Bonus Cache on long Adventures

[+G0ldNugget]

Is it logical to create a bonus cache on an adventure which covers 10 miles without making them sequential? Theres no way to know at which end someone may begin so, theoretically, half the players may have to backtrack ten miles of windy country roads to return to near their first location to find the bonus.

Edited October 12, 2020 by G0ldNugget
clarity

[+Max and 99]

3 minutes ago, G0ldNugget said:

Is it logical to create a bonus cache on an adventure which covers 10 miles without making them sequential? Theres no way to know at which end someone may begin so, theoretically, half the players may have to backtrack ten miles of windy country roads to return to near their first location to find the bonus.

10 miles is nothing. There's one in my state that's approximately 30 mi long and in two different states. Since bonus caches  have to be within two miles of the posted coordinates, doesn't this give the player an indication of which end it's on in advance?

[+G0ldNugget]

On 10/12/2020 at 10:14 AM, G0ldNugget said:

Is it logical to create a bonus cache on an adventure which covers 10 miles without making them sequential? Theres no way to know at which end someone may begin so, theoretically, half the players may have to backtrack ten miles of windy country roads to return to near their first location to find the bonus.

 

So I solved this problem by including the first half of the bonus cache coords in the Journal entry at the first location at one end of the drive and the other set of coords in the Journal entry at the other end. I included instructions in the description to read all the journal entries after the Congratulations screen for clues. The bonus cache is somewhere near the middle of the drive. So no matter which end you start, you have to get to the other end to get the full set of coords and both sides must drive half way to claim the bonus. 

 

Luckily, there was one spot near the middle that I wanted to make an AL location but the cell service was spotty, so I put the bonus there. Problems solved, AL is thoroughly tested and public and now just waiting on the bonus to publish. Thanks everyone for your help.

[+Max and 99]

39 minutes ago, G0ldNugget said:

 

So I solved this problem by including the first half of the bonus cache coords in the Journal entry at the first location at one end of the drive and the other set of coords in the Journal entry at the other end. I included instructions in the description to read all the journal entries after the Congratulations screen for clues. The bonus cache is somewhere near the middle of the drive. So no matter which end you start, you have to get to the other end to get the full set of coords and both sides must drive half way to claim the bonus. 

 

Luckily, there was one spot near the middle that I wanted to make an AL location but the cell service was spotty, so I put the bonus there. Problems solved, AL is thoroughly tested and public and now just waiting on the bonus to publish. Thanks everyone for your help.

It looks really interesting!

[+NLBokkie]

I'm just wondering why people use Adventure Labs to span such distances. Somehow, for me it makes so much more sense to create Adventure Labs with waypoints at walking distance in (most often populated) areas where cell coverage is no issue. If I wanted to create a cache to span a distance, I'd create a multi instead of an ALC.

Just an opinion, not me trying to push this on anyone.

[+Max and 99]

2 minutes ago, NLBokkie said:

I'm just wondering why people use Adventure Labs to span such distances. Somehow, for me it makes so much more sense to create Adventure Labs with waypoints at walking distance in (most often populated) areas where cell coverage is no issue. If I wanted to create a cache to span a distance, I'd create a multi instead of an ALC.

Just an opinion, not me trying to push this on anyone.

To add some variety to the same-old City walking ALs?

[+barefootjeff]

12 minutes ago, NLBokkie said:

I'm just wondering why people use Adventure Labs to span such distances. Somehow, for me it makes so much more sense to create Adventure Labs with waypoints at walking distance in (most often populated) areas where cell coverage is no issue. If I wanted to create a cache to span a distance, I'd create a multi instead of an ALC.

Just an opinion, not me trying to push this on anyone.

 

I wanted my Adventure Labs to be, well, adventures and, for me at least, an urban stroll isn't much of an adventure. My first one is a 5km loop hike through a coastal national park. There's a major population centre on the other side of the bay so phone coverage at the vantage points I used for my locations was reasonable. For my second one I was looking at a 5km each way ridge-top hike through another national park, again with good phone coverage, but I had to abandon that when I discovered that the AL app's map doesn't show the trails, so instead went for a 3.7km walk along the shore of Broken Bay with the theme being sand (and a bit of sandstone at the end). You're right, though, they'd probably both work just as well as multis with virtual waypoints, but the same is probably true for the urban strolls too.

[+Jayeffel]

1 hour ago, NLBokkie said:

I'm just wondering why people use Adventure Labs to span such distances. Somehow, for me it makes so much more sense to create Adventure Labs with waypoints at walking distance in (most often populated) areas where cell coverage is no issue. If I wanted to create a cache to span a distance, I'd create a multi instead of an ALC.

Just an opinion, not me trying to push this on anyone.

The one I have, a ten place AL  along the Lincoln Highway in south central Pa.,  spans about 19 miles. It is part of the projected plan to have ALs spanning the entire length of the Lincoln Highway across the US. Special consideration by Geocaching leaders allowed ten places per AL. 

 

I looked for markers with signs of historical interest about the Lincoln Highway itself or other places of historical interest nearby, focusing on the theme of the Lincoln Highway. Sone of the places anticipated were not there now, or the reason to use that spot was not valid. For instance , one spot I planned by records found was orchard building with a large mural painted on the outside depicted traffic and vehicles on the Lincoln Highway, but when I wn ent thereI found the mural had been covered by siding.  I tried to stay away from places with little or bad parking, too much traffic etc. Luckily that worked out fairly well. 

 

If it were a mult-cache  there would be something physical at each one I think. With the AL , unless a bonus caches is included, there  is strictly nothing physical to log, only to look at and read hopefully. But a multi would also work. 

 

I need to fine tune and test the one I have before it is ready to be public.

 

 

[+Lynx Humble]

7 hours ago, G0ldNugget said:

The bonus cache is somewhere near the middle of the drive. So no matter which end you start, you have to get to the other end to get the full set of coords and both sides must drive half way to claim the bonus. 

 

Luckily, there was one spot near the middle that I wanted to make an AL location but the cell service was spotty, so I put the bonus there. Problems solved, AL is thoroughly tested and public and now just waiting on the bonus to publish. Thanks everyone for your help.

Backtracking for getting the bonus is a really bad idea, it's a waste of time and fuel. I didn't get the bonus of an AL because of it the other day and I passed by the final...

[+Jayeffel]

33 minutes ago, Lynx Humble said:

Backtracking for getting the bonus is a really bad idea, it's a waste of time and fuel. I didn't get the bonus of an AL because of it the other day and I passed by the final...

In some cases that would fit depending on where the cacher started and is going afterward. The one ASL I have ends on top of a mountain range at a restaurant/bar with a scenic view. A convenient place to end this AL.

 

I would have looked for a spot for a bonus cache there, but a Mystery cache is already in place not far away. I expect many going for  the AL will be returning east after this last stage and will go right by another scenic spot, convenient for the bonus.  I would suppose it depends on the geographic layout  of the area. I would imagine a very high percentage of ALs with bonus caches will  have the bonus relatively close to the final stage. Both ALs with bonuses I have completed were that way.

[+JohnCNA]

On 10/12/2020 at 12:14 PM, G0ldNugget said:

Is it logical to create a bonus cache on an adventure which covers 10 miles without making them sequential? Theres no way to know at which end someone may begin so, theoretically, half the players may have to backtrack ten miles of windy country roads to return to near their first location to find the bonus.

When a group of us created AL's along the Lincoln Highway, some of the AL's cover distances greater than 10 miles. It would be quite annoying to have to backtrack that far to get a bonus cache, as well as being forced to start from a particular direction. We did not see any real reason to force people to follow a particular order. We all made them non-sequential for that reason.

 

Most of us also placed a bonus cache that was fairly close to one of the AL locations and gave the full coordinates at that AL stage instead of giving partial clues at each stage. Yes, it means you could only visit a single AL stage and then get the bonus, without visiting the rest of the AL stages. In practice, we're not seeing that happen. If the AL is fun or interesting enough, players will want to visit all the stages whether there is a bonus or not.

 

Our philosophy was AL's are supposed to be fun and simple. If you want challenging, put out a 5-stage Multi instead. ?

[+Max and 99]

29 minutes ago, JohnCNA said:

Our philosophy was AL's are supposed to be fun and simple.

I disagree with that philosophy. There's nothing wrong with making them do some work to earn six Finds. In your case, eleven in a very short time. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by Max and 99

[+JohnCNA]

28 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

I disagree with that philosophy. There's nothing wrong with making them do some work to earn six Finds. In your case, eleven in a very short time. 

I did not mean to come across as ALL Labs should be easy. Just that we decided to make OURS easy. Just like caches, some should or will require more effort than others. 

[+Jayeffel]

1 hour ago, JohnCNA said:

When a group of us created AL's along the Lincoln Highway,

Curious, what area of the LH did you cover? The one I have in the works is about 19 miles from one end to the other , Chambersburg Pa west to the summit of a Mountain Ridge; makes a nice starting or stopping point for another possible AL. 

[+JohnCNA]

20 hours ago, Jayeffel said:

Curious, what area of the LH did you cover? The one I have in the works is about 19 miles from one end to the other , Chambersburg Pa west to the summit of a Mountain Ridge; makes a nice starting or stopping point for another possible AL. 

A group of 11 cachers in the Chicago area created ALs that cover the entire 160+ miles of the Lincoln Highway across Illinois and extending into Indiana. 

[+Max and 99]

On 10/12/2020 at 12:14 PM, G0ldNugget said:

Is it logical to create a bonus cache on an adventure which covers 10 miles without making them sequential? Theres no way to know at which end someone may begin so, theoretically, half the players may have to backtrack ten miles of windy country roads to return to near their first location to find the bonus.

I came across a unique solution to this issue you brought up six months ago! It might not work for everyone, but I thought it was a smart idea.

The ALO gave the bonus cache coordinates in a couple of locations from each direction.

 

So yeah, technically someone could get the bonus without completing all of the labs, but I don't think it's a big enough worry. I liked this solution.