+DocDiTTo Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 If you had the opportunity to place one new virtual cache, where would you put it? The Virtual Rewards surprised 4000 cachers yesterday, so there are probably a lot of people pondering this very question. Maybe you're a recipient, and maybe you're not, and this isn't the thread for whining about the outcome. Just tell us where you'd put one if you had the opportunity. I asked this on a local forum, and a few ideas came out: A local Veteran's memorial The spot of a "UFO" landing in western PA. The Flight 93 memorial in PA A local park with a unique spring that appears to "boil" from the ground. Since this isn't a local forum, I'm sure there are lots of places worldwide that really would make exceptional virtual cache sites. If you had one chance, where would you place your virtual cache? Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I'd thought about this too. A lot of places are viable locations for other cache types which can also highlight the location. Many places that don't allow a physical container could become earthcaches if they're geology-related. So I'd probably look at somewhere it's unlikely a physical container could be placed, or somewhere I'd not want to accept responsibility for maintaining the findability of a physical container, and definitely someplace with visitation value. Likely somewhere a fun activity could be required in order to 'qualify' (the ALR), as opposed to just being there and observing something. I think it's a really cool opportunity for all those received one. I'd just suggest not rushing the placement You've got a year to figure it out! heh Quote Link to comment
Blue Square Thing Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I'm not sure where I'd place the actual cache itself, but I think I'd like it to be a multi-stage sort of thing - perhaps like this cache: https://coord.info/GCGWG5 Perhaps I'd end up with a location such as https://goo.gl/maps/ngZW2QHQJjK2 which is a fairly remote beach quite near to me and doesn't seem to have any caches on the land belonging to the local estate. But I'm not sure - I think I'd need to wait a while and decide when inspiration came to me. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 There's been at least one that is effectively a webcam cache - the requirement for a photo from a webcam is an allowed one apparently, so while there's no webcam icon for it, at least we can have webcam fun again Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 9 minutes ago, thebruce0 said: So I'd probably look at somewhere it's unlikely a physical container could be placed, or somewhere I'd not want to accept responsibility for maintaining the findability of a physical container, and definitely someplace with visitation value. Likely somewhere a fun activity could be required in order to 'qualify' (the ALR), as opposed to just being there and observing something. I'd agree. The original idea behind virtuals was to to take you some place special where a physical container couldn't be placed for whatever reason. In my mind, if a physical container could be placed there, then do that instead. There are a lot of cool places where there can be no physical caches (National Parks are a good example). But a lot of people go to national parks anyway, so are they a good pick for a virtual cache? It would be a tough decision to determine the perfect spot. Hence the idea of this thread. 1 Quote Link to comment
+J Grouchy Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 (edited) 28 minutes ago, DocDiTTo said: I'd agree. The original idea behind virtuals was to to take you some place special where a physical container couldn't be placed for whatever reason. In my mind, if a physical container could be placed there, then do that instead. There are a lot of cool places where there can be no physical caches (National Parks are a good example). But a lot of people go to national parks anyway, so are they a good pick for a virtual cache? It would be a tough decision to determine the perfect spot. Hence the idea of this thread. Do they allow virtuals in NPS land? I thought all caches were disallowed without prior approval, virtual or physical. Virtuals still require traffic to a particular spot that may or may not be open to visitors. Edited August 25, 2017 by J Grouchy Quote Link to comment
+mvhayes1982 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 My first instinct would be to place one in front of Freedom Hall. The former home of University of Louisville basketball, six NCAA Final Fours, many significant boxing matches, and other sporting events in its 60+ year history. It is located on the grounds of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, where physical caches are not allowed. Had I actually been given one of these rewards, I would have to take some time and do some serious consideration before actually placing it. It is easy to make a decision like "where would I put a Virtual cache" when there isn't an actual virtual cache to place. Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 39 minutes ago, Blue Square Thing said: I'm not sure where I'd place the actual cache itself, but I think I'd like it to be a multi-stage sort of thing - perhaps like this cache: https://coord.info/GCGWG5 I'm in the planning stages for my Reward Virtual, and the current plan is for multiple stages, with each location sharing a common theme. All of the locations are within walking distance and could be completed in an afternoon by a visitor to the city (who is also finding other caches along the way), or on several separate trips by a local geocacher. I think that's important to a good design, as compared to random unconnected locations that are far apart. I am focusing on an urban downtown area (Pittsburgh) where muggles are plentiful and good hiding spots are scarce. Having to find a container and sign a log at the end of the walking tour could actually detract from the experience. I think that's another test of a good virtual. I don't want to share any more specifics until after my cache is published. Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 57 minutes ago, DocDiTTo said: The Flight 93 memorial in PA This was on my first brainstorming list of possible locations. I decided against it because I'm hoping that someone who lives closer would choose the spot for theirs. Plus, I don't feel like dealing with the National Park Service. I have it on good authority that the NPS denied permission for an Earthcache at the site, which relied on geology information gained from the NPS website. Quote Link to comment
+mvhayes1982 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 11 minutes ago, The Leprechauns said: I'm in the planning stages for my Reward Virtual, and the current plan is for multiple stages, with each location sharing a common theme. All of the locations are within walking distance and could be completed in an afternoon by a visitor to the city (who is also finding other caches along the way), or on several separate trips by a local geocacher. I think that's important to a good design, as compared to random unconnected locations that are far apart. I am focusing on an urban downtown area (Pittsburgh) where muggles are plentiful and good hiding spots are scarce. Having to find a container and sign a log at the end of the walking tour could actually detract from the experience. I think that's another test of a good virtual. I don't want to share any more specifics until after my cache is published. There's one like that (at least a multi-point, urban walking Virtual) in Louisville. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC9073_reflections-snoitcelfer-2002 Quote Link to comment
Blue Square Thing Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 9 minutes ago, The Leprechauns said: I'm in the planning stages for my Reward Virtual, and the current plan is for multiple stages, with each location sharing a common theme. All of the locations are within walking distance and could be completed in an afternoon by a visitor to the city (who is also finding other caches along the way), or on several separate trips by a local geocacher. I think that's important to a good design, as compared to random unconnected locations that are far apart. I am focusing on an urban downtown area (Pittsburgh) where muggles are plentiful and good hiding spots are scarce. Having to find a container and sign a log at the end of the walking tour could actually detract from the experience. I think that's another test of a good virtual. I don't want to share any more specifics until after my cache is published. I think that sounds really interesting - good job and thank you for putting the work in for it. I'm hoping that there will be a good mix - some simple ones in iconic spots (the new Eiffel Tower and Little Mermaid ones fit that bill for me - both photo requirements are a little quirky as well which is nice), some that require some work (the Simonstown one perhaps) and some which are deep in the wilderness (I think the new one on the Gaspé does that probably). If they were all the same it'd be boring Quote Link to comment
+SwineFlew Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Look at all the old virtual and most are the cream of the crop, some of the best of the best. Thats the best way to think of ideas to place a new virtual. If you want to build up fav points fast, place one inside an airport. Specially a large one. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 11 minutes ago, The Leprechauns said: This was on my first brainstorming list of possible locations. I decided against it because I'm hoping that someone who lives closer would choose the spot for theirs. Plus, I don't feel like dealing with the National Park Service. I have it on good authority that the NPS denied permission for an Earthcache at the site, which relied on geology information gained from the NPS website. This actually raises a great question - in the case of the NPS, what kind of permission requirement is there? If the public can visit the location anyway, would specific permission need to be granted? I imagine there are a lot of NPS locations where virtual hiders would like to place a cache, so this may become a popular question. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 13 minutes ago, SwineFlew said: Look at all the old virtual and most are the cream of the crop, some of the best of the best. Thats the best way to think of ideas to place a new virtual. If you want to build up fav points fast, place one inside an airport. Specially a large one. Some of the old virtuals are definitely the "cream of the crop". Others were not so good, as there was little of interest to see there. If you find yourself thinking "boy, I wish I was somewhere else right now", it's probably not a great place for a virtual cache. Or any cache, for that matter. Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 20 minutes ago, DocDiTTo said: This actually raises a great question - in the case of the NPS, what kind of permission requirement is there? If the public can visit the location anyway, would specific permission need to be granted? I imagine there are a lot of NPS locations where virtual hiders would like to place a cache, so this may become a popular question. I'm also in the planning stages as well, and I chose a spot on NPS lands. I'm using the Earthcache model of permission aspects as my starting point, and have sent in my request to the appropriate manager for the area. I got an initial positive feedback , but they requested a copy of the Description that will appear on the page. Your mileage may vary, depending on the area and the Reviewer I suppose, but I thought for the sake of having the Virtual remain active for many years, it was safer to ask for permission up front rather than assuming it was ok without. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 8 minutes ago, Touchstone said: I'm also in the planning stages as well, and I chose a spot on NPS lands. I'm using the Earthcache model of permission aspects as my starting point, and have sent in my request to the appropriate manager for the area. I got an initial positive feedback , but they requested a copy of the Description that will appear on the page. Your mileage may vary, depending on the area and the Reviewer I suppose, but I thought for the sake of having the Virtual remain active for many years, it was safer to ask for permission up front rather than assuming it was ok without. As I'm in Pennsylvania, I did manage to find this which answers my question to Lep above: NPS managed land in Pennsylvania are off-limits to geocache placements (virtual or physical) without a special usage permit. (Link) I've attempted to deal with the NPS before (years ago) and the results weren't favorable. Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 2 hours ago, thebruce0 said: So I'd probably look at somewhere it's unlikely a physical container could be placed That was my thought. But the nearby wildlife refuge is already pretty well served with EarthCaches and with the virtual stages of multi-caches. And the other parks and open spaces in the area generally have reasonable geocaching policies, thanks to the efforts of certain community members. Quote Link to comment
+allenite Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 The county seeker in me is hoping someone is able to find a way to get one into Kalaupapa NPS. This would finally get a cache into that elusive Kalawao county in Hawaii. 2 hours ago, The Leprechauns said: I'm in the planning stages for my Reward Virtual, and the current plan is for multiple stages, with each location sharing a common theme. All of the locations are within walking distance and could be completed in an afternoon by a visitor to the city (who is also finding other caches along the way), or on several separate trips by a local geocacher. I think that's important to a good design, as compared to random unconnected locations that are far apart. I am focusing on an urban downtown area (Pittsburgh) where muggles are plentiful and good hiding spots are scarce. Having to find a container and sign a log at the end of the walking tour could actually detract from the experience. I think that's another test of a good virtual. I don't want to share any more specifics until after my cache is published. As for my own, I am looking to follow the same format as the one mentioned above, though my downtown is very much smaller, it is dominated by the courthouse green. Much of the rest of it is plate glass windows with its only public green spaces being the aforementioned green and a plaza outside the police station, city hall, and the post office. Not really an area that is good for hiding my style of cache. Quote Link to comment
+_SWH Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 6 hours ago, DocDiTTo said: If you had the opportunity to place one new virtual cache, where would you put it? The Virtual Rewards surprised 4000 cachers yesterday, so there are probably a lot of people pondering this very question. Maybe you're a recipient, and maybe you're not, and this isn't the thread for whining about the outcome. Just tell us where you'd put one if you had the opportunity. I asked this on a local forum, and a few ideas came out: A local Veteran's memorial The spot of a "UFO" landing in western PA. The Flight 93 memorial in PA A local park with a unique spring that appears to "boil" from the ground. Since this isn't a local forum, I'm sure there are lots of places worldwide that really would make exceptional virtual cache sites. If you had one chance, where would you place your virtual cache? Everyone who gets to should start with perusing the Waymarking.com noted landmarks by other geocachers, the public, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment
+Zepp914 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I would just put this one back: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCK12J_last-stop-for-a-weary-traveler 1 Quote Link to comment
+WhiteRockBob Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Apologies if this was mentioned above and I didn't spot it - the guidelines for these new caches include the text below, this would likely be cited during the review process if the cache was on NPS land and the cache owner couldn't demonstrate permission was granted by the land manager. Permission - Virtual Caches must be placed in locations where geocachers are allowed to enter. In some sensitive areas the reviewer can ask for permission to ensure the land manager is aware of the Virtual Cache Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 2 hours ago, WhiteRockBob said: Apologies if this was mentioned above and I didn't spot it - the guidelines for these new caches include the text below, this would likely be cited during the review process if the cache was on NPS land and the cache owner couldn't demonstrate permission was granted by the land manager. Permission - Virtual Caches must be placed in locations where geocachers are allowed to enter. In some sensitive areas the reviewer can ask for permission to ensure the land manager is aware of the Virtual Cache I think it depends on the Reviewer and the circumstances. Best to ask your local Reviewer if you have a specific spot in mind on NPS lands. Or you can just wait for Keystone to show up and answer here Quote Link to comment
+JL_HSTRE Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 I would place one somewhere physical caches couldn't go like NPS or NWR property, or a lighthouse. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Trekker67 Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 I would like to see one of my favorite memorials (The WW II Memorial) in Washington, DC have a virtual again. At the time it was locked, it had 805 favorite points. GCK12J - Last stop for a weary traveler It was interesting to find what was needed to complete the virtual. 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
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.