[Sagasu]

Thanks, everyone. These milestones have been coming a bit slower with our new “relaxed” pace, picking and choosing a bit more. Sandlander’s five-stage “Bushwhack” milestone choice at Roche-A-Cri is my kind of cache and is at a geologically unique and scenic park packed with many good caches. It was a fun and full trip more reminiscent of many in the past, during which Pete and I pushed the envelope again. Reliably interesting and challenging lonely caches were a big part of the day, but we did periodically “stop and smell the roses” on this trip that included some earth-caches and virtuals, even a couple puzzles, a canoe trip to an island, another “bushwhack” in waders, a hike on an ice age trail, a short-cutting rock climb to another trail with a great tunnel in part of the driftless region, some thunder and a downpour near the end of a day blessed with otherwise great weather while storms passed north and south of us, and, to top it off, a lucky FTF at one of the new THB/Zuma tributes by Bandits at the end of the day when Pete and I regrouped after a phone tip from Jim and extended our long day into the night. No wonder it took me three days to finish logging. I still need a trip like this once in a while when I get the opportunity, and the variety of well above-average caches and settings made for a most memorable day for the milestone. Thanks again for the nods, the great caches, and, Jim, for the tip that dragged Pete out of the shower and added yet another adventure to an already complete day.

[Sagasu]

Congrats on the big 1K! One of the best milestones of all to hit quadruple digits! I, too, wanted to take a peek at the adventure, but .com is still sleeping in at 8 am here. Will take a look later. Congrats again!

[Sagasu]

That’s for sure. Go place some puzzle caches or something. No, make that some traditionals.

[Sagasu]

None for me yet. Still tweaking, upgrading and restocking. My wife says she will archive some of them when I can’t drive or walk any more.

[Sagasu]

Love it! There’s always the “other” perspective. Thanks for sharing this bartrod! My family is still rolling on the floor.

[Sagasu]

Congrats from us as well. Don’t have a tally like some do, but I remember a couple of them well. Look forward to more. Thanks for the hefty contribution!

[Sagasu]

Congrats on the milestone. They do tend to start flying by!

[Sagasu]

Wow! See you popping up all over the place and you have put on some miles since the last milestone I saw. Congrats again!

[Sagasu]

We (both Dan and I, remembering your hospitality a year ago almost to the day) “echo” the congratulations! We just happened to be looking at some of the finds on that trip a couple days ago and knowing you were having a great time on that multi-state journey at some very nice caches. Congrats again!

[Sagasu]

Congrats on the milestone and that ceremonial 500th smooch! 😉

And just in case there is any doubt, remembering vaguely a solo (well, not completely solo) visit by Lancelot to one of my caches (GC14289) some time ago, I was curious to see if the count was accurate, and I found out it was:

October 23, 2007 by Lander & Lancelot (500 found)

Well, it seems Lancelot didn’t like that I told him he would have to create another individual identity to cache under if he was going to go out with women who were not his wife, even though he declares she did not get a cache kiss. After all, when I’m in Canada I cache as Camelot’s Queen, not our dual identity, so I figure what is fair for the goose…. Our finds should be OURS.

Anyhow, he dragged me to the other end of the state with him today, (not that much force was really necessary) so that he could return to this cemetery, let me find the cache so we could count it together.

He is adorable.

Cache kiss 142.

Now that’s commitment! Congrats again to both of you!

[Sagasu]

Wow! That was fast! Congrats, Ryan!

[Sagasu]

Congrats to all of you! Great log on the milestone choice; greater fun along the way with so many other caching and non-caching moments.

[Sagasu]

Now, that’s a fine log. Well done, and congrats on all the fun getting there, even more than the milestone at the end of those rainbows.

[Sagasu]

Great suggestions, Annie! And thanks for the comments and interest, Gwyn, and others. It looks like some new life has been breathed into this thread and some thoughtful ideas generated. I hope the WGA can help carry the message to newcomers, though not all will be reached, it can help to have a positive effect. I remain committed to having caches that finders can look forward to visiting instead of wincing. Spent some time adding brand new swag to a dozen caches owned by others today, almost every find we made. The alternative to some good regular sized traditionals is all micros with nothing in them, something I’d hate to see even if they are all great puzzles or good multis leading to a final. Great puzzles often have their own special enlightening experience, but, for me, and many others, the game centers around being out on the trail with a GPS and finding caches in interesting or scenic places. It would be nice to have the caches we find be worth opening when we get there.

[Sagasu]

I agree. And disagree. I agree that experience as a cache owner is probably the best teacher, but then again, not everyone who finds caches places them, or hasn’t yet had the opportunity to discover the joys of placing a single cache, much less maintaining a dozen, or fifty, or even a hundred. Being one of the few who took the time to place some new permanent caches out at High Cliff, and one of those who had an easy cache filled with new stuff that I bought to make the cache a nice family find completely plundered by some of the 50 who logged “Shore Is A Nice View” in five days after publishing. I know, how can one expect a cache to look as good as placed with that many visitors, these days or even in the old days when I thought most cachers were generous good-hearted people who were willing to leave a cache as well as or better than when they found it. Anyway, I drafted a diatribe to send to all the finders. It carefully pointed out that the message was just an FYI for some of the many I know or don’t know who visited. I hoped to somehow reach some of the others who seemed to come to use the cache as a trash can for used and tossed off trinkets and to pick up some nice things for their kids or, worse yet, any who showed their kids how to use a cache to “trade up?” and leave some junk for those who followed. Some ethics, huh? Well, I still have the draft, and haven’t either had the courage or time to send it. Not sure which. I guess I’m not surprised there have been so few replies to this thread, but it’s an indication of resignation and a welcome for more and more micros. Nonetheless, I disagree with the thread being totally a waste of time. I did enjoy reading the Florida cache listing that Hemi shared, and it gave me hope that there are some others out there who have similar thoughts. I do think we need to share our experiences and frustrations with others in case they don’t have any of their own to start with. For this reason I decided to finally reply to this thread, just to breathe a little life into it again, if only for a moment.

Here’s my diatribe draft. What do you think, send it?:

To: Old and new friends and other finders of our new cache “High Cliff – Shore Is A Nice View” at High Cliff State Park:

Wow, fifty-plus finders in four days! That should make any cache hider happy. I was out at the park again on Monday to find a couple caches myself and was curious to see how well hidden the cache was after so many logs. The good news is that it was pretty well hidden by the latest finder. The grass around the beacon tree did show signs of all the visitors, and the lake flies and wind mentioned by many in their logs were still there.

When I looked inside the cache, however, I was a bit flabbergasted to see how quickly, even with all the visitors, a nice new cache placed just days before and packed with several dollars worth of newly purchased kid swag had been so sadly depleted and reduced to just another container of mostly crap. Our hope as local cache hiders was to be good hosts for the WGA camp-out and some of the families attending, and, along with our commitment to non-micro caches, help provide some fun new finds out or near High Cliff. This went well enough, but I’m not sure the kids or adults doing the trading fully grasp the geocaching.com guidelines for finding a cache, that do include trading fairly or even enhancing a cache. Some, of course did, as personal friends added a geocoin and a path-tag, and some finders apparently traded up, with one log mentioning the addition of a camera, and another the trade of a kaleidoscope for a new bag of marbles.

The contents of the cache were pretty sad to see after proudly leaving it for finders with all new swag for those attending the event and others to follow, A shiny matchbox car, a couple necklaces, a crystal, a pin acquired at another event, a bag of cool marbles, some bagged glass gems, and a couple other things that I can’t remember, along with the geocoin, the path-tag, the camera, and even the pencil that was in the bagged log. All gone. More disappointing yet was the removal of a bag of native Wisconsin coral left and clearly addressed to another caching team as a special present for the kids in that family. Though I brought with me a couple new items to “replenish” this cache, as I am used to having to do with many of ours, I was unprepared for this challenge. Everything was gone but the log and the container. Left in the cache were a couple used toy cars, a tiny plastic chess pawn, and a couple miniature shoed feet cut or broken off a toy figurine.

I admit to being a little more swag-conscious than the average finder, and having a bias for non-micro traditional caches that give younger members of caching teams something more than a log in a micro to look forward to. We, as a caching family, also like caches in nice scenic natural settings or at an interesting or historically significant location. All of us were perplexed by how quickly this offering was diminished and felt a need to express our disappointment. The WGA (Wisconsin Geocaching Association) forums have threads about cache gripes and praise, but not everyone gets to read those thoughts about what works well and what doesn’t for those of us who take the time to “give back to the geocaching community” by placing and maintaining caches.

For this reason, I decided to take the time to send this to all the finders of this new cache, knowing that it is just an FYI for most, but a “nice to know” for some. There are some practical ethics about finding a cache and how it is treated or re-hidden so those who follow might have the same kind of fun experience.

Sagasu/Dave

[Author]

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