Hiding A Cache

[rhenry]

I am new to geocaching and using a GPSr. I hid my first cache and it was approved. However, the approver said that it was too close to another cache but it was approved because it was across the creek. I have caught some flak from cachers who found my cache wondering how it was approved. My question is, "How do you know if there are other caches in the vicinity of one you want to hide? Thanks for all your help.

rhenry

[+DaveA]

There is no really easy way to do it (that I know of), but you can do cache searches via coordinates or zipcodes. Coordinate searching would be the most accurate way to determine how far other caches are from your own, but it still isn't easy because it doesn't tell you whether the cache is within 500 ft of those coords nor does it tell you if your location meets the exception criteria (like being on the other side of a creek).

 

OTOH if the closest cache to your coords is 5 miles then you know yours is fine.

[kennethhlee]

This is probably not the easiest way, but I noticed if you choose 'map' on the page of another cache in your area, it appears to show all caches in that area, and you can zoom and and move EWN or S to see more specifically the area you are thinking of placing one, and whether there are others close by.

[+Square Bear]

Ok guys this is what I do. I down load all of the caches in the area that I'm looking to place a cache. Upload to the GPSr and while I'm out I can select any that look close and get the distance from the GPSr to the closest cache.

[+CompuCash]

This is probably not the easiest way, but I noticed if you choose 'map' on the page of another cache in your area, it appears to show all caches in that area, and you can zoom and and move EWN or S to see more specifically the area you are thinking of placing one, and whether there are others close by.

 

this is the best way -

 

but I also want to point out that there is a rule aboad that says that a cache can be less than 600 feet from another cache if there is a natural or some other kind of boundry. I have one that is separated from someone elsed by a 6 lane divided road. It is like 500 ft' from the other one.

 

A creek or valley or hill can separate two caches that are closer than 600 feet from each other.

[+Thot]

I down load all of the caches in the area that I'm looking to place a cache. Upload to the GPSr and while I'm out I can select any that look close and get the distance from the GPSr to the closest cache.

I do it one of two ways. One way is like yours except once at my target location I go to the screen that list waypoints. On my Magellan SporTrak all caches are listed in the order of distance from my current location, so it’s immediately obvious how far away the nearest cache is. (Note: There are two options for displaying the list, alphabetical or by distance so you may have to change the display to distance. I keep it on distance. This way when I have several caches I expect to hunt on a given trip I can see which is the next nearest one.)

 

The other way (used it I wasn’t expecting to find a promising location so hadn’t loaded up the nearby caches) is to waypoint (capture the coordinates) of the target location. After I get home I let EasyGPS upload the waypoint. Then I add it to a file that already has all nearby coordinates in it. Set the target waypoint as the central point and sort the distance column. The second entry on the list will be the nearest cache and it will show how far away it is.

Edited January 2, 2005 by Thot

[+Thot]

Oh yes, if you want to see your location relative to other nearby caches download my Geocaching Combo utilities and run the one called Map Coordinates. Enter your coordinates, select the Geocaching map and GO. It will show your location on a map with nearby caches shown as little icons.

 

http://factsfacts.com/geocachingsoft/GeocachingCombo.htm near the bottom of the page.

Edited January 2, 2005 by Thot

[+ValleyRat & TillyMouse]

We have a saved Street Atlas map with all caches in our planned cache-hiding area shown as waypoints on that map. We always update and print that map prior to going out cache-hiding.

 

It's an easy exercise, requiring five minutes for the original map, then a minute or so to update. All map programs that permit inputting waypoints will allow this kind of manipulation.

 

We prefer this paper or on-screen laptop map, to cluttering up the GPSr screen with so many waypoints.

 

BTW we always carry our laptop on a specially built table between driver and navigator. The dash-mounted Garmin Street Pilot tells the Street Atlas map on the laptop exactly where we are. By running two sessions of Street Atlas map on the laptop, we can switch back and forth between the "existing caches" database and our "planned hides" database. After we arrive near the planned location, TillyMouse's eTrex Legend becomes the tool of choice.

 

Here's another BTW: we recently purchased the E2000-PC hood for our laptop from Hoodman USA .

 

It's an eyesight saver when driving in bright sunlight.

Edited January 2, 2005 by valleyrat

[+FtMgAl]

Good suggestions all but sometimes none of them work. There are 2 caches near here that are not more than 250 feet apart. No creek. No change in elevation. Just a nice stroll across flat woods clear of underbrush. You can do both of them is less than 2 minutes without running. How was that approved? The first cache is a mystery cache where you have to solve a puzzle to obtain the correct coordinates. The listed coordinates are 5 miles away. The placer of the second cache had never solved the puzzle and so didn't know it was there. The approver also evidently didn't keep the actual coordinates so there was no indication that the first cache was even in the same park.

 

Bottom line: Do your homework before going to the trouble of trying to get approval. If you don't find another nearby cache then the approver probably won't either. If it is later discovered that your cache is too close most cachers will give you a wink and a nod for putting one over on TPTB rather than grief for knowingly violating the spirit of the rules through lack of diligence.

[+briansnat]

You can do both of them is less than 2 minutes without running. How was that approved?

 

Its possible they were approved before the .1 mile rule was in place, or the approver just missed it, or perhaps (but hopefully not) the owner of the puzzle cache deliberately mislead the approver.

[+FtMgAl]

You can do both of them is less than 2 minutes without running. How was that approved?

 

Its possible they were approved before the .1 mile rule was in place, or the approver just missed it, or perhaps (but hopefully not) the owner of the puzzle cache deliberately mislead the approver.

Nope. The second one was placed last summer (June) after the rule.

 

IF the approver has access to actual placement of puzzle caches 6 months after they were approved, then the approver just missed it. Not being privy to the "secret" information approvers keep after approving a cache (I know they get the real coordinates during the approval process but do they keep it?), it seemed more likely to me that the original puzzle cache never popped up on a simple search for nearby caches during the approval process for the second.

 

Lastly the puzzle was there first. No conspiracy with the hider of the second cache because the second placer was surprised to find the first a month after approval of the second. The coordinates for both are very good and clearly indicate they are close together once you solve the puzzle. But if you don't solve the puzzle they are 5 miles apart.

[+blindleader]

There are 2 caches near here that are not more than 250 feet apart. No creek. No change in elevation. Just a nice stroll across flat woods clear of underbrush. You can do both of them is less than 2 minutes without running. How was that approved?

At one time, approvers did not request the coordinates of all waypoints of a multi or puzzle cache. So, as far as the approver was concerned, these caches are five miles apart. I don't know exactly when they started tracking all waypoints but I know it was after July 2002 and before April 2003.