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"Archived" Cache Protocol


Greyroamer

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I was wondering what is the accepted protocol regarding an "Archived" cache? If the cache has been archived by the owner and "Abandoned", that is, the container and log are still in place, what should a person do if they then find it? A prominent GC'er recently archived a large number of caches in Western Australia, presumably because they had retired from active GC'ing and no longer wanted to service and maintain the caches. I had previously found a significant number of these caches before they were archived, so I know where they are and could well be in the location again in the future. Should I:--

 

1) do nothing and simply let time and weather destroy the cache.

 

2) take the container and place it in another location and claim ownership for a "new" cache? (In which case what should I do with the old log?)

 

3) request that the administrators "un-archive" the cache and assume responsibility for maintenance in the original location?

 

4) try to contact the original owner to transfer responsibility?

 

5) something else that I haven't thought of?

 

The thought that there are dozens, scores, perhaps even hundreds of abandoned caches out there is rather disappointing and represent a considerable amount of time and money by the original owners. These efforts should be given due value in some way.

 

Any suggestions ? ? ?

Greyroamer

Edited by Greyroamer
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2) take the container and place it in another location and claim ownership for a "new" cache? (In which case what should I do with the old log?)

 

You would need to submit the "new" cache for Review, no matter how you acquired the container.

 

3) request that the administrators "un-archive" the cache and assume responsibility for maintenance in the original location?

 

4) try to contact the original owner to transfer responsibility?

 

I think these 2 Help Center articles might provide the answers:

 

Help Center → Hiding a Geocache → Geocache Ownership: A Long-Term Relationship

4.23. Unarchiving a Geocache

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=70

 

4.20. Adopting or Transferring a Geocache

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=54

 

B.

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Since the cache is archived the spot is available for you to plant a cache. I probably wouldn't place it exactly in the same spot - that's boring. And while you are out there, pick up the abandoned container and leave a note on the archived page that you picked it up and will keep it for a month and the owner can contact you to arrange a return of the container. If it's a good container, and the owner doesn't contact you, recycle it as a new cache (or to replace an old worn out cache of your own).

Edited by L0ne.R
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There are two questions. First, what to do with the abandoned containers. I'd say try to contact the CO to see if he wants them or you can take them and reuse them. If you get no response from the CO, then I'd say give him a few months, and if nothing happens, the containers are effectively trash, so I'd be OK with you collecting them.

 

The second question is whether you should plant caches there, which is really an unrelated question. Of course you can, and whether they look like the old caches or look like something new is up to you, although my preference would be something new. Whether you actually use the old containers depends on what happened when you answered the first question.

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I was wondering what is the accepted protocol regarding an "Archived" cache? If the cache has been archived by the owner and "Abandoned", that is, the container and log are still in place, what should a person do if they then find it? A prominent GC'er recently archived a large number of caches in Western Australia, presumably because they had retired from active GC'ing and no longer wanted to service and maintain the caches. I had previously found a significant number of these caches before they were archived, so I know where they are and could well be in the location again in the future. Should I:--

 

Seeing as you've posted in this forum I'm going to assume that you mean the cache or caches in question have been listed on gc.com.

 

Step 1 is to check that the cache or caches aren't also listed on GCA. Just because a cache is Archived on gc.com doesn't mean that its not still active on GCA.

 

1) do nothing and simply let time and weather destroy the cache.

 

2) take the container and place it in another location and claim ownership for a "new" cache? (In which case what should I do with the old log?)

 

The container doesn't belong to you. It's not your property. Is "Theft by finding" an offence over in the west? It's something that foreigners no nothing about and as a Victorian, I'm not conversant with laws in Western Australia. That said, when a cache has for all intents and purposes been reduce to litter, collecting the litter is the right thing to do because it is just that, litter.

 

3) request that the administrators "un-archive" the cache and assume responsibility for maintenance in the original location?

 

4) try to contact the original owner to transfer responsibility?

 

Adoption has been addressed by other posters here but accepting responsibility for a cache as a "Community Cache" is often possible with our local reviewers but rarely if a cache has already been Archived. This is done when a cache has some special significance.

 

5) something else that I haven't thought of?

 

The thought that there are dozens, scores, perhaps even hundreds of abandoned caches out there is rather disappointing and represent a considerable amount of time and money by the original owners. These efforts should be given due value in some way.

 

Any suggestions ? ? ?

Greyroamer

 

Finding Archived caches is a 'sub-game' for some caches. The detective work that is often needed to ascertain whether or not a cache is still likely to be in place adds an extra element to the game. Having spent what maybe a considerable amount of time solving a puzzle it is only natural that a cacher will want to receive the reward of finding the cache in question even if it is archived. Finding an archived cache and finding a trackable inside it which was not listed in the cache's inventory, and then returning that trackable to the game will make the trackable owner very, very happy.

In summary, given the way we play the game in Australia, unless the cache has been reduced to litter, I believe that it is best left as is.

 

Cheers,

 

b.

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Adding to Biggles1024 post above about the sub-culture of finding archived caches, if you go to my profile page you will find bookmark lists of caches in all Australian states which I have looked at when they were archived and determined that they MAY still be able to be found and signed.

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If the Archived cache is still in play ie: it is still in the field and there is a logbook to sign, I sign the logbook take numerous photos and then claim the cache find with the photos attached. I also remove the cache and contact the owner to see if they want it back. If they do not or they don't cache anymore I keep the container or dispose of it if it cant be used.

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5 hours ago, DARKSIDEDAN said:

If the Archived cache is still in play ie: it is still in the field and there is a logbook to sign, I sign the logbook take numerous photos and then claim the cache find with the photos attached. I also remove the cache and contact the owner to see if they want it back. If they do not or they don't cache anymore I keep the container or dispose of it if it cant be used.

 

Why remove the cache? That spoils the fun for future finders of archived caches. 

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1 hour ago, oz_bean_counter said:

 

Why remove the cache? That spoils the fun for future finders of archived caches. 

 

On Thursday an old (circa 2009) cache at a waterfall near here, which I'd found in 2016, was archived. The owner, now in his 80s, had moved away from the area and was unable to perform much-needed maintenance on his rusted-up Eclipse tin container and decided to pull the plug on it. As I have something of a thing for caches at waterfalls with my Chasing Waterfalls series, I grabbed the opportunity with open arms and immediately set about creating a new one to go there. While setting mine, I took the opportunity to remove the old one, both as a courtesy to its owner and to prevent it being mistaken for mine. It would have been difficult for anyone to log going forward anyway since the lid was totally rusted shut and the log sheet couldn't be extracted.

 

There are certainly some old historic caches about that are worth preserving as part of our caching heritage, but not ones like this:

 

20201122_211600.jpg.076393b9545e05cf74249db23c0a8911.jpg

 

This is my new one, by the way. Hopefully it'll survive in the environment a bit better.

 

Container-GC92WV1.jpg.0d3e6896a713d040b1e47fadc0b3d07e.jpg

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5 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

On Thursday an old (circa 2009) cache at a waterfall near here, which I'd found in 2016, was archived. The owner, now in his 80s, had moved away from the area and was unable to perform much-needed maintenance on his rusted-up Eclipse tin container and decided to pull the plug on it. As I have something of a thing for caches at waterfalls with my Chasing Waterfalls series, I grabbed the opportunity with open arms and immediately set about creating a new one to go there. While setting mine, I took the opportunity to remove the old one, both as a courtesy to its owner and to prevent it being mistaken for mine. It would have been difficult for anyone to log going forward anyway since the lid was totally rusted shut and the log sheet couldn't be extracted.

 

There are certainly some old historic caches about that are worth preserving as part of our caching heritage, but not ones like this:

 

20201122_211600.jpg.076393b9545e05cf74249db23c0a8911.jpg

 

This is my new one, by the way. Hopefully it'll survive in the environment a bit better.

 

Container-GC92WV1.jpg.0d3e6896a713d040b1e47fadc0b3d07e.jpg

Nice looking cache, Jeff. Makes me want to go visit that waterfall!

Sure, if you're putting a cache at that location, you don't want an archived cache causing confusion. For me, if an archived cache is in decent condition and isn't going to cause confusion, I leave it there for others to find. 

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10 hours ago, oz_bean_counter said:

Nice looking cache, Jeff. Makes me want to go visit that waterfall!

Sure, if you're putting a cache at that location, you don't want an archived cache causing confusion. For me, if an archived cache is in decent condition and isn't going to cause confusion, I leave it there for others to find. 

And you could end up with a situation that occurred in WA not too long ago where a CO's abandoned, neglected, caches were archived but were still being found. Still no maintenance done and eventually some went missing, So, what happened next? At least one seekers left a throwdown on a missing, archived cache (there may have been more than one). IIRC the cache page/s ended up being locked.

Abandoned caches become geo-litter, trash, rubbish which should be cleaned up to maintain the integrity of the game. CITO?

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12 hours ago, oz_bean_counter said:

Why remove the cache? That spoils the fun for future finders of archived caches. 

 

Yep, I agree, and unless someone asked the CO before/when they got there, they don't know why it's still there.

Maybe they're placing a new cache, already reserved the familiar spot,  and will pick it up while there.

It could  even be used for another location game too.  :)

Some say "I emailed the CO and they never responded...".  Well,  why would they if they're playing another game ? 

Now that so many use phones to cache, you can't even say "they don't play anymore...", if they're not entering the site.   ;)

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6 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Yep, I agree, and unless someone asked the CO before/when they got there, they don't know why it's still there.

Maybe they're placing a new cache, already reserved the familiar spot,  and will pick it up while there.

It could  even be used for another location game too.  :)

Some say "I emailed the CO and they never responded...".  Well,  why would they if they're playing another game ? 

Now that so many use phones to cache, you can't even say "they don't play anymore...", if they're not entering the site.   ;)

 

When what's left behind is an 11-year-old Eclipse tin that's so rusty the lid can't be opened to access the log, then I'd say it's unlikely the CO has any more use for it in this game or any other.

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11 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

When what's left behind is an 11-year-old Eclipse tin that's so rusty the lid can't be opened to access the log, then I'd say it's unlikely the CO has any more use for it in this game or any other.

 

Funny, the post I responded to said nothing about a rusty "eclipse tin".   I prefer to stay on-topic, thanks...

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