Event cache idea for up north?

[Guest dylanhayes]

I have been thinking some silly thoughts about an event cache, which is actually part meeting and part competition. This has been done in the US a lot, but not in the UK yet AFAIK.

My idea is that interested parties meet at a certain time and place, and then are given a series of mini caches to find, some will be easy and some will be puzzles or difficult locations. Points will be awarded based on difficulty. Everybody then sets off with intent to get the highest score before the time limit is up. Then a picnic/BBQ or whatever follows and the scores are totalled and prizes awarded. Everybody would need to chip in some money to cover the costs of materials and prizes. Any surplus could be given to charity.

 

I have a idea of an area which would be suitable (Danby Forest in the NYM NP). I would be happy to organise some of it as long as enough people are interested.

 

So, who would be willing to come along? And importantly who would be willing to help out as 'staff'? And what is a good time of the year? A weekend in the easter holidays might be good (as then an easter egg hunt theme could be adopted to make it fun for kids), or maybe latter into the warmer months.

[Guest Moss Trooper]

OK I'm game.. I'm staff cos I'm an old codger..

 

An a tenner up front.. if yer can find the co-ords to it )

 

as fer time.. Easter is a bit soon me finks.. but May-June..

 

Moss de Boss.. sorta

[Guest Kimrobin]

I had already discussed an idea similar to this with Moss Trooper, for the summer months in Allendale (with a Saturday night B&B and lock in at the King's Head). Hadn't done anything concrete yet, so I'm happy enough to let Dylan do the donkey work and organise something at Dalby.

 

Easter is no good for us though. Going cache bashing in Minnesota.

 

Alex.

[Guest dylanhayes]

a dense arrangement best suited to short drives and lots of walking or a more sparse arrangment which would require driving as well? I think the area I had in mind can handle either. It's just down to what people like.

 

So. Would the May bank holiday weekend be any good? The weather will be nicer then. If we wanted to avoid crowds it could be a weekend before or after then.

[Guest dylanhayes]

Dalby Forest is just a suggestion. I'd be happy to do some of the donkey work if it was local to me. I know that treasure hunts have been organised in the area before.

 

The area does have a camping site in the forest and nearby villages should have plenty of b&b. Pickering is the nearest town.

 

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?grid2map?x=485000&y=485000&zoom=5&isp=250&ism=10000&arrow=y?218,2

 

What sort of design would people like, a dense arrangement best suited to short drives and lots of walking or a more sparse arrangment which would require driving as well? I think the area I had in mind can handle either. It's just down to what people like.

 

So. Would the May bank holiday weekend be any good? The weather will be nicer then. If we wanted to avoid crowds it could be a weekend before or after then.

[Guest Kimrobin]

I have some ideas but I'll email you. don't want to give too much away here.

 

I'd like a weekend event where we can all stay in the same place and socialise a bit. I was dissapointed that the York gathering finished as quick as it did. By the time I'd finished the gargantuan lunch, everyone was starting to drift off. Never got to talk to many people at all, which was a shame.

 

Why don't you do the Dalby thing for May and I'll try to put something together for Allendale later in the summer.

 

Alex.

[Guest Kimrobin]

ay in the same place and socialise a bit. I was dissapointed that the York gathering finished as quick as it did. By the time I'd finished the gargantuan lunch, everyone was starting to drift off. Never got to talk to many people at all, which was a shame.

 

Why don't you do the Dalby thing for May and I'll try to put something together for Allendale later in the summer.

 

Alex.

[Guest jstead]

This sounds an interesting development and I would certainly like to take part - date allowing! AS to format I would have thought "dense" more appropriate though it would make it more likely we would be falling over each other - though perhaps that would not be such a bad idea. But I think an essential part would be something like a barbeque or similar where we could mix up and meet each other. York was great but like Kim I felt that we only really got to chat to those nearest to us and only briefly with the others (don't take that personally, Monz, Pauline or Dylan!)

 

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John Stead

[Guest Monz]

It all sounds good... but, I thought to be fair we were gonna hold it over t'other side of t'hills

[Guest dylanhayes]

My reason for the suggestion and area was not as an alternative to the next cache bash, but as a complementary activity for the northern cachers. I have fairly flexible work patterns and can easily take some time off in the week to recce the ground and prepare the caches etc and I'd be happy to do that bit if it's relatively local to me.

 

As we discussed previously the meal was great, but we all sped off in different directions as soon as we had finished the gargantuan meals. With an all day event we all have the excuse to stay overnight.

[Guest dylanhayes]

erns and can easily take some time off in the week to recce the ground and prepare the caches etc and I'd be happy to do that bit if it's relatively local to me.

 

As we discussed previously the meal was great, but we all sped off in different directions as soon as we had finished the gargantuan meals. With an all day event we all have the excuse to stay overnight.

[Guest Monz]

ahhh OK well thats alright then

[Guest Monz]

ahhh OK well thats alright then

[Guest Luggage]

Can we be 'Northerners' for the weekend and join in again too!!

 

York was great, but what with it being a 4 and a half hour drive each way for us it was a bit of a pain in the posterior, and we would love to meet up again - this would be a great excuse for a weekend away (as long as we can get a cat-sitter!)

 

Ringworm & Baggage

 

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To infinity - and the cache!!

[Guest Luggage]

Can we be 'Northerners' for the weekend and join in again too!!

 

York was great, but what with it being a 4 and a half hour drive each way for us it was a bit of a pain in the posterior, and we would love to meet up again - this would be a great excuse for a weekend away (as long as we can get a cat-sitter!)

 

Ringworm & Baggage

 

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To infinity - and the cache!!

[Guest Moss Trooper]

OK.. been thinkin.. Yes us North of Watford Dyke can think .. an yes.. Windbag an Suitcase can come as can any cacher inUK who can make it

 

Scorin.. so hows abouts.. we issue each team/person with a ickle logbook. We set up each cache thus..

 

Big plastic box, easy to find.. Uno Pointo.. (in cache box is a sticker they peel off an stick in log book.

 

Big box.. easy to find uno pointo..

 

Medium box.. not so easy.. 3 punto.. as in points not cars..

 

ickle itsy bits cache.. 35m case.. 5 punto.. but bast**rd to find.

 

Now.. this is an idea an a base fer thought.. doesn't include distance punto.. (points for illiterate northerners.. )

 

One with most punto wins 3 days supply of linament!!!!

 

OK serious face ( no smiley)

 

This is just a base for ideas.. i.e. stickers fer proof ye rbeen to a cache.. points fer difficulty..

 

What yer all recon considerin it has to be sorted by last week in April..

 

Moss de Boss.. sorta

[Guest Moss Trooper]

OK.. been thinkin.. Yes us North of Watford Dyke can think .. an yes.. Windbag an Suitcase can come as can any cacher inUK who can make it

 

Scorin.. so hows abouts.. we issue each team/person with a ickle logbook. We set up each cache thus..

 

Big plastic box, easy to find.. Uno Pointo.. (in cache box is a sticker they peel off an stick in log book.

 

Big box.. easy to find uno pointo..

 

Medium box.. not so easy.. 3 punto.. as in points not cars..

 

ickle itsy bits cache.. 35m case.. 5 punto.. but bast**rd to find.

 

Now.. this is an idea an a base fer thought.. doesn't include distance punto.. (points for illiterate northerners.. )

 

One with most punto wins 3 days supply of linament!!!!

 

OK serious face ( no smiley)

 

This is just a base for ideas.. i.e. stickers fer proof ye rbeen to a cache.. points fer difficulty..

 

What yer all recon considerin it has to be sorted by last week in April..

 

Moss de Boss.. sorta

[Guest dylanhayes]

Stickers are a good idea as you can run sticky labels though a printer, so you have a set of unique stickers for each cache which makes it obvious where you have been. Like a rubber stamp, but easier and cheaper to make.

You could even combine that with a sheet of paper giving a list of lat/long and any other remarks for each cache and a space to put the sticker. Thus the organisers get a nice easy to count up record of who has done what, and the player has a memento to take home with them.

 

As well as size and distance points could be modified based on physical difficulty, ie some locations are inevitably harder to find or get to and mental difficulty as one of two mini puzzle caches would be good for gambling folks, as they could gain lots of points by solving the puzzle but waste time that could have been spent finding lots of easy caches.

[Guest el10t]

It seems to me that there are a fair few of us down here around Hampshire way. Perhaps we could do something similar?

[Guest hoy]

All sounds good to me. Unfortunately missed the York event but would love to attend others. Would prefer dog friendly locations.

 

"points for illiterate northerners.. " how about points for turning up in agricultural vehicles?

 

Ian

 

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walking the dogs

[Guest hoy]

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walking the dogs

[Guest jeremyp]

organise a list of (say) 10 virtual caches and have questions (some cryptic) to be answered at each one. Tie breaks to be settled by the team with the shortest mileage.

 

I did a similar thing a few years ago where we were given an OS Landranger map (photocopy actually) and a list of OS 6 figure grid references and questions. Obviously, it was harder because the answer to each question could be anywhere within a 100 metre square and you didn't know with any degree of certainty where the boundary of the square was on the ground.

[Guest jeremyp]

quote:

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Originally posted by el10t:

It seems to me that there are a fair few of us down here around Hampshire way. Perhaps we could do something similar?

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Judging by the number of caches in the Hampshire / Berkshire area there must be seven or eight active teams resident.

 

The easiest way to organise a competitive event would be to organise a list of (say) 10 virtual caches and have questions (some cryptic) to be answered at each one. Tie breaks to be settled by the team with the shortest mileage.

 

I did a similar thing a few years ago where we were given an OS Landranger map (photocopy actually) and a list of OS 6 figure grid references and questions. Obviously, it was harder because the answer to each question could be anywhere within a 100 metre square and you didn't know with any degree of certainty where the boundary of the square was on the ground.

[Guest el10t]

quote:

---

Originally posted by jeremyp:

The easiest way to organise a competitive event would be to organise a list of (say) 10 virtual caches and have questions (some cryptic) to be answered at each one. Tie breaks to be settled by the team with the shortest mileage.

---

 

Rather like the "car treasure hunt" concept that used to be all the rage in the 70s or so.

[Guest jeremyp]

quote:

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Originally posted by el10t:

Rather like the "car treasure hunt" concept that used to be all the rage in the 70s or so.

---

 

Exactly like a car treasure hunt. In fact it was a car treasure hunt. I was on the winning team btw.

[Guest dylanhayes]

Oddly enough, speaking of car treasure hunts the area I had in mind plays host to a version of the car treasure hunt for 4x4 drivers on the various forestry roads. My suggestion is that for the particular event the 'drivable' caches would use only the public roads in the area, although some drive and walk caches would be placed. Virtual caches could be used but the idea of stickers has the advantage of being much easier to total up, as getting a description of a thing leaves room for ambiguity. Ie somebody might get the right location but not the right description of a thing. The idea of distance as a tie breaker is interesting. Now, what do people think might be the better of distance vs time as the tiebreaker?

 

BTW, Are any of the southern geocachers interested in coming along? As this is just an idea, but one which seems to be growing, the next logical thing to do is to see what dates poeple would be able to make. I could make a list of candidate dates and everyone could just email me the best one for them and the one with the most votes wins? Unless anybody has a better idea. It would also give me some idea of how many might consider coming along.

[Guest el10t]

I would certainly consider coming along. I lived in York for six years and only moved back south just over a year ago so could use the opportunity to catch up on some old friends.

 

(I also own a 4x4 - go for the off-roady idea!)

 

[This message has been edited by el10t (edited 19 February 2002).]

[Guest timp]

Yep ! Count us in.

 

Dependent upon date etc. At the moment most weekends are free. We would need to stay overnight so a Travel Lodge or similar in the area would help. They tend to get booked up so a little notice would be helpful.

 

Tim & June (Winchester)

[Guest dylanhayes]

n 9 and 10. I did think of a sunday activity, but rather suspect most people will have to return back to the 'real world'. For those that don't there is a reasonable selection of caches in the area waiting to be found and if you have kids they would probably *love* to go on the steam railway which is nearby.

 

Once again, this is an idea. If people have suggestions please make them!

[Guest dylanhayes]

OK. Here's my suggestion. And again it's a suggestion open to debate and discussion.

 

It will be provisionally based in North York Moors national park, the area I had in mind is called Dalby Forest Park which is about 30 miles from York. The caches will be in the forest and moorlands. A car will be required, but some caches will require walking. I dare say it would even be possible for a fit cacher with a mountain bike to take part.

 

Ideally we would be based in a camp site in the park, but for those unwilling to chance the weather you can find b&b nearby or failing that Scarborough is not that far and has loads of reasonably priced places to stay.

But ideally everyone would stay in the camp site as this is part of the fun.

I have in mind a particular place http://www.forestholidays.co.uk/details.asp?ID=7

but further investigation is needed.

 

Anyway, here is a rough plan for discussion:

 

9:00 'base camp' opens for registrations. Base camp will probably be the back of somebody's car in a car park at or near to the choosen camping area. Everyone has time to get to know the other teams and prepare etc.

 

10:00 onwards. My idea is for a staggered start, say 1 team every 10 miutes. Each team in turn is taken aside and given the list of locations (I can also bring a laptop with all the waypoints loaded and so each team can download the waypoints before they start). The list of locations will only be given at the last minute to make it more exciting. Teams are given a time limit to return by. This also allows for people who drive in from far away to be able to start late.

 

15:00 teams start to return. The time limit is of course subject to how many caches and what people think is reasonable.

 

17:00 scores are totaled up, and tie breakers checked if required and the winners announced.

 

18:00 BBQ in evening, much beer is drunk etc.

 

This gives a full day, but hopefully with a good mixture of caching and socialising. Those coming from down south might wish to drive up on the friday, but if you are closer you should be able to get there between 9 and 10. I did think of a sunday activity, but rather suspect most people will have to return back to the 'real world'. For those that don't there is a reasonable selection of caches in the area waiting to be found and if you have kids they would probably *love* to go on the steam railway which is nearby.

 

Once again, this is an idea. If people have suggestions please make them!

[Guest jeremyp]

being abroad at the time, and also being too cold for camping :-)

 

The tie breaker has to be on mileage, not time because low mileage is a better indication of navigational skills and if based on time there is an incentive to drive around like Colin McRae which is bad for obvious reasons. If you do it based on mileage you'll have to ban mountain bikers because you need a trustyworthy tamper proof odometer such as is found in a car.

 

On a slightly different tangent, the virtual cache idea has some advantages, because you don't have to make up physical boxes and you don't have to go round after picking them up again. You actually have a specific question that needs to be answered at each location e.g. in a church yard "when did joe bloggs die" or to give a more cryptic real example on a treasurehunt I did "how many examples of G-BOAC here".

 

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Why use one word when two polysyllabic agglomerates will do?

[Guest jeremyp]

Depending on the date, count me in. Sounds like a lot of fun. The second half of March is out for me on account of being abroad at the time, and also being too cold for camping :-)

 

The tie breaker has to be on mileage, not time because low mileage is a better indication of navigational skills and if based on time there is an incentive to drive around like Colin McRae which is bad for obvious reasons. If you do it based on mileage you'll have to ban mountain bikers because you need a trustyworthy tamper proof odometer such as is found in a car.

 

On a slightly different tangent, the virtual cache idea has some advantages, because you don't have to make up physical boxes and you don't have to go round after picking them up again. You actually have a specific question that needs to be answered at each location e.g. in a church yard "when did joe bloggs die" or to give a more cryptic real example on a treasurehunt I did "how many examples of G-BOAC here".

 

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Why use one word when two polysyllabic agglomerates will do?

[Guest Moss Trooper]

I think conventional caches would be better so that we can grade them.. also on the note for team side of things.. kids would much prefer to find somethin physical..

 

Also any ideas on how far would be an acceptable walk for a cache.. as in time.. distance and cache value.

 

100mtr walk an a grade 2 cache = 3 punto's

 

500mtr walk an a grade 5 = 8 punto's

 

and I recon 15 caches would do it if they are spread out a bit.. 280 sq kilometers.. area is 20 km by 14 and is a canny area to try an find 15 caches.. some of wich will be damb nigh impossible.

 

Moss

 

[This message has been edited by Moss Trooper (edited 20 February 2002).]

[Guest dylanhayes]

There's no reason why both sorts of caches can't be used. If the cache will be difficult to place and retrieve, virtual is best as I can walk the ground and note suitable locations way ahead of the event. And of course kids get a lot of enjoyment out of finding stuff in caches.

 

As regards milage, I would have thought that the GPS milage would be the best. I know you could cheat by turning the GPS off between caches, but you might have difficulty finding the cache then. The simple test for that is to check the total time logged on the unit including stops. If it looks like far less than start-finish then they would have to explain why! When each team comes it somebody can note the vital stats from the GPS.

 

I will take the time to visit the area in detail shortly.

 

The sort of date in was think about was in may or latter, as the weather will be better, in theory at least. I will have to contact the camp site to see if they have any weekends they will be expecting to be full. I know the place is used for motor cycle rallies and the like, which is good in that it is group friendly, but bad if it's full.

[Guest dylanhayes]

why both sorts of caches can't be used. If the cache will be difficult to place and retrieve, virtual is best as I can walk the ground and note suitable locations way ahead of the event. And of course kids get a lot of enjoyment out of finding stuff in caches.

 

As regards milage, I would have thought that the GPS milage would be the best. I know you could cheat by turning the GPS off between caches, but you might have difficulty finding the cache then. The simple test for that is to check the total time logged on the unit including stops. If it looks like far less than start-finish then they would have to explain why! When each team comes it somebody can note the vital stats from the GPS.

 

I will take the time to visit the area in detail shortly.

 

The sort of date in was think about was in may or latter, as the weather will be better, in theory at least. I will have to contact the camp site to see if they have any weekends they will be expecting to be full. I know the place is used for motor cycle rallies and the like, which is good in that it is group friendly, but bad if it's full.

[Guest jeremyp]

quote:

---

Originally posted by dylanhayes:

As regards milage, I would have thought that the GPS milage would be the best. I know you could cheat by turning the GPS off between caches, but you might have difficulty finding the cache then. The simple test for that is to check the total time logged on the unit including stops. If it looks like far less than start-finish then they would have to explain why! When each team comes it somebody can note the vital stats from the GPS.

---

 

Nah, don't forget this is only a tie breaker so keep it simple - car mileage is best - assuming caches are far enough apart to need a car. Too many things can go wrong with GPS mileage to make it useful e.g. loss of signal, wanting to keep it switched off to preserve batteries etc etc.

 

If the caches are far enough apart, walkers won't be able to get around enough to amass enough points and if a cyclist gets around them all - well they probably deserve to win. We can avoid excluding non-car owners by putting them in teams with car owners e.g. I'll probably be up there on my own with a car (unless el10t comes) and would welcome other team members (one would be great, the second, third and fourth should have short or no legs).

 

Also, 15 caches is probably too many. You need to make it just possible to do all of them. I did all nine SP caches in 3.5 hours. If you scale that up to needing a car and them being further apart, I'd say 10 caches would be the absolute maximum.

 

I don't see why it's harder to grade virtual caches than physical caches. In either case the difficulty is in the perception of the person who hides them. I do take the point about children wanting to find something physical although when I was a child I used to love going on car treasure hunts with my parents (which would be the equivalent of virtual caches). I think a mixture would be good for keeping interest going and perhaps the physical caches should be stocked with something for the kiddies e.g. sweets or something.

 

Also, most of the caches should be relatively easy. There should be two or three *really* easy ones a lot of easy ones, one *really* hard one and a couple of slightly difficult ones.

[Guest Walker Dan]

Like the idea for Allendale as it is very close. Bear in mind a lot of farms are still under Foot and Mouth restrictions and a lot of paths are still closed at present. www.northumberland.gov.uk gives details of paths still closed.

Could still make it to Yorkshire though.

[Guest chuffer]

if you need any help Dylan.

 

Chris.

[Guest chuffer]

Sorry.... I'm a bit late joining this thread.

 

We (me, 'er indoors and the 2 little chuffers) like this idea. Dalby Forest is an excellent place for this type of event with such a variance of easily accessible terrain. I regularly mountain bike this area if you need any help Dylan.

 

Chris.

[Guest dylanhayes]

e interested in coming, can you please email dylanhayes@yahoo.com with a list of date you can make. If you just email the saturday date rather than the start and end of the weekend it makes it more simple to process. I would see this as being held some time after the start of May (weather will be warmer) and before the end of the summer term.

 

If you can make it a list like this it will be easy for me to total up the dates that suit the most people and then approach campsites and see which of the most popular dates are not fully booked.

 

Sample email:

Name: Geo Cacher

Dates:

4 may 02

11 may 02

18 may 02

25 may 02

[Guest dylanhayes]

Chuffer has kindly agreed to help out on this one (as he knows the area well it would be unfair oneveryone else if he was a player) and we have met to talk about the planning of this.

 

He has suggested some other camping areas aside from the one I thought of. But, before this can go any further, I need to know what date is going to work for the most people so I can then approach campsites and ask if they can accomedate X poeple on Y date.

 

So, those who are interested in coming, can you please email dylanhayes@yahoo.com with a list of date you can make. If you just email the saturday date rather than the start and end of the weekend it makes it more simple to process. I would see this as being held some time after the start of May (weather will be warmer) and before the end of the summer term.

 

If you can make it a list like this it will be easy for me to total up the dates that suit the most people and then approach campsites and see which of the most popular dates are not fully booked.

 

Sample email:

Name: Geo Cacher

Dates:

4 may 02

11 may 02

18 may 02

25 may 02