Wherigo rating question

[+coachstahly]

I'm working on a new Wherigo with 6 zones that will take you to the 5 Carnegie libraries in my county and then to the final in one of the newer libraries. Each of the zones is on the sidewalk, the question to answer can be seen from the zone, and the final is wheelchair accessible too. Here's the kicker. It will require 41 miles of driving when all completed. I was initially thinking a 2.5/2 or something in that range (for both D and T) but wondering what others might think. My local group has chimed in and there's no consensus there so thought I'd go to a larger forum. Could I get away with setting the terrain at 1 even though the distance covered is significant or should I stick with my original idea in the 2-2.5 range? If I do set T at 1, do I compensate for the distance by raising the D? Thoughts?

[+ngrrfan]

I'm working on a new Wherigo with 6 zones that will take you to the 5 Carnegie libraries in my county and then to the final in one of the newer libraries. Each of the zones is on the sidewalk, the question to answer can be seen from the zone, and the final is wheelchair accessible too. Here's the kicker. It will require 41 miles of driving when all completed. I was initially thinking a 2.5/2 or something in that range (for both D and T) but wondering what others might think. My local group has chimed in and there's no consensus there so thought I'd go to a larger forum. Could I get away with setting the terrain at 1 even though the distance covered is significant or should I stick with my original idea in the 2-2.5 range? If I do set T at 1, do I compensate for the distance by raising the D? Thoughts?

IMHO... rate it appropriately as to overall D and overall T. You might mention that this will involve some driving, yet the time required to do the Wherigo should reflect that it won't be a quick C&D.

[+coachstahly]

Already in the write up but wanted to see what people thought about the D/T rating. There's nothing hard about ANY of the zones or questions. The hardest part, IMO, is the distance required to complete the Wherigo. Does that factor into the terrain rating or the dificutly rating?

[+Uncle Alaska]

It seems to me a higher terrain rating would only come into play if you were walking/jogging/biking the entire distance? I am planning a Wherigo that requires a lot of biking (or walking, if without a bike) and that alone boosts my terrain up to a 4. I used the clayjar guide and got a 2/4 for it...it will require over 10 miles (not sure of exact yet) of biking/walking.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Uncle Alaska

[+Traditional Bill]

I did a Wherigo recently that was almost exactly like this. It brought us along the escape route of John Wilkes Boothe.... From DC to Southern Maryland to Southern Virginia. The questions were simple and the cartridge was extremely easy. That cache was rated 3/1.5 and I found that to be pretty accurate.

 

The terrain rating should generally reflect the terrain of the actual hide, the way I see it. At least for wherigos, that is. If you can roll a wheel chair to the final, regardless of how many miles you have to drive, that's still a 1T to me.

 

Either way though, I remember doing some of your wherigos the last time I was in Indy and they were all rated pretty accurately, in my opinion. They were definitely some of the more memorable caches of that trip.

[+coachstahly]

Thanks.

[+redsox_mark]

Terrain ratings (e.g if you use the Clayjar system) only talk about hiking. So if each stage is handicapped accessible I think terrain 1 is appropriate.

 

There is nothing which specifically links driving distance to D rating (especially the Clayjar system, where D is all about ease of finding the cache), but I think it is reasonable that doing multiple stages with longer distance driving between stages is more difficult than say a single stage. Though others may argue that "D"only applies when you are at GZ, and the journey to the cache should be reflected only in "T".

 

I would bump the difficulty but not the terrain; e.g. 2.5/1. And mention on the cache page that each stage is intended to be easy, but the difficulty reflects the number of stages and travel required between them.

[+joshuar9476]

Brian, I say rate it what you feel like in your heart it should be. We'll still do it and let you know if it should be changed in the future.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I'm working on a new Wherigo with 6 zones that will take you to the 5 Carnegie libraries in my county and then to the final in one of the newer libraries. Each of the zones is on the sidewalk, the question to answer can be seen from the zone, and the final is wheelchair accessible too.

 

If the distance is in the write up, rate it as you see each stage, basing it on the hardest.

 

and the final is wheelchair accessible too.

Are the other stages wheelchair accessible?

 

It's not a T1 if the final is wheelchair accessible, but the previous stages are up/down several steps.

[+coachstahly]

I'm working on a new Wherigo with 6 zones that will take you to the 5 Carnegie libraries in my county and then to the final in one of the newer libraries. Each of the zones is on the sidewalk, the question to answer can be seen from the zone, and the final is wheelchair accessible too.

 

If the distance is in the write up, rate it as you see each stage, basing it on the hardest.

 

and the final is wheelchair accessible too.

Are the other stages wheelchair accessible?

 

It's not a T1 if the final is wheelchair accessible, but the previous stages are up/down several steps.

EVERY zone is on a sidewalk and the questions do not require you to go up or down any stairs. In fact, when I did my test run this morning, most of the zones (5 of 6) were triggered when I drove past. Decided to rate it a 2.5/1 and mentioned the driving distance as well as the expected time for completion.

[+NeverSummer]

I'd say 2.5/1 would be accurate then. The difficult in finding this cache is more in the overall distance you have to go, not the "difficulty" of getting across that terrain. If you can access all from a wheelchair, then I'd stick with a T1 rating.

 

But, just to check on it, you can always cross-reference with the ClayJar system and see what it spits out--the adjust as necessary. It's always helpful to go with that gut check to see how "far off" you might be.

 

I do think that ClayJar system does rule in distance of "hike", and I wouldn't classify this as a hike. Just do as you said, and call out in the description that you rated it a 1 terrain for wheelchair accessibility, but that the overall distance will take them X distance to complete the cartridge.

[+JL_HSTRE]

I would probably call it a 3/3 for the time and distance.

[+NeverSummer]

I would probably call it a 3/3 for the time and distance.

I think the concern is that rating above a 1 would deter most people who may be caching from a wheelchair or have other mobility issues.

 

If the OP rates the cache with a 1T and describes the time it takes to complete the cache in the description, I think they've safely covered the "time and distance" part that could possibly make it a 3/3.

 

The "terrain" in the distance you have to travel is actually more like the Difficulty rating--how "hard" it might be to finish the cache. The "time" aspect should also be addressed in the Difficulty rating...and time is actually what the result of the distance factor relates to--the cache and waypoints can all be accessed via wheelchair, which is important to outline more overtly in ratings due to queries and search functionality of the site.

 

I'd rather see a 3/1 that then tells me that it is wheelchair accessible, yet will take me over a few miles to complete in the description. That is a great level of description that I miss seeing in cache descriptions.

 

Telling people what to expect when hunting a cache? What?!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I would probably call it a 3/3 for the time and distance.

 

If that 3T is for the driving distance that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Even for a multi-cache it doesn't make sense to increase the terrain rating for a longer driving distance between stages.

 

Consider the following scenario. Two caches, one a traditional and one is a two stage multi. The traditional and the first stage of the multi are both located at the top of a mountain which has just one road to the top. The final of the multi is located at the bottom of the road (i.e. you would unknowingly drive by it on the way to the top of the mountain.) In order to find both caches you have to drive exactly the same distance. Why would the multi have a greater T rating if the driving distance is the same?