Any Body Near Here?

[+Ranger3470]

Another location in the forum suggested I place my original post here on this board so sorry if it is a repeat for some.

 

 

Any possibility of someone saving our TB? Our TB or should I say our kids TB has been left at :

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...5c-2774d6287610which is :

Glen Cove

by Hysteria

 

This is a subscriber-only cache.

 

N 46° 00.396 W 083° 31.438

 

Capt. Bud left our TB in the Drummond Island cache. The TB was dropped there on July 23. The cache was originally placed on 7-21-05. Such a secluded place to make a subscriber only cache. But to make a long story short, the TB Dragon Breath was placed in a cache by someone NOT returning this year and the person who placed the cache to begin with said that they are NOT returning this year either. So much for cache maintaining. Geocaching.com has suggested we check with the forum to see if someone over that way could get it for us. I guess I am still too new to this to understand. I thought it you couldn't maintain it, you couldn't place it. That's why you aren't allowed for example to place a cache while you are on vacation.

 

Hopefully someone out here can hear our kids and ourselves pleading for someone to go get it. We would never make it all the way over there. That's why we haven't gotten it yet.

[+WascoZooKeeper]

Hi, Ranger,

 

I can sure understand how you can feel disappointed that your travel bug is "stranded" in a remote location. One of mine has been in a remote cache now for about a year, and another one was recently "rescued" after being in a remote location for over six months. Yours isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, though that's not going to be any consolation to you.

 

While I can't "rescue" your Dragon's Breath TB for you, may I make an observation and ask a question or two? I notice on the TB page that there's NO mention at all of the fact that the bug is owned by children, nor any requests that it be left in caches where it will be likely to travel a lot -- in fact, the bug's mission statement doesn't say much at all! This would be a good place to put some comments about HOW you want the bug to travel. "Please leave this bug only in caches that have a lot of visitors," or "Please leave this bug only in caches with a dfficulty rating of 2 or lower," or "This bug is owned by a pair of young children, please leave it only in caches that will help it move as far and as fast as possible."

 

Perhaps even more important is to attach a "mission tag" or "goal tag" to your travel bug -- did you do this? The best way is to print a small card (business card size, or even smaller if possible) that has any particular goals or restrictions that you wish the finder to abide by. Laminate the card, punch a hole in one corner, and attach it to the TB along with the ID tag. That way, as soon as the bug is found, the finder can tell right away whether they can help the bug meet its goal, and they can leave it for someone else if they're unable to help. More than once, I've picked up a bug from a cache, only to find once I get home and go online that the bug wants to travel somewhere that I can't help at all! Even if you can't make a laminated card, you can still write the goals on a note card and put the TB and the goal card together in a ziploc bag.

 

As far as "maintaining" his cache is concerned, first of all, I don't see anything on the cache page that states that the owner isn't returning there for a year or more. But in any event, "maintaining" a cache doesn't mean that the owner can or will run out to the cache on a moment's notice. It simply means that they have ability to respond reasonably promptly to matters needing attention. Some caches are in very remote locations, which could involve a full day's travel just to reach the cache and return! In a case like that, "maintaining" the cache may simply mean that if/when the owner receives credible evidence that the cache has a problem -- is missing or seriously damaged -- that they respond within a reasonable time, taking into account he accessibility of the cache. For a remote cache, this might mean that the owner would simply disable the cache online first, to prevent others from making a fruitless attempt to find it, then the owner would arrange to visit the site as soon as they reasonably can -- although that might be weeks into the future.

 

The cache owner, Hysteria, is a well-regarded and responsible cacher. From his cache description, it would appear that he does, in fact, visit the cache area frequently, though not daily, weekly, or even monthly. There's no reason at this point to speculate that this cache does not follow gc's guidelines for maintainability.

 

He may well know others who visit the area. Probably the best course of action for you to take would be as follows:

 

First, update the TB's page to spell out the information I described. Make it clear that it's owned by kids, that you want it to visit frequently-visited caches, and that you want it to trave as far and as fast as possible. This is no guarantee that finders will follow your wishes, of course, but at least they will know them!

 

Second, post a polite note on the cache page itself, and simply state some of the same information. "Hi, the Dragon's Breath TB ended up here, and the kids who own it are eager for it to keep moving. Would the next visitor please be so kind as to pick it up and move it to a more active cache? Thanks!"

 

Third, send a polite note to Hysteria, the cache owner. Don't get into issues of accessibility and maintainability; the cache difficulty and terrain ratings, as well as the cache description, make all that clear. Simply make a pleasant request: "Hi, the Dragon's Breath TB ended up your Glen Cove cache, and the kids who own it are eager for it to keep moving. If you visit the cache anytime soon, or know another cacher who might be able to visit there, we'd sure appreciate it if you could arrange for the bug to be grabbed and dropped off in a more accessible location. Thanks!"

 

Good luck to you and your kids!

 

-- WZK