How To search or night and winter friendly.

[funkoptimus]

I live in Minnesota(rochester,mn) and winter is knocking on the door. Is their a way too search for winter friendly cache?. Also the idea of a night time cache sound like fun also. Is their a way too search for specific types like these??

[+briansnat]

There is a winter friendly attribute that you can search on using pocket queries. There may be many more however that are winter friendly that don't have the attribute set.

 

I've learned that most caches can be found under snow using detective work, cache sense, a hiking pole and a lot of luck.

Edited November 28, 2006 by briansnat

[funkoptimus]

There is a winter friendly attribute that you can search on using pocket queries. There may be many more however that are winter friendly that don't have the attribute set.

 

I've learned that most caches can be found under snow using detective work, cache sense, a hiking pole and a lot of luck.

 

newbie here what is/are pocket queries??

[+gof1]

From Pimesuspects GeoLex.

 

Pocket Query – A cache query engine available only to Premium Members. A wide variety of search and filter parameters are available. The resulting query is emailed to you in either GPX or LOC format, on whatever schedule you set. The term “Pocket Query” is often used to reference the actual file that the query generates.

[+The Leprechauns]

Even if you are not a premium member, you can still see the attributes on the cache page. Also, look for caches that have been found recently. If it snowed on Friday and a geocacher found the cache on Saturday, it's probably winter friendly.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Fortunately I live in the sunny South, where an inch of snow is rare enough to shut down cities, but I have had the opportunity to cache in the snow a few times on trips up north.

 

I will be in Pennsylvania caching here in a week or so, at CCCooper's Christmas Party, and you can count on my presence that far north making it snow! That's just the way it works.

 

As mentioned in earlier posts, many cachers adapt their hides to wintertime conditions making them findable year round, use the winter attribute to indicate those that can be found in winter and / or leave notes and hints that will help you.

 

On one of the more interesting trips we cached in about a foot of snow with a blind cacher. The snow was a great equalizer and he could (and did) find them as easily, if not more so, than we could!

 

I have also cached with this man at night (and even once at night in the snow) and he had the advantage of moving slowly and thinking logically, thereby often being the first of our group to make the find.

 

So, my advice on wintertime hides is think it through, think about what you would do as a hider knowing folks are going to hunt it in the snow.

 

Night caches shouldn't be as badly affected by snow. Most night caches are trails made with reflective tacks at eye level nailed (they're really just thumb-tacks) to trees. You go to specified coordinates, look around with your flashlight to find the reflecting tacks, go to them, look around for the next set and so on. This leads you along to the hide site, with the last set of tacks being at or very near the cache.

 

Be sure and set breadcrumbs or backtrack on your GPS, as few hiders leave tacks to mark the way back out and you will then be coming from the wrong side of the tree to see them!

 

Night caching is, to me, more fun. Urban or rural, especially with friends, night cache runs have provided some of the most exciting and memorable caching trips I have been on!

 

Certainly both snow and night each raise the difficulty level of any cache, and if you can regularly find them at night in the snow you should be quite proud of yourself!

 

Have fun,

Ed

[+krisandmel]

Hey I'm in MN as well!

 

Up here in Northfield!

So, Hi!

 

Anyway, I've been wondering the same thing about winter and night.

Seeing how, now it's almost "night" all the time pretty much, dang it was gloomy today!

 

I've never night-cached, I've had enough trouble spotting them at noon in July to try it blind.

 

Plus, I'm worried about appearing suspicious skulking around in the dark.

 

As far as the winter thing, I would think that after a fresh snow, any cache found in the past few days would show a pretty clear path of footprints right to it, taking away much of the challenge and most of the fun and satisfaction of a feat accomplished.

 

Although, after a fresh snow a cache could also be much harder to find.

 

This is our first winter with a GPSr, so it'll be a new experience to be sure!

 

Hey, this could be the excuse needed to justify night-vision goggles!!!

~K