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Northern Latitude Cachers


MTGeoPirates

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Between bouts of running the snowblower, I've been building new cache containers. That seems to scratch the "itch" for caching - at least temporarily.

 

I do have one TB that I really, really need to get back into a cache, but I suspect that even if I do get it out, it'll just sit there snowbound anyway.

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I take my snow shoes and my fold up shovel, a cc ski pole (probe) and head out, and let my gps do the hard work of finding out where to dig if necessary. I just found one last Monday as I was showing a neighbor our great sport. We had a great time-a roundtrip hike of 2.25 mile hike-we looked at things in the nearby state park too. The neat thing is my neighbor thinks I'm great since we found it!

The weather was mild-in the 20's and no wind which is unusual for the Fargo-Moorhead area.

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I go out even if I suspect that I may not find the cache. A typical winter log will look like this one or this one.

I started caching in the winter, convincing my children to go out on some very cold days. :) I will continue to winter cache but after looking for this cache in the winter I don't move snow much anymore, it is a lot of work and it looks bad. I found this cache just the other day and I was almost certain I wouldn't, good co-ordinates and a walking stick make a lot of difference.

Once in awhile you get a cache like this one and winter caching is actually really enjoyable, maybe even more so than in the summer, clever really counts.

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I had my first bout of snow caching this winter. I went out yesterday in 5 inches of snow. That doesn't sound like much but I have never cached in snow before. I found all of the caches I searched for. Yeah it was darn cold, but you dress for it as best you can. I enjoy it. There are no ticks or mosquitos or horse flies or bees to worry about.

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I guess I should have added that we have 3 youngsters 5 and under, so winter caching (especially of the snow shoeing, folding shovel sort) is pretty much out. I've been thinking about where and when to place our first cache, and looking at caches that will be available in the spring. Also looking at caches that are available in the winter. Thanks for the advice Jennifer and Dean, we've looked at Missoula caches for when we're in the area.

 

:blink: (Signal added by the oldest little pirate)

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You are welcome! Come up anytime. We've got an event in Missoula planned in January, we would love to see you there! And can probably arrange a few cache finds during the day if you contact us.

 

One of the plus sides of having a local with you when caching- if they have already found the cache you can usually bribe them into playing Hot/Cold once you arrive at the location.

 

-J

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So what do you do when the mercury is hovering below zero and/or the next cache you REALLY want to find is under 3 feet of snow. Other than dreaming of spring and praying for a little global warming, what do you do to maintain your caching sanity?

Bowling or billiards. Indoor swimming at the health club. Indoor racquet ball or tennis. Skiing and snow shoeing.

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Well, I was wondering about this just today. Glad to find this topic discussed. Being a rookie cacher, what are the guidelines on caching in the snow? I'm not going to so much search for caches, but do need to check on the ones I've hid out there. Won't my tracks give away the hide (more or less)??? Or should I just say to heck with it and check on them anyway?

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Being a rookie cacher, what are the guidelines on caching in the snow? I'm not going to so much search for caches, but do need to check on the ones I've hid out there. Won't my tracks give away the hide (more or less)??? Or should I just say to heck with it and check on them anyway?

 

Many people make tracks all around the area to throw searchers off. Generally the searching process makes enough tracks to confuse others, but I always add a few more around the area. I also stop in a bunch of spots and stamp the snow down so it looks like that might have been "the place".

 

Hopefully new snow will come along and cover your tracks soon enough to make all that moot.

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I find the uncachable weather is a good time for things like working on some of those tougher puzzles, coming up with ideas for hides (I have a few, yet to be implemented due to the weather), making new cache containers from whatever you can find (I've taken to finding whatever odd objects and such I can and trying to find ways to use them :blink: ).

 

If you have any trips planned for spring, you can start thinking about caching there as well. When I went to CA, I pulled PQs for the cities I was going to be in/around, flagged the caches of interest, then made sure to check up on them before my actual departure.

 

Also, consider winter-friendly caches. They do exist. Urban micros, if you're so inclined can be accessible without dragging the little ones out into a frozen forest. Who knows, sometimes even some in a local park might still be workable without too much fuss.

 

Let's not forget tinkering with the GPSr and such.

 

It also helps to have another interest or 3 to take your mind off it all together sometimes. :ph34r:

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What do I do when it snows? Well it's gotta snow pretty bad to keep me from caching, this 8 inches of snow is nothing to stop me yet.

 

I usually leave the little one at home however, she doesn't like the cold. I take my fold up shovel which is attached to my truck anyway, my walking stick (to poke around) and look for footprints if I get lost :laughing: So far this has proved useless as most of the caches in my area have animal prints all over the place and the melting and reicing hides the footprints.

 

Other than that, if it's far too cold for me to stay warm with layers, I sit in and think of ideas to make into caches for my first hide.

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Up here in the Great White North caching during the 3 months of snow and cold is just a matter of strapping on the x-country skis or the snowshoes. Lots of cachers make their caches winter friendly and so far the only one's I've not found in winter were so frozen in I couldn't retrieve them and sign the log.

 

The only time we can't cache is in the midst of a snowsquall (we live in the lee of Georgian Bay) when you can get fall rates of 6" to 1ft of snow per 6 hours. Too dangerous so I spend my time planning new caches to place at that time.

 

JDandDD

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Well, I was wondering about this just today. Glad to find this topic discussed. Being a rookie cacher, what are the guidelines on caching in the snow? I'm not going to so much search for caches, but do need to check on the ones I've hid out there. Won't my tracks give away the hide (more or less)??? Or should I just say to heck with it and check on them anyway?

 

Go anyway!

 

We don't get enough snow in Alabama to worry about, but I recently attended an event in PA that had plenty - nine inches or so, which is a lot to a Southern boy!

 

What I found interesting is that the local cachers there rate caches as snow-accessible and hide caches with that in mind, so that many will be available year-round!

 

Even then, digging for those "innaccessible" ones that were covered in snow with a hand-trowel was fun.

 

Ed

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