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It just seems a lot of cemetery multis are put out there just to make a multi rather than to learn something etc., so gramps just becomes unwittingly part of someone’s hide-and-seek game. In that case, isn’t it more prudent to choose a sign, fire number, etc. for a reference point?
On the Left Side of the Road...@Sagasu wrote:
When rsplash40 and I got the FTF last summer, he went over the edge of the boat in his diving gear and his arm hit the tether for the float suspended above the container in two seconds! What a lucky mark on a 5/5 cache!
CSI and I didn’t have an ice auger big enough to cut a hole I could fit through so we had to fish for it….The only reason I didn’t rank “nifty” as our most memorable cache is we didn’t have the whole family team along. (Mom-cacher thought we were nuts and she’s probably right.) But it definitely ranks as the find involving the most planning and the biggest assortment of equipment!!! 8)
On the Left Side of the Road...A first place and a close runner-up both involve portaging our children…
First place is GCZ94V, “Grand Chute’s Wild Side.” We were there in spring but the trail to this cache said “Trail Closed: Wet and Mucky.” After completing two of the other ones out here, we said, hey, these trails aren’t so bad, so we approached this cache from the back side. Yes, it was a bit mucky, but not too bad. Got to the cache ok. Then we started to head back following the “closed” trail.
We got quite a ways, and we probably should have gotten a clue when we found a pair of sandals mired in the muck in the middle of the trail. But, we could still make it through. But eventually we came to a point where it was a literal swamp, about 2 feet deep across the whole trail for about 50 feet. With 2 miles back the other way, but the parking lot just .1 mile the other, dad pulled off shoes and socks and shuttled the two kid cachers over piggy-back.
The other is GCJCAX, “Bog Walk.” Same story, different season. On the trail, but dad decided to take the shortcut. 🙄 Next thing you know, we’re in the swamp trying to pick our way across frozen sod outcroppings. Well, one wrong step and dad’s up to his knees in ice water. So, might as well ferry the kids over.
Get to the cache, and there it is, high and dry–just off the trail, had dad chosen to follow it… 😳
On the Left Side of the Road...@HOT TROT wrote:
So what does it say if you put out a brand new ammo box, with only a log in it?
It says you want a cache that is easy to find, or you are a cheap b*****d 😆
On the Left Side of the Road...@SammyClaws wrote:
Sorry to hijack this thread, but what do you do with the swag you do trade for?
I can’t recall ever trading for swag and we never have any “adult” trading items along. We considered this a “hunting” game rather than a “trading” game from the start and the only reason we even care about swag in the caches is for kids.
Which is why McD toys do, in fact, work for some kids. Better than a broken toy or a spark plug.
Then again, maybe someone needed that spark plug….or panty hose…or button…or dirty golf ball…
On the Left Side of the Road...@rogheff wrote:
This is exactly why I have come to love micro, locationless and virtual caches. I don’t expect to find anything so I’m never disappointed.
This is an interesting point. When we started, the kids were excited to find the Box in the Woods. But after a while, that lost its appeal and they started to enjoy the hunt, which is the point. Our daughter (age 9) is the best micro-hunter in the group.
However, anyone who plants a bison tube in the woods should be locked in a room and forced to listen to Robin Gibb’s “Boys Do Fall in Love” on infinite repeat…
On the Left Side of the Road...@tyedyeskyguy wrote:
One cache I can’t wait to check on, Signs was filled with some really good stuff, including a DVD player. I wonder what’s in there now? Any guesses?
With only 14 finders so far, I’m hoping it’s still of reasonably high quality…or at least you know who to blame if it isn’t!
Which brings up a related point…we do tailor the quality of swag to how popular we think a cache would be, to some extent. On puzzles that won’t get found much, we actually have a stock of little puzzles we put in. But on single-stage ammo boxes I admit to having a big bag o’ Goodwill stuff that we pick from and stuff it full.
On the Left Side of the Road...Just thinking aloud here on what might happen if this would ultimately extend to other caching attributes/searches…obviously it’s all up to the cacher placers’ discretion on what they’d want to highlight but eventually you could end up with a WSQ KFC WCA WF PNG.
(That would be a Wisconsin spirit quest kid friendly cache that’s wheel chair accessible and a winter-friendly park ‘n’ grab)
I agree KFC would be a nice handy way to know just from looking at the cache name, and I’m sure we’d use it as we look for KFCs, but unlike WSQ there actually is an attribute you can already search on.
Just some grist for the mill…
On the Left Side of the Road...This is a great idea and especially for paperless caching where the attributes may not show in the cachemate file.
Consider it done. (Well, done soon anyway.)
In case the Kentucky Fried…I mean, Kid Friendly designation changes…don’t know if there’s a way to keep people notified other than checking the forum…and not everybody is a WGA member.
I wonder if someone is artistic enough out there to create a little logo to plunk in your cache page, like the WGA logo? Don’t ask me, I’m a writer, not an artist…
On the Left Side of the Road...@marc_54140 wrote:
So, one person solves 10, and gets 30 free? No.
How can you possibly make that case, Marc? The “entry fee” idea alone just confirms the fact that you get more out of this endeavor than you put into it. I solve 10, I get the solutions to 30, 40, 50, whatever. All those extra ones are the freebies. No matter how you slice this semantically, the fact remains that people are along to hunt some puzzles that they did not personally solve.
And we’re not talking about puzzles that requires on-site solution. Your original invitation stated “Each participant must present solutions to 10 puzzles.” That is present solutions. As in, “here you go, here are my 10 to contribute.” Not, “here are the 10 I’d like us to work on as a group.”
Bottom line is, there are those that feel this is fine, and there are those that feel it’s a cheap way out. Obviously I fall in the latter category but you don’t, and those are differing opinions. But the tour, as originally and continually described, is about “tour” (swap puzzle solves, spend some time together, have fun) rather than “collaborate on solves.”
On the Left Side of the Road...@marc_54140 wrote:
If a couple of cachers get together and pool ideas to come up with the final solution, that’s fine.
Yes, agreed. But this is a LOT different from swapping solved-coordinate sheets, which is what s|s’s original concern about this tour was.
@marc_54140 wrote:
Also, do not forget that a lot of puzzle caches involve going to the posted coordinates, collect some info, and work out the final.
Agreed, and again a lot different from, “Here are the 10 puzzles I’ve solved, now where are the 40 solutions I get in return?”
On a related note, about the complaint in this thread (and others) that there are no good places left to put trads because there are too many puzzles out there, I see several new trads have popped up right in the middle of Puzzleville (aka Appleton), and we put out three trads this past week.
So apparently all the spots in the world haven’t been claimed yet.
And it’s also a great lesson in free market economics–consumers demand, the market responds. It all works out given time and absent of any artificial meddling…
On the Left Side of the Road...There seems to be a myopia around this issue in that only experienced cachers play the game and after a while the community owes it to them to place new caches for them to find. For people new to the game, every cache is a new cache.
Yes, owners have a responsibility to maintain their caches, and an occasional review of one’s placement portfolio is common sense.
But there seems to be an undercurrent that after some time, caches should be archived “just because” and that makes no sense.
There are letterboxes that have been around for decades, but we just found them last year. I’m glad they were left there. Geocaching is just getting started. It’ll all work out over time…
On the Left Side of the Road...@tyedyeskyguy wrote:
In the end, I’m not the cache police.
That’s what we need! Here’s my suggestion…
On the Left Side of the Road...@tyedyeskyguy wrote:
…then there are those cachers that just feel free to hand out solutions to puzzles that aren’t theirs.
That’s the whole point of s|s’s original post, and it’s exactly what a Puzzle Cache Tour does. Sure, you have to solve a few to be part of the tour, but you get the goods on a whole bunch you had no hand in solving. And again, that’s much different than putting some heads together for a true collaboration.
So, s|s’s issue was not to encourage “handing out coordinates” through a tour because it runs counter to the spirit of the game, as well as the fact that it will tork off people (and I believe it’s a substantial majority) who do take genuine and justifiable offense having their hard work short-cut.
On the Left Side of the Road...There seems to be a fair amount of vitriol out there regarding puzzles.
I hear and read people complaining about puzzle caches–they’re too hard, there are too many, they are taking up all the good spots (hardly–at least half of the puzzle caches we’ve found are placed in very uninteresting locations, and lame trads take up “good spots” too), why don’t we put them on a “special” site like Waymarking became for virtual caches.
All just seems like sour grapes to me. There is plenty of room in this game, and plenty of places in the world, for the types of caches that are currently supported. If it’s to the point where you’ve “cleaned out” so many areas that all you have left are blue question marks and you’re having trouble getting your double-digit days every time you head out the door, try to remember what got you into this game in the first place. The challenge? The adventure? Solve some puzzles, get out and place some caches yourself, take a trip somewhere…or get a life because you are spending WAY too much time geocaching…
On the Left Side of the Road... -
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