Winter caching\ No, Caching is deep snow

[+undertree]

I was wondering if some of you attempt to hit caches that may be buried in deep snow?

I took this winter as an opportunity to get one cache that is really only accessible by boat in the summer. I liked getting that one so I hit a few more. Sometimes they are really buried.

 

I have used a metal detector on the caches that I knew were metal. It worked really well. The cache that I dug out today was under at least 2.5 feet of snow. I have some snow shoes on the way and I plan to try and rescue some travel bugs that are currently stranded.

 

Here are some logs from the past two days.

 

Caus ey(e) like to fish

 

Mike's Toolbox

 

Here is a DNF that I tried to get a FTF but no luck.

Tom's Causey Cache

[+mfamilee]

Wow, it was under 2.5 ft. of snow... good job!

 

We have slowed down caching this winter, but we did find a couple last week that were buried in the snow. Not very deep though... maybe a few inches. Never thought about using a metal detector, that's a great idea!

[+wavector]

I was wondering if some of you attempt to hit caches that may be buried in deep snow?

I took this winter as an opportunity to get one cache that is really only accessible by boat in the summer. I liked getting that one so I hit a few more. Sometimes they are really buried.

 

I have used a metal detector on the caches that I knew were metal. It worked really well. The cache that I dug out today was under at least 2.5 feet of snow. I have some snow shoes on the way and I plan to try and rescue some travel bugs that are currently stranded.

 

Here are some logs from the past two days.

 

Caus ey(e) like to fish

 

Mike's Toolbox

 

Here is a DNF that I tried to get a FTF but no luck.

Tom's Causey Cache

 

I was just out caching in the deep snow!

In Medicine Hat we have a lot of snow right now.

I just went for walk a few miles from the house and found a great cache buried in the leaves under the snow. I could have used a dog, the snow was deep.

After I found the cache I used a branch to disturb the snow everywhere.

I have been informed that a local geocacher is in the process of training a border collie to find geocaches, this should be quite doable.

That would be a great way to find caches in the winter!

 

The rules would have to change to allow bacon in caches before my dog could help find one but I love her anyways.

 

Here we are out geocaching just a day or so ago right in Medicine Hat.

Edited January 1, 2009 by wavector

[+mazzmn]

Definitely fun caching in deep snow, have even brought snowshoes on a few caching trips.

But, usually try to stick to caches that claim to be winter friendly.

It would be great to find even those buried in snow...a metal detector would be great, but bulky for long hikes.

I've wondered if a handheld metal detector would work well for geocaching...anyone have any experience?

http://www.amazon.com/Shipping-American-Ha...E/dp/B000EVIEEY

[+plumbrokeacres]

A metal detector is Cheating! My first 75 caches were found going through 4' of snow you won't find them all but you pick your caches the deepest I've found buried was 4' and I dug a couple holes in the snow to find it. I haven't been out this only because I've found pretty much everything available for a 100 mile radius I wish someone would hide some caches as I'm 10 away from 500 and going stir crazy.

[+Ladybug Kids]

Why let snow and cold stop one from getting out and about in the winter? Below is a small sampler of the fun Alaskans have with bugless winter caching:

 

The Guns of Fort McGilvray

 

Kaimus Cache

 

Taiga Cascade

[+undertree]

A metal detector is Cheating!

 

Cheating??? What about the other tools that you use to help in the search. Many could be considered cheating. /joking

 

I really think it is fun to use the detector but then the beauty of the game is that you can play how you like. There are only a few hard rules but the rest is blown to the wind. The way I see it is the snow is like a blind fold and the detector is my chance to melt away the snow and pretend it is a nice spring day.

[Mr.Yuck]

A metal detector is Cheating!

 

Cheating??? What about the other tools that you use to help in the search. Many could be considered cheating. /joking

 

I really think it is fun to use the detector but then the beauty of the game is that you can play how you like. There are only a few hard rules but the rest is blown to the wind. The way I see it is the snow is like a blind fold and the detector is my chance to melt away the snow and pretend it is a nice spring day.

 

Naw, the metal detector isn't cheating. I've heard many people joke about it, but this may be the first time I've actually heard of one being used. I actually have a pretty poor record in over a foot of snow, although I've attempted many. You never really know what you're in for, until you get to the cache site; could be up way off the ground, could be in a little "nook" where snow doesn't build up, coords could be dead nuts on, and it's obvious where to dig (or it isn't).

 

I have about 8" on the ground right now, with another 6" predicted for tomorrow (Friday). I was thinking of calling off group caching on Sunday.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I was out for about six hours today after it snowed about a foot yesterday. Two of those hours were driving the 35 miles to and from that area I was going to be caching. I ended up with only 6 finds. I had easily that many DNFs and several caches where I didn't even get out of the car after seeing the area and reading the description of the hide. I did, however, get one 4 star difficulty cache. It was probably the toughest day of caching I've done so far.

 

Caching with a group would have been more fun and I probably would have found more caches.

Edited January 2, 2009 by NYPaddleCacher

[+SSO JOAT]

I'll second LBK on winter caching fun. I went out Christmas morning snowshoes and all and ended up digging down a couple feet to find a winter access cache. Judging the hide, it is probably a good 6' above the ground during the summer! The only way I found it was by noticing the string looped over a tree branch for a makeshift pulley system going down into the snow. Followed the string down to the cache using a snowshoe as a shovel.

 

A number of other caches in the urban areas are much easier during the winter since it's dark and all the tourists have gone back down to America. One can search micro hides in very public spots without muggle worries in the early morning hours.

Edited January 2, 2009 by SSO JOAT

[+Ladybug Kids]

Judging the hide, it is probably a good 6' above the ground during the summer! The only way I found it was by noticing the string looped over a tree branch for a makeshift pulley system going down into the snow. Followed the string down to the cache using a snowshoe as a shovel.

LOL! You must have been caching around Valdez chasing some of Roscoe Pyle's caches which are "famous" for their winter-friendly ganion line tethers. Definitely a plus for keeping caching alive in a locale that averages 320 inches/26 feet of snow each winter.

[Cal W.]

The first cache I ever found.....

 

We started at the main road and made a straigt line right to the cache through knee deep snow. Me? Ill-prepared to say the least, I was wearing ankle socks and sneakers with jeans and a light jacket. We finally got close to the location just to find out that there was a plowed road that came within 50 ft. of the cache (doh!). We dug here, we dug there, we dug everywhere....in the snow......with our bare hands (hooray). We eventually found it, then we hiked the half-mile back with frozen hands, to find out that my foot was now frost bitten and had to be amputated. Yup....amputated. Amputated as in now I have a prosthetic foot. I love geocaching......

 

Nah, just kidding about the frost bite part. That didn't really happen, but it was really cold though

[+SSO JOAT]

LOL! You must have been caching around Valdez chasing some of Roscoe Pyle's caches which are "famous" for their winter-friendly ganion line tethers. Definitely a plus for keeping caching alive in a locale that averages 320 inches/26 feet of snow each winter.

 

You got it! There are a few more out there around Valdez that I have my sights set on, but the hurricane force winds and sub-zero temps over the last week have kept me at bay. I might give it a shot over the weekend though. Winds or not!

[+2ofHis]

As the owners of several not-so-winter-friendly caches, we appreciate all the more when someone has the courage (insanity?) to go out in the winter weather here in Central Wisconsin, and search out one of ours. There is also another consideration: one about 13 miles form our home, titled "Spider Island", has the note in it that one would do well to wait until cooler months for finding this one, due to the heavy spider population of the peninsula, on which the cache sits. What better cool month than New Year's Day, when we went & dug it up? The ammo box was frozen to the ground, and we hiked about 1/2 mile round-trip through a LOT of crotch-high snow (can I say "crotch" in polite company?), but WE SCORED!!! We don't mind the snow so much, when it comes to caching, as the bitter cold.

[+Parabola]

When there is alot of snow out I'll really filter the cache's that I will hunt. If's it's a regular size, I'd attempt it with 2 feet of snow out.

 

As long as it's snow and not ice. I don't like ice. I've had to walk away from some that where frozen in place last winter and came back in nicer weather to sign the logbook's. One ammo can I remember last year I spent about an hour chipping away the ice to free it. But with something that isn't metal you can do that without risking poking a hole in the cache.

 

I had to replace someone's decon last winter cause I cracked the lid trying to free it from the ice.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

Definitely a plus for keeping caching alive in a locale that averages 320 inches/26 feet of snow each winter.

 

I thought getting 100" of snow was bad...that's insane.

 

Bruce

[+gebu]

Since getting ready access to snowshoes (thanks to ds) I attempted 7 caches and found 6 in deep snow (Spoiler pictures and caching in big groups help of course )

 

Here are a few pictures from a trip to the Brunnsteiner See, a tiny lake in Upper Austria, snow depth was approx 1.8m (5.9 feet)

 

Cache hiding place:

 

kekec in the snowhole with the cache.

 

And a photo from another trip on New Year:

Edited January 4, 2009 by gebu

[TM92]

Well i'm not going caching right now because it's -35 degrees celsius (-31 degrees fahrenheit) outside right now and it's supposed to go down to -47 degrees celsius (-52.6 degrees farhenheit) on the weekend up here in Ontario

[+Mar-elendili]

We tried to go grab a cache marked "available in winter" in the beginning of this month; it was a multi, and we failed... Trying to dig out micro film-canisters out of 1 meter of snow was a bit too much. We did find the place of the first stage, dug a bit, encountered the stump, but it was all frozen hard deeper, so we couldn't actually find it. We found the place of second stage as well, thanks to the photos, but it was so close to the trail (and a lot of people were walking with snow shoes that day) that we didn't want to start diggin anew, especially since we had no idea of where to start. Third hint, we had no idea where it could be. Somewhere under a rock. Yeah, great...

 

But we did manage to get another cache under a much thinner snow blanket this winter. Inside a small rock heap that was almost hidden by snow, but I just had to try!

And no metal detector for us.

[+MaestroMackes]

We had our first winter geocaching experience last month in Idaho. At first, we didn't discriminate on size or type of cache to search for. With 2+ feet of snow on the ground, we learned that it might be helpful to sort the caches we wanted to hunt first. After several days with only one or two finds, we started looking for smalls or regulars. This strategy helped and we ended up finding around 30 caches in about 7 days of actual caching. I enjoyed the hunts in the snow, but decided that the difficulty rating definitely goes up with several feet of snow on the ground...and wearing proper attire is a must!

[+OCacher]

I have winter cached, but based on the pictures above I am a lightweight. I enjoy it, no bugs, no muggles, sometimes you get lucky and follow footsteps in.

 

It has been brutal here in northern Ohio the last few weeks. I just ran a PQ on caches found within the last 7 days, and was suprized to see how many were found. Looks like I am heading out this weekend.

 

Dress warmly and be prepared for your DNF total to go up.