Old chaces being dropped?

[+headmj]

Just a quick question.  Is geocaching dropping old caches after a certain amount of time?  My original placed cache seems to have disappeared.  It was placed in 2002.

Mike

 

[+cerberus1]

There's quite a few still around earlier than '02, so I'd take a guess that maybe it was adopted by another? 

We're one of a couple who favorited many long-archived caches and they're still there.  Owned caches are part of others cache history as well as the CO, so I believe they'd have to remain on record.

[+MartyBartfast]

If by dropping you mean erasing completely then   I can't imaging Groundspeak doing that. Any published cache will be part of so many records in the databases (tb logs, finders logs, bookmark lists, etc) it could cause all sorts of issues, so I can't see them doing it and I can't think of any reason why they would want to. And then there would be the outcry from all those cachers who had found it and suddenly it dropped off their stats, possibly messing up someones qualification for various challenges.

 

 

 

[+Isonzo Karst]

Caches are not  dropped"  because of age. They're archived (removed as active findable caches) if they go missing or fall into bad repair, or if the cache owner archives.

Here are the caches that the headmj account owns,  per Geocaching.com

https://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=headmj&sortdir=asc&sort=placed

If you placed an earlier cache, it's possible that the site allowed someone to adopt it, this assuming there was a period in 2002 -3 where you weren't logging in.

Or perhaps you placed it under a different account - I see that some of your old hides are by headmj & Noreen. Was there a Noreen account that might have owned the 2002 cache? 

Edited November 19, 2017 by Isonzo Karst

[+headmj]

14 hours ago, Isonzo Karst said:

Caches are not  dropped"  because of age. They're archived (removed as active findable caches) if they go missing or fall into bad repair, or if the cache owner archives.

Here are the caches that the headmj account owns,  per Geocaching.com

https://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=headmj&sortdir=asc&sort=placed

If you placed an earlier cache, it's possible that the site allowed someone to adopt it, this assuming there was a period in 2002 -3 where you weren't logging in.

Or perhaps you placed it under a different account - I see that some of your old hides are by headmj & Noreen. Was there a Noreen account that might have owned the 2002 cache? 

Thanks for the detailed answer.  There is definitely an archived cache missing that was placed in 2002.  it should be before the existing number 1 in the list.  Thanks!

[+hzoi]

14 hours ago, headmj said:

There is definitely an archived cache missing that was placed in 2002.  it should be before the existing number 1 in the list.

Do you remember any details, such as about when you placed it, or about where it was hidden?

[+Harry Dolphin]

Or the GC code.  If it were adopted out, you could find it using the code.

[+noncentric]

To the OP, Is this the 2002 cache that you think is missing?  Summit Fire Tower

It looks like it was placed in 2002, as FTF logs were made on 8/20/2002.  It looks like you replaced the physical cache in 2004.  See THIS LOG.  I'm guessing that you updated the Hidden Date on the cache page when you 'reset' the cache, and that's why you're not seeing a 2002 hide, because the date was changed.

As others have noted, it's extremely rare that a published cache listing would later 'disappear'.

[+hzoi]

16 hours ago, noncentric said:

To the OP, Is this the 2002 cache that you think is missing?  Summit Fire Tower

It looks like it was placed in 2002, as FTF logs were made on 8/20/2002.  It looks like you replaced the physical cache in 2004.  See THIS LOG.  I'm guessing that you updated the Hidden Date on the cache page when you 'reset' the cache, and that's why you're not seeing a 2002 hide, because the date was changed.

As others have noted, it's extremely rare that a published cache listing would later 'disappear'.

I think we have a winner.