rest area caches

[+buteo]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

[+brslk]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Not trying to be contrary but that could apply to most urban caches. LPCs... MISTs...

anywhere people tend to gather.

[+Walts Hunting]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

[+dorqie]

If I were in that situation I wouldn't wait. I would explain geocaching to them and ask if I may have a quick look under their table

[+t4e]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

 

and what's wrong with hides in high muggle areas?

[knowschad]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Sounds like a good idea and a fair request to me. When possible, that is, and I'm guessing that it usually is possible.

[+buttaskotch]

That's kind of like asking not to hide a cache in any type of urban environment. Which may be part 2 of the request. So don't put caches under benches, or in a tree in an urban park because someone may picnic under said tree?

That's kind of lame.

IMO, if you see someone at GZ wait them out or come back another day.

[+power69]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

 

and what's wrong with hides in high muggle areas?

nothing if the owner replaces it on a regular basis.

[+LovellbirdAndScatter]

I went to one a couple of weeks ago that appeared to be in the midst of a crowd under some bleachers at a ball game. Sometimes you just have to come back another day It is part of the game....

[+Anno Lynke]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

 

Brilliant!!! lets see I have around 330 finds of those maybe 15 were ammo cans

so that means I would have quit geocaching about a day after I started because there were no caches left in my area

 

All cach sizes have their place... we are sorry that not all meet your high standards

[+Danbike_Lizbike]

Some state DOTs don't look favorably upon using rest areas for this type of activity. I seem to remember that Wisconsin doesn't give approval if you seek it. I also think Ill does the same thing. I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong.

[+BulldogBlitz]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

 

several rest areas around here have ammo cans hidden in them. one has 2....and a wifi connection (so i could pull out the laptop and log my finds right then).

[+Team Cotati]

Maybe if we made the minimum size an ammo can people wouldn't hide it in high muggle areas.

 

and what's wrong with hides in high muggle areas?

 

Because it increases the likelihood that the cache will 'go missing'. And depending upon the nature of the hide, can be viewed as suspicious behavior by the casual passerby.

 

And it's creepy.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Team Cotati

[+-cheeto-]

Some state DOTs don't look favorably upon using rest areas for this type of activity. I seem to remember that Wisconsin doesn't give approval if you seek it. I also think Ill does the same thing. I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong.

 

Chiming in with some facts to back up this statement.. (which is accurate)

 

The Wisconsin DOT does not allow placing a geocache in rest areas or waysides that are owned by the DOT.

 

Rest Area Rules

 

The frustrating thing is it's not listed as a policy on the Wis. DOT website.

 

That's not to say caches don't exist in these areas in Wisconsin as there is a lot of history and there are many of these rest areas actually owned by local municipalities, county, etc.

 

The Wis. DOT claims safety reasons. The WGA (Wisconsin Geocaching Association) is trying to work with the DOT to get geocache placements allowed in rest areas. One counter-point is that it may actually be safer for drivers on the road if drivers are stopping at rest areas (getting out and stretching, making calls, etc) and geocaches might get some drivers to stop and hunt them.

 

While they aren't everyone's favorite place to hunt a cache some rest areas do have wooded areas, trails even! And there are geological features, historical markers, and such at many of these rest areas. I've found more than one ammo can at a rest area.

 

Personally I don't like driving up to a rest area cache and seeing a bunch of people in the parking lot all sitting in their cars facing the cache location Like others have said in this thread already, move along if you're not comfortable hunting the cache. Put it on your ignore list if you want to forget it exists!

 

As for putting caches on picnic tables, a picnic table is not a permanent fixture in most cases. I would not put a cache on a fixture if it can be moved or removed easily. Who's to say that table will be at those coordinates next year? Now if the table is cemented it, then maybe but as others have pointed out you limit a (fair weather) cacher's ability to hunt your cache by placing it on a picnic table!

[+JL_HSTRE]

I feel the OP's issue is not that rest areas are high muggle areas. The problem is that most high muggle areas you can wait out the muggles or come back another time. Those two options are usually not feasible with rest areas unless you travel that route on a regular basis.

[+ras_oscar]

Picnic tables get used a whole lot less in the winter time...

[+sbell111]

It's no different that any other cache. If you cannot retrieve that cache and replace it without being spotted, move on to the next cache. There is no rule that says you have to find every single one.

[+BulldogBlitz]

It's no different that any other cache. If you cannot retrieve that cache and replace it without being spotted, move on to the next cache. There is no rule that says you have to find every single one.

 

it is the last one left in the state. they were trying to be able to say they'd found every single cache in the state.... even that one.

[+sbell111]

It's no different that any other cache. If you cannot retrieve that cache and replace it without being spotted, move on to the next cache. There is no rule that says you have to find every single one.

 

it is the last one left in the state. they were trying to be able to say they'd found every single cache in the state.... even that one.

Too bad, so sad.

[+zurichuk]

Picnic tables get used a whole lot less in the winter time...

 

My way of thinking, several caches I've looked at, then turned away, thinking to myself, that's a rainy day cache or a winter cache

[+mchaos]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

[+d+n.s]

:/

Please don't hide them in the woods either. I'm scared of bugs and snakes

[jholly]

:/

Please don't hide them in the woods either. I'm scared of bugs and snakes

 

No bugs and snakes up here. Are bears, cougars and coyotes okay?

[knowschad]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

Do you know what a rest area is? Generally, they are places that you stop at while travelling 'cross country. If you are ever back, it may be a year or more. They rarely can hold more than one, maybe two caches. People like to stop at them to pick up a quick and easy smilie while stretching their legs and backs. They're not there for a challenge.

[+brslk]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

Do you know what a rest area is? Generally, they are places that you stop at while travelling 'cross country. If you are ever back, it may be a year or more. They rarely can hold more than one, maybe two caches. People like to stop at them to pick up a quick and easy smilie while stretching their legs and backs. They're not there for a challenge.

 

Just because someone wants to pick up a quick and easy smilie while traveling does not mean that the caching community needs to accommodate them. I agree it does no harm to try to make hides in such places easier to find for weary travelers but it's when people expect it that annoys me.

[sweet6yt5]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

see I am odd, I'd walk up to them tell the about geocaching and then tell them, they are sititng on one and get them to help me find it lol

[knowschad]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

Do you know what a rest area is? Generally, they are places that you stop at while travelling 'cross country. If you are ever back, it may be a year or more. They rarely can hold more than one, maybe two caches. People like to stop at them to pick up a quick and easy smilie while stretching their legs and backs. They're not there for a challenge.

 

Just because someone wants to pick up a quick and easy smilie while traveling does not mean that the caching community needs to accommodate them. I agree it does no harm to try to make hides in such places easier to find for weary travelers but it's when people expect it that annoys me.

Then you get annoyed too easily, perhaps? Besides, I didn't see anybody expecting anything. I saw the OP requesting something. In case anyone has forgotten how this started:

 

please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables

[+Don_J]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

 

I wonder how many who have wrote actually read the OP. The question here is not why hide an urban type cache, but why hide an urban type cache at a HWY rest area far out of town.

 

Of course, in my opinion, the idea that you don't have to find all 1 million caches applies. The idea that you could always come back doesn't. I know the realities of geocaching, and sometimes things simply don't turn out as you planned, yet if I was driving 300 miles to get to my next cache, only to find a family of four sitting on it, I would be very disapointed.

 

The idea of explaining the sport and asking them to move seems to have the effect of making the cache disappear, at least locally. In other words, as soon as I see a "shared our secret with a local", log, 95% of them have a DNF for the next log.

 

There are two caches in rest areas on the I-5 north between Los Angeles an Sacramento, CA. When traveling, I usually stop at both to use the facilities. After six years, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never find these caches. Both are under newspaper racks next to the restroom doors.

[+geodarts]

see I am odd, I'd walk up to them tell the about geocaching and then tell them, they are sititng on one and get them to help me find it lol

 

You are not odd. I have done that on more than one occasion, particularly if I am traveling through an area that I may never visit again or if it is a "special icon" like a Wherigo or letterbox. So far it has always worked out well.

[+brslk]

To all you cachers hiding caches in rest areas, please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables.I do appreciate your time and effort in placing hides for all of us.However it is very frustration to start a search only to find a family at said table and not having the time to wait for them to leave so a log can be signed.Thanks

 

Hahahahaha really? Its all part of the challenge. I have found a couple like that, and under picnic tables. I had to travel back to one once. Heck, its all good. Perhaps the CO wants to make it slightly more challenging because of muggles.

 

To me its awesome. People having a picnic on a table where they have no clue a geocache is there, let alone what one is. It exists in the background of real life....

Do you know what a rest area is? Generally, they are places that you stop at while travelling 'cross country. If you are ever back, it may be a year or more. They rarely can hold more than one, maybe two caches. People like to stop at them to pick up a quick and easy smilie while stretching their legs and backs. They're not there for a challenge.

 

Just because someone wants to pick up a quick and easy smilie while traveling does not mean that the caching community needs to accommodate them. I agree it does no harm to try to make hides in such places easier to find for weary travelers but it's when people expect it that annoys me.

Then you get annoyed too easily, perhaps? Besides, I didn't see anybody expecting anything. I saw the OP requesting something. In case anyone has forgotten how this started:

 

please consider not placing your hides under or around picnic tables

 

True enough. I do get annoyed too easily. Stress makes me want to hide in dumpsters and surprise people!

And indeed... the OP did politely request something that I did not agree with.

 

After more consideration I do agree that rest stop caches should not be crazy hard or a challenge.

 

I don't expect them to be easy but it makes sense that they should be reasonably easy to find without a return visit to a place you may never return to again.

 

This does of course depend on where the rest stop is located.

Edited June 30, 2010 by brslk