mail announcing the new topic, "Attacking Geocachers" and I was really upset and quite shaken. I thought someone had been attacked by a gang or something, while caching. When I read your post and saw that it wasn't about that at all, but about a "Virtual Verbal Attack" in an online log, I was angry. It seemed like a cheap, sleazy way to get people's attention. Luckily, I have become extremely aware of how things can me misinterpreted from a cold reading of an online writing, so I chose not to respond. Now, coming back to read it, I see that was not your intent at all and had I expressed my anger at the time, it would have been like throwing gasoline on a fire.

 

I have had (and probably given out) some pretty harsh criticism. If it comes from a lot of people, I must have a good strong look at it. If it is only one, I try to put myself in their shoes and see if it something that needs attention or if it was just an extended part of a bad week for them.

 

Cheers!

Ian.

"Algonquin Bound"

[+Star2004]

For whatever reason that didn't happen, so one can hardly blame someone for being upset after driving a long distance and possibly wasting a lot of time looking for something that wasn't there.  You haven't posted the cache, so we can't really judge from the language as to whether or not it was an attack.  As has been suggested, that might be just your take on it, or that of the cache owner. 

 

I would understand being upset after driving an hour and not being able to find the cache. In this case they had found many other caches in the area the same day.

 

I did not list the cache or the cacher because it was not my intent to single out any of the cachers that have been attacking or putting down other cachers but to point out that it is happening and maybe prevent it happening to other cachers and promote helping the new geocachers.

 

There are not many cachers in the Grey / Bruce area so when a new cacher appears I'm hopeful that they will place a few caches. It's been a couple of months since a cache has been placed close to where I live and it is still half an hour away.

 

When some does place one and gets really bad logs about the cache they will get discouraged and not place another cache.

 

AB might be right about they could just be having a bad day.

 

Star2004