Finding My Own

[Dr123d]

I went out today to check on my caches. All was OK except for one. It was moved . Spent 20 min. looking . I feel like I should log a find. Why do people think they need to move a cache that was in a good location to begin with. I just don't understand people sometimes .

[+Cardinal Red]

Best guess is that their GPSr didn't "zero out" at the Cache location.

 

They probably thought they were doing you a favor.

[+Miragee]

I don't know the situation of your cache, but on my recent trip up to Yucca Valley, I found a micro just laying on the ground. I had no idea where it was supposed to be. The container was colored sort of green, so I placed it where the surroundings were "sort of green."

 

Since I was out of town, I didn't get a chance to log my find for a week . . .

 

I made a note in my log today about where I found it. However, I see that someone found it after I placed it where I did. I presume they put it back where I put it.

 

I could see this sort of getting like the childhood game of repeating a story from person to person and seeing how changed it becomes by the time it gets back around to the beginning . . .

[+StarBrand]

Cache migration is what I have come to call it................

 

One of mine (where I have checked and rechecked coords) migrates about 15 feet south to a more easily accessible location about twice a year. Just lazy cachers in my opinion.

 

Also I have seen many logs saying that they "adjusted the location to match coords"

[+Team Perks]

I've seen it happen too. It's just one unfortunate part of the game that seems to happen.

 

By and large, I don't think it's intentional, and it's not necessarily always one person. I've seen them slowly migrate over time too--one person might inadvertently put it back a foot from where it started, the next person might wind up doing the same, and so on...Next thing you know, after a few finders it's not at the coordinates anymore.

[gridlox]

--one person might inadvertently put it back a foot from where it started, the next person might wind up doing the same, and so on...

OK, I'm realtively new at this, but...

(Serious question! I'm not being a smart a**)

 

If you put it back where you found it, how does one replace it a foot away and consider it rehid where they found it?

 

All of the ones that I found so far have had a specific spot where they were tucked away.

 

Maybe we're just lucky around here, but is it common in other areas to have it laying in a spot that is unrecognizable if you walk away from the hide spot to investigate the contents of the cache, that you wouldn't know where you picked it up from to begin with when you rehid it?

 

Or is it just plain laziness to not want to take 2 more steps, after hiking to a hide, to make sure it gets rehid correctly?

 

D-man

[+Marky]

Yeah, I have a cache (disguised as an apple) hidden on a chain link fence covered with ivy. I attached a bright orange wire tie to the fence and hung the cache on it, so that cachers would have a reference point to re-hide it. It still moves. Caches move, period. And they say moving caches aren't allowed.

 

--Marky

 

P.S. Just like you, I've had a hard time finding my own caches if I haven't visited them in a while.

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

Been there!

 

I once spent 30 minutes looking for a cache I hid -- it was way under the snow though.

 

My *moving* cache story involves a cache that I placed in a tree. It fell out of the tree and rolled down a hill. Where it was found! Then it was placed in a new location. So I updated the coordinates and sort of treated it as an evolutionary event.

[+Renegade Knight]

Some spots are not so obviouse. In the crook of a tree. Easy. In a rock pile...if you walk away from the rocks to sigh the log then go back...It's amazing how much the rocks look a like...

 

Like everthing else. "It depends" We try to hide it exactly where we found it unless from the clue it's obviouse it's been moved. Of course hiding it where we found it doesn't mean we can't try to make it harder by using camo.

[+Team Perks]

If you put it back where you found it, how does one replace it a foot away and consider it rehid where they found it?

 

All of the ones that I found so far have had a specific spot where they were tucked away.

Sure it's easy if it's a particular knot in a particular tree. But if it's stuck under one of a dozen bushes, and if I have to walk away with the cache to avoid others seeing where the cache is hidden, I might not be able to pinpoint EXACTLY where it was. When I'm done, I might toss it back under the bush, so maybe it could wind up being a foot or two away from where it started. Given the lack of a clear spot to put it, cache migration can be very easy.

 

Even if the hider has a specific reference point (for example, next to a big rock), I might not notice that specific reference point when I find that cache. Or maybe I'll get turned around and put it next to a different big rock by mistake.

 

Personally, if there's any doubt whether I'll know where the cache was, I try to leave a placeholder so I'll know where to put it back. But there have been times where I realized that the cache spot wasn't so obvious after I had spent several minutes signing the log, taking photos, etc., and wished I had actually paid as much attention as it turns out I only thought I had.

[Dr123d]

I would be a little more understanding except it went from a hollow log to a rock pile 10' away. Thats a little much for a regular size cache. I got real lucky on my find. Just happend upon it.

[+Mr. Snazz]

I've had that happen several times myself. But I figure its all part of cache maintenance... although that realization doesn't stop me from grumbling about it.

[Dr123d]

Another thing, its called hole in a log not rockpile next to a log.

[+Team Cotati]

It is called being inconsiderate and presumptuous.

 

Unless there was some some sort of imminent danger to the cache, someone's property or to a person, they just should have left it alone, period. Then they should have sent you a message explaining whatever the issue was with the cache and let you, the owner take care of it. It is really a pretty simple concept.

[+briansnat]

I once went on a maint trip to a cache. Couldn't find it, so I assumed it was gone and went home to archive it. When I logged on, I saw a found it log for it from the same day.

 

After discussing it with the finder, I determined it was about 40 feet from where I had orignially hidden it.

[Trinity's Crew]

I found a cache after a snowstorm once. If it hadn't been for the snow cover, it would have been completely out in the open. I was not sure what to do with it. I cleared the snow away from the area where I found it and there was nothing that could have been considered close to a hiding spot.

 

I ended up moving the cache about 25 feet to a nearby fallen tree so I could tuck it under SOMETHING! I emailed the owner and told them the cache was probably not in it's original spot, and described where I had hidden it. They never responded to my email.

[+CompuCash]

how do you like the guy who logs your cache with

 

"Re-hid it to make it easier to find"?

 

now what kind of do-do is THAT!?

Edited March 23, 2005 by CompuCash

[+WARedBear]

I found a cache once that was under a tree along the side of a trail. The cache was more or less in plain view if you walked that way and looked. I moved it to the back side of the tree under some roots and covered it up. It was a natural cache hiding spot. I remarked in my log and wrote the owner a note to let them know. Never heard back. I always put it back from where I retreived it from. I also make the person who found it put it back if I am with someone. That way it doesn't wonder.

[+Allanon]

I always put it back from where I retreived it from. I also make the person who found it put it back if I am with someone. That way it doesn't wonder.

That's the way I was 'trained' by TotemLake...the person that finds it puts it back...and in the same place...

[Dr123d]

Well it was so far off I want to log it as a find

Edited March 23, 2005 by Dr123d

[+Kit Fox]

One of my caches left a natural cavity on the ground and climbed up into a bush. I got a few DNFs recently on this particular cache, and I couldn't find it either. I replaced it with a larger container.

 

When someone hides a micro in a bush or tree, it is very hard to remember exactly which branch or twig the cache came from, unless their is a visual reference. I have found "hanger caches" that had zip ties or wire to re-clip the cache. This makes replacement a cinch. Other times, all you have to do is look for the worn area on the branch, or the natural depression where the cache was originally hidden.

 

A very plausible reason for moving caches is when one cacher in a group, finds the cache, signs the log, then hands the cache to another cacher. If the original cacher does not stay to rehide the cache, it is quite possible that the cache might be replaced in a different spot.

 

I spoke to a Reviewer who had one of his caches leave the ground, and end up climbing a tree.

 

We must assume that caches are occasionally found by muggles, investigated, and then replaced, but not necessarily where thay found them.

 

I remember a forum thread a while back where a cache went missing, then someone found it by accident 100s of feet from the original hiding spot. According to the cache log, a muggle found the cache, took it home, figured out what the game was about and tried to return the cache where they thought they found it.

 

 

Don't always blame cachers.

[+Bob Blaylock]

  I had an experience with this myself.  Being in the area where I had hidden the second and final stage to my Seeking After Signs cache, I decided to go and check on it.  I didn't find it.  It wasn't a very good hiding place anyway, and I figured it'd fallen victim to muggles.  I scouted out a much better hiding place, and put together a new container, which I put in the new hiding place, and updated my cache listing to reflect the change.

 

  Having done all this, I heard from someone who, later in that same day, did successfully find my original second stage.  Based on additional information from this finder, I went back and found my original cache sitting almost out in the open, in a pile of leaves perhaps six feet or so from where I had originally hidden it.

 

  I guess there's a lesson in here somewhere.  I was too quick to assume that my original cache was gone.  No tragedy, though.  The original hiding place wasn't very good, and if it had stayed there, I'm sure it eventually would have fallen prey to muggles.  The new hiding place is much better, and I used a much better container for it.

[+º]

Some of my caches started to move as well. This is where wires, ropes and straps came into the game ...

[+Runaround]

I watch caches for the Cleveland Metroparks and one of the caches last year had a habit of moving 20-30' on a regular basis. There were several obvious hiding spots and one that was a little tougher. The cache kept moving from the true hiding spot to one of the obvious places.

 

I would check on the cache every 2-3 weeks or every 2-3 finders, whichever came first. It got to the point that I checked on the easier spots first.

 

It isn't just a newbie issue. A couple of times when I checked on the cache the only finders since my last visit where cachers with finds in the triple digits. Even they felt it was necessary to move the cache.

[dave5339]

I've got a cache out in a local area where I spent several hours over the course of a couple weeks grooming the local plantlife so I would have a great place to hide an ammo can.

 

I did a maintenance visit the other day and find this large piece of appliance trash laying where my cache should be. I picked up the piece of trash and there was my cache just laying there, not rehidden at all, other than the piece of trash that was covering it.

 

I moved the trash to the local "trash pile" and spent some time re-weaving some new vines into the hide area.

 

It's understandable that not everyone is going to replace it just as I hid it. I just wish they would at least think about hiding it before they leave.

 

Semper Fi

[+zcubed]

I remember a forum thread a while back where a cache went missing, then someone found it by accident 100s of feet from the original hiding spot. According to the cache log, a muggle found the cache, took it home, figured out what the game was about and tried to return the cache where they thought they found it.

That same thing happened happened to this cache I didn't know that it had gone missing when I was out looking for the final. The log book had been signed by the muggles that took it.

[+Team Wampus]

There's always the chance that it was geocaching kids involved. My 8 year old son and I had gone back to a previous DNF and found it the 2nd time...actually, HE found it. It was a well-disguised ultra-micro under the end of a bridge on a greenway trail near the parking area. I forgot a pen so we took it back to the car to sign the log. Junior took the container to rehide it while I drove the car down to pick him up. Luckily, I saw him put it back exactly the way he found it...only under the opposite end of the bridge! Ever since, I've taken super-duper-extra care to make sure the caches get back the same way we found them. Live and Learn!

[+AtoZ]

Well in this case I think some one just thought they were being cute and MOVED it intentially. But another problem that exist is one person finds it removes it and another not seeing exactly where ir came from puts the cache back kind of in the same area.

I know one cache that the owner couldn't find on three differant trips and I would email everyone who did find it and it would be in a differant spot every time, I eman really differant not just a few inches. So someone was moving it between finds.

O'well I guess it is just part of the game, well it isn't but what can you do glue the container in place.

cheers

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have a problem with some on my camouflaged micros, I go check them after a few DNFs, then I end leaving a replacement cache. Next thing I know, some post that they have found my cache, but there are two of them there. I have a few like that now. I guess my camo is to effective, When I can't find my own cache

[+BadAndy]

I once logged a dnf on one of my own caches, then emailed the previous finder for a hint, went back and finally found it, signed the log and logged a find.

[+Criminal]

Reminds me of this:

 

What the hell is your problem? You read my cache page; you go through the motions and find my cache. You log your find and say you had a great time. Then my cache turns up missing. Why? Because you did all that but for some freaking reason you couldn’t find the energy to place it back the way you found it! It was covered with leaves and sticks when you found it. It was under a log when you found it. It was inside a hollow log when you found it. It was stuck to a pole in a certain place. It was attached to the underside of the bench in a specific way. You couldn’t be bothered to cover it, re-hide it, shove it back, replace it, or reattach it the same dadgum way you found it. Are you lazy, stupid, or thick? I love all you local cachers, but what the F are you thinking? I put a lot of time, effort, and even money into making a memorable geocaching experience for you. When I check on the cache for routine maintenance, it’s five feet away from where I placed it, laying in the open, plundered, or missing. I might like to blame the newbies but they seem to be more conscientious than some of the older (wiser?) players. It really isn’t hard.

 

Logging a find on your own cache is like logging an event, LC, or virt, it just screws up your find count. So when you get ready to celebrate some milestone like 100, 500 or 1000, you really aren't. One cacher around here logged a piece of velcro as a "find" sometime before their 1000th. oops. That was 999 there dude...

Edited April 19, 2005 by Criminal

[Dr123d]

I once logged a dnf on one of my own caches, then emailed the previous finder for a hint, went back and finally found it, signed the log and logged a find.

Thats what I feel like doing.

[Dr123d]

I was told by a friend that I logged one of my own woops. Went through and low and behold I did on mistake. I just don't feel right about logging my own even after searching for and finally finding it. It just makes me mad that people feel that they have to move a cache that far without letting me know .

[+AtoZ]

Logging a find on your own cache is like logging an event, LC, or virt, it just screws up your find count. So when you get ready to celebrate some milestone like 100, 500 or 1000, you really aren't. One cacher around here logged a piece of velcro as a "find" sometime before their 1000th. oops. That was 999 there dude...

Sorry but Virtural, LC etc...are valid geocaches. So require alot of work to be able to log. Some trational caches I have done have been far easier to find then some of the LC caches I have done. But you play your game and I'll play mine.

cheers

[+QwertyToo]

This is where wires, ropes and straps came into the game ...

Watch it there, this is a family friendly forum!

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Best guess is that their GPSr didn't "zero out" at the Cache location.

 

They probably thought they were doing you a favor.

I found one yesterday where a previous finder had posted their coordinates - merely 15 feet from the posted coords, but in the opposite direction!

 

I've had one of my caches moved too. Not only was it moved, they went and found a bunch of rocks to put over it! Um...If I wanted it covered by an unnatural rock pile, wouldn't I have found the rocks myself?

 

I did a maintenance visit on one of my caches yesterday. Now there's a huge pile of sticks covering it. Hello! Not everyone wants their cache hidden "better" by the next person to find it.

Edited April 19, 2005 by Team GPSaxophone

[+Eric K]

Some spots are not so obviouse. In the crook of a tree. Easy. In a rock pile...if you walk away from the rocks to sigh the log then go back...It's amazing how much the rocks look a like...

 

Like everthing else. "It depends" We try to hide it exactly where we found it unless from the clue it's obviouse it's been moved. Of course hiding it where we found it doesn't mean we can't try to make it harder by using camo.

I had one like this recently and felt pretty bad about it. Son and I both had our GPS jumping all over the place.

 

When we finally found the cache it wasn't the typical under a log, in a nook etc. It was on the ground under a pile of leaves.

 

I even marked the spot before I picked up the cache to go sit on a bench so my son and I could sign the log book and he could figure out what he wanted to trade out for.

 

Well, when we went to put the cache back we realized to late. "Um, every part of this area looks alike". Also even though I had the listed co-ordinates and the spot I had marked in my GPS my GPS was still bouncing all over.

 

I left a note on the cache page to the owner that hopefully I put it back in the same place and apologized.

[Radman Forever]

The stupidest thing I have ever done was place a cache in the wrong place.

 

I managed to park the car 70 ft. from the cache, I normally leave my bag in the area I found it, but it was downpouring. I left all my things in the car and found the cache and brought it in the car with me to sign the log and do the trades. The cache was hidden under a small pine tree, when I went back to hide it there are dozens of small pine trees planted in an even row and I forgot which one it was hidden under. I placed it under the one I felt was the right spot and continued my geocaching.

 

A couple of weeks later I noticed the cache had been disabled and no one (even the owner) could find it. I freaked and drove the 100 miles and luckily found the cache. I went to the house of a person that had a cache in front of their house less than a mile from the mising cache and asked them if they could give it back to the owners and apologized a hundred times over.

 

I also admitted my stupidness on the cache page and begged for forgiveness. The owner accepted my apology and was just happy to find their cache was alright.

[+M-T-P]

There is a cache in my area that the last "Found It" log said, "Still a neat cache, but was highly visible from the public trail, so I took the liberty of hiding it a bit better (still at the same coordinates)." Every log entry after this was a DNF including my own!

[+rusty_tlc]

I have one cache hidden in a pile of rocks. It is in a different location almost every time I visit it. So What? The hide meets my original intentions, no harm no foul if it isn't under exactly the same rock every time. They all look pretty much alike anyway.

[+fly46]

I have a cache under a bush. This cache can move as much as five feet depending on how the cacher finds/replaces it. Now, if this bush had a bush next to it and that bush had a bush next to it and so on, I could easily see how this cache could move quite a bit on its own.

[Clan Riffster]

There was a local cache that was "moved" by mother nature. Hurricane Charley and his siblings had added about 5' of water to the area, and the cache, which was a smallish plastic bottle, had literally floated away. Many DNF's later, along with an archiving by the owner, and we knew we had to go looking for it. After about an hour searching thru the swamp, I found the container over 100' from our zero point.

 

Now we had another dilema; The area had been devistated by three hurricanes. No trails at all. Hundreds of downed trees. The clues mentioned looking for a hollow stump, near a leaning tree. Lots and lots of leaning trees to choose from, along with several stumps.

 

We returned to our zero point, found the closest hollow stump, (15' away), layed the GPSr on the stump till it finished doing it's averaging thing, then made note of the current coordinates. Dropped the cache into the stump and headed back to our truck. This turned out to be the wrong stump.

 

Logged our find and sent an E-mail to the owner describing exactly where we left their cache, including the "new" coordinates. The owner located our temporary hiding spot by my coordinates and returned the cache to it's proper location, thanking us for our efforts.

 

As I've grown in the geocaching community, I've learned that moving a cache to a "better" location is a bad thing. If I find one that is obviously not where it's supposed to be, I'll leave it where I found it and send a note to the owner describing where/how I found their cache, along with my coordinates, so they can fix the problem. A potential exception would be if a clue said "under a bush", and the container was found laying on the trail far away from my zero point. If I found one like that, I'd probably repeate what I did earlier.

[Trinity's Crew]

When I saw the thread topic, "Finding My Own. Spent twenty minutes looking!" I thought it was an off-shoot of the "Fat Geocachers" thread

[Dr123d]

When I saw the thread topic, "Finding My Own. Spent twenty minutes looking!" I thought it was an off-shoot of the "Fat Geocachers" thread

I'm a big boy but I don't have that problem yet

 

I shouldn't comment on this quote but it did have me rolling on the floor.

[Tahosa and Sons]

Found one of my stages (micro) missing on a maintenace visit today. Oh well just replant the micro and make it harder.

[+Team Cotati]

I have a problem with some on my camouflaged micros, I go check them after a few DNFs, then I end leaving a replacement cache. Next thing I know, some post that they have found my cache, but there are two of them there. I have a few like that now. I guess my camo is to effective, When I can't find my own cache

too

[+Team Cotati]

I always put it back from where I retreived it from. I also make the person who found it put it back if I am with someone. That way it doesn't wonder.

That's the way I was 'trained' by TotemLake...the person that finds it puts it back...and in the same place...

it. wander.

[+Team Cotati]

I went out today to check on my caches. All was OK except for one. It was moved . Spent 20 min. looking . I feel like I should log a find. Why do people think they need to move a cache that was in a good location to begin with. I just don't understand people sometimes .

Yeah, I know what you mean. Another thing that I don't understand is excuse making. Go figure.

[+Oreo Pony]

In our town there are three caches on the top of a 1600 foot hill. While planning my hike up there I noticed one was recently disabled and wrote to the owner letting him know I was headed up the next day. He asked me to check on the "missing" one.

 

Apparently, the owner received a note from a cacher saying the farthest one had been found within 20 feet of the nearest one (a distance of over three-quarters of a mile!) The audacity of some people sure makes you wonder.

 

Sure enough, after a 1.3 mile hike up 1200 foot elevation, we found the two within 20 feet of each other. We hiked to the farthest one and put it back at its coords! Good deed done for the day.