earthcache proximity?

[+kissguy&frannyfru]

I have looked and can't fins a definate answer. Can you place a pysical cache within 528ft of an earthcache as long as there is no pysical container there?

[+BlueNacho]

I found one example in Colorado, so I think so. Another example was up in Wisconsin. If you want to see the Colorado one on a map, it's right by the pike's peak railroad station.

[+Sol seaker]

I was at an earthcache last week that was a huge erratic boulder. There is a cache in the tree right next to (almost touching) the boulder.

 

I went to another one a few weeks ago that was right near a regular cache.

 

These could be mistakes, but there seem to be a lot of them.

[+geodarts]

According to the saturation guidelines: "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."

 

As a nonphysical cache, the saturation rules do not apply to earthcaches -- they can be placed near physical caches and physical caches can be placed near them.

 

At one time, earthcaches had an informal rule about not placing coordinates in the exact location as existing cache and I believe that that is still the preferred practice. Regardless of whether I was placing a traditional or developing an earthcache, I would keep a buffer so the caches have some separation to ensure that they are both identifiable on maps.

 

There are separate saturation rules for earthcaches that are designed to prevent the same geological formation from being used at the same site. But I have found earthcaches within 50 feet of each other when different geological formations are being observed.

 

Earthcaches also used to require developers to ask owners of existing caches at the location if they objected to a new earthcache listing. That is not required any longer but I usually let the CO know just to be polite. If anybody complained I would withdraw a proposed listing for the same reason, but I always enjoy being able to stop for more than one cache so I hope that the listings encourage people to visit both of the caches.

 

As an earthcache developer of sorts, I would be glad if someone wanted to place a traditional near one of mine, but most of mine are on land where other types of caching are not allowed.

Edited February 4, 2011 by mulvaney