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On a cache page…when you see/read the attribute “Available during winter,” what does that MEAN to you exactly? For example, does that mean the cache container should (definitely) NOT be on the ground? Looking forward to your thoughts and stories. Thanks from Tami
I thought once, but I forgot what it was about.
Available during winter means it’s not during summer?
Bring your shovel?
Like the Juneau cache last winter. Bring your own ice chisel and be prepared to pay the local fuzz?
quote:
Originally posted by marc_54140:
I thought once, but I forgot what it was about.Available during winter means it’s not during summer?
Bring your shovel?
For me, it means you can get to it in the winter, but does not necessarily mean you can pry it up or get it open. If it were up a mountainside then I am thinking it’s probably NOT a winter find…..but I guess even that wouldn’t stop some.
When I think winter friendly I believe it should be:
-In a container that you can get open when cold.
-Be accessable with 12″ of snow. It could either be off the ground, or protected under a fallen tree when covering bark can be removed.
-Not in a position that it will get frozen to the ground.
-In a place you can get to after it snows. Do they plow the parking areas & access roads in the area.Some caches I save for winter time due to bugs, tree cover, wet/mud. Those deserve the winter friendly marking.
When I place a cache, I also think about if it will be a winter friendly one. I have altered where it would go based on that several times.
Just my thoughts on how to use it.
– Michael
We would like to see different listing for those that are in a park, wayside etc that is open in the winter and something else for a cache that can be easily found in the winter. We have placed several of our caches up in trees hanging from a rope so they are winter friendly, although bears like to play with them then.
On this thought is it OK to go in a wayside that is technically closed? We have often wondered if it would be considered trespassing.
Timberline EchoesIt means someone had too much time on their hands and actually added attributes to their cache page.
JK…it means that if I choose to go searching for it, I should be able to find it. Be it under a log, in a cave, atop a mountain…whatever! If I want to find it, I should be able to do that. It seems like a pretty straight forward statement, “available in winter”…uhmmmm…it’s available in winter (as well as other seasons).
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Originally posted by Timberline Echoes:
We have placed several of our caches up in trees hanging from a rope so they are winter friendly, although bears like to play with them then.
Timberline EchoesThanks for the hints on some of your caches.
quote:
Originally posted by ecorangers:
“Available during winter,” what does that MEAN to you exactly?Brings to mind a cache I thought briefly about hunting near Snoqualmie Pass in Washington state. The owner stated clearly that they hid it suspended in a tree while snomobiling when there was at least 6 feet of snow on the mountain. I thought to myself “self, at 5’8″ there’s not a chance in you know where that you’ll get to that cache”. I thought long about the rating system… does one need a snomobile or 4 wheeler to get there? How about a ladder? Is 6′ of snow considered to be a “special equipment” requirement? I stopped thinking and moved along to the next cache which was “summer friendly” 😉
I take the meaning of “available in winter” to be the same as “winter friendly”. It means that I will not have to dig through a bunch of snow to locate the cache.
One cemetary cache I found required information from headstones that did not protrude from the ground. None of the stones around protruded from the ground. At the tme there was 2 feet of snow. It would have been wrong to remove the snow from the area that made up ground zero. This would be “not winter friendly”.
Hey BQ the key word is “some” won’t know which ones til you get way up here where real northern WI is. Need to show the Fu where “Up North” is too…LOL! Too sticky for snowshoes today although the snow is deep enough for them but it is good snowman building weather.
How ever “winter friendly” is defined we have found some caches that were labeled that and did not qualify and then some that were not labeled “wf” but were.
Wonder if there could be seasonal rating system added? As we do some summer 5s (on islands) that are 1 or 2s in the winter since we don’t need a boat then.
Can think of a few spring summer differences too. So many caching thoughts to ponder on this snow covered, hunter fille woods, non-caching weekend.
Timberline Echoes[This message has been edited by Timberline Echoes (edited 11-19-2005).]
My opinion, if you’re using the “Winter” symbol in general (especially with no further info about winter status in the description):
1. Good to to 12″ of snow
2. Ice for the most part will not freeze the thing to not being accessable or openable (is that a word).
3. And that without too much threat to life, that you should be able to make it from car to the container.I don’t agree that one needs to guarantee a snowplowed parking lot nearby, nor providing a path that won’t fill your boots with snow or slush. I think one needs to deal with those little issues while caching in Wisconsin.
With my own caches … I *THINK* they all have disclaimers about specific snow/ice conditions … like “not good when ice on ground”, or “good to about 6″ of snow” or “good in all winter conditions” … for me that’s an added responsiblity as a cache owner, to make these things clear so that people are never disappointed due to weather.
Now MUD … that’s different … it’s not my fault that “Johnny Cache” pulled both of his stocking feet out of his shoes in the mud last month at “Hawthorne’s Evil Monkey”! (He-He)
[This message has been edited by EnergySaver (edited 11-19-2005).]
Not that I have a lot of experience when it comes to caching and NO winter experience — YET! — If a cache is shown as being available in winter, I’d expect to be able to find it with some snow on the ground and without having to chip away any ice from ground zero. Maybe the ratings would have to go up seasonally, but I’d still expect to be able to find it without the weather or climate being a factor.
Just my 2 cents, for what their worth!
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