This morning I got a rejection letter from the geocache reviewer. 😦 The cavity I widened for my geocache is too close to two existing caches, and they have a rule (which I should have read first) against putting them too close together.
I knew about the rule, and I knew about the two caches that were already there. But I didn’t know the details of the rule, and I didn’t know how close my proposed site was. So yeah… I’m a little bummed, and I should have checked before I invested so much.
So now I am faced with the choice of abandoning my cache all together, or relocating it. I want it to be near the brook for which it is named, and it would be nice if there was not much bushwhacking involved in getting to it. Unfortunately, those two requirements cannot both be met. So there will be some bushwhacking.
I have some exploring to do in those woods now, and no daylight in which to do it for at least the next ten days. I wouldn’t mind exploring by moonlight, but we’ve had cloudy skies, and the moon is waning. So for now I am stuck with exploring via satellite.
This reminds me of a T-shirt I saw the other day at Tof Géocaching. “I use multimillion dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods. What’s your hobby?”
Toflabeuze left a comment on my blog last week, and I followed the link to his blog, but it’s in French, which I unfortunately do not read. Tof, I would have subscribed. Really.
Anyhow, I might have a way to get to the cache without too much bushwhacking. Right at my preferred (but disallowed) site there’s a bridge across the brook. It leads to some railroad tracks. These tracks are not used by trains in the winter, but instead are given over to snowmobiles (yeah – officially). The brook comes within 50 feet of the tracks, and if I could find a dead pine there, I could reproduce my work and create (or enlarge) a new cavity. That would pretty much make it a winter-only cache though, as pedestrians aren’t supposed to be on the tracks during train season.
I will also explore the near bank and see if I can find a place that doesn’t require the tracks. Such is the fate of those who do not follow instructions.
Jomegat's Weblog 
January 18, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Really sorry for your geocache, is that the nice one seen in a previous post on your blog ?
No problem if you don’t read french for my own blog, I’m happy to read posts of fellow geocachers anyway and exchange with you !
Yes, I love my t-shirt 🙂
January 18, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Yes, the cache I was blogging about is the one that I have to find a new place to hide. And then if I choose a cavity in a pine tree again (which I think was part of the charm) enlarge it as necessary and mount the door. And then translate the new coordinates into Abenaki.
January 18, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Bummer. I don’t know anything about geocaching but if the two near you are found doesn’t that mean they would “go away” or something so yours could then become legit? Or is their location not made public after they’re found so they will, in effect, go away?
January 18, 2012 at 6:59 pm
No, when you find one, you leave it there. A geocache has to have at least a log inside for you to sign your username and date the entry. Most have other stuff in them too that finders are free to trade. I stuffed mine with little Native American toys/figurines. The trinkets inside for trade make it a very attractive pastime for children. The guideline is that if you take something, you should leave something of equal or greater value, and that is pretty well honored. Once you’ve found it, signed the log, and optionally made a trade, you hide it again (in the same place) so the next cacher can find it too.
Sometimes a cache is found by a non-cacher, and when that happens, it is at great risk of disappearing. Therefore, the cache should be nearly impossible to find unless you are looking for it. If the cache is stolen, vandalized, or damaged, the cache owner should replace it, fix it, or delist it.
January 18, 2012 at 8:24 pm
That’s really interesting and sounds like fun. I used a GPS when rock hunting after they first came out but really don’t have much experience with one.
January 18, 2012 at 9:06 pm
I use a Tomtom GPS – it was made for navigation by car, and was not well suited to caching. I downloaded some third-party software to get around its limitations though, so now it is suited well enough.