Logging A Archived Cache

[Dreadnought]

Today I received an E-mail that says a cacher found my cache. That was archived in Febuary! The date of his find was from November 26. Unfortantly the log book was ruined because the cahe had water in it and it was frozen. Is it possible to go into an archived cache page and claim a find for a date prior to the archive date? Is it possible this automated Email was just floating around for 6 months? Without my logbook I have no way to check if this guy was there or not.

[+Byron & Anne]

Why worry about?????

[Dreadnought]

Why worry? Just wondering if this person is logging finds that he hasn't found or if the e-mail system can loose an e-mail fro 6 months.

[Find Now, Log Later?]

Today I received an E-mail that says a cacher found my cache. That was archived in Febuary! The date of his find was from November 26. Unfortantly the log book was ruined because the cahe had water in it and it was frozen. Is it possible to go into an archived cache page and claim a find for a date prior to the archive date? Is it possible this automated Email was just floating around for 6 months? Without my logbook I have no way to check if this guy was there or not.

Yes, it is possible. Contact the individual and ask for a description of the parking, the walk to the cache location, the container, and its contents. If the cacher "can't remember," or chooses not to respond, do what your conscience tells you to do .. . delete the log or allow it to stand.

 

I think a lot of people that log finds to archived caches are hoping the cache owner is no longer involved with the activity ... it's an even easier way to amass large numbers of finds than attending a "GeoWoodstock."

[+The Leprechauns]

No, the e-mail didn't get delayed for six months. Delayed logging happens all the time. If a cacher takes an eight-state vacation, finds 145 caches, and logs them all at once two weeks later, there's a good chance that one or more will be archived. Some people get way behind with their logs, keeping track of them offline and then catching up in marathon logging sessions to be more efficient.

 

Over the weekend, my daughter finished retroactively logging all 263 of her cache finds, stretching all the way back to June, 2002. We matched the date of her visit to my own existing logs for the team. She is 11 now and felt she could write her own logs from now on. Boy, am I glad *that* project is finished. I was amazed, however, at how much detail she was able to recall. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

[+Kite and Hawkeye]

Sometimes people just log finds quite some time after the fact. Perhaps a person who used to cache with a team just got their own account, and wants to go back and log all the caches they found as part of the team, or maybe they're just really behind on their logging (I just logged some finds from February, though luckily none had been archived in the meantime). I wouldn't worry about it, unless you truly believe there's some weird fraud going on (like, that person logged 500 caches in a bunch of different states as being found on that same day). As far as the question of whether it is possible to log an archived cache, yes, as long as you can still find the cache page, you can still log it. Since he knew the name of this cache and managed to locate its page, I would think he really found it; someone claiming finds on caches they never visited would probably only use active cache pages, since they're easier to bring up.

[Dreadnought]

I'm not really worried about it and it doesn't really make much differance to me. Just thought the long delay was weird. I've delayed logging some finds myself but not 6 months, and I don't remember much about them after about 3 hours. Thanks for the help.

[+Team Perks]

There are legitimate reasons to log a cache so late. If you're really doubtful and that seriously concerned about it, you could always email them and ask politely waht the deal is.

 

I've logged a few caches online many months after I found them too. I never logged the first half-dozen caches I visited before I had my own GPS and my own account until almost six months later.

 

I discovered a couple other cache printouts at home a couple months after I had visited the caches, that I discovered I had never logged.

 

Then there was another cache I visited, only to discover I had already signed the log book a few months earlier but failed to log online...so it wound up in my pocket query on my next trip to the area. (Oops!)

 

So...it happens.

 

P.S. Kite and Hawkeye, if I were to "fake" a log, personally would use an archived cache. That way there's no evidence to prove I never was there.

[Jeremy]

We do lock some archived listings to keep them from being logged but this is an exception to the normal procedure. This is due to people backdating their logs to have an accurate record of their finds.

 

When a listing is logged it immediately goes out in an email to the watchlist. So it would be highly improbable that a notification email would arrive 6 months after the log entry.

[+sbell111]

I've logged late on a number of caches. I logged some virts that I had found in Europe almost a year late because I couldn't locate the pics that I took.

 

On a trip through PA and NY, I lost a notebook of cache pages. I tried to reconstruct my adventures to the best of my ability, but I missed some. Luckily, Lep's review of a log sheet located one that got away. That one got logged a year or so after the fact.

 

I have, for years, tried to get my brothers interested in the game. They both have cached with me, but haven't logged there finds. If either became active, I see no problem with him logging the ones we found together, even though it will be for finds that happened as many as four years ago.

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

Today I received an E-mail that says a cacher found my cache. That was archived in Febuary! The date of his find was from November 26.

You haven't met Mopar yet, have you?

[+Team Perks]

You haven't met Mopar yet, have you?

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

He still hasn't logged the caches we visited together back in January...and I don't expect to see them logged anytime soon!

[Golden_Spike]

What about logging caches that you found after they were archived? Obviously it would be bad form to go look for a cache if it was archived for being on private property or some certain other reasons, but if i went and found a cache that was archived for some reason (such as the person being unable to maintain it) but was still there would i be able to log it? There are some cachers who have quit caching and archived all their caches, but with their caches so spread out i'm sure they never physicly removed them all. It looks like the website would let me log it, but do you think this is an acceptable practice?

 

What about if i go out and find a cache thats been archived for a while but is still in place, do you think it would still be wrong to take the container for my own use?

[+Team Perks]

If the cache is still there and you find it, sure, it's still a find. There are even a few noteworthy caches out in my area that were long ago archived by the owner when he "quit" the game, but that are still in place and are watched over by others who want to keep the cache in place. So the cache is there to be found, but there just isn't an "active" listing.

 

As far as I'm concerned, any cache that has been archived and is in terrible shape should be removed. However, remember that GC.com is not the only listing site so I would check the other listing sites before deciding whether to remove an intact cache.

[+JMBella]

No, the e-mail didn't get delayed for six months. Delayed logging happens all the time. If a cacher takes an eight-state vacation, finds 145 caches, and logs them all at once two weeks later, there's a good chance that one or more will be archived. Some people get way behind with their logs, keeping track of them offline and then catching up in marathon logging sessions to be more efficient.

 

Over the weekend, my daughter finished retroactively logging all 263 of her cache finds, stretching all the way back to June, 2002. We matched the date of her visit to my own existing logs for the team. She is 11 now and felt she could write her own logs from now on. Boy, am I glad *that* project is finished. I was amazed, however, at how much detail she was able to recall. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

That is impressive. I can't even remember...uh...

[+cudlecub]

My caching bud would never set up an account. He enjoyed getting out and about with me and never signed the logbook. Shoot....he didn't even own a gps but he sure could sniff out the cache.

 

I finally talked him into setting up an account. The only catch was I had to catch him up on those that he found. Although he didn't have an account or sign the log he physically had the caches in his hands and I considered it a find. I went back logging finds we had as far back as July. I wasn't able to recall the info for some of the virtuals or able to log member only caches.

 

Maybe the person did the same thing?

[+fly46]

Yeah, what cudleclub just said...

The Swag Bag finally agreed to take a user name of her own, and I went back and logged every cache she did - waaaay back into 2002!

[+AtoZ]

I'm not really worried about it and it doesn't really make much differance to me. Just thought the long delay was weird. I've delayed logging some finds myself but not 6 months, and I don't remember much about them after about 3 hours. Thanks for the help.

My first thought is did they say that they just resently foound the cache if so then the real question is why didn't you go pick up your cache if you archived it???? Or did someone say it was missing and so you just archived it. If the cache is not active then it is TRASH. Otherwise if you did pick up the container and it is not active then YES you can log a cache that is archived people usually ask first but then again if it is someone splitting off of a team then they can log it under a new name. 6 mo. is abit long for a vacaton find but anything is possible.

cheers

[+Monkeybrad]

It is not at all unusual for my wife, Scoot the Frog, to be 6 months behind in her online logging. the last time she "caught up" she was over 700 finds behind on her online logging. She just isn't that concerned about it. She is way behind now, she may log up or she may not. She would rather hunt and find than log online.

[+blazerfan]

or if the e-mail system can loose an e-mail fro 6 months.

I once sent a couple of emails to a friend (in the same day) and she got them both a little more than 4 months later. Not sure how or why but it can happen.

 

More than likely it is just someone who figured out they forgot to log the cache... happens all the time.

[+hydee]

No, the e-mail didn't get delayed for six months. Delayed logging happens all the time. If a cacher takes an eight-state vacation, finds 145 caches, and logs them all at once two weeks later, there's a good chance that one or more will be archived. Some people get way behind with their logs, keeping track of them offline and then catching up in marathon logging sessions to be more efficient.

 

Over the weekend, my daughter finished retroactively logging all 263 of her cache finds, stretching all the way back to June, 2002. We matched the date of her visit to my own existing logs for the team. She is 11 now and felt she could write her own logs from now on. Boy, am I glad *that* project is finished. I was amazed, however, at how much detail she was able to recall. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

I look forward to reading her version of the events.... "Daddy is a wimp he got a little scratch on his leg and almost didn't finish the hunt."

[+The Leprechauns]

Hydee, here are some examples of my daughter's logs:

 

I found this cache with my Dad during my Spring Break trip to Nebraska. Now, I have my own account and I am going back and keeping track of the caches I found. I kept telling my Dad where the cache was, but he wouldn't listen to me. He needs to be a better listener.

 

Thanks for the cache!

From way back in 2002 in our first month of geocaching, but logged a few weeks ago:

We found this after we almost gave up. After my Dad got stabbed by a tree and he was bleeding, I asked "does this mean we can't find the cache?" But we did!

Also from 2002:

This was fun because my Dad showed me the tree that the cache was in, and said "it's in a tree just like this one, but not this one." And he walked away, and I reached in that tree and grabbed the cache.

Edited May 11, 2005 by The Leprechauns

[+hydee]

So, I wasn't too far off!

[+sbell111]

Hydee, here are some examples of my daughter's logs:

 

...From way back in 2002 in our first month of geocaching, but logged a few weeks ago:

We found this after we almost gave up. After my Dad got stabbed by a tree and he was bleeding, I asked "does this mean we can't find the cache?" But we did!

...

While hunting for a difficulty 5 cache hide, a fake rock on the side of a steep hill filled with similar rocks, I stumbled over a fallen tree. I fell forward, and a stick protruding from the tree drove into my shin. (Think "pungee stick" from your favorite Vietnam movie.) Remove stick from leg, watch blood gush. Little Leprechaun comes over, looks at the blood, frowns and says "Does this mean we have to stop looking for the cache?" A true geocacher. I taped up the wound as best I could, we found the cache 20 minutes later, and drove home. I now carry larger bandages and a roll of gauze in my first aid kit... not just bandaids.

Sounds like you were both on the same page to me.

Edited May 11, 2005 by sbell111