Adopting someone else’s abandoned cache?

[DCexplorer]

There’s a cache near me that is active, but appears to be adandoned by folks no longer active in the sport. Their last visit to geocaching.com was July 8, 2003, their email address bounces back, and of the three caches they planted, this is the only one still active. Since I live nearby, I wouldn’t mind taking over maintenance of the cache, but would want to make transfer of ownership official. How so I go about doing this? The cache in question is “Sturgeon Bay Canal Lighthouse” (GCG66R) and the owner is “Team Revkem.”

[Ray]

I noted from the team profile that they have never activated the account. This leads me to wonder if they might be active under a new name. I would start by sending an e-mail to Team Revkem through their user page to determine their status rather than relying on the user page activity.

[DCexplorer]

Already done. I emailed the email listed on their home page, a hotmail address, which bounced back. I also placed a note on the Lighthouse log, asking them to contact me. They placed three caches, one on 5/14/03, and two on 5/26/03. These hides are mentioned on their home page. Of the three caches hidden, “Sturgeon Bay Canal Lighthouse” (GCG66R) is the only one healthy. “Wequiock Falls” (GCG66T) is archived, and “Forest Brook Bridge” (GCG3YT) is still active, but hasn’t had a find since last August 23, with several no finds. If they were still active cachers, I would think they would have addressed their distressed caches. Their home page states that “In early May 2003 we  saw a segment on geocaching on the television and thought it would be both fun to hide as well as find some of these caches.” They placed three caches within a month of joining the sport, found three caches, all in one day, (June 22, ’03) and then disappeared as quickly as they started. It does seem a little odd, but all information points to their having left the sport. Who was it that said that the brightest stars burn out the fastest?

[GrouseTales]

In a nutshell…you need to send an email to Geocaching.com and ask them to adopt the cache. Provide them with as much details about the cache and all your attempts to contact the owner.

The owner’s user account is “not verified” which leads me to believe they provided an incorrect email address when registering. Now there are problems and no one can get ahold of them.

If GC.com accepts your offer, they can transfer the ownership.

[team revkem]

hey hey, team revkem is indeed still alive…we just have been very busy..the canal cache has been serviced once since placed with new camera and i here it needs a new one again. other than that i am unsure of what servicing a cache needs??? the wequiok sp? falls cache is indeed archived as someone must of cobbed it. the forest view cache is deep in the forest and far removed from civilization therefore not many finds =) recorded. our new active email is [email protected] anybody is welcome to service the cache if you see fit…i would think??? thanks mark

[Cathunter]

Glad to hear the cache owners are still alive.

It’s important that all cache owners register their account at geocaching.com and ensure they have an active e-mail address on Geocaching.com. That way if there is a problem, they can be notified. In addition, you will then receive e-mail notifications every time someone logs your cache.

The great thing about WGA members, is they tend to take care of each others caches. Who wants to hunt down a cache full of water or find a logbook in shambles? Although it is the owners responsibility, I encourage all cachers to carry extra pens, log books, zip-loc bags, etc. so that we can help keep each others caches in good condition. It’s also a good practice to check your own cache every few weeks to make sure it is in good shape and hidden as you intended. When you do maintenance, log it on the cache page so that others can see that the cache is “tended to”. If you have a cache that you can no longer maintain, post the information here on the boards and one of us will likely volunteer to adopt it.

[Author]

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