Should I archive my traditional and "hide" an Earthcache on top of it?

[+Happy Bubbles]

I`ve got a traditional hidden at a place that I think might be a good Earthcache. GC1DRHD I get very few visitors to this cache, since it`s pretty far off the beaten path, and I`m trying to figure out how to get more visitors to the area. I figure the Earthcache icon might draw a few, especially since there are so few Earthcaches in Japan. My traditional is not that good - just a magnetic micro under a bench. I hid it as a way to share the nifty site, rather than trying to make it a spectacular geocache hide. If I`m already advertising the site with my traditional hide, should I not bother with making it an Earthcache? If I do get an Earthcache approved, should I archive the micro or leave it there? What`s normal in cases like this?

 

Should I:

Just leave it as a traditional?

Archive it and replace it with an Earthcache listing?

Keep the micro and list the Earthcache, making it a two-fer?

[+Knight2000]

Archive the current cache and replace it with a regular size cache.

 

I don't "get" earthcaches. I see plenty of cool stuff caching. I have places where I could put earthcaches but it's too convoluted for me to get one listed. We'd easily skip an earthcache for a traditional. A traditional in a cool spot is the best of both!

[+Arby Gee]

My vote - put an Earthcache in for sure! They're always the first thing I look for when visiting a new area. If you want to leave the micro there, that's fine. Two-fers rock!!

[+Lostby7]

If you decide to add the EC to the existing listing offset it a hundred feet or so if you can to prevent "stacking" of the icons.

[+GEO WALKER]

My vote - put an Earthcache in for sure! They're always the first thing I look for when visiting a new area. If you want to leave the micro there, that's fine. Two-fers rock!!

I agree...

But if you can I also agree w/offseting the micro to prevent the icon stacking on the map. Sometimes one is seen the other not... If not you could mention the other cache in both cache pages.

[+narcissa]

You can leave the traditional and have an Earthcache there too.

[+geoaware]

If you try and place an EarthCache at the exact location as an existing traditional cache it will not be published as this means that you have an EarthCache with a container - and that is not allowed under the guidelines.

[+webscouter.]

If you try and place an EarthCache at the exact location as an existing traditional cache it will not be published as this means that you have an EarthCache with a container - and that is not allowed under the guidelines.

 

Thanks for popping in and clarifying for us. Can you tell us what the distance required is? Is it the same as every other cache separation, or less like the virtual/traditional limits of a few yards?

[+narcissa]

 

Thanks for popping in and clarifying for us. Can you tell us what the distance required is? Is it the same as every other cache separation, or less like the virtual/traditional limits of a few yards?

 

Geoaware can tell you exactly what they're looking for, but there is no proximity guideline for Earthcaches so I think you could get away with a few yards.

 

If the Earthcache encompasses a large area and you want to highlight more than one thing, you can provide different waypoints. I've been to Earthcaches where the posted coordinates were at the best spot to park, for example, but then there were waypoints for the other items of interest.

[cezanne]

If you try and place an EarthCache at the exact location as an existing traditional cache it will not be published as this means that you have an EarthCache with a container - and that is not allowed under the guidelines.

 

On the one hand your argument sounds reasonable, but on the other hand it appears to me that according to the current guidelines of gc.com a traditional cache at the very same coordinates as an already existing Earthcache will be published as an Earthcache is a non-physical cache, see

 

Cache containers and physical stages should generally be separated by a minimum of 0.1 miles (528 feet or 161 m). A physical stage is defined as any stage that contains a physical element placed by the geocache owner, such as a tag with the next set of coordinates or a container. Non-physical caches or stages including reference points, trailhead/parking coordinates and question to answer waypoints are exempt from this guideline.

 

This unsymmetry somehow seems weird to me.

 

While it might not be a good idea due to the problem with overlapping points on cache maps, it is possible to place a traditional cache at the starting point of a multi cache if it is a virtual stage as well as at the coordinates of a virtual cache. The traditional cache does not turn the virtual cache into a cache with a container.

 

Cezanne

[+Isonzo Karst]

If you try and place an EarthCache at the exact location as an existing traditional cache it will not be published as this means that you have an EarthCache with a container

 

No, I it doesn't mean that at all.

It means that there's a boxless cache, Earthcache, and a physical cache, Traditional at the same coords.

It does not make an Earthcache with a container. It's two separate listings, each conforming to the guidelines for their type.

 

I can see the Earthcache reviewers looking a bit askance at identical coords for a Geocache and an Earthcache, especially by the same owner. Certainly it seems unlikely that the exact coords for that magnet on a bench are the perfect or only spot for the Earthcache.

 

There are however, no proximity issues between physical and boxless caches mentioned on either the Geocaching.com listing guidelines, which specifically exempt boxless caches, nor is there any mention of proximity in the Earthcache guidelines.

[+geoawareUK]

There are however, no proximity issues between physical and boxless caches mentioned on either the Geocaching.com listing guidelines, which specifically exempt boxless caches, nor is there any mention of proximity in the Earthcache guidelines.

 

From the EarthCache guidelines link here;

 

No items, box, or physical cache can be left at the site.

 

For this reason, and to avoid any potential for confusion, I would not publish an EarthCache which had the exact same coordinates as a Traditional.

Edited March 29, 2010 by geoawareUK

[+Isonzo Karst]

No items, box, or physical cache can be left at the site.

 

For this reason, and to avoid any potential for confusion, I would not publish an EarthCache which had the exact same coordinates as a Traditional.

 

Perhaps this needs to be addressed in the next guidelines revision (both Earthcache and Geocache).

 

If I were (in my admin account) reviewing a Traditional Geocache placed at the exact coords of an Earthcache, I'd might take a run at getting the cache owner to move the hide. A gentle suggestion only. If they wanted their cache at those coords, I'd publish, per the listing guidelines. I have published cache at the exact coordinates of existing virtual cache, per Groundspeak's guidance.

 

I don't think that the statement, "No items, box, or physical cache can be left at the site" applies to anything other than the Earthcache submission. No physical placements as part of an Earthcache.

 

The Earthcache reviewer is not reviewing any geocaches in the area (at the time that they're reviewing the Earthcache). Again, I can certainly understand that there would be some dislike of publishing two caches - Earthcache boxless Traditional physical - at the same coords, especially by the same owner, but there's no support in either set of guidelines for refusing those two caches.

[Wintertime]

Happy Bubbles, I just read the description of your cache location, and I think it would make a delightful Earthcache! You'll need to come up with some appropriate questions for visitors to answer, but I'm sure you can.

 

Since your original cache's purpose was to entice people to see these caves, an Earthcache listing should accomplish that, and you would no longer need the traditional cache. I suppose the physical cache might draw some cachers who wouldn't come to the area just for the Earthcache, so you'll need to decide whether you care about attracting that incremental number of cachers. If so, you could keep your current cache and offset the coordinates of the Earthcache enough to separate the two.

 

Good luck!

 

Patty

[+TerryDad2]

My experience has been that an EarthCache will not be published that duplicates the information in a nearby traditional cache. Also an EarthCache can not have the identical coordinates (or even close [that is a subjective distance, but can be less than 0.1 mile, like tens of feet, and no I'll not be able to any more specific than that as I don't do reviews]) as an existing traditional.