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Arriving at Area


DzyMsLizzy

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I realize some of the caches are labeled as 3+ stars for difficulty of find and/or terrain.

 

That is not my issue. I'm still very new, so I'm seeking caches of not more than 2 star ratings. I have yet to be able to find any.

 

The main problem seems to be even getting to the search area. A good many of the ones local to me are hard for me to get to. I can drive to the general area, but then, I find that all or most of the surrounding streets are "no parking" areas.

 

As a senior citizen with reduced endurance, and an artificial knee, I can't park several blocks away to find a legal place to park, then walk to the start of the search area, and then walk further to do the actual searching...and then back to my vehicle.

Not to mention, parking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, then be seen leaving the area on foot,(with today's 'stranger paranoia'), could mark you as a "suspicious person," before you even arrive at the cache coordinates.

 

I don't expect any of this to change for existing caches.

 

I only post it as an advisory and request, to those hiding caches, to please take us slightly less-able-bodied folks into account, and try to place hides near places where it is legal to park on the street.

 

Thank you.

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I realize some of the caches are labeled as 3+ stars for difficulty of find and/or terrain.

 

That is not my issue. I'm still very new, so I'm seeking caches of not more than 2 star ratings. I have yet to be able to find any.

 

The main problem seems to be even getting to the search area. A good many of the ones local to me are hard for me to get to. I can drive to the general area, but then, I find that all or most of the surrounding streets are "no parking" areas.

 

As a senior citizen with reduced endurance, and an artificial knee, I can't park several blocks away to find a legal place to park, then walk to the start of the search area, and then walk further to do the actual searching...and then back to my vehicle.

Not to mention, parking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, then be seen leaving the area on foot,(with today's 'stranger paranoia'), could mark you as a "suspicious person," before you even arrive at the cache coordinates.

 

I don't expect any of this to change for existing caches.

 

I only post it as an advisory and request, to those hiding caches, to please take us slightly less-able-bodied folks into account, and try to place hides near places where it is legal to park on the street.

 

Thank you.

 

I am in pretty much the same situation as you except that I still have my own, sometimes cranky, knees. Also as a woman, there are places that I don't feel comfortable going alone. I have resigned myself to the fact that there are caches that, for one reason or another, I will not be able to do. I don't expect cache hiders to place caches only in places that I can get to easily.

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Your best bet is to pay attention to the D/T ratings. Not so much the difficulty, because a cache could be very tricky and still right near parking. The Terrain rating gives you a good idea of how difficult it should be to actually get to the cache location (assuming the hider has listed it accurately) Stick to 1 or 2 Terrain ratings.

 

Here is an explanation of Groundspeak's D/T rating system...

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=82

 

There are LOTS of easy terrain "park & grab" caches out there. Heck, I can remember a couple where I literally did not even have to get out of the car to retrieve them ?

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Many cache owners place a cache because the location is in some way interesting, however getting there may be somewhat of a challenge even for the able bodied. Obviously those are not for you. Check out Handicaching.com. This might be helpful to you.
+1

 

If the cache owner wants to hide a cache near safe and legal parking, then great. But if the cache owner wants to hide a cache for some other reason (as many do), then the terrain rating (and possibly the Handicaching rating) will reflect whatever location the owner chose.

 

If a cache seeker is limited to "less than a ½ mile hike" (1-star terrain), then caches with 2-star terrain are chancy, because they may include up to "a 2 mile hike".

Edited by niraD
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Yes, some caches present a problem for parking.

 

I recommend looking at an aerial map. Sometimes you can see (or guess) where the path is that leads to a park between houses. Then park close to where the path crosses the road instead of as close as possible to the cache "as the crow flies" and still be on the road.

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Yes, some caches present a problem for parking.

 

I recommend looking at an aerial map. Sometimes you can see (or guess) where the path is that leads to a park between houses. Then park close to where the path crosses the road instead of as close as possible to the cache "as the crow flies" and still be on the road.

 

^^^. Also this.

 

There have been many times when I walked a lot farther than I needed to or bushwhacked through the woods when the cache ended up being right next to a convenient trail, or I ended up driving to a location that was on the wrong side of a fence or creek. A little study of the aerial view can eliminate some of this.

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Yes, some caches present a problem for parking.

 

I recommend looking at an aerial map. Sometimes you can see (or guess) where the path is that leads to a park between houses. Then park close to where the path crosses the road instead of as close as possible to the cache "as the crow flies" and still be on the road.

 

^^^. Also this.

 

There have been many times when I walked a lot farther than I needed to or bushwhacked through the woods when the cache ended up being right next to a convenient trail, or I ended up driving to a location that was on the wrong side of a fence or creek. A little study of the aerial view can eliminate some of this.

 

The map is probably the best tip.

 

parkngrab-yes.gif Filtering for the Park n Grab attribute might also help.

 

And filtering for Terrain 1 or 1.5 should help. Terrain 2 and 2.5 is a crap shoot - some people think a sliding down a steep hill on your butt and jumping across a 4 foot muddy stream is a piece of cake and might barely rate a T2.

Edited by L0ne.R
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I realize some of the caches are labeled as 3+ stars for difficulty of find and/or terrain.

 

That is not my issue. I'm still very new, so I'm seeking caches of not more than 2 star ratings. I have yet to be able to find any.

 

The main problem seems to be even getting to the search area. A good many of the ones local to me are hard for me to get to. I can drive to the general area, but then, I find that all or most of the surrounding streets are "no parking" areas.

 

As a senior citizen with reduced endurance, and an artificial knee, I can't park several blocks away to find a legal place to park, then walk to the start of the search area, and then walk further to do the actual searching...and then back to my vehicle.

Not to mention, parking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, then be seen leaving the area on foot,(with today's 'stranger paranoia'), could mark you as a "suspicious person," before you even arrive at the cache coordinates.

 

I don't expect any of this to change for existing caches.

 

I only post it as an advisory and request, to those hiding caches, to please take us slightly less-able-bodied folks into account, and try to place hides near places where it is legal to park on the street.

 

Thank you.

 

I am in pretty much the same situation as you except that I still have my own, sometimes cranky, knees. Also as a woman, there are places that I don't feel comfortable going alone. I have resigned myself to the fact that there are caches that, for one reason or another, I will not be able to do. I don't expect cache hiders to place caches only in places that I can get to easily.

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I do wish more COs would post parking waypoints. Sometimes what appears to be the most convenient parking for a cache ends up being either in a lot I can't access (private, gated or monitored for ticketing/booting) or it doesn't have a good access point to the cache...so I end up having to drive further than I want to a less obvious location. Some folks do that intentionally to mess with you, but more often than not they just don't think about it from the perspective of someone who isn't familiar with the area and may not know the best way to get to GZ.

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I do wish more COs would post parking waypoints. Sometimes what appears to be the most convenient parking for a cache ends up being either in a lot I can't access (private, gated or monitored for ticketing/booting) or it doesn't have a good access point to the cache...so I end up having to drive further than I want to a less obvious location. Some folks do that intentionally to mess with you, but more often than not they just don't think about it from the perspective of someone who isn't familiar with the area and may not know the best way to get to GZ.

 

I only have one cache where the parking location isn't really obvious so I did provide parking coordinates for that one, but I honestly don't know how many people actually bother to look at additional waypoints or even know that there is such a thing.

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I do wish more COs would post parking waypoints. Sometimes what appears to be the most convenient parking for a cache ends up being either in a lot I can't access (private, gated or monitored for ticketing/booting) or it doesn't have a good access point to the cache...so I end up having to drive further than I want to a less obvious location. Some folks do that intentionally to mess with you, but more often than not they just don't think about it from the perspective of someone who isn't familiar with the area and may not know the best way to get to GZ.

 

I only have one cache where the parking location isn't really obvious so I did provide parking coordinates for that one, but I honestly don't know how many people actually bother to look at additional waypoints or even know that there is such a thing.

 

Well, of course, the GPS will lead you to the nearest road. Which is often not a good idea. I've found caches in DeKorte Park in the Meadowlands where the nearest road is the NJ Turnpike. Nope, don't park there! Park in DeKorte Park and follow the trails. Even with parking areas listed, they are not always close enough to the road to avoid confusion.

That being said, I have a cache in Weehawken, NJ. The nearest road to the cache is the Lincoln Tunnel (which is 70' underground at that point.) I worked hard to come up with a parking spot that is nearer to River Road. And the cache page stresses that parking is in Weehawken Waterfront Park, not the Lincoln Tunnel. Hopefully, no one has ever tried to park in the tunnel to get to the cache!

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Yes, some caches present a problem for parking.

 

I recommend looking at an aerial map. Sometimes you can see (or guess) where the path is that leads to a park between houses. Then park close to where the path crosses the road instead of as close as possible to the cache "as the crow flies" and still be on the road.

 

^^^. Also this.

 

There have been many times when I walked a lot farther than I needed to or bushwhacked through the woods when the cache ended up being right next to a convenient trail, or I ended up driving to a location that was on the wrong side of a fence or creek. A little study of the aerial view can eliminate some of this.

 

The map is probably the best tip.

 

parkngrab-yes.gif Filtering for the Park n Grab attribute might also help.

 

And filtering for Terrain 1 or 1.5 should help. Terrain 2 and 2.5 is a crap shoot - some people think a sliding down a steep hill on your butt and jumping across a 4 foot muddy stream is a piece of cake and might barely rate a T2.

 

Thanks--but I am really new, and find some of the site navigation a bit confusing. I have not seen how to 'filter' a search for "park and grab," or anything other than the green 'beginner' highlighting.

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I do wish more COs would post parking waypoints. Sometimes what appears to be the most convenient parking for a cache ends up being either in a lot I can't access (private, gated or monitored for ticketing/booting) or it doesn't have a good access point to the cache...so I end up having to drive further than I want to a less obvious location. Some folks do that intentionally to mess with you, but more often than not they just don't think about it from the perspective of someone who isn't familiar with the area and may not know the best way to get to GZ.

 

I agree completely with this.

We use maps, and have a fair bit of experience, but some (usually urban) caches are still maddening to find the access point! Many hiders just assume that you will know that you have to access by way of C street, rather than more obvious looking A or B. After all, folks should just know these things ... right? :blink:

Then again, it might be intentional to get the hunter to see more of the neighborhood!

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Then again, it might be intentional to get the hunter to see more of the neighborhood!
Yep. And I've found a few caches where the whole point was for seekers to figure out the safe legal access to the cache location. They were sort of a field puzzle, where the puzzle was to figure out how to get there.
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