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Need help finding difficult geocaches..


intense

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I have only been geocaching for 2 weeks. I have found 16 caches, and am having trouble finding challenging geocaches. I have done several 4-star difficulty, 4-star terrain geocaches which have not seemed all that difficult for me. Is there any place where geocaches can be rated by the FINDERS rather than the HIDERS? I need more difficult geocaches! Distance from me, time, and cost are no object. Thanks!

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What exactly are you looking for? I see two 4 star terrain caches among your finds and one 4 star difficulty cache. One of the cache's rating looks pretty legit. 6 mile hike, 1500 ft elevation gain and bouldering required. That's pretty close to the definition of a 4 star terrain rating in most people's eyes.

 

The other one may well have been overrated, esp the difficulty level (but it is possible that a previous finder didn't re-hide it properly). I can't say for sure without actually being there.

 

Some cache owners don't rate their caches properly. With time, you'll figure out which ones do.

 

Here are the criteria we all should be using:

 

Terrain rating:

1 star - Handicapped accessible. (Terrain is likely to be paved, is relatively flat, and less than a 1/2 mile hike is required.)

 

2 stars - Suitable for small children. (Terrain is generally along marked trails, there are no steep elevation changes or heavy overgrowth. Less than a 2 mile hike required.)

 

3 stars - Not suitable for small children. (The average adult or older child should be OK depending on physical condition. Terrain is likely off-trail. May have one or more of the following: some overgrowth, some steep elevation changes, or more than a 2 mile hike.)

 

4 stars - Experienced outdoor enthusiasts only. (Terrain is probably off-trail. Will have one or more of the following: very heavy overgrowth, very steep elevation (requiring use of hands), or more than a 10 mile hike. May require an overnight stay.)

 

5 stars - Requires specialized equipment and knowledge or experience, (boat, 4WD, rock climbing, SCUBA, etc) or is otherwise extremely difficult.

 

Difficulty rating:

1 star - Easy. In plain sight or can be found in a few minutes of searching.

 

2 stars - Average. The average cache hunter would be able to find this in less than 30 minutes of hunting.

 

3 stars - Challenging. An experienced cache hunter will find this challenging, and it could take up a good portion of an afternoon.

 

4 stars - Difficult. A real challenge for the experienced cache hunter - may require special skills or knowledge, or in-depth preparation to find. May require multiple days / trips to complete.

 

5 stars - Extreme. A serious mental or physical challenge. Requires specialized knowledge, skills, or equipment to find cache.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm

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BrianSnat,

 

Thanks for the detailed info. I'm obviously new to geocaching, but I have enjoyed the more difficult geocaches (the 4-star ones). I just don't find the 1-star and 2-star ones worthwhile. I am disappointed when I go to a 4-star one and it appears to be easier than a 3-star one that I did. That's why I was sort-of interesting in finding out if there was any way that the finders could rate geocaches, but I guess not. I still can't figure out how to search for ONLY 5-star geocaches in my general area. Thanks..

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quote:
I still can't figure out how to search for ONLY 5-star geocaches in my general area. Thanks..

 

Try pocket queries. You have to be a subscriber to get them. One of the great bennies of being a paying member.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm

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Come North to Loveland, I've got some good ones in the hills. A 5 star can be a misnomer, since you need 4x4 to get close, then the walk is usually a 2.5 to 3.5.

Go to this one then go uphill to find this one and finish the day with this one . It usually requires two vehicles, one at the start and one at the finish.

I hope to get back in the hills and fix the ghost and put another one up there that will have a 9 mile round trip hike and a big uphill hike.

 

Tahosa - Dweller of Mountain Tops.

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My preference is for tougher caches in at least the terrain catagory, although I often find it hard to budget in the time to go and get them. The pocket queries work great for this purpose. I set one up a little while ago to search for 3's and above.

 

As others have mentioned, some may or may over rate their caches by a bit. You do have finder ratings of a sort available though, it just involves reading the logs of other finders and looking to see what they have to say. Even when you can't get much info in the written logs, you can often tell quite a bit based on how many people have found the cache, and how long it has been there.

 

Good luck

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Joe Geocacher,

 

Now that I re-read my message I see how you got confused icon_smile.gif I'm having trouble finding difficult geocaches online... to search for. The ones rated difficult had not been that difficult.. We wanted something with outrageous intellectual and physical challenge (something on the wavelength of.. Need to have an IQ of 175 and Mensa member to figure out and be able to bench 300 pounds to get to). Have gotten some interesting suggestions which we may have to follow up on! icon_smile.gif

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Hi intense,

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I need more difficult geocaches! Distance from me, time, and cost are no object. Thanks!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Not a problem. Check out my "Are You Experienced?" cache.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=68272

 

The AYE cache has no finds or posted attemps. This is probably due to my write-up, warnings and photos of the AYE cache.

 

Please be safe, know your skills and limitations and don't get in over your head.

 

Bernie

 

PS: I know I can't spell.

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This looks like a sweet cache, only problem is I leve on the East coast. The longest one I have done so far is Joe English at 9 miles not steep at all but just long. I didn;t bring enough water on that one and have since brought too much water on the rest of the caches. I did a ftf cache that was listed as a 3 and it ended up as a straight walk in no difficulity at all, so I guess you never know till you walk it.

 

I see your lips moving but all I hear is blah blah blah

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quote:
Is there any place where geocaches can be rated by the FINDERS rather than the HIDERS?

 

I was thinking it would be a nice feature to have the cache owner rates the cache to start, then each visitor rates the cache as well. Over time the difficulty ratings would assume a nice average closer to the actual difficulty.

 

Perhaps more experienced cachers could have their ratings weighted a little more heavily (just a slight variation, nothing that would horribly skew the system), since their experience would allow them a bit more insight to a cache's difficulty.

 

Oh well, just a thought.

 

Rubber spoon...rubber spoon...rubber spoon...

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