View Full Version : Winter pocket queries



Team2hunt
12-26-2010, 03:22 PM
I went out caching this morning and with the small amount of snow on the ground, and lots more coming. I had to dig out one of the containers and it reminded me to run my " Winter in Maine " PQs. I made up the 2 that would cover the state, and received the email telling me they were ready to be downloaded. But here's the weird thing. One of them had the pq as an attachment like it used to be. I downloaded the attachment to my desktop and it loaded just fine. The other pq has not yet shown up on my pq page to be downloaded. :confused:

Has anyone else had this happen to them lately?

Ekidokai
12-26-2010, 03:35 PM
If they are under the 500 limit you can get them the old way. Check the PQ carefully. If it is new and didn't run right away there has to be a problem with the settings like date when it was to run.

attroll
12-26-2010, 03:37 PM
Gary, not to change the subject but how to you depict in the PQ whether it is a winter cache or not?

Team2hunt
12-26-2010, 04:29 PM
Gary, not to change the subject but how to you depict in the PQ whether it is a winter cache or not?

at the bottom of the PQ page there are 2 boxes of icons. The first one is labeled " attributes to include " . Just click on the snowflake for winter friendly. That way all of the caches in the PQ will be listed as winter friendly.
Likewise you could choose an icon from the second box listed as " attributes to exclude ". It allows you to customize your searches.

I did and always do create my PQ's for 1000 caches and that's what loaded.

JustKev
12-26-2010, 06:04 PM
I went out caching this morning and with the small amount of snow on the ground, and lots more coming. I had to dig out one of the containers and it reminded me to run my " Winter in Maine " PQs. I made up the 2 that would cover the state, and received the email telling me they were ready to be downloaded. But here's the weird thing. One of them had the pq as an attachment like it used to be. I downloaded the attachment to my desktop and it loaded just fine. The other pq has not yet shown up on my pq page to be downloaded. :confused:

Has anyone else had this happen to them lately?

I just run 6 PQ's for all the caches in the state and then I can filter them in GSAK and list only the winter friendly caches where I want to go by using the poly/arc tool in the filter. :eek:

Team2hunt
12-26-2010, 06:53 PM
I just run 6 PQ's for all the caches in the state and then I can filter them in GSAK and list only the winter friendly caches where I want to go by using the poly/arc tool in the filter. :eek:

I wasn't very good at geometry in school, or math in general for that matter. :p

Thanks for the info. My Winter PQ finally came in.....just before the storm. :cool:

JustKev
12-26-2010, 07:15 PM
I wasn't very good at geometry in school, or math in general for that matter. :p

Thanks for the info. My Winter PQ finally came in.....just before the storm. :cool:

That's the beauty of the filters in GSAK. No need for geometry or even math. The tools do all the work.

JustPJ66
12-26-2010, 07:17 PM
That's the beauty of the filters in GSAK. No need for geometry or even math. The tools do all the work.

thank you to the GSAK 101 class for this knowledge

Team2hunt
12-26-2010, 07:50 PM
I just run 6 PQ's for all the caches in the state and then I can filter them in GSAK and list only the winter friendly caches where I want to go by using the poly/arc tool in the filter. :eek:

It is not actually the poly/arc tool, over 2 tabs in the filter is the listing for attributes. I like having my Winter PQ in a separate database, for several reasons, but for others this is a GREAT tool.

Just open the filter and look to the far right under the attributes tab. You have 2 choices ALL or ANY. I used the ANY, and checked off the " available during winter " and viola!

Thanks Kev

kayakingeko
01-31-2011, 07:20 PM
I only wish more people filled in attributes when hiding a cache, so many I go after have no attributes so you could go snowshoeing for a couple of miles to find it's under 4 feet of snow, not that that will stop me;) Will be working on a night only (fire tack) style and would be horrible to not put "needs flashlight" as an attribute.

Fins_Up
01-31-2011, 08:01 PM
I agree with kayakingeko. I find that when I run my winter friendly PQ I lose a ton of caches that simply have no attributes. Sometimes I will inquire with the owner if I am planning a long hike just to ensure it is winter friendly if I have doubts. I had one this last weekend that was marked as winter friendly but it was not really and I only discovered that after some snowshoeing and digging in the snow. Another good idea is to look at the logs to see if others have found the cache in the winter months.

dubord207
01-31-2011, 09:25 PM
There's a good point here. Many cache placers DON"T list any attributes. I think new cache placers need to be encouraged to do so. Newer cachers often don't learn about PQ's and GSAK for sometime after they start placing caches. I know tat can't encourage every cache owner whose caches he approves to add attributes, but the rest of us can. I had a couple of newer cachers ask me what the winter attribute means at Karen's event. Quite frankly, the way it's snowing, the only cache in the state that will be winter friendly is Laughing Terry's Wattatree cache!

Please add attributes when you place caches!!!!!!




I agree with kayakingeko. I find that when I run my winter friendly PQ I lose a ton of caches that simply have no attributes. Sometimes I will inquire with the owner if I am planning a long hike just to ensure it is winter friendly if I have doubts. I had one this last weekend that was marked as winter friendly but it was not really and I only discovered that after some snowshoeing and digging in the snow. Another good idea is to look at the logs to see if others have found the cache in the winter months.

brdad
01-31-2011, 09:29 PM
I'm not so sure but what attributes on new listings is only half or less than half the battle.

Cache owners should also check their existing caches. New attributes have been added and existing attributes have been edited in the past 6 months. Keeping this data updated is part of the maintenance process. If you can't keep up, you should not be hiding any more.

dufzor
01-31-2011, 11:46 PM
I'm not so sure but what attributes on new listings is only half or less than half the battle.

Cache owners should also check their existing caches. New attributes have been added and existing attributes have been edited in the past 6 months. Keeping this data updated is part of the maintenance process.. ??? My cache was winter friendly for a long time. Now it is thourougly buried by snow plows. Is it okay to change the attirbute page as the season progresses :confused: and change it back as the snow melts?

Fins_Up
02-01-2011, 12:01 AM
I think that is absolutely fine to change attributes as they change at the cache site. I have done that with some of mine and I am aware of others who do the same. Attributes are for the finders and if marked appropriately it will make for a better caching experience.

brdad
02-01-2011, 12:27 AM
??? My cache was winter friendly for a long time. Now it is thourougly buried by snow plows. Is it okay to change the attirbute page as the season progresses :confused: and change it back as the snow melts?

I never thought about it that way, but if a Winter friendly cache becomes impossible to do because of snow, it would seem appropriate to change it. However, if it becomes inaccessible every Winter or nearly every Winter, it is probably not a Winter friendly cache anyway?

dufzor
02-01-2011, 12:47 AM
I never thought about it that way, but if a Winter friendly cache becomes impossible to do because of snow, it would seem appropriate to change it. However, if it becomes inaccessible every Winter or nearly every Winter, it is probably not a Winter friendly cache anyway?
Last year, it would have been accessable all winter. Also depends on if they plow it under. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but last year, even if they had, we didn't have enough snow to worry about. This year, its accessable with a shovel and some dynamite. :eek:

brdad
02-01-2011, 07:47 AM
Last year, it would have been accessable all winter. Also depends on if they plow it under. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but last year, even if they had, we didn't have enough snow to worry about. This year, its accessable with a shovel and some dynamite. :eek:

Then I see nothing wrong with changing the attribute temporarily, or even temporarily disabling the cache, which many cachers do for caches that are impossible to get to in the Winter. However, impossible is rarely definite, if the cache is still there, someone could shovel and ice pick their way to the cache. So probably just changing the attribute would be sufficient. You could also post a note stating you changed it temporarily and why.

surfacewarrior
02-01-2011, 09:26 AM
I remember a couple of months ago reading here on the forum about a cache in NH that the cache owner intentionally gave the cord.'s to ove 60 ft wrong to make it harder to find. try that with your shovel.
HEY!!! I can put one of those in my drive and invite everyone over to get teh FTF on wed. evening. hahaha

dufzor
02-01-2011, 04:39 PM
You could also post a note stating you changed it temporarily and why.

Good thought! Will do!:)

Ekidokai
02-01-2011, 07:21 PM
Lately normal winter conditions have changed. A normally winter cache might not be accessible this year.

However winter friendly means different things to people too. I have seen people dig up caches only to be left out in the open in the spring.