Mysterious cache

[+aminalguy]

Not to be confused with a mystery cache.

 

My aunt and uncle visited us a few days ago and we were down in Council Grove, KS, for the evening walking the riverwalk, which takes you to the Kaw Mission and several other historic sites along the Santa Fe Trail. So we were walking around the grounds of the Mission and my husband and I both wandered over to investigate a strange rock structure built into the hill that looked like it would have had a statue of the Virgin Mary in it (except it was a Methodist mission). It didn't take long before both of us noticed a rubbermaid container that wasn't terribly well hidden. It looked like a cache, but we had found all the caches in CG! We approached it a little cautiously to discover that it was, in fact, a geocache.

 

We opened it and found it rather wet inside, but it was still mostly OK. There was no indication of who had placed it, but it had been there for many years (I don't remember the exact year), so it wasn't a new listing. The last two logs were over a year apart and it hadn't been logged in at least a year and a half since. It was so out in the open that the people who work at the Mission have to know it's there.

 

We thought maybe it was a members only cache that we hadn't had access to until just recently, but my search this morning came up only with caches we'd found or hidden ourselves. There weren't even any archived caches on the list. We are thoroughly confused by this. Any ideas?

 

Oh, and a search for the name listed for the cache, which had "Santa Fe Trail" in it, came up with nothing terribly nearby either.

 

Thanks,

Mrs. aminalguy

[+wandererrob]

Another possibilty is that it's listed somewhere other than here on geocaching.com. Terracaching, Navicache, and various other smaller sites are out there.

[+aminalguy]

Another possibilty is that it's listed somewhere other than here on geocaching.com. Terracaching, Navicache, and various other smaller sites are out there.

 

I did not know of some of the others, but figured they were out there. I will look into those. Thanks.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Do not be so sure that you were able to check on all archived caches in the area -- to my knowledge, the ONLY totally reliable way to find/view an archived cache is to look at the Profile page of the owner, and (again, my opinion only) any other methods are rather fraught with error. And, of course, as other posters have mentioned, the cache may be listed at one of the smaller cache listing sites.

[+aminalguy]

Do not be so sure that you were able to check on all archived caches in the area -- to my knowledge, the ONLY totally reliable way to find/view an archived cache is to look at the Profile page of the owner, and (again, my opinion only) any other methods are rather fraught with error. And, of course, as other posters have mentioned, the cache may be listed at one of the smaller cache listing sites.

 

Yeah, I just tried all the smaller sites I could find and didn't have any luck. Might our local reviewer be any help?

[+Isonzo Karst]

Could this be the the cache you found? GCA89B archived in 2005.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Do not be so sure that you were able to check on all archived caches in the area -- to my knowledge, the ONLY totally reliable way to find/view an archived cache is to look at the Profile page of the owner, and (again, my opinion only) any other methods are rather fraught with error. And, of course, as other posters have mentioned, the cache may be listed at one of the smaller cache listing sites.

Yeah, I just tried all the smaller sites I could find and didn't have any luck. Might our local reviewer be any help?

Yes, possibly, if the cache is a long-archived cache from GC.COM with which the reviewer may be familiar. It is also possible that the cache was once listed at one of the other, smaller, sites and has since been archived. And, it is also possible that the cache is simply a private cache or a long-forgotten commercial promotional cache, such as a cache used in an advertising campaign to promote a brand of shoe, car or other commodity.

[+aminalguy]

Woohoo!!! Thank you! We may have to check the coords because it is definitely still there.

[+wandererrob]

Woohoo!!! Thank you! We may have to check the coords because it is definitely still there.

 

Interesting. It looks like the hider never went to confirm it was in fact gone.

[Mr.Yuck]

Woohoo!!! Thank you! We may have to check the coords because it is definitely still there.

 

Interesting. It looks like the hider never went to confirm it was in fact gone.

 

A similiar "archived but still there" mystery was solved in the Northeast forum a couple of weeks ago. But in that case, the owner was long gone, and hadn't logged into the website in 4 years. Come to think of it, I don't have much hope for this owner either, although he was logged in less than a year ago. You can certainly try to email them.

Edited September 27, 2007 by TheWhiteUrkel

[+aminalguy]

Woohoo!!! Thank you! We may have to check the coords because it is definitely still there.

 

Interesting. It looks like the hider never went to confirm it was in fact gone.

 

A similiar "archived but still there" mystery was solved in the Northeast forum a couple of weeks ago. But in that case, the owner was long gone, and hadn't logged into the website in 4 years. Come to think of it, I don't have much hope for this owner either, although he was logged in less than a year ago. You can certainly try to email them.

 

Yeah, makes you wonder about some of those people. We'd offer to adopt it, but we're leaving the area soon and will have to either find an adopter for our own or remove them. Some of them were just placed recently, too, so I hope we can find someone to take them over. Oh well, that's the life we're signed up for.

[+Too Tall John]

Yeah, makes you wonder about some of those people. We'd offer to adopt it, but we're leaving the area soon and will have to either find an adopter for our own or remove them. Some of them were just placed recently, too, so I hope we can find someone to take them over. Oh well, that's the life we're signed up for.

As far as adoption goes, you'll need to get the cache owner to unarchive the cache first, as archived caches are not adoptable. What I did in such a situation (wanting to adopt an archived cache with the owner MIA) is put a new log in the existing container and relist the caches as-is with a short explanation. 3 caches, same owner: Eastern Belknap Overlook: Redux, Red Hill: Redux, and Mountain Throne: Redux. Of course, if you can get ahold of the owner & he'll reactivate the cache, it can be adopted (or maybe he'll want to keep it himself, like what happened when I found this archived cache). My contributions to getting rid of geolitter!

 

Have fun!

[+Rattlingcrew]

Hello, I was referred to this thread by a friend. That cache was placed with permission of the historical society, which would explain why it is still there. The owner is not from the area and when it fell in need of repair, the owner sent me a note to go ahead and archive the cache. If somebody would be kind enough to pick up the debris, I would appreciate it. If somebody else would like to place a cache there, I would be happy to approve it. Alternatively, if somebody would like to take over repair duties, I would be glad to unarchive the cache as well. Thanks, Glen