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Power trail etiquette


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I am planning on doing my first Power Trail in February, and want to know the dos and don'ts. I was thinking about getting a stamp, what size would you suggest? Is there a particular vendor that you would suggest? When logging a find do you need to date the entry especially if using a stamp? Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Please fill me in on the etiquette of power trailing. Thank you

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Look up Power trails here in the forum and watch the videos that others made. Cachers know power trails is a way to bring up numbers so there seems to be less rules on them. Such as they are mostly maintained by finders (not saying it's okay but that is how it is). Many cachers doing power trails just swap out the containers (again I say that is how many do it not that it's okay). Cachers do frown on leap frogging or skipping caches. The local authorities prefer you keep all 4 wheels off the road. As said it's only a game.

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With any micro, log space usually limited. If you use a stamp don't make it larger than a single line on a micro log. I find the time involved in signing the log is much less than opening the container and getting the log out of and back into the plastic bag. Grabbing a couple extra fine tip pens might be a better investment.

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Here's a link to the page for the ET Power Trail. I bought a stamp from one of their links, and since I only intended to do a power trail one time on one day, I went ahead and had the date added to it. It cost nearly 20 bucks, but was a nice memento afterwards. I always think a properly signed log has a date, but lots of the signatures I saw on the ET Power Trail were stamps and stickers for teams with no dates on them.

 

http://www.etgeocaching.com/index.html

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I am planning on doing my first Power Trail in February, and want to know the dos and don'ts. I was thinking about getting a stamp, what size would you suggest? Is there a particular vendor that you would suggest? When logging a find do you need to date the entry especially if using a stamp? Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Please fill me in on the etiquette of power trailing. Thank you

 

Generally you would treat a PT cache like any other cache, but for some reason many people think the same rules don't apply to PT caches so treat them as you wish.

 

Is it a long power trail full of micros for miles and miles? You could technically walk/bike/drive the length of the power trail and never actually sign the logsheets. What CO of a power trail actually looks at the logs and checks them against the online logs? If you drive fast enough you could set a record for most finds in a 24 times period. bad_boy_animated.gif

 

But if you feel you must actually find each micro on the PT trail, treat them like you would any other cache. Retrieve the cache, sign the log, place it back where you found it, move on to the next. If it isn't there, log a DNF (or NM or NA depending on the previous logs).

Edited by L0ne.R
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Here's a link to the page for the ET Power Trail. I bought a stamp from one of their links, and since I only intended to do a power trail one time on one day, I went ahead and had the date added to it. It cost nearly 20 bucks, but was a nice memento afterwards. I always think a properly signed log has a date, but lots of the signatures I saw on the ET Power Trail were stamps and stickers for teams with no dates on them.

 

http://www.etgeocaching.com/index.html

I couldn't find a link there to buy a stamp. Which sub page did you go to.

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In Russia, Power Trial does you!

 

Just kidding. Getting ready to do my first too. My geo-buddy and I are going to do it together so it is a little more manageable. I'm gonna drive because I don't really mind not being the actual finder. I will be logging/searching for ideas though, so not gonna rush it.

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I am planning on doing my first Power Trail in February, and want to know the dos and don'ts. I was thinking about getting a stamp, what size would you suggest? Is there a particular vendor that you would suggest? When logging a find do you need to date the entry especially if using a stamp? Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Please fill me in on the etiquette of power trailing. Thank you

 

I usually initial the log ( BAM )......on some trails you are told you can leave a new cache/log at #1 , grab the one at #1 and have your partner sign it in the car and leave it at #2 and so on.

While you don't have to do it, it is considered good form on PT's to bring a sackful of logs and several containers ( film cans, etc ) to assist in maint.

While I wouldn't want a steady diet of PT's ( or anything else ) many are placed in wonderful remote areas.....at least two of our very best geocaching memories involve short cuts I took to return to civilization after working PT's ( New Mexico, I love you )

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I usually initial the log ( BAM )......on some trails you are told you can leave a new cache/log at #1 , grab the one at #1 and have your partner sign it in the car and leave it at #2 and so on.

While you don't have to do it, it is considered good form on PT's to bring a sackful of logs and several containers ( film cans, etc ) to assist in maint.

 

That all may be fun for some people, but what does it have to do with geocaching?

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I am planning on doing my first Power Trail in February, and want to know the dos and don'ts. I was thinking about getting a stamp, what size would you suggest? Is there a particular vendor that you would suggest? When logging a find do you need to date the entry especially if using a stamp? Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Please fill me in on the etiquette of power trailing. Thank you

 

The best advice I can offer to somebody thinking about doing a powertrail for the first time is don't do it. It's boring and mundane and is only there to pad your numbers (which really don't matter).

 

Unless of course....you enjoy finding the exact same cache one hundred times+ in a row every five hundred and twenty-eight feet as opposed to actually going geocaching......In that case, it will be a very enjoyable experience for you, have fun.

 

Sorry to be the first negative nancy in this thread.....I just couldn't help it.

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I always said I wouldn't do a power trail, but when I found that we were so close to the ET Trail in Vegas last September, I decided to give it a try. It was fun, exciting to grab a few hundred in one morning, seeing how fast we could go. I don't want to do it again, but I'm glad I did it the one time. I like to experience every part of something like geocaching so that I know what people are talking about when it comes up in conversation. I have good caching buddies who do a ton of power trails, and now I know more about what they're talking about. That can only be a good thing!

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I always said I wouldn't do a power trail, but when I found that we were so close to the ET Trail in Vegas last September, I decided to give it a try. It was fun, exciting to grab a few hundred in one morning, seeing how fast we could go. I don't want to do it again, but I'm glad I did it the one time. I like to experience every part of something like geocaching so that I know what people are talking about when it comes up in conversation. I have good caching buddies who do a ton of power trails, and now I know more about what they're talking about. That can only be a good thing!

That is my point, I want to experience it ALL. My sister introduced me to geocaching and I am totally hooked. She and I are having a "sister" trip in Florida in February and a Power Trail is on the agenda. Did you use a stamp? Did you date your entries?

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It seems to me "For power trails" anything goes. I have read about people swapping containers, bring and throwing containers out the window as they go (may just be exaggerations), teams going and splitting the trail so each team member does only a portion but claims them all. I am pretty sure even arm chair loggers would be allowed to do a power trail.

 

I tried one once and after 10 finds (all the same) I was extremely bored. I finished the small 20-30 caches but will never attempt one again. It is not my cup of tea.

 

I find them dull, boring, and a waste of time. I wish they could be moved to another site similar to waymaking and call it powertrailing.

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One of many things I love about geocaching are the games within the game. A Power trail is just one of the games within the game I want to experience.

 

I don't mind the games within the game as long as they don't affect me (and others, and the game) negatively. For instance, the FTF side game has no affect on me and is not sanctioned by Groundspeak so it has no affect on the game. Power trails however affect how geocaching as a whole is played. People start to treat all caches like they do PT caches. Nearby caches that are not part of the PT get swallowed up and treated like they are part of the PT - throwdowns, cut n paste logs thanking the PT owner. Nice trails don't grow organically but get gobbled up by one cacher (or one group of cachers), driving out caches that were there initially and blocking anyone else from planting. The geocaching game increasingly becomes a numbers game.

 

Back to the OP's question about stamps and PT trails - a self-inking custom stamp makes a lot of sense if you are planning to do the PT trail with speed in mind, otherwise writing your trailname initials would be a good choice but you might experience carpal tunnel syndrome after the 100th find. Staples Business Office Depot stores will make custom self inking stamps. You'll want to make something small to fit easily in any micro logsheet. Probably don't have to worry about dating your log on a PT trail - the owner(s) isn't going to check the logs and they would probably appreciate that you took up as little space as possible.

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It really depends on the rule of the particular power trail. On the ET Trail, we swapped the containers, always moving the last one down the road to the next cache, and we use a stamp. Take a look at the cache pages of the power trail you're going to do, and go by the way folks do that one. I always date my logs, so I bought a stamp with a date on it even it that meant I could only use it one day without crossing things out! But you could just get a stamp with your name and your sisters and date them with a pen or pencil as you go.

 

People do use labels, but we used a stamp.

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One cacher in my area uses labels, because "My arthritis makes it hard to hold a pen". His are about 1/4" by 1" and are a REAL pain on those micro & nano caches with very small logs. The label makes the log difficult to roll up when done signing. I have found a few caches where his label has fallen off the log and was loose in the cache container.

 

I would use a small stamp instead of a label, but I would rather sign with a pen instead of a stamp.

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Has anyone ever used labels?

 

I've used labels for regular caches but stopped using them because it was tough to get the wax paper backing peeled off. Spent so much time trying to get my nail between the backing and the sticker. I made my own stickers - laser printed onto 8x11 sticker sheets, then cut them out, so most of them didn't have that convenient split to help pull off the waxed backing.

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One of many things I love about geocaching are the games within the game. A Power trail is just one of the games within the game I want to experience.

 

I don't mind the games within the game as long as they don't affect me (and others, and the game) negatively. For instance, the FTF side game has no affect on me and is not sanctioned by Groundspeak so it has no affect on the game. Power trails however affect how geocaching as a whole is played. People start to treat all caches like they do PT caches. Nearby caches that are not part of the PT get swallowed up and treated like they are part of the PT - throwdowns, cut n paste logs thanking the PT owner. Nice trails don't grow organically but get gobbled up by one cacher (or one group of cachers), driving out caches that were there initially and blocking anyone else from planting. The geocaching game increasingly becomes a numbers game.

 

 

A guy not to far from here started a series, not powertrail, out in the desert titled "Wandering Heroes". Each cache was dedicated to a particular local cacher and each container was unique to that cacher. He invited others to add caches to the series and many did so it grew to about 30-40 unique caches. Last month, those folks from Florida blew through and moved all of the containers, causing multiple cache owners the need to go and find their containers and put them back in the proper place. The same couple did the same thing with a different series up near Ridgecrest California. They also left throwdowns on the better hidden caches, which were not missing. When questioned about it, the response was basically, 'you cache the way you want and we'll cache the way we want'.

 

The "anything goes" mentality can cause real problems for those that don't participate in it.

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