Snow

[+fyerwatirs]

What is the proper procedure when caching in the snow? This will be my first winter doing this and we stress not allowing people to see us caching...but with snow on the ground it is pretty easy to track where someone has gone. Any thoughts, ideas?

[+briansnat]

If I'm the first person there after a fresh snow fall I will leave confusing tracks. Actually the search process tends to do that anyway.

 

I guess you could bring a vial of water with yellow food coloring and spill it all around the cache site so it looks as if you were just taking a bathroom break there.

[+frinklabs]

I used to have a set of these when I was a kid; perhaps they might scare people away rather than confuse them:

 

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

If I'm the first person there after a fresh snow fall I will leave confusing tracks. Actually the search process tends to do that anyway.

 

I guess you could bring a vial of water with yellow food coloring and spill it all around the cache site so it looks as if you were just taking a bathroom break there.

We were out yesterday. Two people can easily leave a series of false trails.

 

I used to have a set of these when I was a kid; perhaps they might scare people away rather than confuse them:

 

I'd probably follow these just to see "what the heck......"

[oakenwood]

Caching through the snow...

 

I wouldn't even try. I know it's an antidote to cabin fever, but I can't think of a better way for mother nature to increase the difficulty than to put a heap snow on everything. I'd bring a metal detector and maybe a flame thrower.

 

Right now we're expecting twenty to twenty-four inches by Sunday morning. That's just a light dusting for yoopers, but here it's the apocalypse.

 

Best of luck. I'm staying inside and watching the ski races on Universal Sports.

[+zuma!]

Personally, I love caching in the snow. And I dont think leaving tracks right to the cache is that big of a deal, since around here it will probably either melt or snow again within a week, so leaving "false tracks" is usually not worth it. Besides, there are usually enough false tracks anyway with me looking in the wrong spots first.

 

Winter is a wonderful time to cache. Just got out and do it, and dont worry about the tracks. The only thing I change about caching in the snow, is that I am more likely to look at who hid the cache. If the hider is someone notorious for ground hides no where near a beacon, often with bad coords, and there is 8 inches of snow on the ground, then I will not bother even looking for that one, and just move on to look for a cache hidden by some one who prefers winter friendly caches.

 

zuma

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Right now we're expecting twenty to twenty-four inches by Sunday morning. That's just a light dusting for yoopers, but here it's the apocalypse.

Saw that prediction on TWC, and feel sorry for those that aren't accustomed to snow.

These yoopers are visiting/caching in SD, where the snow all blows into Nebraska!

[+AngelWolf93]

I used to have a set of these when I was a kid; perhaps they might scare people away rather than confuse them:

 

 

These would go good tracking up to this cache just across the valley from me.

[+DanOCan]

I don't worry about leaving tracks in the snow, I just beeline for ground zero and let the hunt begin.

Never heard of a cache being muggled because someone followed tracks in the snow.

[+a-body]

When I first started caching, the snow really got me down. I DNF'd a few, and thought I might have to quit until spring. Then I went with my son, and together we were able to find most caches, if you move enough snow. I have found 90 already this month, and just came back from northern WI where I was able to log finds on the majority I looked for, and except for one newly placed cache, none had been found since before the snow fell. Cache On

[knowschad]

Geeze... you guys DELIBERATELY leave false tracks in the snow? You're GOOOOOD!

[+lavender5215]

I think that covering your tracks in the snow ranks right up there with replacing sticks behind you where you found them after finding a cache. Why ruin the hunt for the next person. It doesnt hurt to walk around a little bit. Although i think in most situations tracks are left running in circles anyway looking for GZ.

[+fyerwatirs]

I am running all over today till I find the bigfoot feet!!! Those are awesome

[+gelfling6]

Unfortunately, I was actually a FTF of one cache (which got muggled 2 months later), by following someone else's Geo-tracks (not the big-foots.) and they WERE right at GZ, but didn't look upward 9the cache was a bison hanging in the tree, directly over them.) So, it was kinda funny.. I don't cache hunt as much during the winter, mainly because caches at ground-level end-up buried under the snow, so they're less easier to find. And even tougher to re-hide if I do. (Also old-age.. premature arthritis.)

 

Stephen (gelfling6)

[+bflentje]

What is the proper procedure when caching in the snow? This will be my first winter doing this and we stress not allowing people to see us caching...but with snow on the ground it is pretty easy to track where someone has gone. Any thoughts, ideas?

 

My procedure stays nearly the same. If you're that good and can walk directly to GZ, find a cache, and then make like a tree and leave, why worry about it. You be caching-god. Most of us end up leaving many extra tracks in the snow unintentionally or otherwise.

[+bflentje]

I used to have a set of these when I was a kid; perhaps they might scare people away rather than confuse them:

 

 

These would go good tracking up to this cache just across the valley from me.

 

Love it. I had those too when I was 8 years old!

[+cachensfun]

We just don't go out in that bad stuff.

[+iamgillespie]

My first cache was in the snow! It was so much fun I did two more. The funny thing is when I got home to log it someone had already logged their find and left comments that there were footprints leadring right to the cache. The post can be read here. Me and the friends I was with left tracks all over the place being the newbies we were but they managed to figure it out anyways. Even if you leave tracks, if it is a ground cache like this one was, all someone else has to do is look for the spot you dug the cache out of. I guess its good to keep that in mind so that you at least know to cover that spot up or make some decoy spots.

[+ironman114]

I used to have a set of these when I was a kid; perhaps they might scare people away rather than confuse them:

 

 

These would go good tracking up to this cache just across the valley from me.

 

Strap these on your kids for lots of tracks.