An Approver Question

[+Beta Test]

Something about the 528 foot rule has been bothering me. What if one cache is on a cliff, and the other directly below it a few hundred feet. Could they both exist? What would be the decision here?

[+BlueDeuce]

I've heard of that situation being accepted, hence why it's a guideline.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

In cases like that, it is also best to post a note to the approver telling him or her of that as you submit the cache, just like you would any other special note.

[Keystone]

You'll find any number of prior discussions where this very scenario is used as an example of when the guideline will be relaxed. The other is caches on opposite sides of a river with no bridge nearby.

[+Beta Test]

What about opposite sides of an interstate with no exits nearby?

[+carleenp]

What about opposite sides of an interstate with no exits nearby?

I would think that would be OK. One of the basic ideas is whether the caches can be easily confused so that a person might accidentally find the wrong cache. For example, a cache that is at a west bound rest area with a cache page that clearly states that is not likely to be accidentally confused with one on the other side of the interstate. Basically a cacher would not likely wander across the interstate and accidentally find the wrong cache.

 

With a cliff, it could vary. If there are stairs or a ladder then I could see how a person could accidentally find the wrong cache. No stairs and totally separate ways to get there and cache pages that make things clear could be a different story.

Edited August 27, 2004 by carleenp

[+bigredmed]

The 528 foot rule applies when there is a transversable path or space between two caches.

 

If a cache was on one side of the Missouri river and a second cache was hidden directly across from it, such that to go from one to the other would require a boat or a trip to the bridge, it would be OK.

 

If the second cache were to be 400 feet north along the same side as the first cache, it would be too close (assuming that there was no other natural or man-made barrier between them that made it farther to get from one to the other.

[+Beta Test]

Well I certaintly hope nobody wanders to the other side of a cliff.

[+BlueDeuce]

What about opposite sides of an interstate with no exits nearby?

 

uh-huh. Have you run this past your local approver yet?

[+Beta Test]

What about opposite sides of an interstate with no exits nearby?

 

uh-huh. Have you run this past your local approver yet?

Well I am on vacation now, so cant place it yet, and I aslo don't know who the local approver is.

[Pto]

uh-huh. Have you run this past your local approver yet?

 

That is to say, do you know Who your approver is?

 

I would think the elevation change with no route between would make that example acceptable-

[+CompuCash]

Like someone said - that is what the box "notes for the aprover" (or whateve its called) is for. I live in an area that is surrounded by canyons and trails that meander all over them. A cache can be only a couple hundered feet from another on the map but be 1/4 to 1/2 mile walking on the trail. And I explain this to my approver every time that it may be necessary.

 

a prefect example of same but a different situation - went to find a cache last weekend - GPS said .2 miles -= sez me with a grin "cool it's close" - ya right - was almost a mile by the time we got there 3 switchbacks and several hills later.

[+mtn-man]

What about opposite sides of an interstate with no exits nearby?

 

uh-huh. Have you run this past your local approver yet?

Well I am on vacation now, so cant place it yet, and I aslo don't know who the local approver is.

This is a bit unclear. If you are on vacation, then vacation caches are not approved if you are trying to place one while you are away from your home area. If you are placing this cache in your home area when you get back from vacation, then that is fine. I just wanted to clarify that.

[+BlueDeuce]

I hear it's a 527 foot, vacation, buried, food trading, commercial virtual.

[+Renegade Knight]

The advice you have gotten here is rock solid.

[koz]

out of curriousity, how did they come up w/such a precise number as "528"?

[+Renegade Knight]

out of curriousity, how did they come up w/such a precise number as "528"?

It's 0.1 miles. Or when most GPSs flip from miles to feet on the display. It was the apprximate accuracy when Selective Availability was turned on.

 

My vote (and I wasn't there when it was decided) is that the SA angle had the most to do with that number then it was rouned to 0.1 miles.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I hear it's a 527 foot, vacation, buried, food trading, commercial virtual.

Buried under a railroad track

[+Beta Test]

Ok last question I think. I am hiding a cache while on vacation. My aunt and uncle are allowing it to be on their land. (They have 20 acres) They go past the cache site almost every day, and have agreed to maintain it. Do you think that the approver for Rapid City area will allow this?

[+Renegade Knight]

Yes.

 

But you will need to tell that approver what you just said here.

Edited August 28, 2004 by Renegade Knight

[+The Geocache Hunter]

I don't have a conversion chart nearby......wondering how many meters is 528 feet?

 

After 8 years in the Army I can't even come close in estimating range in Feet anymore.

[+Sputnik 57]

fwiw, 528 feet = 160.93 meters

[+The Geocache Hunter]

fwiw, 528 feet = 160.93 meters

 

Thanks Sputnik! That is closer than I thought! Its strange how I can no longer visualize measurements in feet. 160 meters, why that is just 10 meters past the 3rd target on the rifle range, thats only 110 paces (counting left foot only), its about 5 telephone poles away........528 feet is like.....uh,......

[+carleenp]

Ok last question I think. I am hiding a cache while on vacation. My aunt and uncle are allowing it to be on their land. (They have 20 acres) They go past the cache site almost every day, and have agreed to maintain it. Do you think that the approver for Rapid City area will allow this?

Tell the reviewer all the necessary information in a reviewer note. Also include in the text on the cache page that you have local relatives that have given permission to place the cache on their land and that they will be maintaining it. If the reviewer has further questions he or she will email you or post a note on the page that you will get through email. Then you can have further dialog with the reviewer if necessary.

[+KG7JE]

The more you tell the reviewer in a note the better you chances. I had a cache close to a school. It would be obviously too close if somebody looked at the map. Except that, it was in a Veterans Memorial park with all sorts of military displays. My cache was at one end and the school stadium clear at the other end. Obviously folks wandering around with GPS units would not raise any red flags. And that is pretty much how I explained it in the note. I think it took 2 hours for it to get approved. I suspect most of that time the approver was looking at other sites.

[Shoobie & the Sand Crabs]

I've been wondering this myself what about on two different trails 300 ft. apart but take 5 miles to get from one to the other (I think this counts but I just wanted to make sure.