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Hides on critical infrastructure


AneMae

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So in the last 2 days I have found micro cachces, three of them by the same CO, placed on critical infrastructure.

1. A paper log in a small ziploc behind the number plate on a very old hydro pole. The pole was vibrating with voltage, scary!

2. A film canister attached with velcro to the inside of a "Do not Dig" sign, for telephone wires. This one seemed no big deal to me.

3. A cache magged to a telephone junction system, another film canister.

 

These seem like relatively minor things, but I would like to get some feedback form fellow cacher's on this. Do they break the rules?

Are these places not private property? Is placing a cache on critical infrastructure a safety issue, for cacher's and maintenance people?

 

Thoughts, opinions and experiences are appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

AneMae

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This issue come up several times a week and after a long discussion the result is if you aren't comfortable with a cache don't grab it but let others do as they wish. If they were approved by a reviewer you should assume they don't break rules.

 

Actually it's probably much more likely that they were approved by a reviewer because the cache owner neglected to inform the reviewer that they violated the guidelines.

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Some people seem to feel comfortable with grabbing these sort of caches and other do not. Use common sense and your best judgment and either get it or walk away.

 

The first one I don't think I would go for, because that's just me. The other two, I don't think I understand well enough to say "Yes, I'd do it" or "No, I'd leave" (and that's okay, you don't need to expound upon the situations :) ) but if I got there and thought "Oh noes! I might get zapped!" or "Ahhhhhhhhmadfhadlhfiafasd I might mess something up!" then I'd leave it alone.

 

It all seems to come down to personal preference :)

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Meh, two were on dying technology so really a stretch to call them critical. 5-10 years from now kids will say 'telephones had wires?' :ph34r:

Did you contact the utility company to let them know that there might be a problem with their hydro pole? "vibrating with voltage" is probably something they might like to be aware of.

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Here we go again.

 

If you are worried about the placement, email the owner. Post a note on the cache page too. You can check about permissions that way, and, if necessary, contact the Reviewer that published the cache to let them know your concern. Then, the Reviewer and owner can communicate about any issues.

 

If you're worried about hunting them, you don't have to go for them. If you're concerned about permissions, ask the owner to clarify.

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These seem like relatively minor things, but I would like to get some feedback form fellow cacher's on this. Do they break the rules?

Are these places not private property? Is placing a cache on critical infrastructure a safety issue, for cacher's and maintenance people?

 

Thoughts, opinions and experiences are appreciated.

To elaborate...

Minor? Perhaps. Break the rules? Perhaps. Private property? Sounds like it. A safety issue? Debatable.

Again, this is something you can ask the owner about. Find out if they have permission to hide there. If they don't, or they don't respond, contact the reviewer.

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Did you contact the utility company to let them know that there might be a problem with their hydro pole? "vibrating with voltage" is probably something they might like to be aware of.

 

Unless it's pretty extreme it's probably normal. On a semi quiet day most power poles will hum.

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Here we go again is right. Who calls them Hydro poles, except for someone from Eastern Canada? And I did not look at the profile even as I post this. :lol:

 

Of course they don't have permission, and they sound like rural roadside park-n-grabs. What can you do, that's what (a large number) of the people want. Just ignore them, if they're not what you like looking for. They certainly are not for me, and would be plonked on the ignore list in a micro second, if they were placed in my area.

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Yes, I agree with you Mr. Yuck. These caches, (there are over 400 of them by the same CO) are placed about every 200m apart and make a loop around the city I live near. They are almost all micro caches (not much fun for the kids) and you park and sign them. I don't think I will do many more- I do not find it all than fun to drive every 200 metres to sign a log. I am looking for caches that are fun for the kids, actually have some stuff in them, and will take me to interesting spots.

I suppose some people get a charge out of these "park and grabs" as you called them, but I don't think they are not for me.

That said, I have found some really good caches nearby by a different CO, that were hidden well, in interesting and historical locations, full of cool stuff and were truly fun to do. I will stick with looking for more of those.

 

AneMae

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This issue come up several times a week and after a long discussion the result is if you aren't comfortable with a cache don't grab it but let others do as they wish. If they were approved by a reviewer you should assume they don't break rules.

 

That is far from the case. The reviewers can only go by the information available to them through online maps, sat photos, Google street view (where available) and the information provided by the cache owner. Their tools can't always catch when a cache is hidden on the sorts of items that AneMae is concerned about (most of which appear to be private property). If the cache owner doesn't volunteer information about the specifics of the hide (or lies about it), the reviewer often has no way of knowing that it doesn't conform to the guidelines.

 

That's where we come in. If we see a cache that we believe is a guideline violation we should report it to the reviewer and let him sort things out with the cache owner. If the owner has permission for the hide, then great. No harm. If he doesn't then there can indeed be harm to the reputation of our sport and the reviewer will likely take action and archive the cache.

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If they were approved by a reviewer you should assume they don't break rules.

That's where we come in. If we see a cache that we believe is a guideline violation we should report it to the reviewer and let him sort things out with the cache owner. If the owner has permission for the hide, then great. No harm. If he doesn't then there can indeed be harm to the reputation of our sport and the reviewer will likely take action and archive the cache.

 

+1

 

AneMae, in case you don't know how to report a cache to a reviewer - you need to go all the way down the list to the first post. It will be a Reviewer note with a link to the Reviewer's profile. You can send him/her a comment via the profile page.

 

Also, as a finder I appreciate it when other finders mention their concerns in the log, especially that humming hydro pole problem.

 

You may find that eventually you'll want to skip micros and only go for those that have a few favorite votes and have good comments in the most recent logs.

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...are placed about every 200m apart...

 

This is one of the issues I have with powertrails.

 

"Here we are at the closest possible distance from the previous cache, so this is where this cache must be placed. Too bad there is a much nicer spot over there, but it is too close to the last cache. Oh, and that interesting place over there is too far away from the previous cache and wouldn't allow me to cram in a sufficiently large number of caches along my trail."

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Yes, I agree with you Mr. Yuck. These caches, (there are over 400 of them by the same CO) are placed about every 200m apart and make a loop around the city I live near. They are almost all micro caches (not much fun for the kids) and you park and sign them. I don't think I will do many more- I do not find it all than fun to drive every 200 metres to sign a log. I am looking for caches that are fun for the kids, actually have some stuff in them, and will take me to interesting spots.

I suppose some people get a charge out of these "park and grabs" as you called them, but I don't think they are not for me.

That said, I have found some really good caches nearby by a different CO, that were hidden well, in interesting and historical locations, full of cool stuff and were truly fun to do. I will stick with looking for more of those.

 

AneMae

 

I've since looked at your profile, even though by you calling them Hydro Poles, I knew Eastern Canada. :lol:

 

I'm less than 200 miles from there, and am aware of the effort to surround a major Canadian City with rural roadside micros. I don't think it's the same person, but a "team" account. Yeah, stick with what you like finding. If you "reported" any of these things, which a very tiny, yet high profile percentage of the Geocaching populace loves to death, it would be ugly. :o

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