Nearest Waymarks link

[+Max and 99]

Some bozo thinks the link is new? I've been using it for at least 10 years now!

 

Which came first? The waymark showing the plaque, or the multi cache asking for information? Not that it matters. Does everyone not realize that every single geocaching page has a link to the nearest waymark? And every waymark page has a link to the nearest geocache? It's been like that for so long. 

 

 

[jonathanatpsu]

I have seen many Virtual and Mystery caches where the information you need to submit is easily available by looking at Waymarks.  In fact, I have hidden a Mystery cache where you need to find information on a plaque, and have also posted a Waymark for the same plaque.  If someone wants to get the information from the Waymark page, that's fine with me, because they still have to go find the actual cache.   Often times you can find photos of plaques and historical markers on other websites anyway.  I guess it would be possible to log a Virtual cache without visiting it if you could find the information on a Waymark or other online source.  But, I think the number of people who would do something like that is quite small.  And, frankly, if that's the way someone wants to play the game, so be it.  I don't let the few people who like to pad their numbers by logging caches they didn't actually find get to me.  

 

Anyway, the "nearby" links are the ones I use most often, and have been for a long time.  That's usually how I search for Waymarks in a particular location - I go the Geocaching map, find a cache near where I'm going to be, and then click the link.  It's a very useful tool.  

[+Max and 99]

24 minutes ago, jonathanatpsu said:

Anyway, the "nearby" links are the ones I use most often, and have been for a long time.  That's usually how I search for Waymarks in a particular location - I go the Geocaching map, find a cache near where I'm going to be, and then click the link.  It's a very useful tool.  

Me too. I use this feature very very frequently. 

[+FamilieFrohne]

1 hour ago, jonathanatpsu said:

I guess it would be possible to log a Virtual cache without visiting it if you could find the information on a Waymark or other online source.

When creating a virtual Groundspeak said in their donation note, that you should be aware that some information may be obtained by google search or Waymarking. So they know about that possibility. If the creator of the virtual does not stick to the warning it is his own fault.

 

And yes, I use this feature also quite often ...

Edited March 3, 2023 by FamilieFrohne
Typo

[+Benchmark Blasterz]

It is NOT cheating to use all available information to find a cache. 

 

I also bet that the waymark was placed BEFORE the cache - but even if not, as long as everyone is playing by the rules OF THEIR PARTICULAR GAME (geocaching or Waymarking), then no harm no foul. 

 

Once many years ago I created a waymark from vacation that inspired a local cacher to put a cache there. They emailed me -> telling <- me to take down the waymark. When I refused, they wrote back (surprised that I would say NO) and asked me to at least remove all photos from my waymark because it spoiled their cache. I again said no. They said they would report me to Groundspeak for spoiling their cache and not acting in the spirit of the game. I never heard from GS, but my premium GC membership was not disturbed, and neither was my WM.

 

Not sure what happened to the cache, but all these years later, I know for sure the waymark is still there --  

[+Benchmark Blasterz]

I started Waymarking in earnest when virtuals were done away with a long time ago.  Then there was that one time in 2017 that Groundspeak invited specific cachers  to create a new virtual -- well, of course I grabbed that opportunity with BOTH HANDS (from my husband, whose caching activity had actually earned the award ha ha)!!!

 

My Virtual Reward cache GC7B7BDA from 2017:  https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC7B7DA

 

Click on the "nearest WM" link: https://www.Waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=42.25605&lon=-104.748467&t=6

Yeah, those are all my WMs from 2014. 

 

I added a photo requirement to the cache, and 98% of folks post the photo. I don't delete logs of you didn't - your game actions finding a virtual cache are your business.  I only deleted one log - a guy who posted a photo of his feet on carpet, and a "signed log, TFTC" comment. Yeah, that was too much.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Benchmark Blasterz
additional thought

[+Max and 99]

3 hours ago, Benchmark Blasterz said:

Once many years ago I created a waymark from vacation that inspired a local cacher to put a cache there. They emailed me -> telling <- me to take down the waymark. When I refused, they wrote back (surprised that I would say NO) and asked me to at least remove all photos from my waymark because it spoiled their cache. I again said no. They said they would report me to Groundspeak for spoiling their cache and not acting in the spirit of the game. I never heard from GS, but my premium GC membership was not disturbed, and neither was my WM.

That is TOO funny!

I too had a waymark that inspired someone to place a cache there (I posted about it on the forums since they copied my text word for word).

[+Bear and Ragged]

I posted a Waymark.

 

Later on a local cacher placed a multicache. Part of which was "Count the number of posts around..."

None of my photos showed 'all' the posts in one photo, but the posts were regular enough to take an educated guess at how many there were.

 

Thats how I solved the cache location...

 

No one mention Waymarking when they found the cache. I dont think many cachers realize the answer may be in a Waymark posted at/near the location.

[+The Leprechauns]

This "new link" characterization made me laugh, as I recalled how a new waymark spoiled a key element of my best cache ever - a complex multicache that took finders through a hedgerow maze using letterboxing-style directions and compass bearings, and then spit them out onto a path that led to an object holding the clue to determine the final cache location.  A few years later, someone waymarked that object while doing my multicache, and eliminated the need for anyone to complete the previous two stages.  They knew what they were doing, as the waymark description said "The park is well known for the many Geocaches it contains, and this particular [object] plays an important role in one of them."  My multicache was the only non-traditional cache in the park, so the hint was obvious to anyone who cared to read it by following the "nearest waymarks" link on my cache page.

 

This all happened in 2005.

[+bluesnote]

In my local caching area, many of the veteran geocachers know about this "life hack". Heck, they've even told me they do this. When I do hide multis, I intentionally do not submit waymarks for a plaque (or item) that is part of my multi for several weeks. I assume after a while, people give up after seeing that nothing "useful" has been posted Waymarking. So after a few weeks, I do eventually submit them. But not right away.

 

Kinda funny because this feature is what got me started into Waymarking in 2009/10.

Edited March 4, 2023 by bluesnote

[+Max and 99]

My hint in a cache I published almost 13 years ago references the Nearest Waymarks link. I have several puzzles that completely rely on nearby waymarks.

 

35 minutes ago, bluesnote said:

Kinda funny because this feature is what got me started into Waymarking in 2009/10.

I'm thinking this is likely true for me, too.

[+The Snowdog]

For those of us "in the know" it's a useful technique. But most geocachers pretty much ignore Waymarking. I base this on some casual statistical analysis of old virtual caches that are also waymarks; the average is about three WM visits per hundred "Found It" logs.

 

That said, when you place a multi or a mystery cache or an Adventure Lab stage, you do have to be aware of what "armchair solver" tools are out there, and set your puzzle or multi to allow them or not. We have one area cacher who loves to put multis in cemeteries; she will say "find this grave marker, then get some required information from the marker immediately south" (or whatever) so you can't solve from home using waymarks or findagrave or whatever. I admire this. On the other hand, I have a few out that you can solve at least the first stage from home, and that's fine with me. If I didn't want that, I would have set it up differently.

 

And the flip side is - when you solve a multi or a mystery or an Adventure Lab stage, is it allowed to post waymarks for the sites you visit? I certainly do, but I do so in such a way that doesn't "spoil" the puzzle if that is at all possible. What I like the most about ALs is that they take me to places that also have (or could have) waymarks. Pretty much any time I do an AL I can take lots of photos and then visit/post some waymarks and I always enjoy that.