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Caching in the Snow?


AmishHacker

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In in the Great white North, most caches are winter-freindly, placed two feet off the ground in the crotch of a tree or something. For those other ones, well, Pack a shovel!

 

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Actually Winter caching is great. Sometimes foot prints give it away, but you can always leave a pile of them all over the place in evil directions. You can also cross rivers and creeks much easier than in the summer!

 

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Umm, your water supply can freeze on ya, if it's cold enough..

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And there are interesting ways of signing the log in the snow...

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quote:
Originally posted by Scout Master:

We Cache all year around here in Utah. It's a little harder in the mountains but a metal detector works wonderful. Especially on ammo cans

 

We'll See ya on the Trail


 

Bingo...Metal detectors. I knew I was overdue for a new gadget.

 

"Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!"

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I just returned from a cache hunt in Duluth and as a newbie (1st winter of caching) was concerned about non-cachers back tracking me and destroying the cache. I picked up from this thread that caching in the snow is considered ok, but what steps do people take to not leave a clear trail to the actual location?

 

On the upside, the park I was in was completely empty :) .

Edited by Q2XL
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Here in Michigan......we have lots of snow at times. This will be our second winter of caching. Just make lots of tracks in all kinds of directions and nobody will know where the cache is at. And somebody posted there is nothing like a full moon and lots of snow.....winter caching at night is awsome! Just be careful about water, creeks and rivers and such.......best to go in groups and think ahead. Have fun! :)

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I'll add to this thread, as I posted a topic in the NE forum, it helps if owners note whether their cache is winter or snow accessible on the cache page.

 

Similarly (since few cachers read these forums), if cachers not it when they log from fall into winter, then winter caching is easier as you can tell if it'll be reasonable or not!

 

(Also, as someone will surely add, a regional group has graphic icons you can add--but please include text too or those of us who browse without graphics won't notice!)

 

Thanks,

 

Randy

 

PS: To answer the query, obscure your tracks! Make false trails, prints all over, etc. Ironically it's easier when you've had to search more than when you walk right up to it 'cause then you have to fake it.

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I've always kinda backed away from the idea of snow caching, because I just wasn't sure how safe some of the areas I wanted to go caching would be. Up north, several caches are near forest roads, which typically aren't maintained during the winter, allowing 3+ feet of snow to pile up on the road. In no way would I try to circumvent the gates and drive in, because I know even the beefiest of 4x4s couldn't do it (I don't own a 4x4). I also wouldn't hike through anything like that, as I wouldn't be found for several months. ;)

 

But I'm reading this thread and starting to reconsider challenging some of my hesitations of snow caching. More and more it sounds like a great (but cold) way to spend the day. Perhaps a flask full of hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps would be the ticket.

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I think I need to disable one of my caches for the winter time as it's on a steep mountain and I can imagine what it may be like in the snow. Plus the caceh would be hard to find there too. The other one I haven't decided. It's a short and pretty much level walk, but I probably need to get it upward some as it will definitely be covered in snow and it's a micro!

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I LOVE winter caching! Around here, the parks are way less crowded when the snow flies. Makes it easier to find 'em without waiting for muggles to pass. I also love the quiet of a fresh blanketing of snow in the woods - just makes a good find all the better. I'd love to see an easier system for identifying snow-friendly caches, but I'm fine with the added challenge as well.

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Bingo...Metal detectors. I knew I was overdue for a new gadget.

Dang. I can't use snow as an excuse to get a metal detector for finding caches hidden in winter.

 

Hmmmmmm. What else could I come up with? Anything I try will be a tough sell since I just came home with a new computer.

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I love going out caching in the winter. Bugs are just a memory, and people tend not to hang around an wonder what you're up to.

 

Check out the photos I took for this log: this log

Fabulous pictures Chris-mouse.

 

One of the first caches I found was up in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was entitled Snowy Cache but we didn't get to is until summer time. Made for a different experience to say the least. In fact, that particular cache was more environmentally friendly in the winter time than in summer due to it's placement on a slope.

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Regarding disabling a cache in winter:

Obviously it's your call as the owner, but I would rather see it remain, perhaps with an up top warning that it may be particularly hazardous in the snow.

 

To the ? of danger and access:

This is a decision to be made by each individual seeker in each individual instance. "A man has got to know his limitations."

 

I have aborted many cache hunts because I got to the location and decided that it would not be safe or otherwise not worth doing... river too high, slope wet and slippery, NO TRESPASSING SIGNS!, locked gate, curious onlookers, not enough time to get it done...

 

I've got a novel idea: How about trusting your fellow human being that heshe "knows hisher limitations" and let himher do hisher OWN worrying- instead of worrying for himher.

 

(Is this "off topic"?)

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While not directly related to the snow, winter means no entrance fees to lots of parks and parking lot fees and access to parks that only allow locals during the summer season. Also, I can take my dog in the winter to many areas that are off-limits to pets in the summer (well I suppose they're off-limits in the winter too but somehow I've convinced myself that no one really cares in the winter since the only other people there are those with their dogs. And crazy geocachers.

 

Alan

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Hacker, we'll have to do some caching together this winter. I guess I live within 30 miles of you. (I know...off topic). :ph34r:

 

I'm basically a noobie at this game, too, so I haven't had a chance to cache in the snow. But I don't think caching will get me out any more than usual in the winter time. I enjoy all the seasons of the year and I'm sure I will incorporate caching into my normal Indiana winter activities.

 

I think caching during or immediately after a good snow would definitely be a little more challenging than other times of the year, but more invigorating, also.

 

Three of the caches I have placed are sheltered and should be no more difficult to find in snow than in summer. Of the 100 or so caches I've found, only a handful would be easier in the summer.

 

I expect caching in the snow will be very challenging and rewarding.

 

Speaking of winter caching pictures, here is one I found last summer. I apologize that I have no information to go with it except that it is published in a Groundspeak cache log from Michigan sometime last winter. I think it's a great photo.

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I did my first snow-caching of the season this past Friday. The snow was just starting to come down, though, so there were no footprints to follow.

 

One thing I try to remember in the winter is to pick up plenty of those chemical handwarmers for cache trade items. They replace the ponchos I normally trade in the summer. :ph34r:

 

Bret

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I went out yesterday with my sister-in-law to chauffeur to 5 of my caches in Jackson County, NC. A few inches of snow had fallen during the night but had mainly melted during the day. One of my caches is placed where the shadow reains most of the day so the snow was still on the ground. As we drove up she laughed at the footprints leading from the parking area to a point 150 feet away. (I was glad to see the footprints because it means folks are vsiting my cache!) She followed the prints (though she *did* seem to be using her GPSr too!) to a point where the previous folks had appeared to stop, shuffle around a bit, walk a little left/right/back/forward; in other words, this looked like the place! She was looking all around but couldn't seem to find the cache. (Meanwhile, I am laughing my a** off because she is standing 2 feet away from the cache!!!) I had promised to NOT give her any hints until asked, but when she said, "My GPSr says I am 2 feet away." I had to tell her that the GPSr was very accurate! She had not looked under a large, thin terracotta tile lying on the ground because the snow on top had not been disturbed. (Thank you to the previous finders for NOT disturbing the snow!) And, of course, the cache was under the tile. It took her 5 more minutes before she finally lifted up the tile, remarking as she did that the snow wasn't disturbed and the cache couldn't possibly be under here.

 

Before we left the area I did make a number of trackmarks in the wrong direction...

 

OzGuff

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What do you do when it snows?<BR><BR>.-=Amish_Hacker=-.

I'd try anyway. If the cache is on the ground and the clue isn't good, that changes the nature of the hunt because all I can do is poke at the snow patiently until I hear the cache. But finding the cache under snow is very exciting. The worst thing about snowcaching is if the cache is embedded in thick ice and I know it is in there. Then I'd have to wait until the thaw but it will be a quick pickup next time.

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Winter in North Texas (actually Northeast texas to all non-Texans, North Texas is actually West Texas, where they get a REAL winter, but this is OT):

 

- Leaves fall off all PI plants, making it more difficult to identify them. They can still get you even in Winter.

- Water in creeks doesn't freeze, it just gets colder. Mud is equally soft as in Summer, again just a lot colder.

- Thorns are all hard, none soft, and more exposed, decreasing chances of leafy brush-bys. But you can see them better.

- Mosquitoes, starved from frigid lows in the 30's, come out en force if it's warmer than 40 degrees, which is is almost every day here!

- Two days or so a year, a nice sheet of ice forms on everything. Ice. Not snow. Want a challenge? Think you can drive in the "snow? Think those crazy Texans can't drive on "snow"? Come on down to DFW during one of these days, and you'll find out! We stay home on days like these, for everything.

- One other days or so a year, it might actually snow. But snow only lasts maybe 15 or 20 minutes here, so it's really like it just rained, except there are pitiful little kids outside trying to make snowmen out of a 1/16 inch of snow. It's just awful.

- We get a fair amount of our annual precipitation in the winter, so most of our trails will likely have that nice gumbo tack. Wear your boots!

- Some days we actually have to put on our LONG-sleeved T-Shirts. Man, wearing all those clothes just doesn't feel right...

 

Yeah, Winter in North Texas, that's two weeks you want to avoid, buddy...

Oh yeah.

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