TFTT

[NEwhere]

Thanks for the trash! I appreciated the lovely scenery behind the strip mall. The electrical taped container hidden behind the guardrail was a tough one to find. I was next to all the electrical boxes, hope the mall's security doesn't think I was up to no good as they clearly have me on videotape. Oh and I'm really thankful for the expired Discount Tire coupon that's available all day long on the web. Thanks for the link to your crappy blog.

 

 

Found this one too over lunch today.

 

 

Thanks for the trespassing. Thanks for the resulting littering when I replace your cache.

 

The hunt was really something! It does blend in with all the trash.

 

 

Amazing. No wonder people don't do this for very long.

 

Does $30 and the premium membership get me any quality caches? Is the spirit dead?

[+Keelmann And Cici]

Try caches in parks, or anything outside urban settings. For each poor cache I find, I also find one I really enjoy, and I try to make sure the ones I hide are good quality. At only 11 finds, you still have a lot to experience, so don't be discouraged by a few less-than-stellar ones.

[+GeoBain]

No wonder people don't do this for very long.

 

They don't? 6+ yrs and counting....

[+Walts Hunting]

This hobby isn't for everybody. You've got 11 caches and already formed an opinion of what this community is generally about. Maybe you ought to get 1,000 then reevaluate.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Seriously...

If you want a rose garden, perhaps you should grow one yourself!

 

The world is full of all different sorts. Being a worldwide recreation (available for anyone to do), geocaching probably has a similar percentage of all of those different sorts. Nothing new as to what you found in caches, just remember, everyday people (genius, physically challenged, mentally challenged, feeble, young, old, those-who-do-care, those-who-don't-care) can all go geocaching.

 

Now as far as hiding locations go -- tree limbs, an existing guardrail, leaves and the like, along with the accompanying assorted litter that people throw out -- hey, it works as camouflage, does it not?

 

I see you wanna rant about the trash... well by golly jeepers, why don't you pick it up? A lot (not all) of geocachers do just that. Many of us carry trash bags to remove the junk. It kind of goes alongside of geocaching, dontchathink? Which way is your boat going?

 

Wanna post pics to us? Give us something that we haven't seen in real life already.

 

It seems pretty likely that you will be one that doesn't do this very long. When you print it, it most likely going to come true.

[knowschad]

8 years and counting, and I'm still a newbie compared to some that are still alive and caching.

 

There are some bad caches... there are some horrible caches. Learn what to look for and avoid those as much as possible. You have access to the maps and satellite photos... why would you go to a cache hidden behind a strip mall? You won't avoid all bad caches by choosing where you hunt, but you can certainly cut down on them by a large percentage. You are way too new at this to get upset over the bad ones.

[+Cool Cow Cachers]

There are plenty of great caches out there to find. Don't give up on it yet. The farther you get from the city the better the caching experience and caches tend to be. I would also recommend going for the premium membership because many of the experienced cachers list their best caches that way to help maintain their quality.

 

You should also take each opportunity to be part of the solution. CITO doesn't just have to be along the trail. I have no problem dumping the entire contents of a cache into a trash bag and leaving just the logbook when I find one like that. I'm pretty sure most other cachers are like myself and would rather find an empty cache than one filled with garbage.

[TheDoctorPH]

wow what an entitled post. what did you think you were looking for? buried treasure? this hobby should not be done cause your expecting gain some valuable loot. you do ti for the fun and the experience. if your this upset that the cache wasn't filed with great stuff then maybe you should rethink why your doing this.

 

and to bring up the membership thing? really? the website doesn't make the caches. your not buying items when you sign up for a member ship. your buying a service and, more importantly, your supporting the website and there for the hobby.

 

and if you dont like where the cache was, you knew that before you went out there.

[+Manville Possum]

Does $30 and the premium membership get me any quality caches?

 

No. Many PMO listings are just to keep basic members away, and that's just the one's that have not found a way around them.

[+captnemo]

8 years and counting, and I'm still a newbie compared to some that are still alive and caching.

 

There are some bad caches... there are some horrible caches. Learn what to look for and avoid those as much as possible. You have access to the maps and satellite photos... why would you go to a cache hidden behind a strip mall? You won't avoid all bad caches by choosing where you hunt, but you can certainly cut down on them by a large percentage. You are way too new at this to get upset over the bad ones.

+1 except that it 9 years and counting for me.

 

I would rather find this cache then most LPC micro but the reality is I don't go looking for a cache I don't want to find as I don't care about the numbers. I have stopped a search more then once when I realized I really didn't want to find the cache.

 

The OP needs to spend a little more time planning which caches to find and learn to enjoy life.

[NEwhere]

Try caches in parks, or anything outside urban settings. For each poor cache I find, I also find one I really enjoy, and I try to make sure the ones I hide are good quality. At only 11 finds, you still have a lot to experience, so don't be discouraged by a few less-than-stellar ones.

 

I am discovering that really quick. I wonder why that is? In the example i posted either cache could have been larger and better hidden. If your gonna have a 500 foot rule to cut down on cache overload might be nice to get rid of the crappy ones...

[NEwhere]

Now as far as hiding locations go -- tree limbs, an existing guardrail, leaves and the like, along with the accompanying assorted litter that people throw out -- hey, it works as camouflage, does it not?

 

I see you wanna rant about the trash... well by golly jeepers, why don't you pick it up? A lot (not all) of geocachers do just that. Many of us carry trash bags to remove the junk. It kind of goes alongside of geocaching, dontchathink? Which way is your boat going?

 

Wanna post pics to us? Give us something that we haven't seen in real life already.

 

It seems pretty likely that you will be one that doesn't do this very long. When you print it, it most likely going to come true.

 

I can understand wanting to have Geocachers pack out what they pack in, sounds like a great idea. I'm how hard is it NOT to litter? I don't litter. I also don't go out on my lunch break to check out a quick cache and then spend the next 20 minutes picking up all the trash by the sign telling me not to trespass!

[NEwhere]

wow what an entitled post. what did you think you were looking for? buried treasure? this hobby should not be done cause your expecting gain some valuable loot. you do ti for the fun and the experience. if your this upset that the cache wasn't filed with great stuff then maybe you should rethink why your doing this.

 

and to bring up the membership thing? really? the website doesn't make the caches. your not buying items when you sign up for a member ship. your buying a service and, more importantly, your supporting the website and there for the hobby.

 

and if you dont like where the cache was, you knew that before you went out there.

 

Buried treasure would certainly be more fun! Seems like to me location and quality of cache are staring to become evident to me. I work near the inner city and almost every cache i've found around here is either a crappy container with a soaked log, hidden in high muggle area, or full of trash while hidden amongst it. I live in the country where every cache has been a waterproof ammo can full of fun stuff for the kids to find.

 

I get it that the website doesn't create the cache, but it does control access to them. For all i know the members who choose to make a cache Premium only also choose their best caches, best location, best hide, best journey, best whatever.

 

And that's an lame excuse to say that the location of the cache determines that its gonna suck. The CO could have done all kind of neat things behind the strip mall, i can't tell exactly what it is like from google maps! I could tell that it was bordered by an area covered in tree i.e. the woods, what can't you do in the woods? Certainly more than a guardrail hide....

[knowschad]

Isn't 11 finds a little early to making such strong judgement calls? In fact, looking over a few of your logs, it seems pretty clear to me that you've had fun on quite a few of them.

 

As for littering... are you suggesting that it is the geocachers that are doing the littering? Or just that some of the caches are hidden in an area that collects a lot of litter?

[NEwhere]

Isn't 11 finds a little early to making such strong judgement calls? In fact, looking over a few of your logs, it seems pretty clear to me that you've had fun on quite a few of them.

 

As for littering... are you suggesting that it is the geocachers that are doing the littering? Or just that some of the caches are hidden in an area that collects a lot of litter?

The latter. Are there some hard core CITO'ers that set up caches a verifiable trash dumps just to get folks to clean them up? Wouldn't be a shocker.

[knowschad]

Isn't 11 finds a little early to making such strong judgement calls? In fact, looking over a few of your logs, it seems pretty clear to me that you've had fun on quite a few of them.

 

As for littering... are you suggesting that it is the geocachers that are doing the littering? Or just that some of the caches are hidden in an area that collects a lot of litter?

The latter. Are there some hard core CITO'ers that set up caches a verifiable trash dumps just to get folks to clean them up? Wouldn't be a shocker.

 

I knew of one cache that was placed just for that purpose. And we did it. It took about a week for the cachers to clean up that little roadside park. Unfortunately, it didn't last. The neighborhood kids hung out there and really trashed the place.

[Clan Riffster]

And that's an lame excuse to say that the location of the cache determines that its gonna suck.

This is where theory and reality clash. Sure, in theory, the most awesomest cache on the planet could be in the service area behind a strip mall. But in practice, other than a few exceedingly rare exceptions, any cache behind a strip mall is pretty much guaranteed to suck. We could argue for days on why that might be, or we could just shrug and accept the reality, planning our trips accordingly.

 

On a similar note, many players judge the overall quality of the cache not just by the container itself, but also by the area it is hidden in. Imagine two caches, an ammo can and an Altoids tin. Picture both caches in two different locations, a scenic waterfall and a transient camp behind a Walmart. Of those four, which would give you the greatest overall pleasure? Which would give you the least overall pleasure? Plan your hunts around your answers.

 

If your preferences tend toward rusty containers, with soggy logs, hidden in areas reeking of urine, and strewn with beer bottles, opt for the Altoids tin near the transient camp. If your preferences tend toward peaceful, relaxing nature scenes, dry logs and occasionally kewl swag, opt for the ammo can at the waterfall. If you believe that every cache is equal, go find them all.

 

The neatest thing about this game is we each determine how much fun it will be.

 

If you are playing this game, and you are not having fun, you are doing it wrong.

[+Ash McCloud]

Sometimes people plant caches just for the simple fact of having on in an area for people to grab during their lunch break. If you only have eleven and this really bothered you, I would suggest you get out now. Because you are in for some major disappointment. On the other hand if you do cache and can look at the positive of it. You will find many more good caches that are either creative hides, unique containers, Spectacular locations, or a mixture of all three. I see on the first hide you found it had been signed by many people. So people are looking for it. One thing you can do if you decide to stay with it, you can study each cache and its location and help that be a compass for what kind of hides you will make.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[+Ash McCloud]

Clan Riffster stated the following {{{{{On a similar note, many players judge the overall quality of the cache not just by the container itself, but also by the area it is hidden in. Imagine two caches, an ammo can and an Altoids tin. Picture both caches in two different locations, a scenic waterfall and a transient camp behind a Walmart. Of those four, which would give you the greatest overall pleasure? Which would give you the least overall pleasure? Plan your hunts around your answers.

 

If your preferences tend toward rusty containers, with soggy logs, hidden in areas reeking of urine, and strewn with beer bottles, opt for the Altoids tin near the transient camp. If your preferences tend toward peaceful, relaxing nature scenes, dry logs and occasionally kewl swag, opt for the ammo can at the waterfall. If you believe that every cache is equal, go find them all.}}}}}

 

What if I hide a altoid can in the waterfall???

Edited December 5, 2011 by Ash McCloud

[+SwineFlew]

Does $30 and the premium membership get me any quality caches?

 

No. Many PMO listings are just to keep basic members away, and that's just the one's that have not found a way around them.

 

There is a way around it if you got 3 or more basic members accounts. Yes, it will require some math skill and Auto-CAD program. Dont tell that to GS. It isnt perfect but you can get pretty close.

[+SwineFlew]

There was one cache I did a while back and it was an AWESOME spot but a lame pill container. Seriously, I would give it a fav if the CO uses more sense of putting a better container for it. Save the lame containers for GRC or LPC or powertrails.

Edited December 5, 2011 by SwineFlew

[+Legochugglers]

wow what an entitled post. what did you think you were looking for? buried treasure? this hobby should not be done cause your expecting gain some valuable loot. you do ti for the fun and the experience. if your this upset that the cache wasn't filed with great stuff then maybe you should rethink why your doing this.

 

and to bring up the membership thing? really? the website doesn't make the caches. your not buying items when you sign up for a member ship. your buying a service and, more importantly, your supporting the website and there for the hobby.

 

and if you dont like where the cache was, you knew that before you went out there.

 

Buried treasure would certainly be more fun! Seems like to me location and quality of cache are staring to become evident to me. I work near the inner city and almost every cache i've found around here is either a crappy container with a soaked log, hidden in high muggle area, or full of trash while hidden amongst it. I live in the country where every cache has been a waterproof ammo can full of fun stuff for the kids to find.

 

I get it that the website doesn't create the cache, but it does control access to them. For all i know the members who choose to make a cache Premium only also choose their best caches, best location, best hide, best journey, best whatever.

 

And that's an lame excuse to say that the location of the cache determines that its gonna suck. The CO could have done all kind of neat things behind the strip mall, i can't tell exactly what it is like from google maps! I could tell that it was bordered by an area covered in tree i.e. the woods, what can't you do in the woods? Certainly more than a guardrail hide....

 

I assume you recorded and shared your negative experiences in a polite but detailed log on the cache page to bring the situation to the attention of the CO and be a warning to others to avoid a 'crappy' cache?

Unless logs are honest then these type of caches will stay in existence and unfortunately new cachers will think it is normal practice and copy them.

I couldnt seem to distinguish which one it was on your list of finds. Have you logged it?

[hoosier guy]

This hobby isn't for everybody. You've got 11 caches and already formed an opinion of what this community is generally about. Maybe you ought to get 1,000 then reevaluate.

 

+1 I have found some crappy caches. I have also found some clever caches, some interesting caches and some caches that took me to beautiful spots. Sorry you had some bad experiences, but keep at it.

[+JJnTJ]

I found fifteen caches within walking distance of each other just yesterday. Most were decent containers, and a large number of them contained trackables. They're out there.

 

No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.

Edited December 5, 2011 by JJnTJ

[+DanOCan]

Thanks for the trash! I appreciated the lovely scenery behind the strip mall. The electrical taped container hidden behind the guardrail was a tough one to find. I was next to all the electrical boxes, hope the mall's security doesn't think I was up to no good as they clearly have me on videotape.

 

If you find yourself in situations where a cache is taking you to a location that you find uncomfortable or you aren't enjoying the location then the best thing to do is walk away.

 

After eight years I have learned that the times I have enjoyed caching the least are those times that corresponded to my periods where I got into the "I have to find every cache" mentality.

[+wigglesworth]

Perhaps we should welcome new cachers to the sport, gently helping them to understand what it is all about.

Give the guy one more chance folks before we draw any more conclusions about how long the OP may remain caching

 

[+briansnat]

I understand your complaint. The sport has turned into a numbers game and there are thousands of caches in mundane and downright disgusting areas just so the numbers hounds can get their quick smiley. There are also thousands of caches in fascinating, unique or beautiful areas.

 

The trick is to figure out which are which.

 

I've been at this sport for over 10 years now. My relatively low find count is because I long ago decided that life is too short to hunt caches that don't interest me. If I see that my GPS is taking me to a parking lot, litter strewn lot or some other unappealing area I simply move on.

 

Geocaching has brought me to some incredible places over the years and hopefully will continue to

[+Markwell]

What the premium membership WILL do is allow you to be more selective on the caches you choose to hunt.

 

From my December 1 pocket queries, there are 3,467 caches within 20 miles of my house.

Of those 3,467 caches, 435 are temporarily disabled leaving 3,032 caches

Of those 3,032 caches, 309 are not traditional leaving 2,723 caches

Of those 2,723 caches, 1,479 are micro leaving 1,244 caches

Of those 1,244 caches, 124 are not chosen in their size leaving 1,120 caches

Of those 1,120 caches, 79 are terrain=1.0 leaving 1,041 caches

Of those 1,041 caches, 107 are difficulty=1.0 leaving 934 caches

Of those 934 caches, 39 are are ones I've found or placed leaving 895 caches

Of those 895 caches, 144 are placed in a parking lot (based on my scouting reports) leaving 751 caches

Of those 751 caches, 13 are terrain>=4.0 leaving 738 caches

Of those 738 caches, 26 are have a size of "other" chosen leaving 712 caches

Of those 712 caches, 509 are excluded based on other criteria I use in GSAK (polygon filter, number of recent DNFs, etc.) leaving 203 caches.

 

So with my premium account, I've narrowed the criteria down to something I'll usually enjoy on the fly: Traditional caches (at their posted coordinates, with a terrain between 1.5 and 3.5, with a difficulty greater than 1.0, a container size that's not "Not Chosen", not "Micro" and not "other", that's enabled and not in a parking lot and has some recent finds. That criteria gets me down to about 5.86% of the caches.

 

Am I too picky? Probably. I would also include some of these criteria if it were not "on-the-fly" caching. But in using these criteria, I can be pretty sure that I'm going to be doing better than a guard rail junk box.

[+The VanDucks]

One benefit of having a premium membership is that you can see "Favorited" caches on the cache listing page; the caches selected by other local members as their favorites tend to be very interesting, well thought out caches. I also find a correlation between the difficulty rating of the cache and its fun value; the caches we have worked the hardest to find are usually the ones we enjoyed the most.

 

As you become more familiar with the cachers placing caches in your area, you'll probably figure out which ones place the caches that you like to find! (Often, but not always, they'll be the geocachers with the largest number of hides.)You should also see if there is a geocacher club in your locality and plan to attend an event. It sounds to me like you've become rather angry and bitter at a hobby you expected to like, and getting in touch with other local cachers will help you find out where and when to search for worthwhile caches. Good luck!

[+wigglesworth]

Using your selective criteria there is another benefit.

If you have a 'completer finisher' mentality you can have the satisfaction of completing all your target caches in an area.

This can result in a great sense of achievement.

[+The VanDucks]

Me again - NeWhere, just for fun I clicked on the last cache you logged, then searched for Favorited caches near that area. It looks like you cache around where I grew up, in East Point, GA.! I haven't been back there in many, many years, and I've never geocached there. I see several caches that you might want to take a look at; here are the GC numbers and following each in (Paren.) is the number of cachers who marked that cache as a favorite:

GCGFDE (85 favorites) one of several Virtual caches in your locality.

GCC2D2 (10 fav.) another virtual

GC2MWEY (2)

GC2QT (20)

GC1MRZ9 (1)

GCD496 (1)

GC2KAC4 (2)

GC58A1 (40) another virtual

GC2E3PR (2)

GCHRVX (11 favorites)

 

These may not be the type you can do quickly on your lunch break, but the caches that take more time to complete will likely provide more satisfaction!

[NEwhere]

You are correct, I work near the airport. And yea I have 1.5 hours over lunch to hunt. Thanks for the suggestions, not big on virtual, but I'll look at the others tomorrow. And yea part of the problem is it's east point, when you area is mentioned in a rap song by Outkast it might not be the best place to geocache.....

 

Me again - NeWhere, just for fun I clicked on the last cache you logged, then searched for Favorited caches near that area. It looks like you cache around where I grew up, in East Point, GA.! I haven't been back there in many, many years, and I've never geocached there. I see several caches that you might want to take a look at; here are the GC numbers and following each in (Paren.) is the number of cachers who marked that cache as a favorite:

GCGFDE (85 favorites) one of several Virtual caches in your locality.

GCC2D2 (10 fav.) another virtual

GC2MWEY (2)

GC2QT (20)

GC1MRZ9 (1)

GCD496 (1)

GC2KAC4 (2)

GC58A1 (40) another virtual

GC2E3PR (2)

GCHRVX (11 favorites)

 

These may not be the type you can do quickly on your lunch break, but the caches that take more time to complete will likely provide more satisfaction!

[+kunarion]

And that's an lame excuse to say that the location of the cache determines that its gonna suck. The CO could have done all kind of neat things behind the strip mall, i can't tell exactly what it is like from google maps! I could tell that it was bordered by an area covered in tree i.e. the woods, what can't you do in the woods? Certainly more than a guardrail hide....

I’m sorry you had such a bad first impression of Geocaching. You’re very close to my stomping grounds, but several places you’ve hunted, I kind of avoid, because of the expected cache condition. You may check the number of Favorites, when deciding. You’ll begin to associate COs with the quality of their hides, but this takes time. I was fortunate to learn early, which areas and which caches to rule out.

 

People place subtle hints in their logs (often polite, so you must read between the lines), so it’s good to take a look at cache logs in advance. And if you find trash (wrappers, losing lottery tickets, expired coupons, receipts, or wet/moldy paper) inside a container, feel free to remove it. And mention that if you like.

 

BTW, there are some great Geocaching groups in the metro Atlanta area. One way to get a heads-up about what caches to try is to attend a local event.

Edited December 5, 2011 by kunarion

[+Chief301]

To expound a bit on VanDucks' post, Favorites points are indeed one advantage of a premium membership. They're a great barometer to gauge whether a cache is worth looking for or not...if several other cachers really liked it, there's probably something cool about it that you'll discover when you get there.

 

Of course, everyone has a different opinion of what makes a cool cache. Some like clever containers, some like a long hike in the woods, some like challenging puzzles. Me, I like historic sites, but I've Favorited caches for other qualities too.

 

And IMO, I think GC.com got the "one Favorite point for every 10 finds" ratio just about right. In my experience I've found that about 1 out of 10 caches makes me say "Wow! This is what a cache oughtta be!". The rest are a mix of "OK", "Meh", and "Bleh". But on most days that one great one makes it worth the hunt

 

Let's face it, some caches are just lame. Get a bunch more finds under your belt and you'll come across the great ones eventually. If you were guaranteed an awesome cache every time it would take some of the fun out of the game, wouldn't it?

[+luvvinbird]

Rather than wasting time and energy posting and displaying caches that don't appeal to you, focus more on the many suggested ones in areas that will appeal. I've found great, clever hides in locations that over time ended up to be amidst trash and other despicable items, certainly not the intention of the owner. Log a note or e-mail the CO that the area is no longer suitable. I had a homeless person set up camp right at GZ of one of my caches, making it necessary to archive it thanks to a heads-up from someone who posted a note. Trust me, you'll come across many more like the one that turned you off.

[NEwhere]

Perhaps we should welcome new cachers to the sport, gently helping them to understand what it is all about.

Give the guy one more chance folks before we draw any more conclusions about how long the OP may remain caching

 

 

Love the roll eyes smiley, back at you:). Aside from that part of your comment the rest seems to be genuine

 

Maybe the crappy caches aren't all thats wrong with the game....

[+tozainamboku]

I'm how hard is it NOT to litter? I don't litter. I also don't go out on my lunch break to check out a quick cache and then spend the next 20 minutes picking up all the trash by the sign telling me not to trespass!

This may be your problem. You have 20 minutes to cache on lunch break and you expect every cache to take you to your idea of the perfect location.

 

Urban (and many suburban) caches tend to be in grungy areas. Places with impeccable grounds and staff to clean up litter are place where caches don't last long. They get found by the groundskeepers or by other muggles. Sometimes a nano might survive awhile but eventually it too will be "cleaned" up.

 

In urban areas often find caches places out of sight from muggles in alleys or in passageways between buildings. Unfortunately, trash in these areas isn't always picked up as soon as someone leaves it. It may have been clean when the hider hid the cache, but a day later it can be full of trash again. Worse yet are the homeless who used these places for toilets.

 

It's unfortunate, but if you insist on urban caching you will probably run into places like this. Be sure to let the cache owner know of problems, often they will archive or move the cache.

 

Buried treasure would certainly be more fun! Seems like to me location and quality of cache are staring to become evident to me. I work near the inner city and almost every cache i've found around here is either a crappy container with a soaked log, hidden in high muggle area, or full of trash while hidden amongst it. I live in the country where every cache has been a waterproof ammo can full of fun stuff for the kids to find.

 

You might find some creative urban hides or ones that highlight a interesting location you would not have otherwise known about. But remember that both in the city and country, caches are placed primarily so there is something to find. You're seeing bigger waterproof caches where you live, primarily because caches like these don't survive long in the city but also because the demographics of the hiders. In the suburbs and countryside people may be able to afford a better container or in any case be more willing to use a more expensive container, knowing that urban hides tend to not last as long.

 

I get it that the website doesn't create the cache, but it does control access to them. For all i know the members who choose to make a cache Premium only also choose their best caches, best location, best hide, best journey, best whatever.

The website simply publishes caches that meet the guidelines. There are no guidelines per se about trashy area or dangerous areas or whatever. They did add the briansnat quote:

"When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat

But the reality is that many people hide caches primarily to give others something to find. Reviewers can't decide what locations are deserving of caches and which are not. That results in something know as the "wow" requirement, which we had in the days of the virtual cache. It carries too much baggage to think it would ever be implemented for physical caches.

 

People make caches premium member only for a number of reasons. However generally it does not indicate the cache is of any better quality.

 

And that's an lame excuse to say that the location of the cache determines that its gonna suck. The CO could have done all kind of neat things behind the strip mall, i can't tell exactly what it is like from google maps! I could tell that it was bordered by an area covered in tree i.e. the woods, what can't you do in the woods? Certainly more than a guardrail hide....

It may be that some caches behind a strip mall use a better hiding technique than a guardrail. Once you have found more caches you might recognize those hiders to try to do something clever even behind strip malls. You can they go after their caches. Don't expect the average cache to be above average. There is no geocaching Lake Wobegon.

 

The favorite feature can be your friend. If a cache has multiple favorite votes there is likely to be something special about it. It is either a special location or it may have a clever camouflage or hiding technique.

 

One benefit of having a premium membership is that you can see "Favorited" caches on the cache listing page;

You don't have to be a premium member to see the favorite votes on the cache page. Premium membership does allow you to award favorite votes (1 for every 10 caches you find). It also allows you to sort the search page in order of favorite votes and thus find the caches in your query with the most favorite votes. Perhaps after tomorrow (fingers crossed) premium member will be able to search with caches with at least a certain number of votes and will be able to get pocket queries of these caches.

[NEwhere]

I'm not sure, the resulting posts to my threads have been more entertaining than the urban caches I've found.... Surprised the troll word hasn't come up, of course it's never too late for that.

 

I'll keep checking out the local caches, but I'm getting the sense that the caches follow the neighborhood.

 

Regarding comments on the logs...I feel to new to rip someone who obviously thinks what they are doing is acceptable, but if that needs to be done, no problem after all it is the interwebs..

 

Rather than wasting time and energy posting and displaying caches that don't appeal to you, focus more on the many suggested ones in areas that will appeal. I've found great, clever hides in locations that over time ended up to be amidst trash and other despicable items, certainly not the intention of the owner. Log a note or e-mail the CO that the area is no longer suitable. I had a homeless person set up camp right at GZ of one of my caches, making it necessary to archive it thanks to a heads-up from someone who posted a note. Trust me, you'll come across many more like the one that turned you off.

[+Ladybug Kids]

Amazing. No wonder people don't do this for very long.

 

<snip>

 

Is the spirit dead?

I've been caching for over seven years and still discover wonderful new places several times a year.

 

I invite you to view my family's profile gallery. The first page alone features several great cache locations ranging from Prudhoe Bay to Nashville to Providence Canyon in Georgia. .

[+Harry Dolphin]

Perhaps we should welcome new cachers to the sport, gently helping them to understand what it is all about.

Give the guy one more chance folks before we draw any more conclusions about how long the OP may remain caching

 

 

Tough when the OP only has negative things to say. Not his first thread.

I'm trying to convince the new guy at work that a positive attitude will make things work more smoothly. "Could you help me with this?" rather than "I need this!". Good advice for all.

Me, I'll hunt for almost any cache (No cemeteries. No kayaks. Nothing too unsafe for me.)

If the area looks too trashy, I might bypass it. I get to choose which caches I'll look for! I probably have a reputation for being a grumpy dolphin. If I don't like something, I'll say so. But there are some people who have never been known to say anything nice. Sometimes one has to say: this isn't the right hobby for me, and move on to something else.

[+The_Incredibles_]

We pick places we want to go, then look for caches while we're there. Not the other way around.

 

Take a look at the map ahead of time, look for parks that interest you and head to those, rather than the strip malls.

[+Brooklyn51]

I'm not sure, the resulting posts to my threads have been more entertaining than the urban caches I've found.... Surprised the troll word hasn't come up, of course it's never too late for that.

 

I'll keep checking out the local caches, but I'm getting the sense that the caches follow the neighborhood.

 

Regarding comments on the logs...I feel to new to rip someone who obviously thinks what they are doing is acceptable, but if that needs to be done, no problem after all it is the interwebs..

 

Rather than wasting time and energy posting and displaying caches that don't appeal to you, focus more on the many suggested ones in areas that will appeal. I've found great, clever hides in locations that over time ended up to be amidst trash and other despicable items, certainly not the intention of the owner. Log a note or e-mail the CO that the area is no longer suitable. I had a homeless person set up camp right at GZ of one of my caches, making it necessary to archive it thanks to a heads-up from someone who posted a note. Trust me, you'll come across many more like the one that turned you off.

 

Well.. you do seem to have a better than average grasp for the lingo and jargon than most newcomers but maybe you read a lot. The only comment I would have is to remind you to log the trackables you've picked up and moved.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Brooklyn51

[+kunarion]

Regarding comments on the logs...I feel to new to rip someone who obviously thinks what they are doing is acceptable

Don't rip someone. "Removed [specific items of trash you removed]" is all you need to say about that. If the entire area is covered with trash, and that's an utter surprise, it's worth mentioning. Politely. Some people will log when they "picked up a bag of trash on the way out", but that's up to you.

[+GeoBain]

I get it that the website doesn't create the cache, but it does control access to them.

 

It does? Then what explains muggles and other caching sites?

[+GeoBain]

Maybe the crappy caches aren't all thats wrong with the game....

 

True. We also have an over abundance of whiners.

[knowschad]

Maybe the crappy caches aren't all thats wrong with the game....

 

True. We also have an over abundance of whiners.

 

And we also have their favorite whine box:

 

[+popokiiti]

We enjoy some caches more than others, that's for sure. Found a very sneaky hide on a local beach, but I'm sad to say some folks are letting their big dog (judging by the evidence) use the area as a toilet. Did I enjoy the cache? You betcha!

In all the caches we've found, we've enjoyed many more than the ho-hum ones. The ho-hums seem to be in the minority. You are doing well to have 11 finds. You could also pick up 10 pieces of trash (with gloves) and you will have completed a geocaching challenge.

[+aurght]

I consider myself as new as you, even after a couple of years of caching. Just go for the finds. You'll get the idea what you enjoy and what you don't as you get experience.

GCGFDE is my only find in GA. It's worth a visit. You probably know the place well.

I'm mostly a numbers junkie. I go for any cache and count the lesser fun finds as just part of the game.

We all find the way we like to play. That's what can make it fun for anybody.

[+jellis]

Now as far as hiding locations go -- tree limbs, an existing guardrail, leaves and the like, along with the accompanying assorted litter that people throw out -- hey, it works as camouflage, does it not?

 

I see you wanna rant about the trash... well by golly jeepers, why don't you pick it up? A lot (not all) of geocachers do just that. Many of us carry trash bags to remove the junk. It kind of goes alongside of geocaching, dontchathink? Which way is your boat going?

 

Wanna post pics to us? Give us something that we haven't seen in real life already.

 

It seems pretty likely that you will be one that doesn't do this very long. When you print it, it most likely going to come true.

Another way you can filter out bad caches is to read the previous logs and see what others are saying about the cache.

I can understand wanting to have Geocachers pack out what they pack in, sounds like a great idea. I'm how hard is it NOT to litter? I don't litter. I also don't go out on my lunch break to check out a quick cache and then spend the next 20 minutes picking up all the trash by the sign telling me not to trespass!

[+jellis]

Now as far as hiding locations go -- tree limbs, an existing guardrail, leaves and the like, along with the accompanying assorted litter that people throw out -- hey, it works as camouflage, does it not?

 

I see you wanna rant about the trash... well by golly jeepers, why don't you pick it up? A lot (not all) of geocachers do just that. Many of us carry trash bags to remove the junk. It kind of goes alongside of geocaching, dontchathink? Which way is your boat going?

 

Wanna post pics to us? Give us something that we haven't seen in real life already.

 

It seems pretty likely that you will be one that doesn't do this very long. When you print it, it most likely going to come true.

I can understand wanting to have Geocachers pack out what they pack in, sounds like a great idea. I'm how hard is it NOT to litter? I don't litter. I also don't go out on my lunch break to check out a quick cache and then spend the next 20 minutes picking up all the trash by the sign telling me not to trespass!

Another way you can filter out bad caches is to read the previous logs and see what others are saying about the cache.