Jump to content

Excuse my ignorance


Dicey60Agoracacher0

Recommended Posts

I love the idea of travel bugs, trackables and pathtags. With pathtags I don't think I really get it. Do you only use ones that are particular to you or can you get any? And if I wanted to "plant" something so it will end up in CA for my friend to eventually try to find, what would I use?

And what is up with so many caches being hidden in/near/around poison ivy???? LOL

Sorry....I got a little carried away. I'm new and loving this stuff!

Link to comment
15 minutes ago, Dicey60 said:

I love the idea of travel bugs, trackables and pathtags. With pathtags I don't think I really get it. Do you only use ones that are particular to you or can you get any? And if I wanted to "plant" something so it will end up in CA for my friend to eventually try to find, what would I use?

And what is up with so many caches being hidden in/near/around poison ivy???? LOL

Sorry....I got a little carried away. I'm new and loving this stuff!

 

"Pathtags" have their own forums on another site, and aren't an official "Geocaching.com" thing.  There are many "tags" or professionally made signature items that are not trackable. Cachers who place non-trackable items generally place them as trade items.  You may trade and place sig items of other cachers as you like.

Poison ivy just does its thing.  It grows.  I place caches, and later discover poison ivy flourishing.  Where possible, or where necessary, I sometimes go hit it with poison ivy killer at my caches.  I don't want to push through poison ivy to do cache maintenance. :cute:

Edited by kunarion
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment

Many thanks to kunarion for the nice summary of pathtags.  Conversation on that topic can continue in that competing product's social media channels.

I now return you to what will surely be an awesome discussion of poison ivy.  With a light winter and a wet summer, it's out in force this year!

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
1 hour ago, Keystone said:

Many thanks to kunarion for the nice summary of pathtags.  Conversation on that topic can continue in that competing product's social media channels.

I now return you to what will surely be an awesome discussion of poison ivy.  With a light winter and a wet summer, it's out in force this year!

 

After 8 years of Geocaching, I guess I've figured out poison ivy.  I can walk through it, step on it, kneel on it when I'm wearing long pants, grab caches through it, and not break out.  I've in no way become immune, I think I'm just getting the hang of how to not get the oils where I don't want to get them.  One thing I won't ever do is to let the leaves brush my neck or face, so if PI is especially super thick, I don't even go there.  I got situational awareness.  I immediately identify where all the PI is in relation to me.  And I don't roll around in it or anything. :cute:

Also, go cache in winter.  The whole situation is completely different after the first frost.

Edited by kunarion
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment

I've never had a reaction to poison ivy. I think I'm just one of the lucky ones. As for @kunarion's suggestion to go caching in the winter -- I'm ABSOLUTELY a winter cacher. By mid-november, the only green stuff left in the forests around Louisville is the thorny vines. Makes it easier to a) find the caches and b ) not get caught by the sticker vines. I'm a huge fan. 

Link to comment
2 hours ago, Dicey60 said:

And what is up with so many caches being hidden in/near/around poison ivy???? LOL

Well, I'd bet if you asked the CO, those caches would have been rated higher if intentional.   :)

This was a wet  year in the NE,  so that didn't help, but caches in the woods that have been around a while may get some eventually.

Deer will  eat PI, and in a stand in the back I saw a black bear eating PI roots that I didn't get to  yet, so there's hope...

Link to comment
1 hour ago, mvhayes1982 said:

I've never had a reaction to poison ivy. I think I'm just one of the lucky ones. As for @kunarion's suggestion to go caching in the winter -- I'm ABSOLUTELY a winter cacher. By mid-november, the only green stuff left in the forests around Louisville is the thorny vines. Makes it easier to a) find the caches and b ) not get caught by the sticker vines. I'm a huge fan. 

PI is in the woods year-round.  Actually it's tougher to spot in the Winter I think.  Some think ticks aren't around then either.     :)

Link to comment
4 hours ago, Dicey60 said:

And what is up with so many caches being hidden in/near/around poison ivy???? LOL

We don't have poison ivy out here, but we do have poison oak. And not all cache owners are aware of what it looks like. I can see how someone who doesn't recognize it for what it is could just think it's an attractive plant, and want to hide a cache next to it. Especially if they aren't sensitive to urushiol at the time.

Link to comment
On 21/08/2017 at 11:21 PM, cerberus1 said:

PI is in the woods year-round.  Actually it's tougher to spot in the Winter I think.  Some think ticks aren't around then either.     :)

Indeed, it is really hard to spot when there are several feet of snow on top of it...  Remember, geocaching is a worldwide game played in many different climates.  Your winters might not be the same as another player's.

Around here, winter is great for those worried about plants and insects.  Even thorns are less of a concern when you have a big jacket, mittens and snowshoes!

So, if your climate is great like that, think of picking the best season to visit those tricky caches in difficult areas!  If all the previous finds on a 5 year old cache are in the winter, there might be a reason...

 

Link to comment
5 minutes ago, The red-haired witch said:

Indeed, it is really hard to spot when there are several feet of snow on top of it...  Remember, geocaching is a worldwide game played in many different climates.  Your winters might not be the same as another player's.

Yeah, I agree. 

 - But ...  if Kentucky (where the person I responded to was from ...)  ever has a worse Winter than we do, my relatives will be begging for a quick trip down with snow tires.   :D

Link to comment
On 8/21/2017 at 5:20 PM, Dicey60 said:

And if I wanted to "plant" something so it will end up in CA for my friend to eventually try to find, what would I use?

Veering away from the PI topic a bit, I wanted to address the earlier part of your post. If you want to place something that has a 'goal' or 'mission', then a Travel Bug that can be tracked on geocaching.com would be an option. Travel Bugs (TB's) can have a "mission", such as visiting stadiums or beaches or mountains or ???   If you want something to travel to California, then you would put that goal in the "Current GOAL" section of the trackable's page. It would also be good to write that goal on a laminated card or something attached to the actual trackable. It might stop a cacher that isn't going towards California from grabbing the TB, if they can see the goal right away when they see the trackable, rather than only when/if they visit the trackable's page.

I'll add that you could do the same thing with Geocoins instead of Travel tags, but geocoins are more costly and you'd need to weigh your tolerance for the risk that your trackable may go missing. Travel tags can be sent off into the caching world attached to any trinket you like, or not attached to anything at all.

Assuming that cachers who handle your trackable are accurate in their logging, then you and your friend could watch where it travels. If it's placed into a cache in CA, then your friend could go to retrieve it. You would get emails when your trackable is logged. Your friend could "watch" the trackable and would then get email alerts as well.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
On 8/23/2017 at 5:36 PM, The red-haired witch said:
On 8/21/2017 at 11:21 PM, cerberus1 said:

PI is in the woods year-round.  Actually it's tougher to spot in the Winter I think.  Some think ticks aren't around then either.     :)

Indeed, it is really hard to spot when there are several feet of snow on top of it...  Remember, geocaching is a worldwide game played in many different climates.  Your winters might not be the same as another player's.

On the other hand,  you may be able to follow the tracks in the snow right to the cache location.   I followed a set of footprints in the snow about 1/4 mile down a trail which led right to the cache and never had to pull out my GPS after I parked my car.

Link to comment
On 8/21/2017 at 10:00 PM, mvhayes1982 said:

I've never had a reaction to poison ivy. I think I'm just one of the lucky ones.

Likewise, but I'm not usually that lucky.  Have no idea why I've not gotten a reaction--especially after taking up geocraching [sic.]

OK, we've hit on poison ivy & poison oak; there's one more that I know of with a range similar to that of PI--Poison Sumac, which is/can be more difficult to identify.  (YMMV)

I just found this site, which has information about all three.

The Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac Site

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...