Found unlisted, pristine, 6 month old cache?

[+lj11]

Hello, I'm new at this, and already searched the forum regarding my question and didn't quite find this. I stumbled on a geocache today while looking for another one. I signed the log, took pictures, marked it with a waypoint on my GPS and put it back.

 

But it is not listed on geocaching.com. Apparently that is not unusual, but the rest is. The cache container and inside note clearly stated geocaching.com, so it isn't a case of it being listed on another site. The log had "Date hidden 6/26/12", so it has been there over 6 months. The third odd thing is that there were no other entries in the log. I signed it on the first page after the Date Hidden page. Is it possible I am First to Find for a 6 month old cache? That was obvious enough that I was able to find it by accident?

 

The only other information was the nickname of the cache owner ("Hidden by jennimags"), which I did not find on these sites. No cache name or GC code. Just a very nicely assembled cache - medium sized screw-top container, painted black with "Official Geocache geocaching.com" on the end, inside had a plastic bag with log and 2 sharp pencils, and other stuff in the bottom, including a printed "stash note".

 

It's in a public park with other caches (but not too close), so I don't think there is a permissions problem. Could it still be under review for 6 months?

 

Is there anything I can do? I would like to log the find, sure, but more important I want the cache to be listed so other people can enjoy finding it.

[+NeverSummer]

Hello, I'm new at this, and already searched the forum regarding my question and didn't quite find this. I stumbled on a geocache today while looking for another one. I signed the log, took pictures, marked it with a waypoint on my GPS and put it back.

 

But it is not listed on geocaching.com. Apparently that is not unusual, but the rest is. The cache container and inside note clearly stated geocaching.com, so it isn't a case of it being listed on another site. The log had "Date hidden 6/26/12", so it has been there over 6 months. The third odd thing is that there were no other entries in the log. I signed it on the first page after the Date Hidden page. Is it possible I am First to Find for a 6 month old cache? That was obvious enough that I was able to find it by accident?

 

The only other information was the nickname of the cache owner ("Hidden by jennimags"), which I did not find on these sites. No cache name or GC code. Just a very nicely assembled cache - medium sized screw-top container, painted black with "Official Geocache geocaching.com" on the end, inside had a plastic bag with log and 2 sharp pencils, and other stuff in the bottom, including a printed "stash note".

 

It's in a public park with other caches (but not too close), so I don't think there is a permissions problem. Could it still be under review for 6 months?

 

Is there anything I can do? I would like to log the find, sure, but more important I want the cache to be listed so other people can enjoy finding it.

This happens from time to time. Might be listed on another site, might not have met muster when reviewed here or on another site, or might be someone's own "anarchy" cache.

 

Ask the local reviewer if there were any caches submitted at or near those coordinates. Sounds like it is a geocaching.com cache, but maybe was placed and forgotten.

[+blackhorse221]

I noticed you are not a premium member. Is there a possibility that this was a premium only cache?

 

I searched that username (jennimags) and while it appears to be a created account, there are no caches placed or found to that name. Curious...

[+palmetto]

You found an unpublished archived cache belonging to this account, jennimags

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=82757ad0-f71f-4e77-91bd-aa3ae858474f&wid=23f0c965-cde8-41b9-bc3a-1b3d41a94eb7&ds=2

 

I doubt if anything is going to happen here. They haven't logged onto the site in some months, and never logged find.

[+StarBrand]

I have found 3 such caches over the years - all had Geocaching.com labels and references but I could see that they all violated the saturation guideline - apparently the owner(s) never bothered to go pick up the container after it failed to get published.

[+L0ne.R]

I have found 3 such caches over the years - all had Geocaching.com labels and references but I could see that they all violated the saturation guideline - apparently the owner(s) never bothered to go pick up the container after it failed to get published.

 

I found 4 too close to published caches. 3 of them were too close to my caches. The owners never went back to retrieve them. Does the OP know if this cache was too close to a published cache?

Edited February 12, 2013 by l0n3 r

[+palmetto]

I suspect that many hiders don't receive email from "noreply@geocaching.com" and don't know that they need to.

 

The cache has reviewer notes on it, which they don't scroll down and see. Eventually, after some period of no response, the reviewer archives it. The hider doesn't know that either, because the notice comes from "noreply". And now the cache page is invisible to them, buried on a sub-menu on an account page they've never seen.

[+wmpastor]

Talk to the local reviewer. If the cache is okay to place (not within 528 feet of the other caches) & the cache owner dropped out of the game, maybe you can place it & own it. You or the reviewer should email the cache-placer.

 

It's possible the original owner forgot where they placed it!

[+The_Incredibles_]

Either that or they died.

 

I would try emailing the cache owner. If no response, maybe just recycle it.

[+lj11]

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies.

 

Ask the local reviewer if there were any caches submitted at or near those coordinates. Sounds like it is a geocaching.com cache, but maybe was placed and forgotten.

OK. Something new to figure out how to do.

 

You found an unpublished archived cache belonging to this account, jennimags

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=82757ad0-f71f-4e77-91bd-aa3ae858474f&wid=23f0c965-cde8-41b9-bc3a-1b3d41a94eb7&ds=2

 

I doubt if anything is going to happen here. They haven't logged onto the site in some months, and never logged find.

Thanks for finding it. Her join date is the same as the cache hide date. Interesting. (As a new geocacher, I wouldn't dream of hiding my own cache until I had been at this for a lot longer.)

 

... Does the OP know if this cache was too close to a published cache?

I eyeballed it on the map, it's close but I think it is well over 528' from the nearest. Even straight-line distance, but you can't walk straight between them because there is water in the way.

 

Talk to the local reviewer. If the cache is okay to place (not within 528 feet of the other caches) & the cache owner dropped out of the game, maybe you can place it & own it. You or the reviewer should email the cache-placer.

 

It's possible the original owner forgot where they placed it!

Could be, or dropped out. Sad because I think it was a good one.

 

Aside: in the same park, on the other side, I found another geocache by accident back in November. I went home, bought a GPS, and joined up... (BTW hoping to go premium some day, will see.) It wasn't what I would consider an ordinary geocache. This was a painted, ceramic container with a clamp-on lid. It was gorgeous. It said "earthplot" and "please be nice to me" on the lid. So I assume it was listed over there, not geocaching.com. But I've looked and never found it again.

[Keystone]

Aside: in the same park, on the other side, I found another geocache by accident back in November. I went home, bought a GPS, and joined up... (BTW hoping to go premium some day, will see.) It wasn't what I would consider an ordinary geocache. This was a painted, ceramic container with a clamp-on lid. It was gorgeous. It said "earthplot" and "please be nice to me" on the lid. So I assume it was listed over there, not geocaching.com. But I've looked and never found it again.

You seem to have a gift for sniffing out unpublished geocaches. The "Earthplot" cache was also not published, also because of a cache saturation conflict with a neighboring cache. And, it was archived due to lack of response by the owner to the reviewer notes. It was painful reading the page: "Why isn't this reviewed yet?" "It was reviewed weeks ago. Please read the note and fix the problem." The owner appeared to not know how to scroll down the page to read the logs, and wasn't checking email.

[+StarBrand]

Aside: in the same park, on the other side, I found another geocache by accident back in November. I went home, bought a GPS, and joined up... (BTW hoping to go premium some day, will see.) It wasn't what I would consider an ordinary geocache. This was a painted, ceramic container with a clamp-on lid. It was gorgeous. It said "earthplot" and "please be nice to me" on the lid. So I assume it was listed over there, not geocaching.com. But I've looked and never found it again.

You seem to have a gift for sniffing out unpublished geocaches. The "Earthplot" cache was also not published, also because of a cache saturation conflict with a neighboring cache. And, it was archived due to lack of response by the owner to the reviewer notes. It was painful reading the page: "Why isn't this reviewed yet?" "It was reviewed weeks ago. Please read the note and fix the problem." The owner appeared to not know how to scroll down the page to read the logs, and wasn't checking email.

 

Must happen a lot - Jeremy was saying that one of his goals this year is to be more proactive with Geocaching education for new cachers.

[Keystone]

Since the timeframe when these two unpublished caches were hidden (one month apart, a few years ago), Geocaching.com has updated the "alert" message that appears at the top of an enabled but unpublished cache submission:

 

This cache has not been reviewed yet. Once it is published, it will be listed on the site. Check the logs to see if the reviewers have left a note for this listing.

 

Many reviewers go to great lengths to make sure that cache owners receive our messages and explanations. For example, if I don't hear back after a week, I leave a reminder note saying that the cache will be archived one month later if there's no response. That gives the cache owner five weeks to read my notes and take action. Sadly, many never do.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Keystone

[+palmetto]

On some cache pages, I've taken to retitling cache pages, Please Scroll Down and Read Reviewer Notes.

 

I have a standard note that explains that they should be seeing email from "noreply" and what to do next - how to restore the original title, and deal with the issues. Occasionally, not often, this works.

 

I have a suspicion that there are hiders who create an account, create a cache page, and never log on again. It hardly matters to them whether the cache is published, they have no idea that there even is a publication process. They never visit the physical cache or their account again.

[+StarBrand]

Maybe its time to revisit the idea of a really basic guidelines quiz for new cachers placing their first 2 or 3 hides. Maybe I'll dust my 5 year old one off and modernize it a bit with direct links to current guidelines and help center articles....

 

http://www.wnag.net/checklist

 

...glad to see you reviewers are going so out of your way with more of your time to get things done right.

[+lj11]

You seem to have a gift for sniffing out unpublished geocaches. The "Earthplot" cache was also not published, also because of a cache saturation conflict with a neighboring cache. And, it was archived due to lack of response by the owner to the reviewer notes. It was painful reading the page: "Why isn't this reviewed yet?" "It was reviewed weeks ago. Please read the note and fix the problem." The owner appeared to not know how to scroll down the page to read the logs, and wasn't checking email.

 

My mistake - I thought "earthplot" referred to a separate site and software package meant to work with Google Earth, so I never thought it would be listed on geocaching.com.

 

I think I will try to contact the person who hid the 2nd cache I found, via geocaching.com, to offer help. No point in bothering local reviewers about this. If she has given up on it, or doesn't reply, I suppose the thing to do is remove it from the park. Perhaps the owner wants it back, otherwise I could 'recycle it' (as one person said above) - although I am not ready to be a cache owner/hider.

[+The_Incredibles_]

otherwise I could 'recycle it' (as one person said above) - although I am not ready to be a cache owner/hider.

 

Well if you aren't ready to be a cache owner, you can find a cache to put the swag in and use the cache container for your lunch.

[+lj11]

I contacted the cache owner, and have not received a reply. (Not surprised.)

 

It doesn't feel right to remove someone else's cache even under these circumstances. It doesn't feel right to leave it in place, either, with no listing anywhere.

 

By the way, I figured out how to get my GPS to give me the distance between this and the nearest, published cache. (I know, it's easy, but just learning here...) Straight-line distance is 876 feet. So I assume it wasn't a saturation problem, nor can I think of anything else wrong with the location.

[+Don_J]

I contacted the cache owner, and have not received a reply. (Not surprised.)

 

It doesn't feel right to remove someone else's cache even under these circumstances. It doesn't feel right to leave it in place, either, with no listing anywhere.

 

By the way, I figured out how to get my GPS to give me the distance between this and the nearest, published cache. (I know, it's easy, but just learning here...) Straight-line distance is 876 feet. So I assume it wasn't a saturation problem, nor can I think of anything else wrong with the location.

 

How hard is it to get to? I know of at least two different cachers that have placed a cache in a remote area and forgot to take coordinates. Neither wanted to go back, so they basically just forgot about it.

[+Renegade Knight]

...

The only other information was the nickname of the cache owner ("Hidden by jennimags"),

 

I'd email her and let her know you found it. Plus mention that the discussion about this cache revealed that it had a reviewer question on it that she needed to answer to get it listed so others can find it and post logs so she can enjoy being a cache owner.

 

Good luck.

[+lj11]

How hard is it to get to? I know of at least two different cachers that have placed a cache in a remote area and forgot to take coordinates. Neither wanted to go back, so they basically just forgot about it.

 

Very easy to get to. (Is there a "too easy" restriction? I assume not.)

 

I'd email her and let her know you found it. Plus mention that the discussion about this cache revealed that it had a reviewer question on it that she needed to answer to get it listed so others can find it and post logs so she can enjoy being a cache owner.

Good luck.

 

Yes, I did that (using "email another player" on geocaching.com). And I checked the box to include my email, to make it easier to reply if she chose to. I did not mention the reviewer had a question on it, because it wasn't clear to me that this was true for this particular cache.

[+StarBrand]

In post #11 Keystone (a reviewer) seems to indicate that the cache in question was rejected due to the saturation guideline - at least a violation back at the time it was submitted.