Newbe Question

[+marshhawk]

hi all, just getting started and couldn't wait to get out.... but it snowed fri eve.2/18.

is it wrong to go to a cache in the snow and leave footprints.

waited until sunday and got close enough to check for tracks(city parks) they were all over.

is there a "rule" for not "spoiling" a cache?

thanks, marshhawk

[+briansnat]

You should do your best not to give away the cache location. Your search pattern alone will leave confusing footprints. Most people also try to add more to the area after they found the cache to throw people off.

 

Caching in the snow adds a challenge to the sport and is especially satisfying when you are able to find the cache. No need to hesitate looking for the cache because there is snow on the ground.

[PathfinderRAM]

I found a cache last weekend that was in a grassy area right off a parking lot. Most of the grass was neatly kept(mowed) but further out it bordered on a large field with grass knee high. It was on the edge of this where the cache was located. You had to walk in the taller grass to get to the cache. Since this cache was just recently listed there had been quite a few people to find it. I could tell the taller grass had been walked on and it led right to the cache. This time of year in Alabama when the grass is brown and dead, signs like this are definitely a clue. But I think most muggles wouldn't even think twice about it.

 

I can see this as providing additional clues to new geocachers. I would assume for the more experienced geocachers it's like a bright blinking arrow pointing to the cache. I have only been caching about a month, but I also have a lot of experience outdoors, so it was just natural for me to notice things like that.

 

Look at it this way though, if it's in the snow and there are lots of foot prints, particularly from people who don't find it right away, it could also lead some people in circles or away from the cache if they follow other's footprints.

[+Prime Suspect]

hi all, just getting started and couldn't wait to get out.... but it snowed fri eve.2/18.

is it wrong to go to a cache in the snow and leave footprints.

waited until sunday and got close enough to check for tracks(city parks) they were all over.

is there a "rule" for not "spoiling" a cache?

thanks, marshhawk

If you're thinking about muggles, then it might be a concern.

 

If you're thinking about other geocachers, consider that deciding to go caching in the snow will only tip off other cachers who have also decided to go caching in the snow.

[+Torchbearer]

I could tell the taller grass had been walked on and it led right to the cache.

 

I found my first traditional cache this way. I looked for probably about 5 minutes around the same spot(where my GPSr was pointing) and then happened to look down a few yards and shazam there it was. A perfectly stamped down trail. I've always read that you should do all you can to keep the cache site hidden but sometimes it just can't be done I suppose.

[+Team Neos]

I found a great one in the snow the other day...The footsteps in the snow took me right to where my GPS said the cache was located, but then things got crazy. There were obvious spots where someone had poked in the snow looking for the cache, but when I looked in those places, there was noooooo cache. I thought for a few minutes that the cachers there before me had not found the cache. I did locate the cache, underneath some snow that looked like it had never been touched, with a cacher's name and date and time from just before the time I was there. I ran into the cachers who had been there before me later that day, and asked them for tips on how to recover the cache that way. Clever!

[+rnlorna]

We don't get snow in Sacramento, but I have seen lots of trails leading to a bare spot in the ivy, around a tree trunk, etc. My family calls this a geopath and my 9 year old daughter wants to follow ALL trails we see, thinking they might lead to a cache. Yes, a big blinking arrow with a megaphone saying "THE CACHE IS HERE!!"

[+marshhawk]

Thanks for the responses, I know people put alot of time and thought into this activity.

I just didn't want to ruin anyones effort being inconsiderate. again thanks. marshhawk

[+SwampYankee]

I've done 4 in the snow this winter.... If I see tracks going to it, I just go home as I don't like not finding it myself. If I'm the only one thats been in, I enjoy walking out backwards and stuff like that to make it realy confusing. I take the time to go elsewhere and in general just make it as confusing as possible. The ones i went after had not been found since last fall, so I was pretty sure there were not that many looking for it.

I don't go to any if I sense someone else is after at the same time....If your both in the same area really only one is gonna find it...takes the fun out of it for me so I come back another time for that one also.

Being retired I can hunt all week and leave the weekends for the the working folks who have less free time.

Good luck with the addiction. SwampYankee