Where are all the local cachers?

[marc_54140]

Does anyone look at the Cache Rescue list?

Why are not the local cachers taking on these caches, and cleaning them up?

[Thraxman]

Funny you should mention that. I looked at the cache rescue list several days ago, and I was surprised to see a cache that needs to be rescued in my local area. I planned on getting it, but you guessed it, I forgot.

I bet other people have the same story… good intentions, but ultimately the chore is forgotten because it just isn’t all that exciting. A reminder of sorts may help. Let’s face it, the “Cache Rescue” link isn’t really the most prominent feature on the WGA website. It sits to the left of the page looking pretty much like all the other links over there. Many of those probably don’t get clicked on very often either.

How about naming the second weekend of every month “Cache Cleanup Weekend”, post a reminder in the news or in the forums, and see what happens? This would serve as a simple, friendly reminder for interested parties to check the rescue list and take care of business.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Another thought would be bundling the Cache Rescue into the Lonely Cache Game, offering points for picking up archived caches? I’ll confess I haven’t logged any points in the game, but I have visited some of them while they were on the list.

[labrat_wr]

@Team Honeybunnies wrote:

Another thought would be bundling the Cache Rescue into the Lonely Cache Game, offering points for picking up archived caches?

This has been talked about and I know of one cache that indeed had made the list for that reason.

I think one issue is that only a previous finder would go after the rescue for the points as others may have an adversion to chasing a cache they doubt will be there.

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[Sagasu]

I had thought there was an intent to put the Cache Rescue list into the LCG and there were some listed previously. There are a lot of completed missions and the one local Appleton area one is on my radar. Will be checking the location (a previous find) in a day or two, LCG or not.

[sandlanders]

I frequently check the cache rescue list, but there are never any missions in our area. I know of some local caches that have been archived, some by the owners, some by the reviewers. Many of these never have any notes on the archived pages that someone has checked on the area and/or retrieved anything that may be left.

If a cache is archived because several cachers say they couldn’t find it or it had gone missing, and the cache is disabled either by the owner or by the reviewers for inaction by the owner, is it just assumed that there is nothing left to find if it is missing?

If you know of anything in our area that needs checking on, we’ll be glad to give it an attempt (but nothing in the snows or icebox soon to come).

[seldom|seen]

Cache Rescue Missions are part of the LCG although not incorporated into the LCG reporting widget. I have done a fair number of Rescue Missions and have had to ask Team Deejay and hence, Jeremy, to add them to the LCG list, upon which they are reported upon and then removed. Hopefully there will be a better method of including them into the LCG reporting framework which would certainly entice a few more of us to do more Missions and perhaps get more cachers to submit missions on theirs as well.

Cache Rescue Missions are not just about archiving and picking up old caches either. In fact, the Submit Mission form allows you to specify any number of reasons to visit a cache. Say you have a cache some distance away that a maintenance post was placed on and your trailboss in that area can’t get to is soon either. Just submit a mission to check on the status of your cache and perform any necessary maintenance. It is a great, and relatively unused, tool that more people should take advantage of.

[seldom|seen]

… and it’s a good thing I look in on the forums too. With Dave eying up the local rescue, I just had to jump in the car and go get it! That one was actually a decent hide and still there, and I’m not sure why that cache moved so quickly from “wet log – needs maintenance” to archive, but it happens. Too bad it didn’t get put up for adoption…

[-cheeto-]

I’m not sure why that cache moved so quickly from “wet log – needs maintenance” to archive

Yeah i noticed that too… unfortunately not even the “cacher community” can keep a cache going when it get’s disabled so fast by the reviewers. And once it’s disabled, if the owner does not come forward it’s a goner. In this case a new log and baggie is all it would have took.

this was one of my first caches found in Appleton when I first started and I still hadn’t seen many hidden like it after nearly 700 caches found.

Oh well, we move on.

[Team Deejay]

Why do certain caches get flagged for maintenance issues? Here is what I do: If a cache is hit with a NM or NA log, I look at the prior logs. If there are consecutive logs for more than a month complaining of the same problem, it gets disabled and watched for a month. This means that there are at least 2 months between the first complaint and the cache being archived. Usually it is more like 6 months to a year that people are complaining before someone posts a NM/NA. If there is no action after a month, the cache is archived. If the cache owner posts a note on the cache asking for more time, they get it. If they email me for more time, they get it. If they communicate in any other means, (including US mail for one guy), they get more time. If a cache is archived and then they fix it and want it unarchived, they get it, unless someone puts another cache in the same place right away. If someone else contacts me and says they have maintained the cache, I will enable it for the maintainers (assuming I disabled it in the first place.)

The fact is that wet logs, missing logs, missing containers, pest infestations, etc. are a symptom of owner neglect. As far as I have observed, there are 3 reasons for this happening. 1. The cache owner is no longer active. 2. The cache owner has listed his email as a junk email account and doesn’t watch his logs. or 3. The cache owner has more caches than they can reliably maintain.

In the case of inactive owners, it is just as well that these caches are archived. We cannot rely on “the community” for these types of caches. There are just too many “place it and run away” caches for this to be practical.

In the second case, this is actually a violation of the guidelines. Note that you are not only required to maintain any cache you place; you are also required to monitor the logs of your cache and ensure they are legitimate. Clearly there is no way to enforce this guideline, but not using a legitimate email address for your geocaching account is pretty blatant.

In third case, I have some sympathy, but when all you need to do is post a note to the cache page or send an email, I don’t really understand what the problem is. I would think that people would want their finders to have a good experience finding their cache, but apparently some people don’t agree. Of course, if people used good, waterproof containers, maintenance would not be such an issue.

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