Just the best MICROS

[+Snoogans]

I've hidden a few micros and I'd dare to say that NONE of mine are of the redheaded stepchild variety known as lame.

 

This isn't a micro angst thread. Gawd knows there are enough of those.

 

This thread is for the micro cache choices out there that deserve praise.

 

My personal favorite micro is Leapin' Lizards by Marine Biologist. I get a chuckle when I think about the sharp intake of breath the first person in our party took upon finding this one. It ranks above many of my other regular cache finds and is in the top 20% for originality among my finds.

 

Among my own hidden micros, I'm most proud of Hardcore Sunrise or Sunset.

 

One look at the logs or the cache gallery would quickly dispell the preconcieved notion that ALL micros are lame.

 

 

It saddens me to see people bash micros for being micros. What they are really doing is bashing another person's contribution to the game.

 

Please post links to micros that you think rise above the stigma of lameness.

Edited November 19, 2006 by Snoogans

[+D@nim@l]

I've hidden a few micros and I'd dare to say that NONE of mine are of the redheaded stepchild variety know as lame.

 

It saddens me to see people bash micros for being micros. What they are really doing is bashing another person's contribution to the game.

 

 

You mean like this or this?

[Clan Riffster]

Out of the many kewl micros I've found, these three come immedietely to mind:

Under the Overpass

Tranquility

Palatka Park Shelter

[+Confucius' Cat]

Snowfrog put out several great micros. He was a veritable evil hide genious- unusual but not impossible.

 

Unfortunately he was goaded out of caching by those that are the self-appointed guardians of the caching community because of a little flap over an EXCELLENT micro at Walmart.

 

Archived but excellent:

(I might just adopt some of these)

 

parking lot micro

The cache that caused all Snowfrog's trouble, placed in a different location. Truly cool micro.

Very simple, but quite a surprise.

This cache is clearly seen in ... this picture. A masterful camo job.

 

I can probably post more, but these come to mind right off. (sorry they are archived- I'll look up some that are great and still available)

[ScottFla]

Clearly seen? I am so blind.

[+The Leprechauns]

I'm partial to micros placed at high-traffic scenic overlooks where a regular size cache wouldn't survive very long. My favorite example is The Elves are Easily Overlooked, hidden at a little-known park with a spectacular view of downtown Pittsburgh. Everyone knows about the more famous view from nearby Mount Washington, but it takes a GPS to get you to this spot. Even being a micro, I've had to replace this one several times due to muggles.

 

Quotes from the cache logs:

 

"This has to be one of the best micros I've ever found. Good hide away from most of the muggles, not that there were any there at this time, and a killer view... day or night. The first time I was here was during the day, this time was at night. Two entirely different views but both times the view was amazing. A definite don't miss cache. Adding this one to my favorites."

 

"I lived in Pittsburgh for five years (in the days before I cached) and never knew that this area was here. I had been most of the other overlooks but so far I must agree even though it is a little bit out of the way this is worth it and so far the best of them."

 

"I found the cache easily but I stayed around for an hour taking lots of photos of the spectacular view."

 

"Our first completed cache, it was a fun find!!"

 

"It was such a breathtaking sight, it took us a long time to peel ourselves away from the vista and go look for the cache."

 

"#600! And fittingly so...one of my all time favorites."

 

"Great first cache experience, thanks. "

 

"In 10+ years in the burgh, we had not been here."

 

"WE FOUND IT. Actually we found the park. The cache was clever too. This park has been the talk of my office after a really cool night time photo of the Pitt sky line was emailed to a friend. We couldn't pin point where it had been taking from. We figured it might be one of the many Mt Washington outlooks, but it had been taken too far down from the point. This park/outlook is so new that there was no info of its existinance via google maps/earth. It was the location of this cache that lead us to the outlook. Thank you so much for placing it..."

 

"If it weren't for this cache, I wouldn't even know the outlook exists!"

 

"That was a great spot to put a cache. I liked the size of it too. I think I like micros better than big ones; more of a hunt."

 

"YESS!!! This is find #100 for the Gang."

 

"Even though I've lived around here all my life, I had never been here before. If I bring visitors to see Pittsburgh, this will be a stop on my list from now on. The best part of this cache adventure wasn't the cache or the outstanding view. While walking up to the lookout, a pair of Peregrine falcons flew right past me and landed in a tree across the road. Awesome!"

 

Daytime and nighttime views from the cache area:

 

 

[+OHMIKY]

check out Sentimental Journey in Tucson

 

I think you will be exprized by the overall coolness of this hide

[+Ambrosia]

I'm alway fond of saying that I own a guardrail micro. "Tsillan" It's at the 3rd deepest lake in the country. Every late summer we get wildfires in the area, they can create some pretty colors over the lake.

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

We're lucky in the NYC area to have some new cachers putting out excellent micros in the city.

Stuyvesant Cove by EastVillageFamily, Sunrise over the Steel Garden by Concrete Rat, and Elefante Rosado by alarm Clock.

The one of mine that I'm proudest of is:

Weehawken View

[+nfa]

Office Space was a fun one that took me to an interesting spot in Burlington, VT...I'm sorry to see that it has been archived...

 

Jamie - NFA

[Clan Riffster]

Unfortunately he was goaded out of caching

C.Cat, how does someone get goaded out of geocaching? Was this a case of dogpile on the rabbit, or just someone with too thin skin?

[+DocDiTTo]

High Knob Memorial (GCNN3Z)

 

Awesome view of the surrounding mountains, one of the very few micros that made it onto my personal favorites list.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Emptor Pardiso by Doombot!

pure urban, check out the number of favorites lists it's on. Scenic beauty not.

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Mile Square NOLF, a home-made molded plastic cache. The owner emailed me about how they made it and I was floored.

 

Eucalyptus Line a film container disguised as a knothole in a tree. Unbelievably realistic.

 

"Revenge" I don't know how I can talk about my favorite micros without giving them away. The best ones are those that are ingeniously constructed to blend in with the surroundings. I also enjoy them better if I haven't seen them done that way before. There's more to micros than hide-a-keys.

[+CENT5]

Taku Trickery

 

A fabulous hide in Anchorage Alaska.

[Mr.Yuck]

Unfortunately he was goaded out of caching

C.Cat, how does someone get goaded out of geocaching? Was this a case of dogpile on the rabbit, or just someone with too thin skin?

 

I meant to reply to this too. From all those links, I recognize that as the guy forever famous in these forums as the placer of a Wally World micro and the "Wal-Mart Security" fiasco. So C.Cat, what are you saying here? You don't believe the username "WalMartSecurity" was legitmate, and it was really a disgruntled cacher? And that the placer was goaded out of geocache placing from the incident?

[Keystone]

Unfortunately he was goaded out of caching

C.Cat, how does someone get goaded out of geocaching? Was this a case of dogpile on the rabbit, or just someone with too thin skin?

 

I meant to reply to this too. From all those links, I recognize that as the guy forever famous in these forums as the placer of a Wally World micro and the "Wal-Mart Security" fiasco. So C.Cat, what are you saying here? You don't believe the username "WalMartSecurity" was legitmate, and it was really a disgruntled cacher? And that the placer was goaded out of geocache placing from the incident?

This is a thread about "the best MICROS." Would the three of you like for me to move your off topic posts to a separate thread? It is an interesting discussion and I would be happy to do so. Just send me a PM. Or, simply take your side conversation to PM's amongst yourselves. But please let this thread stay on topic. Thanks!

[+queen_ladybug]

I'll take a micro in any interesting location that doesn't have room to hide a larger one. Several places in our historic downtown area have absolutely no room for a larger cache, but they are very nice stops to make. A well placed nano or other evil micro can be a lot of fun for us as well. Just really depends on our mood that day. When I go out caching with my kids, I'll make it a mix of micros and larger caches for variety. Heck, some gas station lamp post micros have been good for us too. While caching with 4 kids, they make great bathroom and snack pit stops with the bonus of being stealthy finding a cache at the same time. Maybe I'm either too new at this or just have a great variety around here, but I like them all so far.

 

 

BTW, some of my favorite micros/nanos so far have been:

 

Not a Hitchin' Post - VERY evil

 

The White Snakes - This link was the first one I've found...Trying to find enough to be a Master Hunter

 

Curt's Cache - nice hide by a good friend of mine

 

A place for the Spirit, Mind and Body - This one took me to a hidden place in town that was gorgeous and I knew nothing about.

[+Snoogans]

Thanks to everyone that posted on topic so far.

 

I posted this thread to illustrate a point in response to a remark made on yet another of the blind micro hating threads.

 

is micro spew a fairly new thing, or has it always been that way?

<snip>

Is it getting worse? or has it always been this way? Are real caches an endangered species now?

 

As you can see by this thread, micros are a very real and important facet to your daily cache hunting choices.

 

To lump them all into the lame catagory or to insinuate that they are all in some way less of a cache is a great disservice to those of us who tryyyy to make an interesting experience out of our micro hides.

 

Just some food for thought.

 

Please continue to post links to micros that deserve praise.

 

Here's a memorable one.

[+Renegade Knight]

One of my favorites was inside a mall. Your GPS could get a lock via the skylight. You sat on a bench at ground zero and discretely reach under the lip of the planter...

 

Half the battle is realizing that your GPS is not lying to you. It's not in the parking lot, it's inside.

[+Snoogans]

With 201 pictures posted in this micro's gallery, it must be more than your average hide-a-key.

 

[+D@nim@l]

(Removed by request, and was off topic)

Edited November 22, 2006 by mtn-man

[+DanOCan]

I looked back at my bookmark list of best caches and there have been some micros but these three stand out:

 

Y? - Y not? by 3jaze

 

Egert's Park Micro by nicolo

 

Not quite brass by XRN95

 

Remember: "Crappy Cache Syndrome -- It's Not Just a Micro Thing"

[+Jennifer&Dean]

Our Micro Infestation #5- The Garden (Click here!) gets pretty good reviews. One log even says "This is what micros should be like" from an experienced cacher.

 

I also enjoyed Genus Loci's An Asp in the Garden of Birds and Big Doggy's Menu Venue caches.

Leonata's Herd of Turtles cache is a lot of fun to find as well as take new folks to look for. If only we'd had cameras...

 

-J

[+TrailGators]

This is one of the best micros I've found! There is a log inside!

Edited November 22, 2006 by TrailGators

[+Ambrosia]

This guy was such a cute little suprise! He went along with the name of the cache, so he made me laugh when I found him. The owner went to a lot of work. I couldn't post this on the cache page, it would have given it away, so I'm happy to put him in here. (Sorry, I didn't realize that he was a bit dirty, I should have spruced him up a bit for the pic....but you know how wild animals can get . )

 

 

[+Snoogans]

This guy was such a cute little suprise! He went along with the name of the cache, so he made me laugh when I found him. The owner went to a lot of work. I couldn't post this on the cache page, it would have given it away, so I'm happy to put him in here. (Sorry, I didn't realize that he was a bit dirty, I should have spruced him up a bit for the pic....but you know how wild animals can get . )

 

 

 

If that's one of the caches I think it is, there's a whole zoo of 'em.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Snoogans

[+Ambrosia]

This guy was such a cute little suprise! He went along with the name of the cache, so he made me laugh when I found him. The owner went to a lot of work. I couldn't post this on the cache page, it would have given it away, so I'm happy to put him in here. (Sorry, I didn't realize that he was a bit dirty, I should have spruced him up a bit for the pic....but you know how wild animals can get . )

 

 

 

If that's one of the caches I think it is, there's a whole zoo of 'em.

Yup. I got such a kick out of it, though.

[+Ambrosia]

Hope it was ok to post here!

[+Snoogans]

Hope it was ok to post here!

 

I'm sure it was OK. They posted the entire zoo on the seed cache that they came from. They are proud of those and rightly so. I can't help feeling kinda proud too. They blasted the participation curve on their seed cache as I predicted.

[+9Key]

Rapunzel is a cache a friend and I hid a few years back. It was a blast to hide.

It is a micro but is most certainly not a park-n-grab. Being comfortable in confining dark spaces full of spiders is a requirement. Oh, and bring a pen to sign the log.

 

[+cimawr]

I'm not giving the cache name because I don't want to give too much away, but one of my favorite caches is a micro in a park. It's a tiny metal tube inserted into a golf ball; the golf ball is half-buried in dirt under a bush near the fence. Since it's out in the open, GPS readings are usually accurate and will get you quite close.

 

What makes it such a clever cache is that such golf balls are a dime a dozen in parks around here.... but IF you pay attention to your surroundings when entering this particular park, the posted rules state "NO hitting of golf balls in this park".

IOW, if you paid attention, the presence of a golf ball (if you observe your surroundings well enough to notice it) should immediately strike you as unusual. If you didn't, you're likely to overlook it.

 

And a micro is the appropriate hide for that particular park, as well - there's no place to hide anything larger that wouldn't get "muggled" fairly quickly.

[+Ambrosia]

Hope it was ok to post here!

 

I'm sure it was OK. They posted the entire zoo on the seed cache that they came from. They are proud of those and rightly so. I can't help feeling kinda proud too. They blasted the participation curve on their seed cache as I predicted.

Ok.

[+Snoogans]

Rapunzel is a cache a friend and I hid a few years back. It was a blast to hide.

It is a micro but is most certainly not a park-n-grab. Being comfortable in confining dark spaces full of spiders is a requirement. Oh, and bring a pen to sign the log.

 

 

I've been hearing about that cache since I started caching. One of these days.....

[+Quest Master]

(Removed by request, and was off topic)

 

How is that off-topic? That was my all-time favorite micro. It's a shame that it's no longer with us.

[+Snoogans]

(Removed by request, and was off topic)

How is that off-topic? That was my all-time favorite micro. It's a shame that it's no longer with us.

 

Well, it wasn't me that requested it, but I rolled my eyes when I saw it considering the poster's negative stance on micros. I saw it as an attempt to start the lame micro debate on this thread and wasn't going to grace it with a response. This thread is about micros that deserve praise. He only posted a provocative picture and gave no follow-up, so I can see why his picture was deleted.

 

Can you tell us what you liked about it, or post a link that would show mostly favorable logs that would indicate that it deserved to be praised?

[+Ambrosia]

Umm, is that even the same pic that D@nim@l posted?

[+Quest Master]

Can you tell us what you liked about it, or post a link that would show mostly favorable logs that would indicate that it deserved to be praised?

 

Sure. Not New Stantion But! was a spoof in its inception but it became something of a running joke that was endlessly entertaining to its cult following. It was a really good example of how to hide a really bad micro. Somebody lost their sense of humor and deleted one of the funnier logs but it was a really fun cache while it lasted. It was praised for being lame because it succeeded at that. I still get emails from people asking me what happened to it and they're really bummed when they find out they can't log a DNF.

[+mtn-man]

Umm, is that even the same pic that D@nim@l posted?

No, it is not the same picture. You are correct Ambrosia.

Note that there was no text, just a picture.

 

(Removed by request, and was off topic)

How is that off-topic? That was my all-time favorite micro. It's a shame that it's no longer with us.

Well, it wasn't me that requested it, but I rolled my eyes when I saw it considering the poster's negative stance on micros. I saw it as an attempt to start the lame micro debate on this thread and wasn't going to grace it with a response. This thread is about micros that deserve praise. He only posted a provocative picture and gave no follow-up, so I can see why his picture was deleted.

 

Can you tell us what you liked about it, or post a link that would show mostly favorable logs that would indicate that it deserved to be praised?

I rolled my eyes too. It was an attempt to drag the topic down, period.

[+Moose Mob]

I believe the OP was talking about good micros, not bad locations. Pictures of dumpsters show bad locations, and can be considered off topic.

 

Let's get this thread back to micros that folks enjoyed.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Unfortunately he was goaded out of caching

C.Cat, how does someone get goaded out of geocaching? Was this a case of dogpile on the rabbit, or just someone with too thin skin?

Mostly "dogpile", but perhaps a little of the latter also. I think his decision was a little hasty, but I have experienced some of the same **** as i have posted in other topics and i kinda know where he's coming from. At times my skin is a little too thin too.

 

back to topic,

Little Blue Busca is a great one. VERY difficult to find and unique hide, but it is in an area with nothing much to offer and some of the later posts mentioned being told it was private property.

 

Gimme Shelter in Mooresville is a really cool hide with a poetic clue that challenges one's archaic vocabulary.

 

Rick's famous wall of faces is a very unique place in the city... an ordinary place of business with a very cool tradition. Cache is not much, but the place is cool and you wouldn't know about it, even as a local, unless you patronized the business or found the cache. Isn't that what caching is about? 'tis to me.

 

I'm sure I'll remember more as time goes on.

 

Great thread. Time to counter the micro hatred by showing that there are good ones. I would venture, LOTS OF GOOD ONES.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Hey, can anybody perhaps post those mentioned here in a bookmark list and somehow sort them by state?

[+Ambrosia]

Ok, helping to get this thread back on track.

 

Hard to beat this: Under the Needle One of my favorite caches.

 

[Mr.Yuck]

I believe the OP was talking about good micros, not bad locations. Pictures of dumpsters show bad locations, and can be considered off topic.

 

Let's get this thread back to micros that folks enjoyed.

 

I believe moderators removing the pic was a bit much. OK, here's my contribution.

 

The oldest extant suspension bridge in North America (built in 1891), in a beautiful setting about 25 miles north of Williamsport, Pa.: Golden Gate Miicro

[+Confucius' Cat]

The oldest extant suspension bridge in North America (built in 1891), in a beautiful setting about 25 miles north of Williamsport, Pa.: Golden Gate Miicro

 

Sorry about your areas false claim to fame!

This is the OLDEST extant suspension bridge in thU.S. built DURING the Civil War. It was still one of the main crossings between Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY last week!

 

The Roebling bridge in Covington was the prototype for the Brooklyn bridge and the Golden gate.

 

Closest cache - I have not found it so i cannot evaluate its quality.

 

EDIT> I reread the cache page for Golden Gate Micro... it says it is the ODDest extant suspension bridge... Now I reckon I gotta go see what is so ODD about it.

Edited November 24, 2006 by Confucius' Cat

[Clan Riffster]

I'm not sure if this is on topic or not, but there is a multi nearby called Froggies & Spiders & Snakes, Oh My!!! which is 5 micros giving coords to a regular. All of the micros are stand alone caches, and any one of them would certainly qualify for any "Best Micro" list. The containers themselves are all typically brilliant OverRover creations, in stunning locations.

[Mr.Yuck]

 

EDIT> I reread the cache page for Golden Gate Micro... it says it is the ODDest extant suspension bridge... Now I reckon I gotta go see what is so ODD about it.

 

OMG! It does say Oddest. Even if I did notice that, I would have said it's a typo. But a quick google search shows the cache owner just took that text off of this webpage: Lower Suspension Bridge

 

I dunno, "Odd" because the pics show it anchored 12" from someone's house?? Much better pics on this website than any that geocachers took, btw I'm guilty as well, no camera on my person at the time of my visit.

[+Confucius' Cat]

I think I get it now. It did really mean ODD. The suspension "cables" are actually steel bars with "eyes" on the ends. Odd!