Stick in the Mud

Stick in the mud: An old fashioned person who is reluctant to change or innovate.  Or a person set in their ways. One who lacks initiative, imagination, or enthusiasm.  A person who is unwilling to try anything new or do anything exciting.

I really like geocaching, but sometimes lifting light skirts in a walmart parking lot, or finding a 35mm film canister in a cemetery, gets a little old.  They have their place I guess, they help beef up your stats, but my favorite find is one in which the hider went out of his way to make the find interesting.  Not just, oh here let me stick this film canister under this light pole while I'm parked here.  To me, geocaching is about adventure, seeing new places, and using your brain a little to find something tricky.  My favorite caches are either ammo cans hidden along a nice hike, or puzzle caches that took me hours of work to solve.  I don't think anyone would say their favorite cache was a 35mm film canister hidden in the corner post of a fence around a cemetery. 

Recently I decided to hide a geocache in the cemetery next to my house, somehow PrariePartners and the rest of the Indiana Spirit Quest crew had missed this place.  Not wanting it to be a mundane hide I puzzled on how I should hide it.  This is what I came up with:

What/Where #1

You are looking for a pill bottle hidden somewhere in South Central Indiana. It is not at the posted coordinates but you are welcome to look there if you dare. Cache has a unique first finder prize so be sure you grab it.

For a few years now I've been playing a game on the forums here called What/Where Basically someone posts a pictures of a building or monument that looks unique from the satellite imagery from Google Earth and everyone else tries to guess where it is and then post the coordinates to prove your answer. If you find it before everyone else then it is your turn to post a picture.

Then last week my brother decides he wants to try to find a few park and grab caches while he is out of town, but he forgot his GPSr. So he calls up a friend, who then uses Google Earth to steer my brother toward the correct light poles and guard rails etc.... to find his caches. Well these two things gave me the idea to start a series of puzzle caches that don't require a GPSr to log a find.

All you have to do is figure out where this location is from the satellite imagery and find the cache. It should be easy to find for an experienced cacher once you get to the right area.

Well yesterday I get this email:

It has been brought to my attention that the two caches recently published in the "What/Where" series (GC1PNXT and GC1PCJ8) do not meet the guideline for GPSr usage therefore I must archive them.

From the guidleines:

[i]You as the owner of the cache must visit the site and obtain the coordinates with a GPS. GPS usage is an essential element of geocaching. Therefore, although it is possible to find a cache without a GPS, the option of using accurate GPS coordinates as an integral part of the cache hunt must be demonstrated for all physical cache submissions.[/i]

http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#guide

The picture has enough landmarks that you can just leave the GPS in the car. Other similar cache submissions have been denied for this same reason.

Please feel free to use these locations for new submissions.

Thanks for understanding.

RH

And here is my response:

What/Where Caches


I know it's a guideline, and you are just following it, but I've had great feedback from these hides.


So since I don't know  who brought it to your attention, I'm going to
complain a little bit to you, and maybe you'll pass my complaint along
to who ever brought it to your attention, not that I think it will do
any good, but I'll sleep better tonight.


As stated, the guidelines say I must visit the sight and obtain
coordinates, which I have done, and the Google Earth coordinates are no
further off  than my Garmin Etrex Legend which I am allowed to use to
find my coordinates.  Who knows how far some peoples coordinates are
off when they post their caches.   Aren't we taking everyone's word
that their cache is actually at their posted coordinates.  I feel
slighted that I'm not believed that my cache is not at the posted
coordinates or not findable.


Also the guidelines state that GPS usage is an essential element of
geocaching.   I agree with that, and cachers have told me that once
they have obtained their coordinates from google earth, they went out
and found the cache without any problem.  My picture is nothing more
than a giant hint, once they got in the right area.  If someone was
going to find my cache, they would first match my picture on geocaching.com
to one on google earth.  Then they would get the coordinates for that
area and load it  into their GPSr.  Once their GPS unit led them to the
cache area they would use the clues to find the actual cache.  How is
this any different from any other geocache, other than the way the
cacher obtains the coordinates?


 If the issue here is findability (I just invented that word and
copyrighted it) my caches are just as easy as any park and grab, once
you get in the right area, and they are way easier than most puzzle
caches.


You are obviously doing your job, and a thankless one at that, so I
harbor no bad feelings.  That is not the point of my rebuttal.  I just
feel that someone, somewhere is being a little too straight laced about
our game of geocaching, and is smothering creativity.  Creativity that
is not causing anyone any harm.  I could understand if it was a safety
issue, but to me this just seems like someone not liking my thinking
out of the box.


Thank you Reviewer Hilts for your time, and please understand that I
know it's just a game, and a fun one at that,  but I would hope that
you pass along my complaints