+Oxford Stone Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 As I live and work in the Thames Valley a large % of local caches are considerably muddier / wetter to reach at present than they might be in drier times. Sometimes that means getting mud on your trousers; in other cases even approaching alone / with children could be extremely dangerous. I look through logs both for extra hints and to plan suitability (Oxford Stone Junior is 3 1/2 so anything roadside is out). I appreciate, and am adding, comments on water levels / muddiness, and have seen this appreciated in turn ("to add to OS's note, access from E just as bad as from W" etc) Such notes might be seen as cluttering the log - but I think the helpfulness for people who want to plan a safe and not too wet / muddy caching trip, outweighs that. So keep those comments coming even if it's just an aside in your log. Quote Link to comment
+maxx borchovski Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I think that is a good idea, it gives the other cachers a better idea of the suitability of a cache for their plans. Quote Link to comment
+Happy Humphrey Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I had the same thought last week; Mud report Quote Link to comment
+thehoomer Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yes OS, We had the same problem as you at GC2DQG1 recently. Its always a good idea to let folks know of this kind of barrier. This is why I dont cut and paste and why you wont ever see 'TFTC' as one of my logs but that particular topic has been thrashed to the max . Quote Link to comment
+Oxford Stone Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 that's the one I was paraphrasing hoomer! I see that like me you've recently had a lot of fun with the excellent route canal series. I've been put off a cache between Begbroke and Bladon (and a mystery cache that starts at Bladon Church) because of mud comments. Quote Link to comment
+JJEF Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) I have disabled a few of my hides due to exceptional levels of water & mud, I could say this would only effect these hides in extreme circumstances but that is exactly what we've had in the past few months! There were two occasions whereby I disabled other hides having found for myself that the dry leaf filled ditch that had been adjacent to GZ was now a moat several feet deep and just as wide across, the cache was accessible with extreme caution but the difficulty rating should have doubled! I am very proactive with my cache updates as producer of such hides in muddy places and I too think it a good idea to add "Notes" where applicable to warn the not quite so prepared that it might not be the same leafy lane as seen in last Summers photographs Good idea and one I agree with Edited January 7, 2013 by JJEF Quote Link to comment
+drdick&vick Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 some of my caches are in a private wood and the owner has closed them until the ground drys a little, just hope that my local reviewer is nice to me Quote Link to comment
+Oxford Stone Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 @ thehoomer I see you've been to be on yer guard since I have - again you may have seen my note that the meadow on the E bank of the canal, which looks like a lovely grassy stroll on google maps satellite, was under inches and more of water and really to be avoided! Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 And a picture is worth a thousand words... Believe it or not, June and July 2012! Quote Link to comment
+dartymoor Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Pfft, bunch of wusses! A few puddles, a bit of mud, so what? It's walking in the country in a British winter. It's a given you're getting muddy. Stick to the urban caches if that's a worry, and then you're more likely to end up with dog muck on your shoes instead. Fair go on including anything special in comments, but not disabling a cache. Cachers are supposed to make their own decisions about what is safe and what isn't, and what's too muddy for some in posh trousers and trainers is just another country ramble to others. Come on, I expected more of you! Quote Link to comment
+Oxford Stone Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 There's only so many toddlers you can drown before the services put you on a list, dartymoor. I have walked / waded across Fox Tor Mires in the past - does that un-wuss me? Quote Link to comment
+thehoomer Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) Pfft, bunch of wusses! A few puddles, a bit of mud, so what? It's walking in the country in a British winter. It's a given you're getting muddy. Stick to the urban caches if that's a worry, and then you're more likely to end up with dog muck on your shoes instead. Fair go on including anything special in comments, but not disabling a cache. Cachers are supposed to make their own decisions about what is safe and what isn't, and what's too muddy for some in posh trousers and trainers is just another country ramble to others. Come on, I expected more of you! I have disabled caches due to intemperate weather in the past but not to preserve the integrity of the boots of 'wusses'. The disable feature was used in the occurrence of a river and canal which had become ‘one’. This action was taken to acquaint fellow cachers that the cache was completely inaccessible and the towpath was in parts, officially closed. So, in order to not waste the time of cachers going out there, the affected caches were disabled. So in short, there are sometimes informed, persuasive and exacting reasons for disabling a cache due to inclement weather. Edited January 8, 2013 by thehoomer Quote Link to comment
BOBBLES WORLD TOUR Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I would hope that if it's a series then any current water level info would be on #1 of that series. But I doubt that would happen in most cases. Quote Link to comment
+Oxford Stone Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 I would hope that if it's a series then any current water level info would be on #1 of that series. But I doubt that would happen in most cases. Obvious problem there is that some people will do the caches in reverse order - or be on a tangent and just pick some off in the middle... (Don't tell me that's not allowed and I've got to go back and do the Route Canal series in order...???) More the merrier though - while dartymoor thinks it's spurious, thehoomer and I and other people in the Oxford area will know stories of kids getting swept off the Thames towpath and so on. It's a genuine safety thing, not just preserving a nice pair of jeans. Quote Link to comment
+Need me glasses Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Where rivers, streams, lakes or canals are involved then I think cache owners should be keeping a close watch on the safety of thier caches, I recently temporarily disabled 3 of my caches whilst the water levels where so high, I would not want anyone to risk thier life going for one of my caches. That said, I also think that posting what the conditions are like on the day you visit a cache is all part of the story that cachers should be adding to thier log anyway. Quote Link to comment
+Ant89 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) just add the MAY require wading atribute IF it is still water, or mud, it's not much to worry about unless it is too deep to traverse. with flowing water, care should of course be taken if it's in flood or not. Edited January 10, 2013 by Ant89 Quote Link to comment
+StripyJules Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I'm always very grateful if conditions underfoot are mentioned in others' logs. I have some mobility issues and would often pick (for example) a towpath cache or something in similar terrain to try; obviously I'm not going to go tripping off to the heart of flood country in the conditions we have at the moment, but in general it's great if I know what the ground is like. What might just mean soggy jean bottoms or a welly-cleaning job for most people can be really tricky for me, particularly if I go out alone. And yes, I probably am a wuss; one cache we did the mud was of that 'holding' kind it's hard to pull your boots out of and I did actually get quite scared. Sorry Quote Link to comment
+Oxford Stone Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 You've reminded me that the canal towpath N of GC3TFQ0 has been washed away and you need to climb along a fence over a stream if you arrive from that direction... I'm very happy to see that thehoomer and another cacher have already flagged this up in their logs, possibly saving a lot of hassle / danger for a family / reduced mobility caching trip. Quote Link to comment
+Happy Humphrey Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I would hope that if it's a series then any current water level info would be on #1 of that series. But I doubt that would happen in most cases. Obvious problem there is that some people will do the caches in reverse order - or be on a tangent and just pick some off in the middle... I chose to put the flood / mud info on the Bonus cache because that's also where the explanation of the whole series and the map resides, and the other caches in the series link to this. Quote Link to comment
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