Winter Caching

[benny7210]

IMHO Winter Caching is one of my favorite times of the year to cache. (No bugs, no sweat running down your forehead, and no leaves on the trees.)
But the snow on the ground can cause their own problems. When YOU hide a cache do your cache “attributes” indicate whether or not it is winter friendly?

It sure would help members of the caching community like my self who enjoy the winter caching. It sure beats waiting for spring!!

So take a few minutes and up date your “Attributes” Thanks

[Mathman]

I do use the attributes to alert cachers of what they can expect. I also try to make ALL of my caches “winter friendly” so that people will look for them in the winter if they so choose.

[zuma]

Personally, I really enjoy winter caching, and went out and got a few this morning before the snow got real heavy up around here. And I agree that making them winter friendly is a kind thing to do, and should be done whenever possible. Personally, I do not look at the attributes much, since I basically hunt em all, but I think it is a good idea to use the attributes for those who have preferences.

Winter has it’s advantages, and disadvantages. I had a couple of DNFs today, where I am sure the cache location was obscured by snow. On the other hand, I had several very easy finds, since I could just follow footprints right to the cache, in several cases.

At any rate, winter caching beats work and beats sitting on the couch watching some lame TV show.

zuma

[3 Hawks]

@zuma wrote:

At any rate, winter caching beats work and beats sitting on the couch watching some lame TV show.

zuma

No truer words have been typed in these forums!!

[Team Deejay]

When I find “micro on the ground” hides in Wisconsin, I usually suggest to the owner (not in the log) that a higher location would be more appropriate. That said, micros in the woods tend to be not winter friendly, regardless of how high they are located.

[furfool]

If I’m not mistaken, I believe the attributes snow icon says “available in winter”. I have seen a lot of caches that say “available in winter but not winter friendly”.

I will usually spend a little extra time researching the whole description and read quite a few of the logs before hitting one with a lot of snow on the ground. If it has been found a couple of time since the last snow, I will go for it. If not, I may go for it if time allows.

[Team Honeybunnies]

Year-round caching keeps the smile on my face 😀 . I just wish that Cachemate included the attributes in some form. Often enough the cache page doesn’t get read until in the field or at the time of logging, so I miss the attributes entirely.

[gotta run]

Is the consensus to err on the side of caution and call caches “not available” if being buried by snow will make them difficult to find? We’ve tended to not use the “not available” attribute unless it’s virtually impossible to find a container if it snows, or if the trails to the cache were not open in winter (i.e., restricted to skiing). Our thought was that some don’t mind digging through snow if the cache container is big or in an obvious location (stump, etc.).

We know it’s a judgment call, but do you consider “available in winter” to be hides that are off the ground, hanging in trees, etc., while most ground containers would be “not available?”

On the Left Side of the Road...

[furfool]

My understanding is that “available in winter” means just that. That you are able to access the cache during the winter. “Not winter friendly” means that it will be that much harder to find if there is snow on the ground, ice, frozen in,etc. If it says “winter friendly” the cache should be up off the ground and/or protected somehow from the elements. Of course I have found a couple of caches that were winter friendly that were in the tops of fence posts that had snow on the top of them. Unless one is hanging somewhere, or something to that effect, the wind can easily blow snow over them.

[Cachelovskys]

@Team Honeybunnies wrote:

Year-round caching keeps the smile on my face 😀 . I just wish that Cachemate included the attributes in some form. Often enough the cache page doesn’t get read until in the field or at the time of logging, so I miss the attributes entirely.

I would have to agree with this…of all of the good things paperless caching has, not knowing the attributes is strangely missing.

I also LOVE winter caching!

[ecorangers]

I agree with Furfool….if you use the attribute “available in winter” that means the park it is hidden in is (or area that it is hidden in) is open during the winter. Thus, on some of our (recent) cache hides, I will write on the cache page available in winter but NOT winter friendly for those on the ground. Meaning come and get it but it might be covered up in the snow. For some caches, I will disable them if they are not “available in winter,” but some determined geocachers will still hunt them.
EnergySaver will take his cache hides a step further and state on the cache page, available in up to 3 inches of snow 😆 Tami

[rogheff]

Would an ammo can hidden in the stump of an old tree, frozen in a solid block of ice also be not available? Micros on the ground aren’t the only caches that have issues in the winter.

[furfool]

I would say that it IS available, but it may not be winter friendly.

[gotta run]

We went through our caches and added winter attributes to all of them one way or the other. We decided to err on the side of “minimizing griping,” therefore intepreting “available in winter” as “winter friendly.” Sort of the same philosophy we’ve taken to other attributes and ratings–no one gripes if you rate something a terrain 3 when it’s probably only a 2, but you’ll hear about it if you call something a 2 but people have to walk up a grassy knoll or step over a branch to get to the cache.

I can see the logs now…Went out to attempt this one thinking it was available in winter based on owner’s attributes, but the cache wasn’t stuck to a lamp post in the parking lot and since I was wearing only my flip-flops I couldn’t hike the trail, and anyway since I forgot my gloves I couldn’t possibly have dug through 2 inches of snow even if I had managed to get to GZ. Definitely NOT winter friendly. I’m NOT taking a DNF on this one since I didn’t really try, but I’ll post this note here to let everyone know the owner’s a moron.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Frizz]

@gotta run wrote:

I can see the logs now…Went out to attempt this one thinking it was available in winter based on owner’s attributes, but the cache wasn’t stuck to a lamp post in the parking lot and since I was wearing only my flip-flops I couldn’t hike the trail, and anyway since I forgot my gloves I couldn’t possibly have dug through 2 inches of snow even if I had managed to get to GZ. Definitely NOT winter friendly. I’m NOT taking a DNF on this one since I didn’t really try, but I’ll post this note here to let everyone know the owner’s a moron.

I’m gonna save this “sample” log and use it, maybe as soon as this weekend! Thanks in advance gotta run for making my logging time easier. 😆 😆 😆

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