What is Peoples thoughts on Keeping Caches Alive when the Owners are AWOL or have Passed Away?

[+DARKSIDEDAN]

What is Peoples thoughts on Keeping Caches Alive when the Owners are AWOL or have Passed Away? This question is by no means meant to offend anyone. It just a topic for discussion.

Edited November 15, 2021 by DARKSIDEDAN

[+Goldenwattle]

I hope to find a cache this week, which was placed in 2003. The owner I believe died some years ago. As long as the cache, any WPs, etc are still okay, I think it should stay.

 

This will be my first real outing(beyond local caches) in months, as I have been my mother's carer for the last year. My cache finds have almost stagnated.

[+barefootjeff]

In NSW this has been formalised by Geocaching NSW and the reviewers through Community Caches for old and signficant caches where the owner is no longer active or has passed away.

[+Goldenwattle]

I like that . That explains the quick action on a 2000/2001 cache in the Blue Mountains. After some searching, and finding how to actually get to the cache (first how to get down the hill to it, and then how to get to the cache), I found the original log book and some trinkets, but no cache container. Someone had stolen it. I logged it, but even though I didn't know about this "Community Caches", I didn't want to log a NM. Instead I made a note that the cache needed a new cache container and could the next person bring one. I wasn't carrying a cache, and I didn't want to have to access that cache again, as I could barely reach. In fact I couldn't. I heaved myself up onto a rock ledge by sitting in a puddle on the ledge, and then retrieved the cache with a long stick. I threw it back onto its high rock ledge. I put the log book in a plastic bag I had, but that wasn't sealed. The cache container being missing actually made it possible for me to retrieve the log book to sign. If it had still been (guessing) the original ammunition box, I mightn't have been able to get it down.

In a few days someone arrived and replaced the cache. They said the cache was being looked after by the community.

 

That's like some outback caches. They need travelling geocachers to make repairs as needed to keep those lonely caches going. It's community maintenance.

[+dprovan]

On 11/14/2021 at 11:11 PM, DARKSIDEDAN said:

What is Peoples thoughts on Keeping Caches Alive when the Owners are AWOL or have Passed Away? This question is by no means meant to offend anyone. It just a topic for discussion.

It depends. Junk caches are still junk after the owner dies. Good caches are still good after the owner dies. The former should fade away as usual if they fail or disappear. The latter can be maintained if the community wants to. In my area, at least, there are only a small set of geocachers that had so much respect that their caches have been maintained casually by the community. And every once in a while, the cache slips into trouble for one reason or another and ends up getting archived through natural processes. I think that all works fine with me.

 

The one thing I'd be against is any hard and fast rule.

[+edexter]

I agree with dprovan on this one:  let the good caches live and the bad ones die.  There are several caches in my local area where the "community" does this (the community being a small self selected group of cachers who enjoyed the original placement).  I think the process is by necessity informal for a couple of reasons.  Naturally, if the person has died or dropped out of the game to the extent they don't check their messages it has to be informal.  You can't ask them.  Secondly, have you ever asked anyone about adopting their cache when it's clear, due to a lack of activity or maintenance, that they have stopped actively caching?  (It's like asking to adopt their grown children )   I have and I'm roughly 1 for 20.  One yes, several "no"s , a few "don't want to put it up for adoption, but if you want to maintain it, go ahead" and mostly silence.  

Related to this, one thing I have noticed is that most of the time when this is done informally, the maintenance performed is not mentioned.  Obviously you can't log an "OM" since you aren't the owner, but you can indicate that you are willing to maintain the cache in the absence of any objection by the owner and log "notes" that indicate what you have done and when.  Sometimes The Reviewer will archive a cache anyway but...

[+DARKSIDEDAN]

I also agree with dprovan on this one:  let the good caches live and the bad ones die.

[+Mausebiber]

6 hours ago, DARKSIDEDAN said:

let the good caches live and the bad ones die.

 

What is a good cache and what is a bad cache?

For you, a guardrail cache might be bad, for a handicapped person, such a cache might be the only one that can be reached.

 

[+DARKSIDEDAN]

15 hours ago, Mausebiber said:

 

What is a good cache and what is a bad cache?

For you, a guardrail cache might be bad, for a handicapped person, such a cache might be the only one that can be reached.

 

A good cache would be anything that has been maintained and is still accessible. A bad cache would be anything that is missing, neglected or no longer able to be in the location that it is in. Personally I do whatever I can to keep a Geocache alive. I have maintained them and even adopted some. Sadly some just fade into non existence.  

[+barefootjeff]

4 hours ago, DARKSIDEDAN said:

A good cache would be anything that has been maintained and is still accessible. A bad cache would be anything that is missing, neglected or no longer able to be in the location that it is in. Personally I do whatever I can to keep a Geocache alive. I have maintained them and even adopted some. Sadly some just fade into non existence.  

 

I think keeping a cache going after its creator has departed (other than by formal adoption) should only be done in exceptional circumstances. Sure, it can stay in play as long as it remains in good condition and accessible, but if it falls into disrepair it's generally better for it to be archived and allow the location to be reused by someone else for something new. Exceptions might be historically significant caches or perhaps ones that are grandfathered into a location but where a new cache might be difficult or impossible.

 

Slightly different circumstances, as the owner is still alive and active in the game, but late last year a decade-old traditional on a scenic headland was destroyed in a hazard reduction burn. Rather than just replace the container, the CO decided to archive it and let someone else do something with the location. I ended up putting a multi there that highlights other aspects of the headland (specifically some impressive sandstone caves) as well as the views. In due course, when that's worn out its welcome, I'll archive it and someone else can use the location for something different again (maybe a tree-fishing cache at the lookout, perhaps).

[+Calypso62]

In NSW (Australia), our local Reviewer has recently updated the Wiki page regarding Community Caches and their maintenance. This is what it says.....

 

We recognise that there are certain caches that the community are interested in maintaining largely due to their age and location. For a cache to be maintained as a community cache under the following clauses the cache must be considered to be "significant", for this to occur it must meet the following criteria,

a) Be placed prior to 2005

b) Have a number of favorite points.

c) The cache still matches closely to the way it was originally hidden (no mint tins to replace an ammo can)

 

When a cache is community maintained the following will occur

a) Have a community that has expressed interest in maintaining the cache by posting a note to the cache page prior to any maintenance requests.

b) The community members will have the cache on a watchlist

c) The community will promptly respond to any maintenance requests by prompting a note to the cache page after concerns are raised.

d) For any small changes to the listing such as removing attributes please contact the NSW reviewer

[Fledermaus]

I know of two geocache that have been in existence for the last 22 years.

The owner moved away and a friend of mine and I have maintained them for the last 5 plus years

It is in a heavily wooded area that is becoming more and more traveled and the geocache may turn up missing again.

Can I or my friend adopt it?

If so, who should be contacted and what are the odds of saving it?

If not, why not?

I seldom visit the forums!

So, it would be best for you to send E-Mail about what to do?

[+Crow-T-Robot]

4 hours ago, Fledermaus said:

I know of two geocache that have been in existence for the last 22 years.

The owner moved away and a friend of mine and I have maintained them for the last 5 plus years

It is in a heavily wooded area that is becoming more and more traveled and the geocache may turn up missing again.

Can I or my friend adopt it?

If so, who should be contacted and what are the odds of saving it?

If not, why not?

I seldom visit the forums!

So, it would be best for you to send E-Mail about what to do?

You would need to contact the cache owner and they would have to start the adoption process. Groundspeak will not adopt the cache over to you. Only the current cache owner can do that. If the CO adopts the cache over to you, then it will be yours to do with what you wish. 

[+cerberus1]

17 hours ago, Fledermaus said:

The owner moved away and a friend of mine and I have maintained them for the last 5 plus years

It is in a heavily wooded area that is becoming more and more traveled and the geocache may turn up missing again.

Can I or my friend adopt it?

If so, who should be contacted and what are the odds of saving it?

If not, why not?

 

On Adoption...     

Years ago, one could simply ask a Reviewer, but a Reviewer explained that a CO came back years later asking what happened to his cache.

Apparently, something similar happened often enough that Groundspeak had to put an end to that...

IIRC, some Reviewers will work with those who are "maintaining" another's cache, especially old ones, by clearing red wrenches and such for them.

Doesn't hurt to ask...

[+colleda]

MIA cache owner with NM caches -  Archive.

Deceased caches owners, after they get to the NM stage. - Archive