Found an unregistered cache today

[+sugeos]

I was out caching on some hiking trails and noticed a container under a fallen tree. It was pretty visible from the trail. The note inside explained that it was a geocache and had been placed by a boy scout troop on 9/26/06.... 3 YEARS AGO! I was the first and only to sign the log... came home ... checked the geocaching website ... of course no such cache is registered. Hm ... leave it to me to have my first FTF be accidental and unregistered!

[+thedeadpirate]

Makes you wonder if the scouts have been wondering why no one wanted to find their cache.

[+StarBrand]

Keep in mind this is only one of several listing sites for Geocaches. True the vast majority are here but not all.

 

Also it may have been archived or moved.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Naw. If it has a Geocaching note in it, it was meant to be here.

Might have been archived for not having any finds. Or it might not have met the guidlines. Or it might never have been submitted for publication.

[+bittsen]

Maybe a rogue reviewer decided that, since it didn't have any finds, it was probably never there to begin with and archived it.

 

[+sugeos]

I suspect it was never registered. If it had been it would have had numerous finds, it was so visible from the trail. I can't be the first person to have found it in 3 years. .... weird ....

[+KBI]

Have you considered listing it yourself?

 

What you described here would make a very interesting story for the cache page description, in my opinion.

 

And if the owner ever shows up and wants it back, you could always either adopt it out to him or archive your own listing so he could create his own. You could even include that offer in your description.

[Keystone]

Which cache were you looking for when you saw the unlisted cache? And how far away from that cache did you spot it?

 

There are many fine caches hidden by scout troops. Like other travelers, however, scouts on a big summer hiking adventure often overlook the "Cache Maintenance" section of the listing guidelines, and their cache is denied because there's no maintenance plan for it.

[+ThePetersTrio]

It could be that the listing was refused after the cache was physically placed and the scout troup never bothered to go back and retrieve it.

 

I agree with the idea to try and have it listed yourself - it may shed some light on the mystery.

[+sugeos]

Yes, I thought about listing it myself but I'm pretty new to this and wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. I like the idea.

 

There are numerous caches in the area and I was about .2 miles from 2 others I had just grabbed down the trail. This one is very close to the parking area at the trailhead.

 

Thanks everyone for your input!

[+weathernowcast]

Yes, I thought about listing it myself but I'm pretty new to this and wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. I like the idea.

 

There are numerous caches in the area and I was about .2 miles from 2 others I had just grabbed down the trail. This one is very close to the parking area at the trailhead.

 

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

call it the "long lost boy scout cache"

[+jeffbouldin]

Cool!!!! You get the FTF and the listing!!!!

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

The note inside explained that it was a geocache and had been placed by a boy scout troop on 9/26/06.... 3 YEARS AGO!

 

Did the note list a Troop Number? If so, it should be relatively easy to find your local council, and then find out who leads the troop in question. You can then check with the troop to see what they would like to do.

[+Coyote's Girl]

I found one on the Eagle watching trail back in february rhat had never been found or listed. It was about 530 or so feet away from an archived cache, but the cache it'self was not listed. Which was odd because all teh others on the trail had been listed here.

[+KBI]

I found one about a year ago that was very similar to what the OP describes. I can’t take my own advice and list it, however, because it is in a private scout campground area that is not open to the public.

 

It occurs to me that the one I found, as well as the one you describe, might be some form of private, off-line geocaches – caches that were never meant to be listed for the public, but instead are used only for scouting activities.

 

I would therefore like to change my suggestion: Do as BBWolf+3Pigs suggested and track down the Boy Scout troop before you list it. They may still be using it for their own private outings, and might not want it listed to the public.

[k_statealan]

Have you considered listing it yourself?

 

What you described here would make a very interesting story for the cache page description, in my opinion.

 

And if the owner ever shows up and wants it back, you could always either adopt it out to him or archive your own listing so he could create his own. You could even include that offer in your description.

 

I have one similar to that. It was an active cache for some time but was later archived. I had heard rumors that the cache was still there a couple years later but didn't really think anything of it. Then I went to place one in the area and found the cache completely out in the open. Had been logged by muggles several times. As it had been well over 2 years since the original had been archived, I took the old container and rehid it nearby. Its at an area called "Pillsbury Crossing," so I named the cache "The Doughboy Rides Again"