Useless Hints

[+Jamie Z]

The cache is hid in an area named after early settlers.

 

The "hint" has nothing to do with the hiding spot, but refers to the name of the park. Groan.

 

Jamie

[+ohgrl]

My most useless was for a micro in the woods (as if that isn't bad enough) and the clue said fallen tree...there were only about 20 of these within 100 feet of the posted coords...

[+woodysix8]

I never "give away" the actual location in my hints unless it's too obvious. Most of my hints are riddles that may or may not lead you in the right direction. Verifying coords is another way of telling you where it is. If you're not sure then get out there and check or sit at home and twiddle your thumbs.

[+The Leprechauns]

I wouldn't like to be stumped at the cache site and then decrypt this hint by hand:

 

If you have the time and inclination follow the ATV trail on for another .43 miles and if you cache us home, perhaps we can share a cup of coffee or something. We think it is a plesant walk.

[+ODragon]

I wouldn't like to be stumped at the cache site and then decrypt this hint by hand:

 

If you have the time and inclination follow the ATV trail on for another .43 miles and if you cache us home, perhaps we can share a cup of coffee or something. We think it is a plesant walk.

Oh, that's not so bad... You would at least know where to go to kick their a** for a lame hint!

[+Marcie/Eric]

I wouldn't like to be stumped at the cache site and then decrypt this hint by hand:

 

If you have the time and inclination follow the ATV trail on for another .43 miles and if you cache us home, perhaps we can share a cup of coffee or something. We think it is a plesant walk.

LOL.. I'd walk up that trail and get a real hint.

[supermanfan]

Here is a clue I found after decoding and an hour of searching......... Nice waterfall at 46 12.010 x 82 23.423.

Pass the G.S.

[+BAF]

How's is this for a hint? "If you really want to cheat, the monument says : No, on second thought, that'd be way too easy. You should take time to visit it."

 

Do you really think I would have spent the time to go to the first Two legs of you cache and spent ten minuets to decode this just to "Cheat" .

That hint made me so mad that I will not go for any fo that cache owners caches.

Edited May 30, 2005 by BAF

[+mrking]

I had one the other day that said "clip,clop, clip, clop"

 

It was hidden under a wooden bridge. I have no idea what it means. The best I could come up with was the side trail was sort of horseshoe shaped.

Most likey the sound it make as you walk over the bridge.

[+beejay&esskay]

Thought about a hint here, but opted against such a clue

 

Thanks for letting me know.

[+Byron & Anne]

I had one the other day that said "clip,clop, clip, clop"

 

It was hidden under a wooden bridge.  I have no idea what it means.  The best I could come up with was the side trail was sort of horseshoe shaped.

Most likey the sound it make as you walk over the bridge.

Most likely the sound a horse makes walking across a wooden bridge.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Ab uvag ninvynoyr which decrypts as: No hint available

 

boy. that's going to make someone very very happy....

Edited June 15, 2005 by Isonzo Karst

[RandLD]

"Cache is located in a wooded area between the Amphi-Theater and the Soccer Field."

 

Guess what? That's where my GPS led me, too. I didn't need a hint on where to start, but where to find the cache itself. There were several trails running in various directions and the tree cover was causing problems with reception, and knowing where to begin looking would 've helped tremendously.

 

When I got back home, I read some of the older logs and found this entry:

... the clue does not help at all. Below is a clue (decrypt it before you pull out your hair)

Inside or under a fallen tree, about 40' from the "hump" of dirt.

 

Now, that's the kind of information I was hoping to find in the hint, not something that would totally give it away, but something that would get me close enough to give me the confidence that I was looking in the right place.

[+Cryptid]

Hint;

Follow the dirt road that used to be paved, turn left where Elmer perkins barn used to stand, it's 2-300 miles up the road, you cant miss it.

[+Tidalflame]

"2-300 miles"? o_O

[bman92]

Take this one: 42

 

What the h*** kind of hint is that!

 

Or this one: This is a 5 by 5 cache. You don't really want a hint do you.

 

And just as I decrypt the hint(bugs biting and sun burning)I find out this useful bit of information.

[+Tidalflame]

Which cache is that? 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

[+Deneye]

Hint;

Follow the dirt road that used to be paved, turn left where Elmer perkins barn used to stand, it's 2-300 miles up the road, you cant miss it.

sounds like it could be in Saskatchewan....or Siberia

[+KirklandExplorers]

Aren't they the same?

[Apollo Bob]

I got this one recently - thankfully decrypted it after I'd already found it.

 

"Hints! Hints! You want hints. Get down on your hands and knees and LOOK FOR IT."

 

Kind of testy, almost. And gives a vague sense that a dominatrix hid the cache.

[+shawhh]

i decoded this hint after spending about 30 min. looking for a micro hidden in the woods: " a natural object lying on the ground". within a 360 degree radius of the coords every object, save my jeep, was a "natural object". doh! -harry

Edited July 7, 2005 by shawhh

[+jlistre]

We did one this last weekend that simply said "your target is behind a tree". We're in a bottom in a hardwoods forest. Everything in sight was a tree!

 

I was so freaking mad, until I realized that the bad clue was actually telling me EXACTLY where to look. I just had to notice the right thing. Sometimes clues that seem really bad just look that way until you start noticing the right things.

 

Still, the blood pressure didn't like to decode the hint and read that in the middle of a forest.

[+Kajakki]

I had one the other day that said "clip,clop, clip, clop"

 

It was hidden under a wooden bridge.  I have no idea what it means.  The best I could come up with was the side trail was sort of horseshoe shaped.

Most likey the sound it make as you walk over the bridge.

Most likely the sound a horse makes walking across a wooden bridge.

My first thought was the reference to the fairy tale,

The Three Billy Goats Gruff...

[+Isonzo Karst]

Nfxrq naq erprvirq crezvffvba sebz Fgngr = Asked and received permission from State

 

Terribly useful as you're hunting the unspecified "regular cache" in the woods.

Edited July 15, 2005 by Isonzo Karst

[+Dew Crew]

Look at this one!

 

-Hang in there, and you should nail it.

 

Well thanks for my confidence boost!

[+QDman]

Look at this one!

 

-Hang in there, and you should nail it.

 

Well thanks for my confidence boost!

I'd look for something hanging from a nail.

[+Exodia]

We got this:

near the twisted vines

 

There were twisted vines twisted around every darn twisted thing for miles in every direction!!!

 

Sorry, had to get that off my chest. We had a good time though, really.

[+Dew Crew]

Look at this one!

 

-Hang in there, and you should nail it.

 

Well thanks for my confidence boost! 

 

I'd look for something hanging from a nail.

 

Yes actually the cache was hanging from a nail. I never thought of it that way.

[+WeightMan]

In the main body of the cache page there is this:

 

'ARBUTUS MENSIESII', A SMOOTH-BARKED TREE

 

that you are told to look for. The real cache is about 50 feet away.

 

Now the hint is:

 

THE MADRONE TREE OR SHRUB HAS SHINY LEAVES AND EDIBLE RED BERRIES. THE BIRDS LIKE THEM. HAVE FUN!

 

The madrone tree must be arbutus mensiesii, I assume. What that has to do with a tube hidden in a fir tree, I don't know.

 

Sorry about the shouting, but this guy nevers turns off his caps lock key. I even saw a log of his yesterday and it was all caps as well.

[knowschad]

Look at this one!

 

          -Hang in there, and you should nail it.

 

Well thanks for my confidence boost!

I'd look for something hanging from a nail.

or a fake nail.

[+Team Neos]

I actually give a useless clue on one of my caches. The cache description says that the hint is a dead giveaway, and I really thought is was. The hint is the kind of tree that the cache is hidden in--and that is the only tree of its kind for at least 200 feet. Unfortunately, I had one cacher say "Now we know what that kind of tree looks like!" (In my defense, it IS the state tree of the state I live in and several others as well, and one that I remember learning about way back in the stone age when I was in school, so I just figured that everyone knew what that kind of tree looked like!)

[+CairoCarol]

Most of those clues are lame or insulting, but how about an "extra" clue that you actually NEED to find the cache? Virtuous person that I am, I set out in an Egyptian canyon (or wadi, as we call them) to find a cache, without the additional hint. I got within a few feet of the cache, and my GPS was pointing straight down a steep cliff. Not having the time to redo my hike, I just went home and logged a DNF. Examing the GPS data later, I discovered that when I was within a few feet of the cache I was at a height of 800 feet. The additional clue said that the find was at 200 feet. Since I had spent the last 3 hours choosing which way to go through the canyon based on whether the incline was too steep to be safe or not, I was not pleased to realize I should have also been factoring in my altitude when making my choices. (I had falsely assumed that the cache was in a plateau where, if you got near it, by definition you'd be at the right altitude, so all I had to do was pick the safest route to the right coordinates.) Seems to me this "additional hint" should have been part of the unencryped info.

[+ODragon]

How about if you're in the field and you hand decrypt this clue:

 

A band that Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds formed in the late 1970s.

[+Wreck Diver]

"There are twenty six letters in the alphabet"

[+Corp Of Discovery]

How about if you're in the field and you hand decrypt this clue:

 

A band that Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds formed in the late 1970s.

Why, I'd look in a Rockpile.

[+ODragon]

How about if you're in the field and you hand decrypt this clue:

 

A band that Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds formed in the late 1970s.

Why, I'd look in a Rockpile.

Yes, I looked it up before I went. Had I decrypted it in the field, I would have been pissed since I never heard of them!

[+Woof!]

After experiencing the "name of cache" cache, take a walk down the main trail ( be Careful) to view Rattle Snake Creek passing under a massive granite cliff and out the other side through the "name of cache". If the weather is nice and warm you might have a picnic lunch with you and you might want to take a dip.Just checked if the cache is still there. YES it is! Weeds have grown up a bit, try a little harder.

[4wheelin_fool]

Look at this one!

 

          -Hang in there, and you should nail it.

 

Well thanks for my confidence boost!

I'd look for something hanging from a nail.

OR, it could mean you have to be hammered in order to find it !

[+wandererrob]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy:<BR><BR>"You can find it."<BR><BR>Where the cache is hidden, there's a very unassuming rusty old can. Guess where the goodies are.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Fuzzy, that's clever. But that falls under the heading of "It's only useful once you know where the cache is." Having read that hint in the woods, I would have been irritated, and probably not have looked for a can, but after finding the cache and noticing the can, I would have put it together. Not sure how many folks would use this clue to its potential.<BR><BR>Jamie

I don't know about others, but I like it! IMO, that's how hints should be. It's a HINT, that's why they call it that not a "give away".

 

What can I say? I'm a weirdo.

[+wandererrob]

That's the entire cache description. No hint. It's in western Alaska near Nome. The only guy who attempted it had to abandon his quest as a Tundra fire blocked his path. <BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=4697" TARGET=_blank>Kougarok</A><BR><BR>Ok who's ready to go??<BR><BR>Alan

OK, I'm intrigued. Sounds like my kinda cache. I'll keep it in mind if I ever make it up there.

[+suz55tbird]

One of Team Cotati's fave hints:

"You have a GPS and coordinates. What more do you need?"

 

Yeah, this hint is from a cache in my area (NM) that I did this week, and let me tell you, it was not an interesting, challenging, picturesque, or fun search, it was in a nasty trash-strewn, sticker-infested field next to a highway, next to a business---the cache contained icky plastic baby toys; there was absolutely no redeeming qualities to this cache, it was JUST THERE. And I was ANNOYED!!! There are so many great caches around here. Hint should've been: Don't bother!

[+Team RAGAR]

SANDUSKY HOLLOW 2

 

The clue was, "ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TRAIL"

 

The cache was muggled in FEB 2005 and the owner never maintained it, the Approver Archived it in JULY 2005 after about fourteen DNF.

[+Team RAGAR]

Forgot to include that the hunt area was at an four way intersection of two trail. With all several different ways to enter the hunt area!!

[+Fish&Chips]

I just found one the other day where the clue read:

Just like Alicia Silverstone this cache is clueless.

 

I was so angry.

[Team WorldPeaceTurtle]

We just completed one where the decrypted hint read "Bring one to two cups of suflower seeds and after finding the cache you will find further instructions" NOT handy if you wait until you're in the woods to decode it! But, it was a 1/1 and didn't really need a hint - thank gourd!

[ZoopD|ngle]

Sorry, not this time ! If you feel the cache needs to be marked with a higher level of dificulty, please drop me a line !

 

Some people. Funniest (saddest?) part is, the cache is temporarily disabled because the coordinates might be off.

[+RussellM]

My all time favorite hint is a 2 paragraph long story on how the person who left the cache got lost on his way to the cache the second time. This cache is in the middle of a lake on an island. Not only did it waste time translating the hit, he also managed to freak out the people in my group.

[+Criminal]

Jryy, znlor abg... = Well, maybe not...

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

Forgot to include that the hunt area was at an four way intersection of two trail. With all several different ways to enter the hunt area!!

Been there. Done that.

"There is actually more than one way to this cache. Parking for this park is located .2 miles down the road from park entrance. However, it can also be accessed via Bear Mountain Museum. The gate that leads to the trail from the museum is not always open, though.

 

Additional Hints (Encrypt)

 

to left of the trail under a rock; steep spot so don't slide back down when done, keep going up towards trail"

 

Depends which entrance/trail we use, doesn't it? We couldn't figure out how to get in from the parking area .2 mile down from the park entrance. So, we went in from the museum. Then, it's on the right!

 

Great cache though! One for our continuing series of caches in/near or under major bridges.

[+Ed & Julie]

All by the same hider:

 

Additional Hints (Encrypt)

Go Getum!

 

Additional Hints (Encrypt)

 

You won't need one

 

Additional Hints (Encrypt)

 

Go get-um!

 

Thanks

Edited September 7, 2005 by The Badge & the Butterfly