Full. no room for more caches

[+Bad_CRC]

What do you do to find new locations to hide?

 

Or do you just remain happy with the existing caches that are around?

 

It's great that there are lots of caches around, they are everywhere in this area (a few good ones, a lot of low quality poorly-maintained or disabled but not archived ones unfortunately.) But it looks like there are few if any places left to put new caches (except micros, which I'm personally not a fan of.)

 

There were a few places that I wanted to try new caches, but because of terrain issues (heavy tree cover making signal nearly useless), parking issues, cache saturation issues (I suppose we don't really need 3 or 4 caches in an area even if it's technically big enough), or permission issues on the few remaining areas, none of them seem to work out very well... which is probably why there wasn't already caches there.

 

Like most probably feel, I want to "repay" geocaching for the fun I've had by contributing higher quality caches for others to enjoy, but for now, unless I can think of or copy an idea for new locations that haven't been used.. it looks like I'm stuck with 7 waypoints in my garage.

 

 

lonely caches waiting for a home.

[+BlueDeuce]

Hey, since when has it ever been 79 degrees in Minnesota? (That's a joke.)

 

Can you travel a bit south? That Northeast corner of Iowa could use a few new caches.

[+edscott]

Just guessing from the location of your finds that the Richard Doren Forest is not so far away and has a relaively low cache concentration. Get out away from the main roads and there should be lots of spots.

[+Bad_CRC]

Hey, since when has it ever been 79 degrees in Minnesota? (That's a joke.)

 

wow, great point. thanks for bringing that up...

 

It's saturday, it's sunny, it's over 80 degrees outside now, and I'm inside talking about caches online instead of outside finding them.

 

*goes to find mosquito spray and hiking boots.*

 

edit: ouch! apparently, mosquitoes these days do NOT follow the rule book which clearly states that if someone completely covers themselves in mosquito spray, they must be left alone and not relentlessly and repeatedly attacked.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Bad_CRC

[Clan Riffster]

What do you do to find new locations to hide?

There were a few places that I wanted to try new caches, but because of terrain issues (heavy tree cover making signal nearly useless), or permission issues on the few remaining areas, none of them seem to work out very well.

[scm]Get a 60CSx, then you don't have to worry about tree cover. [/scm]

 

Seriously though, there are always places left. I've found several hiding spots by browsing an area with Google Earth, then checking the appropriate county's property appraisers website to see who owned the land. Another good tool is the oft inadequite map provided by Groundspeak on each cache page. scroll around and look for green areas, AKA parks, and research the locations. Sometimes these will turn out to be actual parks, and other times they are nothing more than wooded lots.

Good luck, Brother. Don't give up the fight. We need those ammo cans hidden!

[+Bad_CRC]

[scm]Get a 60CSx, then you don't have to worry about tree cover. [/scm]

 

Wish I could afford a better GPS cause I've heard it does help a lot, but I just don't have the cash.

 

 

I've found several hiding spots by browsing an area with Google Earth, then checking the appropriate county's property appraisers website to see who owned the land. Another good tool is the oft inadequite map provided by Groundspeak on each cache page. scroll around and look for green areas, AKA parks, and research the locations. Sometimes these will turn out to be actual parks, and other times they are nothing more than wooded lots.

Good luck, Brother. Don't give up the fight. We need those ammo cans hidden!

 

Yea, I've been doing something similar, using that trackmaker program to overlay the caches ontop of ariel photographs of the area, works really nicely.

 

 

It's looking like the only real option will be to look farther away from town. The downside of that is that not as many people will visit, and maintenance will be more difficult.

[+brodiebunch]

Just lie in wait until a poorly maintained one turns up disabled, then pounce on the location. That worked for us once.

 

It would be great to have 7 regular sized caches like those in good spots in Seattle. We are oversaturated with puzzles, multi's and unknowns that are all micros. But we are just a bit outside the 25 mile range posted in the guildelines.

Edited September 16, 2006 by brodiebunch

[+Kabuthunk]

And in the meantime in Winnipeg... we have room for a TON more caches. In fact, it's very annoyingly sparse around where I live :{

 

There's one cache kinda close to me... and the next is several miles away. Head over here... I'm sure you can find TONS of spots for those fellas.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I have to wonder if you are a non-driver, someone who gets about on bike or foot, because if you have a car your world-view is a bit limited!

 

Looking at this map indicates that your county isn't anywhere near crowded, much less full, and the counties around you almost empty!

 

I can't even zoom in and see a neighborhood that I would call crowded!

 

I looked at a list of nearest caches to one on the map you published, and have to go out a radius of 40 miles to get 220 caches.

 

I have 220 caches within 9.2 miles of my house!

 

Yet my area isn't crowded - I am on the way out to place two new ammo-can hides as soon as I write this!

 

Even if you are handicapped, like myself, I see one road going west and one going NE that have no caches along them.

 

Get those caches off the shelf!

 

Ed

[+Bad_CRC]

I can't even zoom in and see a neighborhood that I would call crowded!

I looked at a list of nearest caches to one on the map you published, and have to go out a radius of 40 miles to get 220 caches. I have 220 caches within 9.2 miles of my house! Yet my area isn't crowded

 

wow, you must have some good terrain around. I am jealous. That many caches in this area would be rediculously overcrowded with the limited amount of public land. I did notice that a most of the finds on the first few pages your find list are micros. While it is possible to fill an area full of micros that could not support regular caches, In my opinion, looking for micros is almost a completely different hobby than looking for regular caches. Everyone has their own likes/dislikes of course, none more valid than any other, but it seems that most everything I like about geocaching is often missing from micros, and everything I don't like is often there.

 

I like: Seeing beautiful natural areas, Hiking in the wilderness, taking pictures of nature/scenery/wildlife, just absorbing calm and quiet surroundings.

 

I don't like: being eaten by mosquitos because I'm stopped in the same spot looking for something rediculously small, being in busy public areas surrounded by muggles, DNF because it's a freaking film can in a brush pile ,being in plain or boring locations, spending more time looking around the site with the GPS turned off than I spent hiking to the waypoint.

 

Just my own personal feelings of course. I usually won't even bother looking for micros because I don't tend to enjoy them, and why do something for fun ...that you don't find fun?

 

I have to wonder if you are a non-driver, someone who gets about on bike or foot, because if you have a car your world-view is a bit limited!

Looking at this map indicates that your county isn't anywhere near crowded, much less full, and the counties around you almost empty! Even if you are handicapped, like myself, I see one road going west and one going NE that have no caches along them.

 

Well that's good advice, and I will look out for spots farther from town. (the existing rural caches in the area don't get many visitors though, so it would be better to find a closer location if I want a cache people will actually use.)

 

A couple of things that may not be obvious for people not from around here though, this area is filled with flat farmland, so outside of town, there is quite a lot of area that is farmland... while there may be plenty of acres of land nearby, there aren't a lot of sites that are suitable for a good cache. I'd be annoyed if I went to find a cache and it was just sitting out in a field, or in a ditch along a highway. Some may enjoy that, but I like caching for the hiking and scenery, and a ditch along a road, or a field just doesn't provide that (to me). If I'm not providing a good experience to the cacher, then it becomes just a number.

 

So, the post wasn't really saying the number of caches wasn't high enough, it was saying that the sites that I would consider worthy (in my own opinion) of a good cache tend to already have caches in them in this area.

 

So, if you were saying that I'm just too darn picky then you are probably exactly correct.

 

Hope your 2 ammocan hides go well! they are too rare around here, and tend to be better caches (contents, location, etc.) overall than the peanutbutter jar or leaky gladware caches that are so common in this area.

[+BlueDeuce]

Yeah I'm very rural too, so I am lucky to have a rails to trail location nearby. One cacher told me that my cache was to far down the trail and would have work just as well closer in. So I told them they could certainly place another cache in the area so that there would be a even more caches to look for.

 

They placed a tiny magnet on the backside of a sign in the parking lot.

 

Oh hey, must be this world-view I keep hearing about.

[+briansnat]

What do you do to find new locations to hide?

 

I...

 

...read newspapers and magazines looking for articles about public land purchases, or unique places

...read tourism brochures that point out areas that might be of interest in my region

...frequently look at area road and topo maps and stat photos.

...keep my eyes open when I'm out hiking or driving about and if I see something good, do some research to make sure its public land

...am not afraid to follow those little unmarked trails that head off to who knows where and find out where.

 

There were a few places that I wanted to try new caches, but because of terrain issues (heavy tree cover making signal nearly useless), parking issues, cache saturation issues (I suppose we don't really need 3 or 4 caches in an area even if it's technically big enough), or permission issues on the few remaining areas, none of them seem to work out very well... which is probably why there wasn't already caches there.

 

Outside permission issues, I don't see any of these as a barrier to placing a cache. Most GPS units should get reception under tree cover if used properly. If not, place your caches in the fall, spring and winter when the leaves are gone. Does parking have to be 500 feet from the cache? If its public land, there has to be some place to park. So what if its 2 miles away? If its a good cache people will make the walk.

[+Kacky]

I totally agree with Brian. Maybe some of those places have enough trees that will drop their leaves, so you can get good co-ords next month? Or not... don't let the tree cover stop you from making a creative hide - just give a good hint with it.

 

Why not have 3 or 4 caches in an area? In this age of high gas prices, people like to park once and get several finds.

 

Hide some! Ya know ya wanna!

Edited September 17, 2006 by Kacky

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

LOL, I only posted to help, not harrass, so please take it in that vein!

 

On density, a micro and an ammo can take up the same 528' radius, so for density issues micro/traditional isn't really the issue.

 

Perhaps consider this - when you live in an area you know about places and may assume them of little or no interest. But, you are hiding the cache for folks who don't know about these places! A place familiar to you may be a really neat discovery for them!

 

Or, you don't know about these places and finding them can be a great surprise. I have been amazed to find things in and about my town through geocaching that half a decade living here never showed me!

 

With that in mind, try researching sites like http://www.exploreminnesota.com/northeastern_minnesota.html or the local AAA tourism service in your area.

 

I see a whole series of historical interest possibilities just glancing at the above-linked site!

 

Just tryin' top help!

 

Ed

[+Bad_CRC]

LOL, I only posted to help, not harrass, so please take it in that vein!

 

absolutely took it as intended, and I will indeed look at more rural spots as you suggested. I appreciated the reply .

 

I also am preparing to check tomorrow into possibly adding another one or two to a large area nearby that already has 2... I think it will be ok to do so since it will be a good 15-20 minute hike between them.

[+Team JSAM]

Looking at your sat. pic there are a lot of spots to hide some caches, just go for a drive and see what you can come up with.

[Sadie]

Looking at your sat. pic there are a lot of spots to hide some caches, just go for a drive walk and see what you can come up with.

 

fixed.

[+Zzyzx Road]

We live in a small town, with lots of farmland/dairy action surrounding...

One place has an old surrey axle complete with wheels for a mailbox holder. They are on my list to ask if I can place a cache on their support (not anywhere near the actual mailbox!) since it is cool.

I also drive to and from the outside araes on different roads all the time, just to see what else is out there. Neat old houses, pretty horse farms, some odd statuary somebody welded...the kids always ask me, "Why are we going THIS way?"...

[+ar_kayaker]

It would be great to have 7 regular sized caches like those in good spots in Seattle. We are oversaturated with puzzles, multi's and unknowns that are all micros. But we are just a bit outside the 25 mile range posted in the guildelines.

 

The 25 mile guideline is just that...a guideline. If you regularly find caches further away than taht, your reviewer should allow you to place them further away than that. The distance guideline is just so that a cache is in an area you travel to often enough to maintain it.

 

I have two caches just past the 50 mile mark.

 

AR_kayaker

[+sbell111]

I have one that's 1,760 miles away. Talk to your reviewer.

[+Bad_CRC]

well thanks everyone for the prodding. I will keep working to find more "good" cache sites.

 

Sorry that I didn't really make my intentions clear in the original post, I don't just want to throw caches out there because there are a few square feet that don't have a cache, I want really good spots.

 

I've seen plenty of caches where ...I've found them, then it's "+1 ... ok what's next?" and move on.

 

I've also seen a few where I get there, and think "woah. this is a really nice area I never would have known about... geocaching is great!"

 

the second type are the locations which are in short supply, (assuming you don't get that feeling from a burgerking parking lot micro.) and the only places I'm really interested in putting new caches.

 

I placed one because of this thread, and so far the location seems to be going over well with the people who visit, I have a second spot in mind that isn't quite as nice, but it's on a big overlook with a great view of the valley, so I think people might still like that as well... not a lot of great scenery on the prarie, but I'll keep looking.

 

thanks again for the motivation, I'll find some really good homes for the new caches yet, even if it takes a while.

[+DaveA]

well thanks everyone for the prodding. I will keep working to find more "good" cache sites.

 

thanks again for the motivation, I'll find some really good homes for the new caches yet, even if it takes a while.

 

The photo of your ammo cans on the shelf made me laugh. I have four ammo cans on my shelf too! 2 of them are even stocked.

 

Like you I don't want to put out 'just another cache', I want the cache to be awesome.

 

A year or so ago I considered my area to not have many good spots and there were only a few caches within 10 miles of me. Now there are dozens. Many I consider unremarkable locations, but there have been some nice hides I really enjoyed that I could have used, but simply wasn't aware the spot existed.

 

I think part of the problem is simply getting out and exploring natural areas for the sake of exploring them and finding the good spots.

 

One idea I have is the river near you. From the photo it looks like there are no caches *in* the river. If you really want a high traffic cache you won't like the idea, but putting an ammo can cache on an island in the river makes for a lot of fun for some people (like me). If the island is subject to flooding, just use a chain and lock to secure the ammo can to a well rooted tree so it won't float away. Don't worry too much about maintenance as ammo cans are weather/waterproof for the most part and an on river location isn't likely to get muggled. Just stock the can with some good swag and plan on visiting for maintenance once per year.

 

Another idea is to stash the ammo can in an unremarkable location, but make it a multi leg cache and make the journey itself worthwhile even though the last leg isn't anything special. A visit to the local library may turn up historical sites of interest that are little known and not often visited. Could make for a nice cache experience to teach visitors a little history about the area and even learn a thing or two yourself. Maybe there is an old, mostly abandoned cemetary nearby with someone buried there who did something worth remembering. Maybe there is an area with nothing more than the remnants of a structure with historical meaning out in the middle of nowhere? Maybe there is a little natural nook in the middle of developed land? Maybe there is an area that isn't remarkable in itself, but someone died there and you could tell thier story as a memorial to them? In other words if you are having trouble finding a great area, perhaps consider an area that isn't great for it's natural beauty, but you can make the experience great by telling a great story to the cachers?

[+cachew nut]

 

 

lonely caches waiting for a home.

 

I really need to put up some more shelves and organize the garage a little better.

80 degrees in Minnesota, you had better enjoy it while it lasts!

[+Super_Nate]

For anyone else who may be reading this...if you are loaded with caches in your area and the majority of them are yours and you are complaining that all the locations in the area are taken......then archive a couple and hide new ones

[+WxGuesser]

 

 

lonely caches waiting for a home.

 

you could always put some of you junk into the ammo cans to make space for more caches!

[+Bad_CRC]

80 degrees in Minnesota, you had better enjoy it while it lasts!

 

this thread is from a while ago. we won't see 80 again.

 

though it's supposed to be 74 tomorrow (tue) and I took the day off either another hide or a geocaching trip perhaps.

[CoyoteRed]

ROFL!

 

Okay, I've read this thread up and down, and I've wondered just where anyone said it was 79°. I couldn't see it.

 

Now that I see it this reminds me of a block party the wife and I went to several years ago in a very small subdivision--it only had 29 houses. There was a single (as in "un-married") gentleman who showed up. One of the other guys asked his "friend." "I dunno. She's got a big nose." He finally went back and got her--he only lived a few doors down.

 

Later, when talking to some others about the party someone asked another about this gentleman's friend. "What about her nose?"

 

The reply, "She had a nose?"

 

Most male eyes didn't get up that far, if you know what I mean.

 

I guess I was only looking at the ammo cans.

 

Oh, I guess I need to be on topic...

 

I like using Google Earth to scout places. Then I ride around looking. A lot of times the location doesn't pan out, but it's still fun to explore.

[+carleenp]

I like to take a Delorme Atlas and start visiting green spots that show up on it. When I was in Nebraska, I found some nice public areas that nobody was really aware of that way. In Illinois, it is a bit harder since there is more cache density and greater park restrictions. But using the Delorme and other maps to locate areas to check out is still quite helpful. I also enjoy driving around looking for spots. Even if it turns out that a cache won't work in most of them, I enjoy seeing new parks.

[+BlueDeuce]

ROFL!

 

Okay, I've read this thread up and down, and I've wondered just where anyone said it was 79°. I couldn't see it.

 

 

Pffft, why would I want to stare at a picture of what he's got? I have eight ammocans in my basement and they are better stacked.