[Todd300]

I won’t make that one then. I’ll be in Gladstone, MI for a high school football game. Thanks for clarifying though.

[Todd300]

This is following the WGA event, correct?

Because I have to work during the WGA event, but I’ll be done at 4. So I’ll miss most of the WGA event, but I can stop by for this one.

[Todd300]

I load my “Varmint” from GSAK. It does not have paperless caching but I also have a Samsung Galaxy S3, an Android phone so I use C:GEO on that and use GSAK to store caches on there for the paperless part. Very quick to access, internet not required except to log finds in the field and I don’t do that.

I do get notifications in my phone but like UWS22, I don’t rush out for the FTF unless it just falls into my lap and I’m heading there anyways. FTf’s are not a big deal anymore. The cache will be there whether I’m FTF ot 100th to find.

Having a cell phone when caching is also great for PAF (phone a friend) when stumped on a cache in the field. I’ve done it a couple times.

[Todd300]

@Run N Search wrote:

Warning :thread hijacking in progress..
If you find a cache in another country, you get a souvenir for that country. Do people from other countries get a U.S. souvenir? Why don’t we get one for the U.S.?

We do – in the form of the 50 state souvenirs.

[Todd300]

@sweetlife wrote:

Todd, Menominee Falls about 45 minutes away had rooms

Thanks. I never was one to book early. I’m a spontaneous type of guy. I usually get lucky in booking rooms at last minute, but only in areas that don’t have large events going on.

If I do go next year, I got a cousin who lives 10 minutes from WB, if that. I can stay with him.

Thanks again for the info.

[Todd300]

On a side note, how far out from WB were hotels filled? I was wondering how far I may have to go from WB if I was to like, book a room at the last minute at the next event? I thought about doing that last week but was afraid I may be an hour away.

[Todd300]

If I was forced to choose my favorite cache of all time, it would be hard to do as there were several memorable caches that I’ve found.

But if it came down to it, Pike Powder Hike would be my at the top of my list. It emphasizes what geocaching is all about. A long hike in the woods. Some tough walks on an incline and decline. And a well hidden regular size container.

I found that one four years ago for my 200th find.

I plan on being back at Pike Lake next month for your series, Becca, among all the other caches that has been placed since I last visited Pike Lake 4 years ago.

[Todd300]

@hack1of2 wrote:

@Todd300 wrote:

Archive a hide just so you can put a new one in the same general area? That’s called “churning”.

Todd it could be your comment is based on an incorrect understanding of the SE Wisconsin area. Many popular parks have all the good spots blocked by other caches. Around here it is preferable for many of the caches to be archived after 2 or 3 years to make room for new ones so the game can continue with quality hides. It’s a welcome happening when old caches that seemingly everybody has found and have little to no current activity are archived to make room for new caches by new hiders in the same general area. I plan to archive many of my caches in two to three years so others can hide caches in their place. Otherwise some great parks in the Milwaukee area will have almost zero caching activity. About a year ago 100 Battleship caches were archived after 2-1/2 years, freeing up many many spots and creating hiding opportunities for many new cachers including me. I think perhaps you’re thinking of situations where one archives a cache and the same person hides another one in the exact same spot. That’s not exactly what Goldie was referring to. Not only that, but in certain areas, including the Milwaukee County Park System, caches are required to be withdrawn after two years to reduce environment wear & tear, although lately they haven’t been enforcing that. 🙂

That’s too bad about having to archive a cache every couple years or so. I’ve always liked caches that has been around for a long time because I enjoy reading the time tested logs on the cache page.

I realize that once everyone in an area found the cache in a park, activity drops. So the owner archives it and either puts a new one in a different spot or someone else does. Then they return.

Up here, caches have been around for a long time. We are in a tourist area. Out of towners pass through all the time and find our caches. Many are placed with the view in mind and many out of towners like it.

I don’t think a cache has been archived here just to make room for a new one. Most archivals are a result of the cache gone missing, damage, or the owner goes MIA.

I’m surprised though with all the caches in SE Wisconsin, there has not been a single incident of a bomb scare call. I’ve had my share of people looking at me wondering what I’m doing when I’m urban caching and even was suspected in a bomb scare call myself a few years ago in Green Bay.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. I’ll probably be in your neck of the woods next month – with the emphasis on “woods” – when I go to Pike Lake for some caching. Going to Kettle Moraine for a football game so I’ll do some caching there on the side.

Also, reading Astro-D’s post, I can’t believe cachers had to wait 45 minutes to register. Sounds like they didn’t have enough people manning the registration tables. Maybe staff more next time to get the people moving through. Like someone said on here, the WBCC do not want people staying at Regner Park. They want them out in the city spending money. So it would be wise for them to get the registration line moving quickly and get the cachers back out in the city.

[Todd300]

@The Goldie Diggers wrote:

I would also like to say something about archiving hides. Over the past several years I have begun a practice of archiving my hides after 2 years. This is a way of rotating spots to reduce damage to a particular area and also providing fresh hides for people to find. The alternative is keeping hides in place and then resorting to squeezing new ones in , in less desirable locations. After 2 years most hides trickle down to a couple finds every month or so. The biggest problem in our area currently is over saturation. I think the majority of people would prefer less hides If they were quality.

Archive a hide just so you can put a new one in the same general area? That’s called “churning”.

As long as no damage is being done to the area, I prefer leaving hides out as long as possible. Granted, my area doesn’t have the geocaching popularity yours does, but I don’t archive hides just to put out a new one and bring people back. Exceptions would be if damage is being caused from searches but that’s it. Even then, I’ll use the “update coordinates” note and move it to a new location if possible.

And you’re right. West Bend is too saturated, But at least it doesn’t have too many puzzles laying around like the Fox Valley does which poses a problem for future hides if you don’t know a puzzle final is nearby.

[Todd300]

@LDove wrote:

Hope you come out next year and get to see what it’s really like. I think you will be happily surprised. 🙂

Thanks for the offer, but large events are not my thing. I prefer small Meet & Greet type events as well as geocaching classes events (GSAK, learning first aid in the field, etc)

Good luck next year.

[Todd300]

Before I post my thoughts, I want to post 2 disclaimers.

1) I have never…ever..been to a Cache Bash event and did not go this year.

2) I am not intending to upset anyone as I’m simply stating an opinion.

With those disclaimers out of the way, I wanted to pass along something that Braid Beard’s Gang said last week when I said I would not be attending the event due to the crowds.

@Braid Beards Gang wrote:

@Todd300 wrote:

Day off on Saturday. But not going to a certain mega event. Too many people for my liking.

You could go a week later. There isn’t anyone around and you can see how 800+ cache teams destroy a natural environment. Most geo-trails will be so defined you could probably drive on them.

This made me think. And he’s right. I have to wonder just how many flower beds got trampled. How many bushes got pulled apart. How many rocks and branches got thrown all over the place in a search. And the list goes on.

It is one thing for a cache in a busy area to get a lot of finds. But that usually takes a period of time. I did not see any logs from the area, but I can just imagine how many logs were written for EACH new cache in that area.

I hate to imagine the city now. I suggest all cachers in the area take a drive around in the area and look for any damage at cache spots. Chances are good there will be damage at those areas. Trust me. While some cachers are careful, others don’t give a crap. They will throw things around and not care about the environment in an effort to find the cache quickly and move on to the next one.

Now, I understand West Bend has about 500+ caches in about a 7 mile radius. With maybe 500 more just 10 miles out. I could be wrong. But I was looking at the map and it looks like there’s a cache on every block or it seems like.

In my area, there is just 60 caches total in a radius of about 10 miles and you know what? That’s how I like it. Every cache in our area brings the person to a park or a boat launch or another spot that the cacher should visit. Outside of a guardrail hide from a puzzle final, I don’t think my area has any LPC’s guardrails, or roadside sign caches. Same goes for dead ends. We have quite a few dead ends in my area and none of them have a cache.

But when I visited West Bend last year to attend a football game, I did a little caching before the game and it seemed like every roadside sign and every dead end has a cache. I’m sorry, but it’s beyond ridiculous. But don’t feel bad because Green Bay and Appleton are the same thing. Guardrails, LPC’s, and dead end caches all over there too.

But back to West Bend, I’ve noticed that each year 50+ caches are published during the Cache Bash event. The city is chock full of caches and yet 50 more caches get published each year? How is that possible? I’m guessing caches are being archived just to make room for new caches. It is one thing to archive a cache if it goes missing or in disrepair. But it is another thing to archive just to place another cache there, perhaps even in the same exact spot. That’s not right.

I realize the event organizers want to attract cachers by placing new caches in the area for them to find. But shouldn’t the point of an event be about socializing with other cachers, not about rushing out to find caches and getting a stamp or whatever.

You know, I ACTUALLY thought about going to West Bend last Saturday. I would get there at 7am, do a short run, go to the event, register, leave without saying a word to anyone, and finish my run the rest of the day. I could rack up the numbers and get a Mega event icon without actually taking part in the event. I’m sure many cachers have already done this. Show up, register, and leave without participating in the activities just so they can get a mega event icon in their profile, especially if they didn’t have the mega event icon in the first place. I certainly don’t have this icon.

Maybe next year, don’t publish any new caches for the event – period. Focus on the event itself at Regner Park itself. Maybe with no new caches to be found, people would actually stay at the park and participate in the activities there instead of stopping by, registering, then leaving. And by not publishing new caches, maybe it will save the local environment from damage caused by the 800+ cache teams invading the town.

[Todd300]

L Dove is not the only cache owner in WB. Glad I live in an area that is not visited much. It would suck to see 1000 e-mails a day between owner notifications and other cache notifications.

[Todd300]

Oh, you mean your own caches. If you are concerned about your phone, then look at your phone settings to turn off your email notifications. I get e-mail on my phone but I have it set not to notify me of new mail. I grab it myself when I’m ready.

[Todd300]

Sure you can. Go to your profile page. Scroll down until you see “set up notifications”. Click that and uncheck what you do not want to receive.

[Todd300]

That would be my homestate – Michigan. I have the most finds in WI.

Go figure.

Edit: I’m sure I’m not the only border resident who has more finds in the other border state than his own state.

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