+Mofino Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Hi, I appreciate any help on this. My wife and I just went out and scouted a location for our first hide. Excited to make sure it was far enough from any other caches we punched the coords of our potential hide into the geocaching.com site and it shows that another cache is 522 feet away. I am aware that the arbitrary guideline is at least 528 feet away from another cache. I know I could just move it 10 feet or so away but we really had our hearts set on this particular place.... Would most reviewers not allow this as being to close or is it "close enough for rock and roll" for the game... Thanks for any advice and sorry for the noob question... Mofino Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 It depends. How saturated is the immediate area, apart from that one cache? (See the line in the Cache Saturation guideline that says not to hide a cache every 600 feet, "just because you can.") What's the physical layout -- opposite sides of a ravine, straight down a bike path, or two corners of a parking lot? Is this a county park or a nondescript patch of woods behind a mall? What is special about your choice of container and hiding spot that merits an exception to the guideline? The other cache already gets me to the immediate area. What does yours add to the mix? Are there any physical barriers separating the two caches? (Top and bottom of a cliff, opposite sides of a river with no bridge nearby, etc.) If I have coordinates and a cache map to work with, I can have this dialogue with a geocache hider. Sometimes it results in an exception being granted, and sometimes it doesn't. Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 10, 2007 Author Share Posted November 10, 2007 It depends. How saturated is the immediate area, apart from that one cache? (See the line in the Cache Saturation guideline that says not to hide a cache every 600 feet, "just because you can.") What's the physical layout -- opposite sides of a ravine, straight down a bike path, or two corners of a parking lot? Is this a county park or a nondescript patch of woods behind a mall? What is special about your choice of container and hiding spot that merits an exception to the guideline? The other cache already gets me to the immediate area. What does yours add to the mix? Are there any physical barriers separating the two caches? (Top and bottom of a cliff, opposite sides of a river with no bridge nearby, etc.) If I have coordinates and a cache map to work with, I can have this dialogue with a geocache hider. Sometimes it results in an exception being granted, and sometimes it doesn't. Hi Keystone, Thanks for the quick reply. I will answer your questions in hopes that will give you a better idea of the situation. As far as saturation in the area there are only that one 522 feet away and another .2 miles away. Physical layout is woods along a creek with a trail leading through. Both are on the same side of the creek... The reason for this spot in particular is that I wanted to take people to a waterfalls and this particular hiding place is the only one nearby that will hide a 50 cal. ammo box half way decent near the falls... There are no physical barriers besides woods between both caches in question... What do you think? Should I try and put it though and see what happens or just look for another hide 10, 20, 30 feet more away? Thanks so much for any advice... Mofino Quote Link to comment
+alienbogey Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Put it through and see what happens, WITH complete information for the reviewer which tells him/her all the factors involved, in particular why the normal minimum-distance rule should be waived in this case. My first cache was the same situation - wonderful spot, cache made, THEN I checked and there was another cache 450' away. I thought that an exception should be made due to the nature of my cache, the existing cache and the location. I explained it all to the reviewer in the submission and it was approved. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
+KoosKoos Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 It depends. How saturated is the immediate area, apart from that one cache? (See the line in the Cache Saturation guideline that says not to hide a cache every 600 feet, "just because you can.") What's the physical layout -- opposite sides of a ravine, straight down a bike path, or two corners of a parking lot? Is this a county park or a nondescript patch of woods behind a mall? What is special about your choice of container and hiding spot that merits an exception to the guideline? The other cache already gets me to the immediate area. What does yours add to the mix? Are there any physical barriers separating the two caches? (Top and bottom of a cliff, opposite sides of a river with no bridge nearby, etc.) If I have coordinates and a cache map to work with, I can have this dialogue with a geocache hider. Sometimes it results in an exception being granted, and sometimes it doesn't. Hi Keystone, Thanks for the quick reply. I will answer your questions in hopes that will give you a better idea of the situation. As far as saturation in the area there are only that one 522 feet away and another .2 miles away. Physical layout is woods along a creek with a trail leading through. Both are on the same side of the creek... The reason for this spot in particular is that I wanted to take people to a waterfalls and this particular hiding place is the only one nearby that will hide a 50 cal. ammo box half way decent near the falls... There are no physical barriers besides woods between both caches in question... What do you think? Should I try and put it though and see what happens or just look for another hide 10, 20, 30 feet more away? Thanks so much for any advice... Mofino If you moved it 30-50' feet and told me there was a set of waterfalls nearby (assuming I didn't walk past them on my way to the cache), I'd go find them since I'd be so close. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 (edited) Hi, I appreciate any help on this. My wife and I just went out and scouted a location for our first hide. Excited to make sure it was far enough from any other caches we punched the coords of our potential hide into the geocaching.com site and it shows that another cache is 522 feet away. I am aware that the arbitrary guideline is at least 528 feet away from another cache. I know I could just move it 10 feet or so away but we really had our hearts set on this particular place.... Would most reviewers not allow this as being to close or is it "close enough for rock and roll" for the game... Thanks for any advice and sorry for the noob question... Mofino How do you know it was 522 feet and not 542 feet? Was your GPS super accurate that day? Edited November 11, 2007 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 How do you know it was 522 feet and not 542 feet? Was your GPS super accurate that day? Haha, you know it very well may be more like 542 feet. I only know what my GPS and geocaching.com tell me! Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 Put it through and see what happens, WITH complete information for the reviewer which tells him/her all the factors involved, in particular why the normal minimum-distance rule should be waived in this case. My first cache was the same situation - wonderful spot, cache made, THEN I checked and there was another cache 450' away. I thought that an exception should be made due to the nature of my cache, the existing cache and the location. I explained it all to the reviewer in the submission and it was approved. Good luck. Thanks alienbogey, Good to know that they do make exceptions. I'll give it a whirl and see what happens... Quote Link to comment
+Seasoned Warrior Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 I'm curious, you say 528 feet is an arbitrary number. 528 feet is a very strange number to be completely arbitrary, I'm curious as to why it was picked. Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 I'm curious, you say 528 feet is an arbitrary number. 528 feet is a very strange number to be completely arbitrary, I'm curious as to why it was picked. I believe 528 feet is .1 (1/10th) mile... Quote Link to comment
+flgAZ Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 528 feet equals one-tenth of a mile. Quote Link to comment
+Seasoned Warrior Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 528 feet equals one-tenth of a mile. That was definately a Doh moment for me (slaps self on forhehead). I was just returning to delete my post hoping that no one had seen it: no chance here! So I left my brain on park, but hey, its Saturday evening. Quote Link to comment
Donald, Daisy and Kids Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 528 feet equals one-tenth of a mile. That was definately a Doh moment for me (slaps self on forhehead). I was just returning to delete my post hoping that no one had seen it: no chance here! So I left my brain on park, but hey, its Saturday evening. No its not, its Sunday afternoon........ Here in the land down under! Quote Link to comment
4wheelin_fool Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Changing one of the the last digits would give you the extra 6 feet. I'm sure that if you average the coordinates really well you could find that digit somewhere.. Quote Link to comment
+HaLiJuSaPa Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 (edited) How do you know it was 522 feet and not 542 feet? Was your GPS super accurate that day? Haha, you know it very well may be more like 542 feet. I only know what my GPS and geocaching.com tell me! I would think because it is well within the range of even WAAS GPS inaccuracy (as to whether it's really over 528 ft. or not) that you'd probably get a "pass" unless it's in an already hyper-cache-saturated area. But I'm not a reviewer, so who knows? Good luck..... Edited November 11, 2007 by HaLiJuSaPa Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Changing one of the the last digits would give you the extra 6 feet. I'm sure that if you average the coordinates really well you could find that digit somewhere.. Or go back there and average and take a bunch of readings and use the one that give you the extra 6 feet. Quote Link to comment
+Trucker Lee Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Also, perhaps the woods themselves may be an obstacle that may justify an exception, or further your case, and you state no other suitable hiding place near by. I suggest 3 photos to be made available to the reviewer, the hiding place and nearby terrain, the waterfall, and one taken at the hiding place looking toward the nearest cache. Hit your reviewer with a bit of the "WOW" that draws you to this spot. Quote Link to comment
+Wayfinders Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 If I were the Reviewer, I would publish the cache on the grounds that it was moved 6 feet to the RIGHT....not the LEFT. This sick sense of humor explains why I am NOT a Reviewer. Welcome to the insanity and good luck with your first cache! Quote Link to comment
+Seasoned Warrior Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 528 feet equals one-tenth of a mile. That was definately a Doh moment for me (slaps self on forhehead). I was just returning to delete my post hoping that no one had seen it: no chance here! So I left my brain on park, but hey, its Saturday evening. No its not, its Sunday afternoon........ Here in the land down under! That you are ahead of us and the fact that you listen to the likes of Chad "Sheik of Scrubby Creek" Morgan make you right dinkum in my book even if you guys are upside down all the time! Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Less than 528 = not ok Greater than 528 = ok Go just about anywhere and take a reading. Sneeze and your GPS will drift 20 feet. If you get my drift........... Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Less than 528 = not ok Greater than 528 = ok Go just about anywhere and take a reading. Sneeze and your GPS will drift 20 feet. If you get my drift........... Exactly! That's why I asked earlier how the heck he knew it was exactly 522 feet. Our measuring devices only get you within 15-20 feet on a good day. Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 Hi, I appreciate any help on this. My wife and I just went out and scouted a location for our first hide. Excited to make sure it was far enough from any other caches we punched the coords of our potential hide into the geocaching.com site and it shows that another cache is 522 feet away. I am aware that the arbitrary guideline is at least 528 feet away from another cache. I know I could just move it 10 feet or so away but we really had our hearts set on this particular place.... Would most reviewers not allow this as being to close or is it "close enough for rock and roll" for the game... Thanks for any advice and sorry for the noob question... Mofino I want to thank everyone for their input on this... I think I will just give a reading that is at least 528 feet. Either way it will get people close enough to find the cache givin the margin of error... Quote Link to comment
Donald, Daisy and Kids Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 If I were the Reviewer, I would publish the cache on the grounds that it was moved 6 feet to the RIGHT....not the LEFT. This sick sense of humor explains why I am NOT a Reviewer. Welcome to the insanity and good luck with your first cache! Is the distance measured in a straight line?? maybe you could move it up a tree 6 feet? and include co'ords where you would find a portable ladder to climb to get the cache.... make it a multi Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Each stage of a multicache (other than purely virtual clue stages) is subject to the cache saturation guideline. The advice in this thread reminds me of some counter-advice I heard from another cache reviewer: "Think of 528 feet as a minimum distance, not as a goal to aim for." Does the other cache not draw the visitor's attention to the waterfall, or is the overgrowth so dense that it takes a second cache to see that it's there? Quote Link to comment
+Mofino Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 Each stage of a multicache (other than purely virtual clue stages) is subject to the cache saturation guideline. The advice in this thread reminds me of some counter-advice I heard from another cache reviewer: "Think of 528 feet as a minimum distance, not as a goal to aim for." Does the other cache not draw the visitor's attention to the waterfall, or is the overgrowth so dense that it takes a second cache to see that it's there? The other cache does not draw the visitor to the waterfalls directly and it can not be seen from there either. I spoke to the other cache owner and he was cool with the proximity also so I'll let the reviewer know that info. Thanks again for your help, keystone... Quote Link to comment
+edscott Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Less than 528 = not ok Greater than 528 = ok Go just about anywhere and take a reading. Sneeze and your GPS will drift 20 feet. If you get my drift........... Exactly! That's why I asked earlier how the heck he knew it was exactly 522 feet. Our measuring devices only get you within 15-20 feet on a good day. Maybe he used a good aerial photo. Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 My first cache was denied because it was 28 feet too close to an existing cache. After I had been caching for over a year and had demonstrated that I wasn't a n00b I tried again at the same spot. I explained that, although the cache was too close to satisfy the guidelines, that was a "crow flies" measurement and, due to the fact that the creek wandered around, the shortest possible way to walk from my proposed location to the existing location was actually spot on at 529 feet. The cache was granted. Sometimes a good explanation combined with a proven track record (not a flash-in-the-pan cacher and some well placed hides under the belt) can result in an exception. Remember, if the cache isn't granted at the existing location, it isn't being done out of malice or anybody being mean to you. I wouldn't want to have the reviewer's job but I think the ones we have do a pretty good job. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.