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I am a newbie who just stumbled across geocaching less than 48 hours ago. I am waiting for my first GPS, a Lawrence iFinder Hunt to arrive, then I’ll be off. I am excited about looking for the local caches but I’m already thinking of where to place my own.
My specific question is what about Midwest winters? The first place I thought of is almost good enough to be a virtual cache but only May-Sept even though it would be accessible all winter, there’d really be no point in coming in winter. The other more traditional ideas I have the opposite problem with – if I hike off a trail and drop the thing in the woods or a meadow, won’t everyone easily be able to find it just from the obvious tracks in the snow? I can’t see anyway around that last one. Every location I think up seems it’d be either good in winter or summer but not both. I have some awesome ideas on places to put them in winter that would actually be much harder to get to in summer! I wish I could just do seasonal caches.
Any advice form the more experienced?
Lastly, I am thinking of drainpipe with caps for the containers but will the caps fit well enough just pressed on? I’ve gotten together swag and have it all bagged up but it seems like it’d still get moist and icky from the temperature changes alone.
Thanks for any help you can give me. I am really looking forward to it! – Lauren
Hi Lauren! Welcome to the craziness! Congratulations on getting so into the whole process of Geocaching!
One thing you should always ask yourself when placing a cache: “Would I like to come here?” If you can answer yes to that, then you’re half way there!
Don’t worry about the snow in the winter, or the brush in the summer. People will cache year round and tend to find what they’re looking for, tracks or not.
Just place them in a manner that you find enjoyable, and let the masses worry about the rest. No matter how much you love a cache, there will always be someone who doesn’t agree with it.
The best ones I’ve seen are those that take me to some place “in my back yard” that I didn’t know was there, or show me some strange and wonderful things. Historical caches are also a big hit in my logbook!
So, do your thing and the rest will work itself out! Welcome again!
Happy Caching!
~MajorBrat
I enjoy caching in the winter. It’s a refreshing change from the bugs and heat. Going the day after a big snowfall just adds to the challengs. And one has to remember to have good dry footwear and dress in layers.
You mentioned thinking about having a virtual. Virtual caches are very, very difficult to get approved on geocaching.com. They encourage you to use it instead as the first step of a multi-cache. Or, (purists avert your eyes!) you could list it on another cache listing service out there.
Welcome to the addiction!
Team LightningBugs
* * * * * * * * * *Tracks: you could try to put it out when you know there’s going to be some snow coming. Then don’t submit the listing for approval for a just a little while. They often take a day or two to get approved anyway.
Ok, someone has to add the words of caution, so ……..
You might considering caching for awhile, before placing your first cache. Seeing how others have placed some will give you some general knowledge you might make use of.
If you really get into geocaching, then there is no real rush to get that first cache out there. Go out and find 50 or so caches. Take time and consider.
And certainly a major consideration is whether or not to stick with the program, so to speak. Quite a few people start caching, but then wander off in other directions. If that happens, it’s a good idea not to have a cache or two sitting out there.
This is a great hobby! Hopefully, you will become as addicted as many of us are (although most would not admit it!).
Marc
WOW! Don’t listen to the “bad” placement advice! There is no such thing as placing a cache too early in your game! There is no need to find 1, 10, 50, or even 1000 first! If placing a cache is what you want to do, then by all means, DO IT!!! Never let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t place a cache! As stated in my earlier post, there’s always someone who will disagree with you so just go and do your thing!
While it’s true that you may gain a better sense of what you want in a cache hide, waiting isn’t going to change your desire to place them. As long as you’re following the guidelines set by Groundspeak, and enforced by the Wisconsin volunteer approvers, you won’t have a problem.
Some of us (myself included) have 1000+ and only a few hides. If only I had the desire to hide more… In the mean time, I’ll keep searching for what you hide!
MajorBrat
MajorBrat, you are SO right, always someone who will disagree…..
Not bad advice, just my view on the situation.
I’d have to disagree with MB. While 50 may be excessive, I’d at least find a few in your area just so you can see different examples of you they are put together, as far as hiding styles, cammoflage, stuff to put in the cache, etc.
Personally, I probably found somewhere between 5-10 before I hid my first, which didn’t last too long because of a poor container and placement. My second cache, hidden in 2002, is still happily being found over three years later, muggle-free, animal reinforced, and it even survived the Des Plaines River flooding last spring.
There aren’t any rules, however. If you feel you’re ready to hide a cache, go for it! As you find more and more caches, your hiding skills will improve and your second, third, and beyond caches will be even better!
Your idea (in original post) about pipe (I’m assuming PVC plumbing pipe) with end caps is good … except those end cap PVC fittings can tend to do one of two things: (1) get wedged on real tight and not want to come off, (2) get loose and fall off. You might want to consider the PVC pipe, but try finding a rubber cap for one end and GLUE a PVC fitting on the other end. This would give you a very sturdy container, that should last a long time.
Also consider reading an article about hiding your first cache, that some dork wrote: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/article.html
Regarding how long to wait for your first hide … I would say go ahead and hide now if you “have the itch” to do so. But maybe consider going with a simple cache, rather than a complex multi or something with an involved them. Get a few under your belt (caches!) before going for your most creative hide(s). Just my 2 cents.
quote:
Originally posted by Lauren & Garm:
My specific question is what about Midwest winters?Worry not about the winters and the snow. What you can do is choose a place with a lot of possible places to hide a geocache, then make tracks to ALL of those places within about 300 ft. of the actual cache. That way, nobody really knows which of the tracks leads to the goods.
quote:
Originally posted by Lauren & Garm:
The first place I thought of is almost good enough to be a virtual cache but only May-Sept even though it would be accessible all winter, there’d really be no point in coming in winter.For all practial purposes, new virtual caches will no longer be listed on the geocaching.com website. Instead, you should have a look at another website: Waymarking.org.
quote:
Originally posted by Lauren & Garm:
Lastly, I am thinking of drainpipe with caps for the containers but will the caps fit well enough just pressed on?From my personal observations as a geocacher… More often than not, the drain-pipe style of caches that I have found have been wet and icky on the inside. I don’t like them.
My observations as a volunteer geocache reviewer… Drain-pipe style caches are usually a bad idea, as the un-informed coming across them is going to immediately think “Pipe Bomb”.
There are no guidelines prohibiting the use of plumbing as geocaches, but there are probably better container choices. By far and away, the best container type for keeping contents dry and animal-free is an old army ammo can. If you are going to use one of those, be sure it is CLEARLY and PLAINLY labeled as a geocache, and include a contact phone number and the complete address for the geocaching.com website. That way if somebody calls the bomb squad, they can call the number before they blow it up (yes it has happened before).
By far the best container for keeping non-geocachers from getting nervous, is a clear tupperware container. It is very difficult to keep a tupperware container dry in all temperatures / seasons too.
As far as finding some before you place some, it is always a good idea, but not required. I think that maybe we could see some real creativity out of somebody who has no pre-conceived notion as to how a geocache should be hidden.
[This message has been edited by Buy_The_Tie (edited 10-17-2005).]
it’s also important to decide if you want people to be able to find your hide. i’ve always thought that is the point of hiding a cache. you will need to average the coordinates of the location. it’s amazing how much “x marks the spot” can move from one visit to the next.
we only waited a couple of months to place our first cache, but we did do some finding first.
good luck with your hides. and keep in mind the muggle factor, you want them found by cachers, not by casual walkers or kids.
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