View Full Version : Five Star Rating



kayaking loon
07-10-2008, 11:21 AM
I'm putting out a Flagstaff Lake Cache trail series. The first one requires a boat in the summer. If the lake is low enough you can walk to it in the fall. And in the winter you can walk or snowmobile to it. I can also swim to it but then I'm a good swimmer, I wouldn't recommend doing that in general. I hate to lose cachers!

The second in the series I say requires a boat but it's a 10 minute paddle if you put in at the right place. However, KG walked to it! Took her 3 hours round trip but she did it, along the shoreline.

The third I don't think even KG could walk to although I suppose it's possible. At least you could when the lake is frozen. Where's there's a will there probably is a way.

Do I need to give all three a five star rating because you "need" a boat? Somewhere I read if it requires a boat, then it's got to be 5 star. However, the difficulty is different on all three of these. Help? :confused:

Sudonim
07-10-2008, 11:51 AM
On my caches, I've figured that most people are doing them when there is no ice on the lakes. Having said that, I've done many that I walked to. If you assume that the majority of cachers are getting the cache in the spring/summer/fall seasons, I would think that a 5 rating would be accurate.
Many caches can vary in difficulty. If you place a cache under heavy tree cover and someone finds it in early spring when there are no leaves, the difficulty goes down. I would say rate for the conditions that most people would experience when finding the cache.

Team2hunt
07-10-2008, 03:41 PM
It's the terrain rating that needs to be a 5.

Due to the fact that " specialized " equipment is needed. That could be a boat, or even climbing
ropes.

Here's the link: http://www.clayjar.com/gcrs/index.php

kayaking loon
07-10-2008, 04:05 PM
It's the terrain rating that needs to be a 5.

Due to the fact that " specialized " equipment is needed. That could be a boat, or even climbing
ropes.

Here's the link: http://www.clayjar.com/gcrs/index.php

Thanks for the link. I was referring to the terrain rating. Maybe I'm just so used to kayaking I don't think of it as "difficult". I took two people from Ohio out today to find Cache Trail # 1 and # 2. It took 30 seconds to teach them how to paddle and they bucked a strong head wind coming back with no problems. But "5" it is! I'm changing my ratings now.

PS Anyone that's coming up this way, I have five kayaks and can teach you how to use them.

brdad
07-10-2008, 04:26 PM
IMO, a boat should not be special equipment. At least not a boat that an average person could use with no more instruction that it takes to run a bicycle. If the cache was 300 miles into the ocean, that might be different.

However, The GCRS as T2H cited was decided upon a long time ago and cache hiders should adhere to those standards. So, it's a 5 terrain!

Sudonim
07-10-2008, 05:46 PM
IMO, a boat should not be special equipment.

When you get to a shoreline and the cache is 300' away and you don't have a boat, it IS special equipment! Very special. One of the difficulties of island caches far from home is lugging the kayak. I'm very at home in a canoe or kayak, but if I don't have it with me, I gotta wait for the water to ice over to get the cache:p

brdad
07-10-2008, 06:27 PM
When you get to a shoreline and the cache is 300' away and you don't have a boat, it IS special equipment! Very special.

Yes, but using that definition I have had times caching when batteries would be special equipment! Or boots! Or a spare tire! Or a dry set of clothes!


One of the difficulties of island caches far from home is lugging the kayak.

Actually that's the subject that prompted me to think about this thread. I was talking to someone about how Lee and I loaded the kayaks and drove two and a half hours to kayak less than a half mile to the Two if by Sea cache. We did get one other land cache that day but never put the kayaks in water again.

Team2hunt
07-10-2008, 07:18 PM
When you get to a shoreline and the cache is 300' away and you don't have a boat, it IS special equipment! Very special. One of the difficulties of island caches far from home is lugging the kayak. I'm very at home in a canoe or kayak, but if I don't have it with me, I gotta wait for the water to ice over to get the cache:p

I once had to swim out almost 200' and dive down 6' to retrieve a cache. The special equipment needed that day was a towel. It was October in NH.

And that was rated 2.5\2.5

Mainiac1957
07-10-2008, 07:43 PM
If a cache is on an island and you need a boat to get there it should get a 5. Now here in Maine that same island on a frozen lake may only rate a 2 depending on the walk. If that lake was in the south then a 5 would be appropriate all year round. Unless there are gators then it's an 8. If the cache is on the shore of a lake then technically you can walk to it from another part of the lake shore. This is where I would question what rating to give it. Many on remote lakes are not feasible to walk to. Clear as mud, right.;)

firefighterjake
07-10-2008, 11:02 PM
On my caches, I've figured that most people are doing them when there is no ice on the lakes. Having said that, I've done many that I walked to. If you assume that the majority of cachers are getting the cache in the spring/summer/fall seasons, I would think that a 5 rating would be accurate.
Many caches can vary in difficulty. If you place a cache under heavy tree cover and someone finds it in early spring when there are no leaves, the difficulty goes down. I would say rate for the conditions that most people would experience when finding the cache.

I'm going with Andy on this one in regards to the terrain rating . . . I figure most sane people do most of their caching in the summer, spring or fall . . . and yes I am kidding. ;):D As such, they would need specialized equipment . . . i.e. some type of boat . . . I consider specialized equipment anything an average geocacher would not normally pack along for a geocaching attempt (i.e. most geocachers would pack a GPSr, batteries, boots, their car has a spare tire, etc.) . . . but most don't routinely haul around a kayak (and some would have to borrow one if they do not own one themselves), bring along climbing rope, ice crampons, diving equipment, spelunking gear, etc.

firefighterjake
07-10-2008, 11:04 PM
I once had to swim out almost 200' and dive down 6' to retrieve a cache. The special equipment needed that day was a towel. It was October in NH.

And that was rated 2.5\2.5

Somewhere in here is a Seinfeld joke about shrinkage and cold water. ;):D:eek:

firefighterjake
07-10-2008, 11:08 PM
If a cache is on an island and you need a boat to get there it should get a 5. Now here in Maine that same island on a frozen lake may only rate a 2 depending on the walk. If that lake was in the south then a 5 would be appropriate all year round. Unless there are gators then it's an 8. If the cache is on the shore of a lake then technically you can walk to it from another part of the lake shore. This is where I would question what rating to give it. Many on remote lakes are not feasible to walk to. Clear as mud, right.;)

I don't know . . . I did one cache that involved walking on some ice and the specialized equipment I could have used for that one would have been a) ice skates to get me there and back faster and safer since I kept falling down, b) ice crampons to keep me from falling or c) some water-proof boots since there was several inches of water on the ice in some places. ;):D

Mainiac1957
07-11-2008, 06:10 AM
. . . but most don't routinely haul around a kayak (and some would have to borrow one if they do not own one themselves), bring along climbing rope, ice crampons, diving equipment, spelunking gear, etc.

I'll guess I'm an overachiever

Sudonim
07-11-2008, 07:44 AM
I'll guess I'm an overachiever

Yeah, if one of the cache requirements is that you bring two micro-dogs with you, I suppose you've got that too:p

Team2hunt
07-11-2008, 07:48 AM
Yeah, if one of the cache requirements is that you bring two micro-dogs with you, I suppose you've got that too:p

Better to have micro-dogs, than one of those off the shelf, like all the rest, regular-dogs. :p

pjpreb
07-13-2008, 07:23 PM
Or a main dog and an emergency back-up dog

kayaking loon
08-11-2008, 12:20 PM
It's the terrain rating that needs to be a 5.

Due to the fact that " specialized " equipment is needed. That could be a boat, or even climbing
ropes.

Here's the link: http://www.clayjar.com/gcrs/index.php

So if a 5 minute kayak trip requires a 5 star rating, how come those on islands like North Haven don't? There you have to check ferry schedules, pay for a ticket, take the boat out, find the cache and catch the ferry before it leaves for the day. I was checking out some Stonington caches and several were way out on islands but they didn't have a 5 star rating. Just wondering.....:confused:

brdad
08-11-2008, 12:46 PM
So if a 5 minute kayak trip requires a 5 star rating, how come those on islands like North Haven don't? There you have to check ferry schedules, pay for a ticket, take the boat out, find the cache and catch the ferry before it leaves for the day. I was checking out some Stonington caches and several were way out on islands but they didn't have a 5 star rating. Just wondering.....:confused:

Going by the GCRS, they should be a 5 terrain. I don't necessarily agree, but that's the way it is. According to that theory, all Austrailian caches should be a 5 terrain, too!

The ratings are subjective, and no one regulates their accuracy. At least using the GCRS, there is a minimal degree of standardization.