Coordinates in the middle of the road

[+ljvet]

I'm relatively new - and addicted. My tools on my iPad have been pretty reliable. But these dang little ones!

 

Twice I DNF because my compass brings me to the middle of a road...busy road...with traffic. How is that possible? Other times it brings me right to the street sign, light pole or tree...if in urban areas ... and I've found what I'm looking for. But the middle of the road ones have me confused.

 

Could it really be? Any hints!?

 

Thanks!

LJVet

[+The A-Team]

Is it possible you're navigating to an address, rather than a set of coordinates? If you just put a set of coordinates into Google Maps on an iPad, it will actually bring you to the nearest spot on a road, not the actual coordinates. If this is what you're doing, try adding "loc:", without the quotes and in lowercase, before your coordinates, and it will navigate to the coordinates. If this isn't how you're doing it, could you tell us which caches are doing this? Maybe the posted coordinates are just a bit off.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Well lessee here....

 

A standard road is what? 20 -24 ft. wide? If you are standing in the middle, 12 ft right or left is the edge of the roadway, another 4 ft or so would certainly make for a viable cache placement.

 

Sixteen feet is certainly within 'Ground Zero', that area of of which most GPSr units would say "you have arrived".

 

Entirely possible. No consumer-grade GPSr, or an iPad with an app, is going to take you TO the cache all the time. It is only going to put you in the "area" of the cache (coordinates).

 

Even then, the CO in placing the cache, may have gotten different readings than you. Close certainly, but still different.

 

Ground Zero is considered to be a 20' +/- circle. It can even be larger with varying circumstances.

 

EDIT: Just read A-Team's response. That makes perfect sense, also. Using Google, another imperfect method. But, it still can be done, understanding about hide locations may well be the key.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+ljvet]

Is it possible you're navigating to an address, rather than a set of coordinates? If you just put a set of coordinates into Google Maps on an iPad, it will actually bring you to the nearest spot on a road, not the actual coordinates. If this is what you're doing, try adding "loc:", without the quotes and in lowercase, before your coordinates, and it will navigate to the coordinates. If this isn't how you're doing it, could you tell us which caches are doing this? Maybe the posted coordinates are just a bit off.

 

Thanks. Nope - I'm doing the same with these two as I did with the other 15 that I have found. 3 of my finds were from the same person as the 4th one that finds me in the middle of the road. And the coordinates of the other three were perfect!

 

Social State-of-the-art Neanderthal (in Minnetonka, MN)

Rusty Bottoms (in Champlin MN)

 

So - they are probably not in some crack in the road? That's what it feels like. UGH!

[+ljvet]

Well lessee here....

 

A standard road is what? 20 -24 ft. wide? If you are standing in the middle, 12 ft right or left is the edge of the roadway, another 4 ft or so would certainly make for a viable cache placement.

 

Sixteen feet is certainly within 'Ground Zero', that area of of which most GPSr units would say "you have arrived".

 

Entirely possible. No consumer-grade GPSr, or an iPad with an app, is going to take you TO the cache all the time. It is only going to put you in the "area" of the cache (coordinates).

 

Even then, the CO in placing the cache, may have gotten different readings than you. Close certainly, but still different.

 

Ground Zero is considered to be a 20' +/- circle. It can even be larger with varying circumstances.

 

EDIT: Just read A-Team's response. That makes perfect sense, also. Using Google, another imperfect method. But, it still can be done, understanding about hide locations may well be the key.

 

I think you are right about undesrtanding hide locations. I've learned a lot in my ONE WEEK of geocaching.

 

PS: Another question. Is there a way to tell if it is on the road ontop of the freeway? Or down under the overpass?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Active highway bridge hides themselves are against the guidelines -- but that doesn't mean that they do not exist. Such being the case, I would guess it to be beneath the bridge.

 

Aside from that, being a pedestrian on a freeway is dangerous and not legal in any jurisdiction that I am aware of.

 

ANOTHER EDIT: If you are speaking of a bridge that crosses OVER a freeway... well then, I most certainly look at the guardrails.

 

Be prepared as most any LEO passing by is going to stop and see what you are doing!

Edited March 2, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+The A-Team]

Social State-of-the-art Neanderthal (in Minnetonka, MN)

Rusty Bottoms (in Champlin MN)

 

So - they are probably not in some crack in the road? That's what it feels like. UGH!

The first one is a puzzle, and there shouldn't be anything at the posted coordinates. You'll have to solve the puzzle to get the correct coordinates.

When I StreetViewed the second one, it shows as being near the west side of the road, and there's only one thing I can see there that you could hide a cache in/on.

For any cache, the device you're using will usually only get you to within about 30 feet of the cache, due to inaccuracies in your and the owner's devices. When it says you're close, put it away and start looking for places where you could hide something. With time and practice, you'll be able to spot the hiding spots from miles away, even if the GPS is pointing somewhere else.

 

PS: Another question. Is there a way to tell if it is on the road ontop of the freeway? Or down under the overpass?

See above about the specific Neanderthal cache, but I'll mention something from the guidelines:

Inappropriate or Non-publishable Placements

Cache is problematic due to its proximity to a public structure including and not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings, military bases, schools, hospitals, airports and other such locations.

It's pretty universal that caches will not be allowed under overpasses or on freeway bridges. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Safety - Usually, to get to such a spot, you'd have to pull over on a freeway. This is not only potentially dangerous, but is illegal in places.

2. Terrorism - If someone were to spot a suspicious container under a freeway overpass, it could be mistaken for a bomb. Many a cache has been destroyed by bomb squads because it was hidden in a suspicious spot.

 

It's a good idea to at least scan through the guidelines to educate yourself on what is allowed or not allowed. By knowing where a cache can't be, it can help narrow down where it could be.

 

Good luck!

[+ljvet]

Social State-of-the-art Neanderthal (in Minnetonka, MN)

Rusty Bottoms (in Champlin MN)

 

So - they are probably not in some crack in the road? That's what it feels like. UGH!

The first one is a puzzle, and there shouldn't be anything at the posted coordinates. You'll have to solve the puzzle to get the correct coordinates.

When I StreetViewed the second one, it shows as being near the west side of the road, and there's only one thing I can see there that you could hide a cache in/on.

For any cache, the device you're using will usually only get you to within about 30 feet of the cache, due to inaccuracies in your and the owner's devices. When it says you're close, put it away and start looking for places where you could hide something. With time and practice, you'll be able to spot the hiding spots from miles away, even if the GPS is pointing somewhere else.

 

PS: Another question. Is there a way to tell if it is on the road ontop of the freeway? Or down under the overpass?

See above about the specific Neanderthal cache, but I'll mention something from the guidelines:

Inappropriate or Non-publishable Placements

Cache is problematic due to its proximity to a public structure including and not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings, military bases, schools, hospitals, airports and other such locations.

It's pretty universal that caches will not be allowed under overpasses or on freeway bridges. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Safety - Usually, to get to such a spot, you'd have to pull over on a freeway. This is not only potentially dangerous, but is illegal in places.

2. Terrorism - If someone were to spot a suspicious container under a freeway overpass, it could be mistaken for a bomb. Many a cache has been destroyed by bomb squads because it was hidden in a suspicious spot.

 

It's a good idea to at least scan through the guidelines to educate yourself on what is allowed or not allowed. By knowing where a cache can't be, it can help narrow down where it could be.

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you both! I will continue to learn! I get frustrated with these little ones...so I go off into the woods and find some bigger ones to keep me fed!

 

LJVet

[+TomToad]

Don't forget that google maps isn't accurate in all locations. I've seen GM be super accurate in one area and 50' off 2 miles away.

[+Team Batpony]

There was one cache where the coordinates took me to the middle of a road. I was quite confused as to where the cache was. I then realized that the cache was hidden in a tunnel that was UNDER the road. Maybe one of your caches is in a tunnel? (keep in mind that I did not look at the 2 cache pages)

[+ljvet]

There was one cache where the coordinates took me to the middle of a road. I was quite confused as to where the cache was. I then realized that the cache was hidden in a tunnel that was UNDER the road. Maybe one of your caches is in a tunnel? (keep in mind that I did not look at the 2 cache pages)

I found the one....no problem once I knew what I was looking for. The other is a puzzle and I'm not sure I'm smart enough to solve puzzles.

 

Thanks so much for everyone's help. Found 6 yesterday!!!!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Well lessee here....

 

A standard road is what? 20 -24 ft. wide? If you are standing in the middle, 12 ft right or left is the edge of the roadway, another 4 ft or so would certainly make for a viable cache placement.

 

Sixteen feet is certainly within 'Ground Zero', that area of of which most GPSr units would say "you have arrived".

 

Entirely possible. No consumer-grade GPSr, or an iPad with an app, is going to take you TO the cache all the time. It is only going to put you in the "area" of the cache (coordinates).

 

Even then, the CO in placing the cache, may have gotten different readings than you. Close certainly, but still different.

 

Ground Zero is considered to be a 20' +/- circle. It can even be larger with varying circumstances.

 

EDIT: Just read A-Team's response. That makes perfect sense, also. Using Google, another imperfect method. But, it still can be done, understanding about hide locations may well be the key.

 

I think you are right about undesrtanding hide locations. I've learned a lot in my ONE WEEK of geocaching.

 

PS: Another question. Is there a way to tell if it is on the road ontop of the freeway? Or down under the overpass?

 

Forgetting about the guideline issues related to placing a cache under an overpass or along the side of a freeway, a more general answer to your question is that lat/long coordinates only give you a location in two dimensions. If you navigate to a set of coordinates and it takes you to the base of a tall tree, the cache could be at the base of the tree or it could be 30 feet up in the branches. The coordinates would be the same. What you *can* do in a case like this is look at the terrain rating. Consider the terrain that you had to navigate to get to the coordinates and if it's fairly easy, and the cache has a 1.5 or so rating, the cache is probably close to the ground. If it's a 4 or more, you're probably going to have to climb the tree to find the cache. The same approach can be taken for any cache where the coordinates take you to a spot where there is steep terrain nearby. Although terrain ratings are not always totally accurate, how a cache is rated can often tell you what you'll need to do once you reach ground zero.

 

I have also seen a cache which took you to a spot surrounded by asphalt (in this case, a strip mall parking lot) and the cache was located in a tunnel which ran underneath the parking lot. In that case, there was a clue in the cache description which implied that it would be easier to find the cache using a flashlight (torch).

[+popokiiti]

We were led to the middle of the road once, it was a crosswalk, with one of those landscaped gardens in the middle. Traffic kept stopping for us - and we weren't done searching! Eventually found what we were seeking about 20 feet away. Side of the road....

[+Ambient_Skater]

Twice I DNF because my compass brings me to the middle of a road...busy road...with traffic. How is that possible?

Have you looked under the manhole covers? I don't know what the guidelines say about these but they do exist.