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Having worked out all four remote caches i was quite disappointed to see the cache location given out as a waypoint,
i hope this wasn’t because we got one of the logs soaking wet 😉Slightly off of Dartmoor but we did the “Memories of Diptford” series today and while looking for no.8 (GC54BBV) we came across a letterbox, the last logs in it were dated 1999, there was still a stamp in the box although we couldn’t make out what it was except it was something to do with Diptford, perhaps a celebration of the millenium.
Does any one know anything about the letterbox, it does seem strange that it has been there for 15 years with no finders.
We didn’t find the cache but this was a surprise find.The problem with the Fox Tor cache/letterbox is that there are a number of other letterboxes nearby. We thought we found the cache back in 2011 but it turned out to be a letterbox, although it didn’t have a stamp it did have a log book dating back to before the cache was placed so it couldn’t have been the cache, so being honest cachers 😉 we logged it as a DNF.
In my view the only person who should replace a cache is the cache owner, a replacement log is a different matter.
There is another kind of throwdown, a cache that is obviously missing but after quite a few DNF’s someone finds it and the only comment left when logging the find is TFTC. I suppose this could be classed as a virtual throwdown.Thankyou LympstoneBogtrotters and Dartymoor.
I look forward to Dave updating the stats to show us new 1000 finders.Well i made it, five years after finding my first cache i have finally found my 1000th cache, it feels good to be in four figures.
I have not done the Double Dozen yet but the problem i have with these sort of trails is the closeness of the caches. It seems that the hides are set as close together as possible to get as many caches in a small area.
We did the X Marks the Spot series near Newton Abbot on sunday, a very enjoyable walk but the caches were placed very close together and the containers were all the same making it very difficult to think of anything imaginable to say when logging the caches. And then there’s the Patience is a Virtue series near Totnes, some of which have already been archived, which would have been far better with the caches placed further apart.The problem with the Fish Stone is that it could apply to numerous stones around the moor, for example the tallest standing stone of the Drizzlecombe row is said to resemble a fish tail.
I too tried to solve this by looking through books and trying to find it on the internet but with no joy, so i lost interest.
It would be good if there was a puzzle to solve to help cachers find it.We found the Chinkwell Tor cache on wednesday that was meant to have a TB in it but wasn’t in there. In looking at the logs for the TB it was last placed in a cache in the North West last year, it was then grabbed/found in Clanfield, which is in Hampshire (unless there is another Clanfield). Then it was placed in the Chinkwell Tor cache, but it was probably never actually in the cache but is still logged to the cache.
This to me proves that grabbing TB’s might be a factor in them going missing.I placed the TB in Dartmoor Forest Peat Cot 22A on sunday and 3816.23 miles were added to its journey making a distance of 13787.8 miles. And interestingly someone else logged that they discovered it on the 14th august, how can you discover a TB that is 1000’s of miles away?
I know this topic is meant to be about missing trackables but maybe this is why some TB’s go missing, maybe some cachers just can’t be bothered playing these games.
If anyone does want to play you know where the TB is.I wasn’t going to bother but the TB is back in my possession, I ‘grabbed it from somewhere else’, i assume by doing this no mileage will be added but will have to wait and see until i place it in a cache and log it.
Yes Dave i might do that or i was thinking of just writing a note in the tracking history saying that i still have it in my possession but in the UK not the US.
It all seems a strange practice to me, i still have the trackable but it is no longer listed as being in my possession.
I have checked the tracking history and it was posted over from the USA to up its mileage. I found it on the 21st and logged it on the same day, then it was discovered twice the same day and then placed in a cache in Ohio.
Perhaps the Americans do things differently, i really can’t be bothered playing silly games and regrabbing it or what ever i am meant to do. I will place it in a cache on sunday and log that i have placed it.
If anyone is interested th TB no. is 2P2A43Does anyone know what it means whem a trackable is grabbed, i found a TB on sunday and received an email today saying that it had been grabbed from me.
I can adopt Old Wrigwell Lane as its not too far from me.
I hope Satan’s Pit and A Bird by the lb(s) find someone to adopt them as they are two of my favourite caches.I started to log some finds on Opencaching but then thought to myself why bother if i have already logged them on Groundspeak geocaching. It just seemed a waste of time logging them on both sites.
And i think that although some people are not happy with Groundspeak at the moment they will not move to OC, better the devil you know.I have to admit that i prefer caching trails to be more spread out. I have not yet done DD’s new trail but i see no’s 3 and 23 are very close together, i have walked up the river many times though.
To me having to stop every 200 metres or so detracts from a really nice walk, but saying that i will still have a go at doing it.The phrase ‘don’t rock the boat’ comes to mind. As i understand it normal rights of way and access laws do not apply to land that is used by the MOD regardless if they own it or not, i think it comes under MOD byelaws. Which is why the three ranges on Dartmoor are not shaded like the rest of the access areas on the moor.
The more people that contact the defence estate, the more peeved they will get, after all they have more important things to worry about than cachers.Clownpunchers at least the frog is happy!
I think that in the letterboxing guidelines it says that owners should leave contact details in case of any problems with the box, this would be a good way of geocachers to make contact with the letterboxer. So if clownpunchers was to contact the box owner and ask if it was ok to place the cache with it, surely everyone is happy.
But this will only work if the letterboxers follow their guidelines.I have just registered and logged two of my finds, will have to check for more that i can log. I guess that the hides and finds will start to go up now thanks to the publicity on here.
Not on Dartmoor but if anyone is in Paignton and likes climbing trees please try this cache – GC4DA63, i’ve had four DNF’s on it already.
It did make me think though that sometimes writing DNF’s is more fun than writing found logs.Maybe the problem is with geocaching itself?
At a guess i would say 70 – 80% of caches on the moor were placed within the last three years. And perhaps the MOD has become more aware of geocaching and its security implications (real or not).
I personally feel there is more of a security issue with placing caches near main roads, railway stations and town centres.Its not just the north moor that could be affected, the military’s use of the Cramber tor area has recently been extended by another 40 years. Yes its only dry training but surely any security concerns would be the same.
I was speaking to someone a few years ago who used to letterbox with his children and placed about 200 letterboxes on the moor. Once the children had become adults all interest in letterboxing ceased but the boxes were left on the moor.
At least with caching caches can be archived and (hopefully) removed from the moor, but in my opinion too many letterboxes are just left in place after the owner has long lost interest in them.
Well maintained letterboxes and caches should be left in place, but any that are in a bad state and clearly not being cared for should be removed.
I do agree with Dartmoor Dave’s comment that it is up to us all to remove litter when we see it, on our last walk on the moor we picked up a ribena bottle, a milky way wrapper and a mars bar wrapper. Unfortunately litter of all sorts is becoming more common on the moor.Glad to see this is back up and running again, will attempt it again soon. Lets hope others will attempt it too.
I logged my 100th DNF yesterday, can’t grumble too much though as it was a wonderful cache location – Shavercombe Brook waterfall.
If it wasn’t for the email we would have assumed (as we did originally) that we had done something wrong and would have tried again but the email gave us doubts. The cache might still be there.
Yes the whole idea of geocaching is to use a gps but anyone venturing onto the moors or other wilderness should be able to use a map and compass, which is why i think it is a good cache.
But maybe a cache like this is too much hard work for most cachers just to get one cache.
So perhaps its a numbers thing, if there was a series of caches to be found along a route using just a map and compass i bet there would be more attempts.If you find a tick it is advisable to remove it as quickly as possible, this lessens the chance of contracting Lyme disease.
Care needs to be taken when removing the tick so as not to leave the head embedded underneath the skin as this can cause infections. There are special implements available for safe removal.
The best way to avoid ticks is to cover up and apply insect repellent.I think the problem is that Groundspeak is a business and all businesses need customers, who are the customers? The premium members. And they don’t really have any competition.
So in my opinion the only people who can change the way GS relates to us is not to take out premium membership but just have the basic membership, but how many people would be prepared to do that.
And thinking about it why was the distance between caches lowered to 0.1 miles a while back? Because in my opinion to encourage more caches in areas that were already full to the limit. After all who would pay a premium membership if there were no more caches to be found close to home.Time to stir things up a bit!
After a recent DNF on a remote cache i received an email from another cacher saying that the cache was missing and that in their opinion the CO had far too many caches on the remote moor to be able to maintain them all.
I am not going to name the CO, the cache or the other cacher but i do agree that some cache owners have far too many caches. It made me think of a questionaire from Groundspeak a few years ago where i answered one of the questions as ‘perhaps there should be a limit to the amount of caches one person can own’.Well i’ve got mixed feelings about this, as someone who through my own stupidity has been out of work for the last 20 months, caching has given me something to do when there is nothing else to do. And as someone who does not drive i often walk for miles to get one cache (yesterday i walked for 6 miles to get one cache). And without the very good friend that is pearlywhirly i would have to walk (i often do) a long way to get onto the moors from Ivybridge or South Brent which is the only way for me most of the year from Torbay if i am venturing onto the moors by myself.
But i do still think that there are areas of the moor that have too many caches close together, even duplicating nearby caches. But like others if i am walking in the area i will find the caches, so in other words if there is a cache there i will try to find it whatever i feel about there being ‘too many Caches’.I see the Nakers Hill A Remote dartmoor cache has now been archived and it seems i was right that the somewhere on Dartmoor 1 wasn’t in the cache. Which seems very strange seeing as how only one person found the cache after it was placed in there, then we found it and were certain we didn’t see it.
A complete mystery!I have just disabled the userscript on Firefox and got the maps back but they were the same ones i got on IE so it looks like Groundspeak are using different maps now.
Has anyone used IE to sign onto Geocaching recently, i,ve been having trouble accessing the maps on Mozilla and so used IE for the first time in a while. They now have different maps – Thunderforest, Stamen and Esri, along with Mapquest and Open street maps.
Not all the maps seem to work at the moment but most do, Thunderforest looks good.What about TB lodges/hotels? The TB lodge we found two weeks ago was meant to have 4 TB’s in it but only had two. These hotels are normally close to roads and so it is easy for bugs to go missing.
As for the Nakers Hill cache, i hope i was wrong about the SoD1 TB and it is still there. And if the Data TB is not there he was beamed back up to the Enterprise.Since my first find i have been up trees, in caves, in water and across a plank all in the name of caching, great fun!
Many cachers say things like ‘Thanks for bringing me to somewhere i would never have visited but for caching’ or ‘Passed here many times and never realised this existed’.
I like to think i know Dartmoor prety well but still come across places i would never have visited but for caching.I once found a cache container minus its log that had been chewed by a dog, it was probably about 200 metres or so from where it should have been. I logged it as a DNF and cheekily wrote at the end of my log that i should be able to log it as a found seeing as how i found the cache container, the cache owner emailed to say it was ok to log it as a found, which i did. But even so when it was replaced i went back with pearlywhirly and signed the new log.
I kept the cache container and reused it for one of my own caches.I agree with dartymoor that short trails are great for those who for what ever reason cannot do long walks but also agree that caching walks should have variation and not be boring.
I often do short caching trails and add extra miles on to make the walk longer, like the Daccombe ramble near Newton Abbot, a great walk with a variety of different cache containers and hides. And last week we did the Ideford Common series adding on a few more miles and three more caches.
