Suggestion To Groundspek

[+GerbilMafia]

I think it would be a cool feature to be able to search for difficult caches specically (5/5's).

 

In the mean time does anyone know of any true 5/5's in the midwest?

[+StarBrand]

Pocket Queries to the rescue!!

 

Become a preminum member and you can do such a search via PQs.

[+GerbilMafia]

How do you use PQ's?

[+The Leprechauns]

A pocket query for caches rated 5/5 within 250 miles of Peru, Indiana returns 18 caches. Go to http://www.geocaching.com/pocket to set one up yourself!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Each time before I travel in the USA or abroad, I use a customized pocket query -- which I run immediately on a page on the site -- to find all 4/4 and higher caches near where I am going, and also to find any Terrain 4+ caches. Works perfectly! Course, you do have to be a premium member to use pocket queries. Then again, most of the 4/4 and over and Terrain 4+ caches within 60 miles of our home are premium member-only caches, anyway!

[+Mopar]

For what it's worth:

There are very few TRUE 5/5 caches in the world. They are usually 5 terrain or 5 difficulty; rarely both.

 

A true 5/5 cache "Requires specialized equipment and knowledge or experience, (boat, 4WD, rock climbing, SCUBA, etc) or is otherwise extremely difficult" to reach the area the cache is hidden...

and

after you get to ground zero, finding the cache itself is "A serious mental or physical challenge. Requires specialized knowledge, skills, or equipment to find cache".

Very few caches in the world really fit that rating.

Most caches that are 5 terrain are fairly easy to find once you get there. Who wants to climb Mt Everest only to find you need to go back home for a special tool to retrieve the cache?

[Tahosa and Sons]

Come to CO and I've got a Sweet 5 x 5 someplace in the backcountry.

[+Mopar]

Come to CO and I've got a Sweet 5 x 5 someplace in the backcountry.

Looks like my kinda cache, and I'll be out there soon, but looks like not before the snow melts. But is it a true 5/5?

Here's the cache description:

Climb the stairs between the child and the sage, take a bearing of 278° between the backside and the garland. The Cache will be up there someplace. When combined with the Chef's Special the distance hiked will be about 11 miles with an elevation gain of about 3,500ft., which should make it a 5 x 5 without any special equipment. Just some experience in the fine art of Caching is all that is required to find this cache.

Looks like a total of 11 miles hiking at some nice altitude, but the elevation profiles you posted don't seem to indicate any special equipment such as climbing gear is needed. The cache page even states no special gear is needed.

The ratings system says a terrain 4 is:

Experienced outdoor enthusiasts only. (Terrain is probably off-trail. Will have one or more of the following: very heavy overgrowth, very steep elevation (requiring use of hands), or more than a 10 mile hike. May require an overnight stay.)

Looks like that might cover it? Maybe even a 4.5 terrain.

Terrain 5 requires special gear or skills to reach the cache.

If you have the skills and/or equipment needed for most 5 terrain caches, they are often easier then a terrain 4. Examples of a legit terrain 5 might require scuba gear, a kayak, climbing or repelling gear. If you own and know how to use those things, the cache might actually be pretty simple. A cache on an island in the middle of a calm lake is a terrain 5. A cache 20ft down a 40ft cliff is a terrain 5.

 

Same thing with difficulty.

The difficulty rating is how hard to find the cache once you reach the location. Difficulty 5 requires special equipment or skills to locate the cache. Needing a coat hanger to retrieve the cache could make it a 5 difficulty. Following the rating system, a 3 star difficulty cache may take 1/2 a day of searching for an experienced cacher to locate it. A difficulty 4 cache would require several DAYS of searching. Do most of your finders spend more then several days camped out at the final location searching for the cache?

Of course, I haven't done the cache, so until then it's only Monday evening quarterbacking from 2000 miles away. It's possible I'm wrong, but for that I think the cache description would have to be deceiving.

 

Like I said, it looks like a tough cache, the type I would enjoy immensely, but it doesn't appear to be a 5/5. From here it looks like around a 4.5/3; which is harder then most real 5/5s.

[Tahosa and Sons]

Come to CO and I've got a Sweet 5 x 5 someplace in the backcountry.

Looks like my kinda cache, and I'll be out there soon, but looks like not before the snow melts. But is it a true 5/5?

 

Like I said, it looks like a tough cache, the type I would enjoy immensely, but it doesn't appear to be a 5/5. From here it looks like around a 4.5/3; which is harder then most real 5/5s.

 

Interesting speculation since you have to find the Chefs Special first which rates a 4 x 3.5 on the Clayjar Scale. And we usually kick the terrain up a half a notch due to the effects of altitude in the mountains of Colorado. Actually the Dessert if done alone is not all that hard of a cache, but when its combined with the Chefs Special it does kick it into the upper ranges of the D's & T's.