found unlisted cache

[graymac]

Good afternoon.

Questeion....

I live next to a dead end road and while repairing fence years ago found a geocache. Went for a walk last week and its still there although it does not appear on any searches i perform. It was last logged november 2016. Any thoughts on how to find owner or is there anything i should do besides just ignore it?

[+Touchstone]

There could be a variety of reasons you're not finding it on the online searches (e.g. Final to a Puzzle/Multi etc., listed on a competing website, etc.). I would start with trying to find some clues on the container (GC #, Title), and in the logbook (search nearby caches and see if the usernames in the logbook match any online Find logs).

 

Occasionally, people find themselves in a similar situation as you and post the coordinates of the container in the Forum, in which case, the folks with Admin privileges on the site can do a more thorough search if they see this thread.

[Pup Patrol]

Good afternoon.

Questeion....

I live next to a dead end road and while repairing fence years ago found a geocache.

 

Did you log it as found online?

 

Went for a walk last week and its still there although it does not appear on any searches i perform. It was last logged november 2016. Any thoughts on how to find owner or is there anything i should do besides just ignore it?

 

How did you search for it? Coordinates, GC number, etc?

 

Is there another cache nearby that you can find using the search?

 

Do you remember the username, or the signature that was the last one on the logbook from November?

 

More info, maybe the coordinates, will help. If it's the final for a multicache or puzzle, though, don't post the coordinates. Perhaps contacting your local reviewer would be an option.

 

B.

[+Optimist on the run]

Other reasons are that it could have been archived but not removed by the CO, or that it's from another cache listing site.

[+Manville Possum]

Any thoughts on how to find owner or is there anything i should do besides just ignore it?

 

I'm aware that there are a few other active OpenCachers using that platform in Alberta, so chances are it's listed on another geocaching service.

[+hzoi]

If you're not finding it in a coordinate search, it could be the final to a multi or puzzle cache (if it's still active). Or it could be archived. Or it could be listed elsewhere.

 

Since it's right near your house, easiest thing to do would be to look at the log book. Maybe it has a GC code; even if the cache is archived, you can use that to look it up.

 

If it doesn't have a GC code, look for a cache name and search for that.

 

If it has neither of those things, get the cache owner's name (if it's there) and names of some of the first couple finders and last couple finders (as well as the dates they found it), and then look those names up on the site using the Find a Player search and go through their finds for that date. Sometimes folks will go in a group and snag many in a day, so the more names and dates you can line up, the more possibilities you can eliminate.

 

Hope you come back and let us know whether you figured out which it is.

 

And if you do figure it out, I'd log it as a find -- after all, the geocache "note" most folks use starts out, "You found it! Intentionally or otherwise!" So, if it is still there and you signed the log, in most cases, you get to log it as a find.

[+J Grouchy]

One of my coolest finds was when I was scouting locations for a stage of a new multi and I saw a geocache precisely in the spot I was interested in. It turned out to be a long-archived cache. I figured it out by snapping a photo of the log sheet and matching dates and names for geocachers whose names I recognized.

 

https://coord.info/GLJRMGP0

Edited April 18, 2017 by J Grouchy

[+GlobalRat]

Could also be a listing that was not approved or perhaps the CO never submitted. I sometimes place a cache physically before publishing to test the location. After numerous visits over a few weeks or months if all looks good I'll publish.

 

I have found two GC.com caches that have never been published.

 

One, on a hiking trail in a nature reserve, was probably never approved as there is a moratorium on caches in many of our reserves. Interestingly it has survived for a long time and has been signed by many people, cachers and muggles. At the time had no idea it wasn't a listed cache and no CO was listed in the logsheet. Only when trying to log the cache discovered that no cache was listed in the area, and it wasn't an archived cache either.

 

The second was a cache that the CO never submitted. Was found by accident and just happened to know the CO who had included their cacher handle on the logsheet. He confirmed that he had decided not to list the cache and we could remove the cache.

 

If the CO hasn't included any details or a cache note then contact one of your local reviewers to see if they can pick up anything on the coordinates. If not, then your only option is to check one of the other "caching" type sites for a listing, else ignore.

Edited April 19, 2017 by GlobalRat

[+fi999]

We recently also found an unlisted cache in Scotland... I get that it might be part of a mystery or multi-cache, but they would need to be pretty far away as there's nothing listed close to where this was found.

My added confusion is that we only found this because it came up on my Garmin GPS (pre-loaded with caches when purchased) when we were out hill walking.  The cache was in tact, exactly where the GPS showed it to be.  It's definitely from this site, having paperwork inside including a log book (labelled 'Cairngorm cache').  There were a lot of entries, mainly from a several years back, but also a couple from 2016.  It didn't come up on my phone app and I can't find it on this site, so not sure how it can be logged.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

[+Manville Possum]

4 minutes ago, fi999 said:

We recently also found an unlisted cache in Scotland... I get that it might be part of a mystery or multi-cache, but they would need to be pretty far away as there's nothing listed close to where this was found.

My added confusion is that we only found this because it came up on my Garmin GPS (pre-loaded with caches when purchased) when we were out hill walking.  The cache was in tact, exactly where the GPS showed it to be.  It's definitely from this site, having paperwork inside including a log book (labelled 'Cairngorm cache').  There were a lot of entries, mainly from a several years back, but also a couple from 2016.  It didn't come up on my phone app and I can't find it on this site, so not sure how it can be logged.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

If it was preloaded on your unit, is there not a GC code?

[+kunarion]

35 minutes ago, fi999 said:

We recently also found an unlisted cache in Scotland... I get that it might be part of a mystery or multi-cache, but they would need to be pretty far away as there's nothing listed close to where this was found.

My added confusion is that we only found this because it came up on my Garmin GPS (pre-loaded with caches when purchased) when we were out hill walking.  The cache was in tact, exactly where the GPS showed it to be.  It's definitely from this site, having paperwork inside including a log book (labelled 'Cairngorm cache').  There were a lot of entries, mainly from a several years back, but also a couple from 2016.  It didn't come up on my phone app and I can't find it on this site, so not sure how it can be logged.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

That's not a lot to go on, but it looks like you found at least one cache within 15 miles of "Cairngorms National Park".  When you select caches on a Garmin GPS, you see a GC Number, cache name, coordinates, and often cache info and more.

If you know the GC number, you can type it in a web address, as with this example link in this format: https://coord.info/GC5DFB

That will send you to its cache page.  You can then see the logs, and likely can log a Find.

Edited August 4, 2017 by kunarion

[+on4bam]

Chances are that the cache is archived, that's what you get when using outdated data that's preloaded. Best thing to do is delete the GGZ file and load only new data.

 

 

[+hzoi]

23 minutes ago, on4bam said:

Chances are that the cache is archived, that's what you get when using outdated data that's preloaded. Best thing to do is delete the GGZ file and load only new data.

 

 

Well, yes, but the issue at hand is determining which cache this is so they can log a find, not the future of their GGZ file.

2 hours ago, fi999 said:

We recently also found an unlisted cache in Scotland... I get that it might be part of a mystery or multi-cache, but they would need to be pretty far away as there's nothing listed close to where this was found . . . it came up on my Garmin GPS (pre-loaded with caches when purchased) when we were out hill walking.  The cache was in tact, exactly where the GPS showed it to be.  It's definitely from this site, having paperwork inside including a log book (labelled 'Cairngorm cache').  There were a lot of entries, mainly from a several years back, but also a couple from 2016.  It didn't come up on my phone app and I can't find it on this site, so not sure how it can be logged.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Sounds like an archived cache.  Assuming you haven't deleted the GGZ yet, pull up the cache in question and share the other details from your GPSr -- such as (in order of helpfulness) GC waypoint code (GCxxxxxx), coordinates, and cache owner.