Difficult Hides

[+Tidalflame]

So, because I'm curious - and because it's sort of a good reference for everyone planning on hiding a cache - what do you consider a clever hide as opposed to an infuriatingly monotonous excersize in patience?

 

You know what I mean. There are caches that are just really well hidden; caches that blend in with their surroundings so well as to be nearly invisible. I really like these kind of caches. They're challenging, but extremely rewarding. On the other hand, I'm sure we've all been to caches hidden in places where there are literally thousands of possible hiding spots.

 

I try not to make judgments about other people's hides, but then again, I don't really like "needle in a haystack" type caches. What's the most cleverly hidden cache you've ever found? What about the most frustrating?

Edited May 22, 2005 by Tidalflame

[+dband]

I went to one today where it was hidden in a hollowed out log. That took some preparation to set up that one. It took a while to find it but was fun.

[FiddlinFool]

IMHO: The best ones are the "Purloined Letter" type. Hidden in plain sight but so well integrated with their surroundings that when you finally spot them, you smack your forehead and say "How could I have missed THAT?" A lot of micros are like that, but it's really a treat when you find something the size of an ammo box that's hidded so creatively.

[+Criminal]

For urban caches: Hidden in palin sight, such that it's invisible to everyone except geocachers.

 

[+briansnat]

The common micro in a boulder field is tough, but not very imaginative. What takes imagination is hiding an ammo box so it's a challenge. This one is a good example. An ammo box thats a real challenge. Some find it right away and some have had a very hard time with it.

[+c88m]

Well this one has been quite difficult for me atto cache and this one was fun itsy bitsy as were these bubba the redneck hike or bike

[+Jamie Z]

IMHO: The best ones are the "Purloined Letter" type.

Great reference.

 

See my log here.

 

"The cache was extremely well-hidden, in an Edgar Allen Poe, Purloined Letter, kind of way. The contents were fine. I signed my name. I came home."

 

Jamie

[ozarkray]

One good one that took me a while to find was out in the woods. There were a lot of broken tree branches laying around. The cache was impossible to spot until you realized that one of the branches was actually a piece of firewood neatly cut at both ends. Some of the people who hide caches have a good imagination.

Thanks for the cache,

Ray

[+Tidalflame]

Off-topic: The Purloined Letter is a great piece of literature.

[+Kit Fox]

One cache that I found was a fake Ivy Leaf, in a large cypress tree, filled with Ivy. It was rated a 5 star difficulty, so I new what I was getting into, ahead of time.

 

Caches that had me smiling:

 

A fake Coulter pinecone (giant pinecone) suspended 40 feet up in a tree. The fishing line to lower the cache was almost 50 feet from ground zero, in a different type of tree.

 

I think hiding small to regular sized caches in naturally occuring cavities, is more fun than evil.

 

Urban camouflage can be good also. Fake antennas on top of phone boxes, hollowed out bolts, etc.

[+yale-peabody]

I've gone after two caches which I thought were bad ideas. The first was in a park that suffers so much vandalism and trashing (it has literally become a dumping ground for locals' garbage) that it would have taken weeks to go throught every receptacle that could have been a cache container. The hide was made more difficult by badly measured coordinates. We gave up on this cache when we realized we were courting serious cuts and bruises if we continued.

The second cache was in an area that was frequented by "partyers" as evidenced by all the empty liquor and beer bottles. This piece of land was also criscrossed by dirt bike trails and was close to a poorer, crime-ridden neighborhood. The cache instructions said you could find the container if you took the right path -- but that was more a matter of luck than anything else because of the labyrinth of paths. And the clue - hidden under some fallen branches - could have referred to about a thousand fallen branches in the area. We found this one, but when I logged on I advised people not to try this cache by themselves or in the evening.

Edited May 22, 2005 by yale-peabody

[+JMBella]

IMHO: The best ones are the "Purloined Letter" type. Hidden in plain sight but so well integrated with their surroundings that when you finally spot them, you smack your forehead and say "How could I have missed THAT?" A lot of micros are like that, but it's really a treat when you find something the size of an ammo box that's hidded so creatively.

I could't think of a better way to say it so I'm just quoting it.

[+Renegade Knight]

A micro in a rock pile = Hard for no good reason. They suck and the only fun part is when you get to remove them from your nearest caches list, that is if you don't put them on the new handy ignore this cache list.

 

Also hard cache in area that can't take the level of searching required. You don't hide a 5 star cache in a flower bed.