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How do I place a Power Trail


Team Van Dyk

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Let me start by saying that I'm not usually one for power trails. I tend to find and hide caches with higher-than-normal D-ratings. But, we took the kids out a few weeks ago on one and they *loved* it, and there's a linear park (about 3-1/2 miles or so) that would be perfect. So, I'm giving some thought to how to go about doing it. That raises two questions:

 

1. Placement - What is the easiest way to go about placement? Is it like hiding any other cache only I have to factor in the proximity restriction for not only other caches, but the previous one in the series as well? Or, is there a better, more efficient "trick" to it? Also, is it customary to have them as close to .1 apart as possible or is it okay to leave myself a little breathing room in case I inadvertently run into a proximity problem and need to relocate one (and want the flexibility to do that w/o having to rework the rest of the trail)?

 

2. Containers - What's the ideal container for this kind of thing? Is it customary to use the same container for the entire series? This is a pretty heavily-traveled multi-purpose trail, so i think I'm going to be limited in how big I can go (Decon is probably at the upper end), but is there something between a film can and a decon that works well for these situations? What have you seen?

 

Finally, I appreciate any helpful thoughts you might have on this, but I would please ask that this not turn into a thread railing against power trails. So, if the sum and substance of your post is going to be, "power trails suck and are ruining *my* game", please just move along.

 

Thanks!

 

--Matt

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By definition, a 'power-trail' is a series of caches (usually along a road-side) that are as close together as possible.

 

Normally this is done without regard to the quality of the location, or available hide locations. If there was a nicer place for the cache that is 50 feet too close to the last cache you placed, that would just be too bad.

 

Once again, cramming as many caches as possible into the available space is the name of the game.

 

Also, be sure to cut-and-paste all the descriptions so they are exactly the same except for the name, e.g. 'My Powertrail Cache #239' or some such.

 

Of course you could buck the trend if you like, and make interesting write-ups about some common subject, and choose your hiding places carefully, rather than simply by distance.

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By definition, a 'power-trail' is a series of caches (usually along a road-side) that are as close together as possible.

 

Normally this is done without regard to the quality of the location, or available hide locations. If there was a nicer place for the cache that is 50 feet too close to the last cache you placed, that would just be too bad.

 

Once again, cramming as many caches as possible into the available space is the name of the game.

 

Also, be sure to cut-and-paste all the descriptions so they are exactly the same except for the name, e.g. 'My Powertrail Cache #239' or some such.

 

Of course you could buck the trend if you like, and make interesting write-ups about some common subject, and choose your hiding places carefully, rather than simply by distance.

 

0239-My Powertrail is a much better naming convention. Then if the GPS cuts off part of the name you can at least see which one it is. And it sorts in the correct order in GSAK.

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Sounds like a littel confusion here to me. The old style powertrail was just caches on a trail close together. not necessarily 528 feet apart and not specifically the same hide or container. The new style powertrail is primarily micros, 528-600 feet apart that are PNG's with the same hide and containers. Just mentioning that you plan to put this on a multi-use trail will most likely negate the png, unless it parallels a road as well. So in my opinion, since you are taking out the aspect that appeals to most new style powertrail cachers, I would mix up the hides and containers and use appropriate spots. i.e. go ahead and start looking for the next good hiding area after 528, but don't force it in, if it takes 750, 1000, 1500 or whatever.

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I appreciate that you don't want posts that just criticize Power trails so I will try and make my comments as constructive as possible. You have already admitted in your OP that you are not normally one for Power Trails so I wonder if you really do want to set up an actual 'Power Trail' in the true sense of the definition eloquently described in previous posts. Maybe you can get the best out of both worlds and make a trail that is high density with caches but is somewhat more interesting. Dont be a slave to the 0.1m, pick the best spot for each cache. Try and use different containers and throw in a few sneaky ones in there as well. Dont rush to publish, if you find some places along the trail where you could manufacture something a little different then take the time to do it properly.

If you are set on doing a power trail then go that extra mile to make it a memorable one that everybody can enjoy not just the number hunters.

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Not being a normal power trail person, I haven't really experienced the "thrill" of hunting them. Saying this, I have been on one like you seem to be talking about. It was along a walking path which paralleled a dry river. It was 14 caches long and had various types of hides from micro to small (Don't remember any regulars). Anyway the types of camo and containers varied and were spaced .1 to .25 miles or so apart. The scenery was nice and hides were fun. If you do a trail like that along your park it should be fun and memorable.

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Not being a normal power trail person, I haven't really experienced the "thrill" of hunting them. Saying this, I have been on one like you seem to be talking about. It was along a walking path which paralleled a dry river. It was 14 caches long and had various types of hides from micro to small (Don't remember any regulars). Anyway the types of camo and containers varied and were spaced .1 to .25 miles or so apart. The scenery was nice and hides were fun. If you do a trail like that along your park it should be fun and memorable.

 

I have done 2 power trails, both rural rails to trails. One was quite small, only about 16 caches. The other one? It was about 60 caches, but I did 45 or so. This one was cool. There were a variety of sizes and hiding methods. There were a couple regulars rigged up in trees, a tree climbing cache, and a rock hide. True, about 1/2 of them were identical large vitamin bottles (listed as small), but those were not hidden identically.

 

I say mix it up. Micros are cheap and easy to deploy and all, but why make it all micros? For me, and I'm an admitted old-schooler, there is always that "micro stigma". At the very least throw a few smalls out there. Especially along a hiking trail.

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Let me start by saying that I'm not usually one for power trails. I tend to find and hide caches with higher-than-normal D-ratings. But, we took the kids out a few weeks ago on one and they *loved* it, and there's a linear park (about 3-1/2 miles or so) that would be perfect. So, I'm giving some thought to how to go about doing it. That raises two questions:

 

 

Maybe you should think of it as a series rather than a power trail. Just because they follow a route doesn't mean they have to be 528-550 feet apart nor do the hides and containers need to be the same. I'm not a fan of power trail and have no interest in ever doing any of the Route 66 trail even though I am in the area a couple of times a year. On the other hand, I've done several series that I really enjoyed.

 

Find a fun theme, especially for the kids, take the time to be creative with the hides and vary the container, throwing in an extra special one every now and then. It's not uncommon to use a film can or small bison and glue it into a plastic animal, miniature bird house or other creative holder. It's still a can or bison but fun to find. You could add to the fun by adding a bonus puzzle cache, with two or three caches in the series providing parts of the coordinates of the bonus.

 

Once again, think series, not power trail and both you and the finders of your hides will have more fun.

 

Good luck with your project and thanks for thinking of kid friendly caches.

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Naming.

'#239 My Powertrail Cache' and not 'My Powertrail Cache #239'

Makes it easier when the info is in the GPS and it drops the end of the name!

 

By definition, a 'power-trail' is a series of caches (usually along a road-side) that are as close together as possible.

 

Normally this is done without regard to the quality of the location, or available hide locations. If there was a nicer place for the cache that is 50 feet too close to the last cache you placed, that would just be too bad.

 

Once again, cramming as many caches as possible into the available space is the name of the game.

 

Also, be sure to cut-and-paste all the descriptions so they are exactly the same except for the name, e.g. 'My Powertrail Cache #239' or some such.

 

Of course you could buck the trend if you like, and make interesting write-ups about some common subject, and choose your hiding places carefully, rather than simply by distance.

 

0239-My Powertrail is a much better naming convention. Then if the GPS cuts off part of the name you can at least see which one it is. And it sorts in the correct order in GSAK.

 

Who cares what the name is, you're gonna use the same cut-and-past log anyway! :P

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Are you planning caches along a hiking/biking trail or along a roadside?

 

There is a huge difference. Hiking/biking then take the time to make unique names, descriptions, hides and containers. Don't place every tenth but find cool places within every .1 to .2 miles.

 

If it's meant to be driven then speed is the name of the game. The naming mentioned above (039 Blah) is best. Prepare for people replacing containers left and right. Prepare for the caches to migrate. Use all the same or very similar containers because they will be switched and moved. Be prepared for cut and paste logs.

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Naming.

'#239 My Powertrail Cache' and not 'My Powertrail Cache #239'

Makes it easier when the info is in the GPS and it drops the end of the name!

 

By definition, a 'power-trail' is a series of caches (usually along a road-side) that are as close together as possible.

 

Normally this is done without regard to the quality of the location, or available hide locations. If there was a nicer place for the cache that is 50 feet too close to the last cache you placed, that would just be too bad.

 

Once again, cramming as many caches as possible into the available space is the name of the game.

 

Also, be sure to cut-and-paste all the descriptions so they are exactly the same except for the name, e.g. 'My Powertrail Cache #239' or some such.

 

Of course you could buck the trend if you like, and make interesting write-ups about some common subject, and choose your hiding places carefully, rather than simply by distance.

 

0239-My Powertrail is a much better naming convention. Then if the GPS cuts off part of the name you can at least see which one it is. And it sorts in the correct order in GSAK.

 

Who cares what the name is, you're gonna use the same cut-and-past log anyway! :P

Is there some reason you have to be completely and totally negative about this? The log entry has nothing to do with the cache name. You obviously did not read and comprehend my comment before you blasted out your negative tirade.

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Most power trail logs are cut and paste. "helpful" thoughts should include possible negative results, thereby giving the CO realistic expectations and possible tactics to avoid some of the pitfalls. If the CO doesn't care about some of these, then great, but the warnings have been given and those power trail practices won't be a surprise.

Edited by M 5
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Who cares what the name is, you're gonna use the same cut-and-past log anyway! :P

Is there some reason you have to be completely and totally negative about this? The log entry has nothing to do with the cache name. You obviously did not read and comprehend my comment before you blasted out your negative tirade.

I believe that's a joke. AZcm is saying that seekers of the power trail will paste the same Found It log onto each cache so they would not be inconvenienced if the number was truncated. This is pretty reasonable, since each cache in a power trail is usually identical and with possibly hundreds of caches in a single trail even someone who usually writes good logs might have trouble writing something unique for them all.

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Who cares what the name is, you're gonna use the same cut-and-past log anyway! :P

Is there some reason you have to be completely and totally negative about this? The log entry has nothing to do with the cache name. You obviously did not read and comprehend my comment before you blasted out your negative tirade.

I believe that's a joke. AZcm is saying that seekers of the power trail will paste the same Found It log onto each cache so they would not be inconvenienced if the number was truncated. This is pretty reasonable, since each cache in a power trail is usually identical and with possibly hundreds of caches in a single trail even someone who usually writes good logs might have trouble writing something unique for them all.

The naming convention I mentioned is valid thing to consider if you don't name the caches with different names. There is a reason Route 66 and the ET Hwy are named the way they are named. With 15 or fewer characters available for cache names putting the number at the end is not very helpful, much like some of the comments in this thread.

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It was indeed a bit of a joke.

I have a 40 cache 'powertrail' under consideration to place, and making the first several characters of the titles unique (to cater to those with less-capable equipment) is high on my list of things to be aware of.

 

For the ET highway or highway 66 powertrails, the name is not important, it's just 'the next cache'.

 

I would hope the OP's 'powertrail' would have unique names for each cache, not '#xxx of YYY'

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It was indeed a bit of a joke.

I have a 40 cache 'powertrail' under consideration to place, and making the first several characters of the titles unique (to cater to those with less-capable equipment) is high on my list of things to be aware of.

 

For the ET highway or highway 66 powertrails, the name is not important, it's just 'the next cache'.

 

I would hope the OP's 'powertrail' would have unique names for each cache, not '#xxx of YYY'

You know crow tastes pretty good with KC barbeque sauce. Maybe when I get down toward AZ again I'll have to look it up.

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1. Placement - What is the easiest way to go about placement? Is it like hiding any other cache only I have to factor in the proximity restriction for not only other caches, but the previous one in the series as well? Or, is there a better, more efficient "trick" to it? Also, is it customary to have them as close to .1 apart as possible or is it okay to leave myself a little breathing room in case I inadvertently run into a proximity problem and need to relocate one (and want the flexibility to do that w/o having to rework the rest of the trail)?

 

Instead of using a strict .1 mile rule without regard to the merits of the area why not be a little flexible and try to find interesting features along the route? Perhaps a nice view, cool rock formation, interesting tree, old ruins, whatever, and if that means you have .12, .15 or even .19 miles between some of the caches, so be it.

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Thanks all for the input! It is a multi-use, paved walking/biking "trail", so I won't stay married to the "same container" notion (the "base" container will probably be matchstick holders with a few decons and an ammo can or two mixed in). I'll get as creative as I can with the hides and look for good spots instead of being tied to 0.1 rule. Thanks again!

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Thanks all for the input! It is a multi-use, paved walking/biking "trail", so I won't stay married to the "same container" notion (the "base" container will probably be matchstick holders with a few decons and an ammo can or two mixed in). I'll get as creative as I can with the hides and look for good spots instead of being tied to 0.1 rule. Thanks again!

Sounds like it will be a nice trail that will be well received. Good luck and enjoy the nice logs.

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We did this "power trail" yesterday and really enjoyed it: SpringBoard Trail Series

 

It is a series of ten caches along a well-groomed gravel trail through a beautiful forest. The containers were mostly small lock n locks (175mL / 6oz) with a few vitamin bottles thrown in. The cache pages had the history of the area and a clear description of where the cache was hidden so there was no need to tear up the landscape.

 

It was a lovely walk and it was kind of nice to have a run of non-stress (wracking one's brain to search for) finds along the way.

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Very cool. I was thinking of something similar, but have had second thoughts after viewing the difficulties of a local cacher when he tried it. He placed 40 caches along a trail and had 25 or so of them denied because of overlaps and/or right-of-way/annexing from Forest Preserves, private property and the like that weren't apparent from the map. That was an awful lot of work to place, log and then go back and get them afterwards. Is there no way to sort of give the reviewers a track or something and get back an answer of the areas on that track that are not allowed? Or do you really have to place first and then wait for them to be each verified separately?

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