Micros in the woods: An experiment

[+2qwerqE]

Here's a new cache and an experiment

 

So: Do you count yourself among those who feel uninclined to seek a micro hidden deep in a forest just because it's a micro? Do you tell yourself and anyone who'll listen that it's about the adventure, the hike, the undiscovered green space, all the while thinking: <Sigh> Why's it have to be a freeking micro in an enormous expanse of living hiding places? Why?

 

Well, now's your chance to put your hiking boots where your heart is and make a clear point. Seek this cache. And/or the nearby Valley Seen cache by jaypit. Now you can get two smilies to show for your long happy green hike. 3 if you count Gorley Hill (an ammo can in the woods) on the way in, though that one may or may not still be there. OK, we (Team J&K and I ) couldn't find it last Sunday. Or you can skip that inexplicable micro and go for what's behind door #2, where the thermos jug speaks louder than an unofficial boycott. Your choice.

 

Besides: it's really a very pretty place in a broad green expanse and is worth the extra smiley if it helps induce cachers to visit. Thanks, jaypit, for showing it to me. And for the record, and to be fair, I must say: J&K and I found the Valley Seen micro, and not the Gorley Hill ammo can. So make of that what you will.

[+Indotguy]

The main reason I would be less likely to take a long hike in the woods for a micro than I would a regular cache is in most cases a micro container is more likely to be muggled by critters or displaced by weather than an ammo can or similar.

[+BlueDeuce]

Ah, the old mirco in the woods thread revisited.

 

I don't mind most caches, but if your point is that I might have to search for three hours and still not find it, please make that apparent on the cache page.

[+Kabuthunk]

I'm not so much against Micros as a whole, but just Micros in a forest. Y'see, as you said, I want to go for the HIKE, and the travel to get there... not spend 3 hours searching under every piece of bark on the ground and inside every possible crevace for a film canister that can hide in a trillion different places in a forest.

 

EDIT: Yeah, what BlueDeuce said. He beat me to the punch

Edited October 4, 2006 by Kabuthunk

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm not so much against Micros as a whole, but just Micros in a forest. Y'see, as you said, I want to go for the HIKE, and the travel to get there... not spend 3 hours searching under every piece of bark on the ground and inside every possible crevace for a film canister that can hide in a trillion different places in a forest.

 

EDIT: Yeah, what BlueDeuce said. He beat me to the punch

 

Hey, we must be onto something. Did you do that "Swiss Cheese" cache near Iowa City too?

[+Former Hawkeye]

I only will look for a micro if there is a bigger cache in the nearby area, I'm not good at finding those little things. I did find one in a SD woods when I was with my friend who is a micromasterfinder. We agreed with a later post. "You could have hidden a mack truck in those woods".

Gee I wish I would have written-so why didn't the owner hid a mack truck ?

[+2qwerqE]

I only will look for a micro if there is a bigger cache in the nearby area,

 

Thanks for chiming in, all. Yeah, I'm aware it's a tired thread, but at least I put a smiley where my point is. Former Hawkeye: now you have your bigger cache nearby! Hike on in.

 

The 'Not a Micro in the Woods' cache is a fairly straightforward seek. No massive tornado alley of downed trees. You are on the top of the ridge so there are no high hills blocking the birds. The canopy is fairly heavy in this old growth area, which is a double edged sword. Yeah, coords can be jumpy under the canopy, but at least there's very little understory to get in your way. It's an easy bushwack, barely off trail.

 

All of which is reasonably true of the Valley Seen cache too. Which, even though I DNF'd it Sat. When I returned on Sun, and stood at coords ground zero, the cache nearly jumped into my hands. It was just right there. Easy. The only reason I DNF's it Sat was because I lost my tripsheet in the woods and didn't know I was seeking a micro, and didn't have the hint. I figured like everything else out here in MMSF, I was seeking an ammo can or similar. i.e: DNF.

 

Grins, 2q

[+Bad_CRC]

not spend 3 hours searching under every piece of bark on the ground and inside every possible crevace for a film canister that can hide in a trillion different places in a forest.

 

That's one good reason micros should be banned in woods.

 

I've been to a couple, and they tend to have the effect of destroying everything within a hundred feet of GZ. As people turn over rocks, whack bush, rip out weeds, tear bark, and generally trample back and forth for an hour or so, the area gets pretty much destroyed.

 

Makes me sad to see an area where this has happened, especially where a full size cache would have fit fine.

[+2qwerqE]

Jaypit has countered my Not a Micro in the Woods with this:

 

A Macro in the Woods

 

His good humor is appreciated. Now there's something for everyone on this pretty ridge in Morgan Monroe State Forest.

[+dougsmiley]

As long as it's not too difficult, I don't mind a micro in the woods. I'm more in it for the find than the swag. I understand that it can be royal pain in the butt to lug an ammo can clear into the deep woods. As long as it's hidden in a way that:

 

Critters don't steal it

Weather doesnt destroy it

It's easy to find

 

It's cool with me. A factory blue bison hanging on a tree branch is a good example. Not hard. Not critter bait. Anything less than a tornado won't hurt it.

 

Like everyone else, what I hate is destroying the woods looking for an impossible micro in the woods.

 

I do think 35mms, M&M Containers, Peanut Butter Jars, Spice Jars and anything else not "really" waterproof should not be in the woods. I don't place those kind of containers at all, since I know i'm saving money on gas by spending money on quality containers now.

 

Unless the hider hikes the trail weekly, they aren't going to be around enough to dry them out. Take the time and money to buy a matchsafe, lock n' lock or ammo can . You'll thank yourself after you don't have to go back weekly to replace wet logs.

[+Indotguy]

I nabbed this little guy on Oct. 7th. The coordinates were good and I found it without a snag. This was a fun hunt and a well placed micro. It should hang around for a while.

[+jadeskyline]

A cache is a cache... I have no problem with micros in the woods, just check out Stumblealongs "Micro in the Woods" series! They can be hard to find sometimes, but so are ammo cans. The poster above is very good at hiding micros in some really cool places, Thanks Indotguy!

Edited October 18, 2006 by jadeskyline

[+maleki]

Would love them to ALL be micros in the woods if it meant there would be NO more Walmart, Home Depot, street corner, lampost, guardrail, park bench, etc, etc, etc, caches.

 

Will always rather spend an hour or two hiking/looking for an out of the way cache, even if we don't find it, than spending the same time driving to the seemingly now endless inane driveup micros.

 

Yes, I'll still stop to make the driveups 'just go away' but there is, with very few exceptions, nothing enjoyable about them.

 

If it has to be, more micros in the woods please.

[+Indotguy]

I second that!

[+2qwerqE]

Would love them to ALL be micros in the woods if it meant there would be NO more Walmart, Home Depot, street corner, lampost, guardrail, park bench, etc, etc, etc, caches.

 

Will always rather spend an hour or two hiking/looking for an out of the way cache, even if we don't find it, than spending the same time driving to the seemingly now endless inane driveup micros.

 

Yes, I'll still stop to make the driveups 'just go away' but there is, with very few exceptions, nothing enjoyable about them.

 

If it has to be, more micros in the woods please.

 

Yeah, I've taken to putting that sort on my ignore list. They bore me. If I'm in an area chasing a tripsheet full of caches and am playing with a person who wants to bag it, I will too. Otherwise, nahh. I'd rather be hiking.