16+ years betwen finds....

[+ZeppelinDT]

So this happened to me a few weeks ago (see 2/17/18 log).... https://coord.info/GC14AB

TL;DR version - Cache was originally hidden in August, 2001.  Got 3 finds.  Last find was October, 2001.  First DNF was November, 2001.  Archived in July, 2002.  16 years of nothing.  I go caching a few weeks ago (February, 2018) looking for a new(ish) cache in the area.  iPhone GPS is acting up and leads me to the wrong spot, but I see a container there.  I'm confused because it doesn't look like a new cache. I open it up, read the old logs, and figure out it's the same cache described above.  Gap between finds:  October 30, 2001 - February 17, 2018.

Needless to say, I was pretty blown away.  Funny thing is that I actually frequently actively seek out old abandoned/archived caches to see what's still out there, and have found quite a few intentionally, but this one was a total fluke.  Just stumbled across it by pure dumb luck.

Edited March 22, 2018 by ZeppelinDT

[+J Grouchy]

Nice!  That happened to me once...though it was only 4 and a half years archived.  

https://coord.info/GC1JEVH

[+TyroneShoelaces]

My longest is 9 years.  16 is amazing!

https://coord.info/GCH776

 

Edited March 22, 2018 by TyroneShoelaces

[+NYPaddleCacher]

it would be cool if someone stumbled across one of the long archived APE caches and interesting to see if GS would unarchive it as an official APE cache if the original container was found.

[+The A-Team]

31 minutes ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

it would be cool if someone stumbled across one of the long archived APE caches and interesting to see if GS would unarchive it as an official APE cache if the original container was found.

I have no doubt that they would. After much discussion, that's what they did when the original Mission 9 container was found.

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, The A-Team said:

I have no doubt that they would. After much discussion, that's what they did when the original Mission 9 container was found.

I remembered that some were asked what they thought, but realized that the CO may well have some bearing on that... 

[+WarNinjas]

That is really cool!  I want to go find it!

 

[+NYPaddleCacher]

15 hours ago, The A-Team said:

I have no doubt that they would. After much discussion, that's what they did when the original Mission 9 container was found.

I can't help but think that because the Mission 9 container was relatively close to HQ and part of the original Trifecta that it was given preferential treatment.  

[+Touchstone]

1 hour ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

I can't help but think that because the Mission 9 container was relatively close to HQ and part of the original Trifecta that it was given preferential treatment.  

That's odd, I thought it was reactivated after getting input from the Community?

 

[+thebruce0]

Happened to me on my visit to Iceland for a cache listed on a different defunct website.  Only the situation was slightly more..surprising.  The website hadn't accepted logs for many many years, but the container had still been found and the sheet signed. A handful of times, since the last online log.   Quite a discovery

[+humboldt flier]

On 3/22/2018 at 0:13 PM, NYPaddleCacher said:

it would be cool if someone stumbled across one of the long archived APE caches and interesting to see if GS would unarchive it as an official APE cache if the original container was found.

Indeed

[+Inmountains]

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCN5Q5_howdy-doody

Almost 12 years.  We were actually searching for a newer cache that had gone missing because park maintenance had done a "moon scape" job of all the trees in the area, some of them over 50 years old.  Strangely enough, it was the upturning of the root systems that exposed the cache hidden in March, 2005.  I have the Original Cache Container, a 3 inch round tupperware about an inch thick AND the original log, sitting on my desk!  Love these types of memories, grats on a 16 year find.

[+hukilaulau]

That is so cool! Best part is, it is in my area! I hope to get out there this week. Got to be a record unlikely to be broken.

[+L0ne.R]

1 hour ago, Inmountains said:

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCN5Q5_howdy-doody

Almost 12 years.  We were actually searching for a newer cache that had gone missing because park maintenance had done a "moon scape" job of all the trees in the area, some of them over 50 years old.  Strangely enough, it was the upturning of the root systems that exposed the cache hidden in March, 2005.  I have the Original Cache Container, a 3 inch round tupperware about an inch thick AND the original log, sitting on my desk!  Love these types of memories, grats on a 16 year find.

5

Wow. This is what I don't care for when it comes to geocaching. The owners did very little. Their response to DNFs and an NA was to temporarily disable the cache and then do nothing. 4 months later a reviewer archived it. When you found it 12 years later the owner's response was a request: "Would like to resurrect this oldie but goodie!" If they went to check that cache they would see it wasn't there. So they wanted to resurrect a cache that was missing and apparently had no intention of checking. 

[+Inmountains]

1 hour ago, L0ne.R said:

Wow. This is what I don't care for when it comes to geocaching. The owners did very little. Their response to DNFs and an NA was to temporarily disable the cache and then do nothing. 4 months later a reviewer archived it. When you found it 12 years later the owner's response was a request: "Would like to resurrect this oldie but goodie!" If they went to check that cache they would see it wasn't there. So they wanted to resurrect a cache that was missing and apparently had no intention of checking. 

While I understand your viewpoint, from this one cache, these are very GOOD cachers and are very good at maintaining most of their caches.  Unfortunately, they did move out of the area and "dropped the ball" of a few caches they left behind.  They have hidden OVER 1,000 caches and found over 36,000 caches since starting in 2003.  Also, they were fairly new to caching back then. I finally met them in person, at last years GeoCoinFest in Long Beach and are wonderful people (family group).  Yes, they can be 'scolded' for their actions on this one cache, but overall, they are a GREAT contributor to our hobby.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I'm impressed enough that I have found two 'active' caches that had not been found in four years!

[Dinoprophet]

This evening, I came across a container from a cache that was archived in 2009, though the container I found was lost in March of 2007.  I know this because of the logbook and the travel bug that was placed in it on 3/18/2007.  I originally found this same cache April of 2004.  The travel bug number has already been repurposed and re-lost, so hopefully the owner will allow me to let this original version resume its journey.

 

Edited April 3, 2018 by Dinoprophet