I really screwed up

[+YooperSnowman]

A local, experienced, geocaching couple just put out a very nice 4 stage multi in our area. I went out last night in hopes to be FTF and just enjoy this challenge. I found stage one after looking for a while and then went on and found stage 2. Things were going great. But as I handled stage 2 to get a look at the coords, I fumbled it and dropped it down a deep hole into the abyss! OMG! Its gone--no way to get it back. My hunt was over. I screwed up the whole cache!

 

I felt terrible. Here I am, the very first person to hunt this cache and I killed stage two. I immediately went home and emailed the cache owner and posted a NM log. The CO then temporarily disabled it and said they would go back to fix it soon.

 

I felt so bad because they put so much effort and time into creating this great cache. Has anything like this happened to you?

[+briansnat]

Hasn't happened to me, but it's not the first time it happened. No need to beat yourself over the head.

[+L0ne.R]

A local, experienced, geocaching couple just put out a very nice 4 stage multi in our area. I went out last night in hopes to be FTF and just enjoy this challenge. I found stage one after looking for a while and then went on and found stage 2. Things were going great. But as I handled stage 2 to get a look at the coords, I fumbled it and dropped it down a deep hole into the abyss! OMG! Its gone--no way to get it back. My hunt was over. I screwed up the whole cache!

 

I felt terrible. Here I am, the very first person to hunt this cache and I killed stage two. I immediately went home and emailed the cache owner and posted a NM log. The CO then temporarily disabled it and said they would go back to fix it soon.

 

I felt so bad because they put so much effort and time into creating this great cache. Has anything like this happened to you?

 

Not as sad as your incident but, while I was signing into a micro, unbeknownst to me, my dog was chewing on the cap of the film canister that I had left on the ground. The one saving grace was that they had a decoy film canister nearby so I used it's cap to replace the chewed up cap. Went home and emailed the CO right away with profuse apologies. They were wonderful about it because they had a dog too.

[MisterEFQ]

You manned up to your mistake and contacted the owner instead of just hiding from the situation. Which would have waste many cachers time looking for it.

 

Dont beat yourself up. You dont deserve it. Accidents happens.

[+SweetPea&Crew]

I got busted by a security guard while retrieving a cache container. I nervously explained geocaching to him (he'd never heard of it), then went home and put the cache on my watch list so that I could make sure it had outlived my encounter.

 

I think it says something about your character that you ARE distressed about the situation. Others in your situation might have criticized the CO for not tethering that stage of the multi. I suppose others in my situation might have complained that security had not been made aware of a cache placement. I guess there are those who complain, and there are those who cache conscientiously.

[+L0ne.R]

A local, experienced, geocaching couple just put out a very nice 4 stage multi in our area. I went out last night in hopes to be FTF and just enjoy this challenge. I found stage one after looking for a while and then went on and found stage 2. Things were going great. But as I handled stage 2 to get a look at the coords, I fumbled it and dropped it down a deep hole into the abyss! OMG! Its gone--no way to get it back. My hunt was over. I screwed up the whole cache!

 

I felt terrible. Here I am, the very first person to hunt this cache and I killed stage two. I immediately went home and emailed the cache owner and posted a NM log. The CO then temporarily disabled it and said they would go back to fix it soon.

 

I felt so bad because they put so much effort and time into creating this great cache. Has anything like this happened to you?

 

Not as sad as your incident but, while I was signing into a micro, unbeknownst to me, my dog was chewing on the cap of the film canister that I had left on the ground. The one saving grace was that they had a decoy film canister nearby so I used it's cap to replace the chewed up cap. Went home and emailed the CO right away with profuse apologies. They were wonderful about it because they had a dog too.

 

Forgot to say....one of our cache hides was dropped down a small hollow area about 4 feet deep. The finder sent us an email right away and said they'd be back with a telescoping magnet to retrieve it. I told him not to worry, I'd go out and do it myself, as I expected that occassionally the cache might end up dropped - my "fault" for placing it in a semi-precarious spot but it was a nice protected-from-the-elements spot. I was just thankful to know asap that the cache needed "maintenance".

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

Don't worry too much.You did the right thing fessing up to it right away. Looks like you found the flaw in the cache design. Perhaps the owner will work out a way to improve things so in doesn't happen again.

[+roziecakes]

Please don't feel bad. The fact that you owned up to your mistake and let the cache owner know is the important part!! You did what I would have done if it happened to me.

[+Gamaliel]

It's going to happen eventually, best get it out of the way now.

 

When it happened to me, I felt terrible. I emailed the cache owner and offered to pay for the cost of a new cache. Nothing else you can do about it besides that. She was cool with it and wouldn't even take my money.

Edited August 31, 2010 by Gamaliel

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

I felt terrible. Here I am, the very first person to hunt this cache and I killed stage two. I immediately went home and emailed the cache owner and posted a NM log. The CO then temporarily disabled it and said they would go back to fix it soon.

 

I felt so bad because they put so much effort and time into creating this great cache. Has anything like this happened to you?

 

Actually, it's encouraging to know that there are honest decent people like you out there who care about what happened and have the guts to own up straight away, and take responsibility rather than just walking away and letting someone else find/deal with the problem.

 

I reckon you are a "good egg" and you are welcome to drop my harbourside cache into the sea anytime you're passing - I couldn't be cross with you

 

I think you should be able to sleep well knowing you had an accident but did exactly the right thing.

[+Semper Questio]

Yeah, don't sweat it. Stuff like that happens all the time. Good on ya for acting on it the way you did.

 

I did something similar once. There was a magnetic nano on an old metal flange off the side of an old bridge. I recovered it fine, but when I went to put it back, the magnet separated from the container and, PLOP, down it fell into the river.

[+dakboy]

A similar thing happened to me a year or so ago. Ammo can wedged into the top of a hollow at the base of a split tree. I went to put it back and pushed too hard - can dropped to the ground, out of reach.

 

I did the same thing you did - post NM, email the CO, and fret. The CO was out a few days later & fixed things, no big deal. These things happen.

 

Looking back at the logs on the cache, it seems something similar happened again earlier this summer, but no one mentioned that it'd dropped in their logs - either they dropped it and didn't say anything publicly, or it happened naturally.

[+hukilaulau]

Yep. I've done it too. trying to retrieve a cache among some rocks and pushed it clear down into the ocean. And then there was the time that I found a bison tube in an evergreen tree, unscrewed the base from the top, walked away to sign the log, and then couldn't find the top which was still attached to the tree! it took me 20 minutes to find it again, and believe me that's a loooong time to be staring at essentially the same few square feet of a tree! Don't know how I would have explained that one!

[+lachupa]

I can so see that happening. Later this will be funny.

[+redtech]

I broke a lamp post. I still feel bad about it. Instead of lifting the skirt, my daughter suggested I check the access hole thing about head high where they can get in and look at the wires. Well, I noticed one screw was missing and it looked like it had been slid open and closed several times so I went to twist it and the remaining screw sheared off and the plate fell. (Did I mention is was rusty and gnarled on one corner?) It bouned up from the skirt area as I was trying to catch it and I impaled myself on the rusty metal. I was instantly sick. I quickly lifted the skirt and logged the real cache and set the metal plate up on the concrete ledge and fled the scene.

 

I posted what happened in the log, but it wasn't something I could fix. I still worry about the lamp post being replaced and the cache lost.

[+slukster]

I feel your pain. On one of my FTF's I managed to cut myself on the ammo can and blood got all over the brand new log book. I left one of the clean sheets of paper with a note about the incident and ran to the not so nearby store to buy a replacement log. When I returned with the new log the STF was heading back from the cache. We went back together to re-sign the log and talk caching.

 

Another time I lost a nano in a snow storm. Here is my log:

 

slukster found [Traditional Cache] Haunted New York - 567 Hudson St #GC1NEKG

 

Out caching on a cold, windy, 20+ degree day. This cache was one of six I had planned on grabbing before meeting up with some friends at my favorite watering hole "Down the Hatch" on W. 4th St. I was running late meeting up so I decided to leave this one for after the 1pm - 6pm all you can drink and eat (chicken wings) special. This was a major mistake. By the time I got out it was even colder than when I got into town and the snow was a blowing. Not to mention I couldn't walk a straight line anymore so I was unsure if my geosenses would be working. Even now the clue still doesn't make sense to me but that might be the impending hang-over talking. So after searching for around 20 minutes I somehow found the cache. Yipeeee!! So I went over to the doorway of one of the buildings to get out of the snow to sign the log. Did I mention I hate nano's? Getting the log out usually isn't a problem but getting it back in is always tough. So after several attempts and a couple of drops of the container I finally got the log back in. A quick return to its excellent hiding spot and homeward bound I go. But I had problems getting it to stick back where it belonged. And after the second attempt the container fell to the ground, into the snow!! Oh ....!!! I started looking everywhere on the floor but I could not find the tiny container! Did I mention I hate nano's? I was looking for 10 minutes when I looked over my shoulder to find the waiter and some customers from the restaurant right by GZ looking at this crazy white guy searching in the snow for what? I shrugged my shoulders at them and continued my search. Finally the waiter came out and gave me a flashlight to help look. When he asked me what I was looking for I mentioned geocaching and he said he had heard of it. After another 10 minutes a patron came out with his flashlight to help me search for the stinkin' thing. Finally after 25+minutes of seaching in the freezing cold I had to give up to catch my train home. I stopped in the White Horse Tavern to use the bathroom on the way out. Nice place!!

 

team pelagori, forgive me for having lost your cache. It is out there somewhere. I will contact you to arrange getting you a new container. In the mean time, I have learned a valuable lesson. Go caching BEFORE making my way to Down the Hatch.

 

***THE CACHE IS LOST***

[+BajaBekka]

Not as sad as your incident but, while I was signing into a micro, unbeknownst to me, my dog was chewing on the cap of the film canister that I had left on the ground. The one saving grace was that they had a decoy film canister nearby so I used it's cap to replace the chewed up cap. Went home and emailed the CO right away with profuse apologies. They were wonderful about it because they had a dog too.

 

Sorry but I think that this is really funny ---- My dog would do the same thing given the chance.

[+Driddy]

Earlier this summer I fumbled a magnetic micro attached to the underside of the lip of storm sewer opening and the container fell into the drain and was lost. I fessed up and a few weeks later the CO actually went down in the sewer to look for it (!!) but it was lost for good and the cache has been archived. I felt terrible but the CO was gracious about it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Okay. I will admit to having knocked a magnetic keyholder off a bridge into the Passaic River in Paterson, NJ. I apologized profusely. (Snide comments from other geocachers about changing the terrain rating to 5.) CO accepted my apology. All is well. Stuff happens. Oh, well.

[+Ecylram]

We were caching one night after sunset and dropped the black cap of a nano. We had to come back the next morning to retrieve it. We now keep spares.

 

Also, I saw one log where a cache slipped out of a cacher's hand and was list in a winter stream running beneath it.

 

It happens. Sounds like you did everything correctly.

[+WhoDis]

I feel your pain. On one of my FTF's I managed to cut myself on the ammo can and blood got all over the brand new log book. I left one of the clean sheets of paper with a note about the incident and ran to the not so nearby store to buy a replacement log. When I returned with the new log the STF was heading back from the cache. We went back together to re-sign the log and talk caching.

 

Another time I lost a nano in a snow storm. Here is my log:

 

slukster found [Traditional Cache] Haunted New York - 567 Hudson St #GC1NEKG

 

Out caching on a cold, windy, 20+ degree day. This cache was one of six I had planned on grabbing before meeting up with some friends at my favorite watering hole "Down the Hatch" on W. 4th St. I was running late meeting up so I decided to leave this one for after the 1pm - 6pm all you can drink and eat (chicken wings) special. This was a major mistake. By the time I got out it was even colder than when I got into town and the snow was a blowing. Not to mention I couldn't walk a straight line anymore so I was unsure if my geosenses would be working. Even now the clue still doesn't make sense to me but that might be the impending hang-over talking. So after searching for around 20 minutes I somehow found the cache. Yipeeee!! So I went over to the doorway of one of the buildings to get out of the snow to sign the log. Did I mention I hate nano's? Getting the log out usually isn't a problem but getting it back in is always tough. So after several attempts and a couple of drops of the container I finally got the log back in. A quick return to its excellent hiding spot and homeward bound I go. But I had problems getting it to stick back where it belonged. And after the second attempt the container fell to the ground, into the snow!! Oh ....!!! I started looking everywhere on the floor but I could not find the tiny container! Did I mention I hate nano's? I was looking for 10 minutes when I looked over my shoulder to find the waiter and some customers from the restaurant right by GZ looking at this crazy white guy searching in the snow for what? I shrugged my shoulders at them and continued my search. Finally the waiter came out and gave me a flashlight to help look. When he asked me what I was looking for I mentioned geocaching and he said he had heard of it. After another 10 minutes a patron came out with his flashlight to help me search for the stinkin' thing. Finally after 25+minutes of seaching in the freezing cold I had to give up to catch my train home. I stopped in the White Horse Tavern to use the bathroom on the way out. Nice place!!

 

team pelagori, forgive me for having lost your cache. It is out there somewhere. I will contact you to arrange getting you a new container. In the mean time, I have learned a valuable lesson. Go caching BEFORE making my way to Down the Hatch.

 

***THE CACHE IS LOST***

So did you log a DNF for the second hunt? I know, I shouldn't have went there.

[+Don_J]

A local, experienced, geocaching couple just put out a very nice 4 stage multi in our area. I went out last night in hopes to be FTF and just enjoy this challenge. I found stage one after looking for a while and then went on and found stage 2. Things were going great. But as I handled stage 2 to get a look at the coords, I fumbled it and dropped it down a deep hole into the abyss! OMG! Its gone--no way to get it back. My hunt was over. I screwed up the whole cache!

 

I felt terrible. Here I am, the very first person to hunt this cache and I killed stage two. I immediately went home and emailed the cache owner and posted a NM log. The CO then temporarily disabled it and said they would go back to fix it soon.

 

I felt so bad because they put so much effort and time into creating this great cache. Has anything like this happened to you?

 

Had to find all seven of the dwarfs to get the coordinates to Snow White. We sent Sleepy right to the bottom of the fence post. Luckily, we had the coordinate digit, but there were three other cachers that were out there doing the series as well, who had to complete the series another day. We're all friends so there were no hard feelings.

[+Don_J]

 

Not as sad as your incident but, while I was signing into a micro, unbeknownst to me, my dog was chewing on the cap of the film canister that I had left on the ground. The one saving grace was that they had a decoy film canister nearby so I used it's cap to replace the chewed up cap. Went home and emailed the CO right away with profuse apologies. They were wonderful about it because they had a dog too.

 

You get that dog from Clan Riffster?

Edited September 1, 2010 by Don_J

[+slukster]

 

So did you log a DNF for the second hunt? I know, I shouldn't have went there.

LOL

[+Tcaches]

I found a cache tucked under the bottom of a big utility box. (5 feet cubed roughly?) Unfortunately, under that big box there was a hole in the concrete base. I managed to drop the magnetic keyholder down the hole when I tried to replace it. I posted NM, emailed the CO to explain, offered to replace or reimburse him for it. (He doctors a lot of his containers up so they stick well.) He laughed it off and replaced it himself shortly. Nice guy, and a nice caching experience.

[+J the Goat]

I was FTF on a contact lens case glued to a magned on the underside of a handrail on a footbridge. The magnet was stronger than the glue, and when I grabbed the cache, the magnet stayed on the handrail and I had the cache in my hands. Uh-oh.

 

I kept the cache with me, as there was nowhere to really stash it, and posted a find, an NM, and sent the owner an email as soon as i got home. I sent her my phone number in the email in case she wanted to call me to set up a place I could drop the cache off. She called and I suggested gluing the magnet inside the container next time. Upon meeting up with her, she had already made up the replacement with the other side of the case and had taken my suggestion. She's now one of my favorite caching buddys.

[+Too Tall John]

I once dropped the stage of a multi down a crevice. Fortunately, the only person I had to apologize to was myself, it was my cache.

[7rxc]

Not too long ago, I went out and located a camo'd nano in the woods... I was on foot and had walked up there from the bus... hot and dry, not a real hard find though... nice camo.

After replacing the thing, I left, walked down the hill, along the highway and up (a long hot slog) up another hill to do some more caches... found one with difficulty, and in the process of packing up after signing the log, realized that I had the cache container from the first in my pocket, a blinky. Duh! I had only put back the camo package... gave up the idea of the other area caches and walked back down, over and back up the several kilometres and put it back in place... Then I fessed up in my logs and an email... Trying to be a lot more carefull now... To be honest though, some of these micros should be better protected in the case of dropping all or part of it... if only to the point of being recoverable... Went back for the other caches on another trip.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+TerraViators]

I hung a cache in the top of a hollow sign post with a hook hanging over the outside for retrieval. A cacher dropped my Rx bottle down the pipe, about 6 feet down. He emailed me and said he was going to get it out. I though...good luck with that. He got it by using a treble hook on the end of fishing line. I thought that was cool.

Edited September 6, 2010 by TerraViators

[+narcissa]

These things happen. You did the right thing by contacting the owner immediately. Nobody's going to revoke your membership over it.

[+LizzyHoops]

I accidently took a cache home with me for a night. It was magnetic nano in a sign, I parked right beside it so I got back in my car to sign it since it was all dark outside (late night caching). As I was signing a strange acting dude pulled up on the street not 50ft from the cache site. He was acting all weird so I decided to hit another cache and drop that one back off on my home. (Doh!) Totally forgot. I litteraly woke up at 0330...sat straight up in bed and said...SH!!!!!!!!!!!!T! My boyfriend convinced me to wait untill daybreak to take it back. But I didn't sleep well.

[+LizzyHoops]

I accidently took a cache home with me for a night. It was magnetic nano in a sign, I parked right beside it so I got back in my car to sign it since it was all dark outside (late night caching). As I was signing a strange acting dude pulled up on the street not 50ft from the cache site. He was acting all weird so I decided to hit another cache and drop that one back off on my home. (Doh!) Totally forgot. I litteraly woke up at 0330...sat straight up in bed and said...SH!!!!!!!!!!!!T! My boyfriend convinced me to wait untill daybreak to take it back. But I didn't sleep well.