Geo-Rallye III

Haffy -

Different day Same tune! Actually it is a broken record. Actually it is interesting that it bothers you since you found a cache once before it was published (I think you may have been present when it was hidden, but not sure about that) and claimed the very thing your now so against.

You should be congratulating the folks for all the hard work and the positive promotion of our fine hobby. The fact that you have hard feelings about the whole thing is well known. Back off and let them be!

Have a great rallye!

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Originally Posted by brdad

Do you know where you read this in the FAQ? ..........

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It's at the end of the Geocaching.com official FAQ. I suppose it depends on how you read it. If Everyone has GPSrs capable of bringing them all w/in a 30' convergence........why would you need radios to get you together!? lol

You're in the serene woods of Maine.....hunting for a geocache that's been promoted as a great find. You walk over the hill only to find someone sitting w/the opened cache in their lap and reading the logs. That doesn't sound like fun to me Any which way you cut it!!

So that makes two situations I've walked away from in the woods. People on an unpublished via waypoint known as lovers lane ;) And geocachers that might want to be left in peace to find the cache. We can have just as much fun chatting trailside after it's been found.

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Originally Posted by lexmano

Phil, there is NO premium for FTF's, the whistle is just to alert a team at a cache that you are coming. Then they have to finish up and vacate, whether they find the cache on not within 3 minutes. If no one else comes they can wait and go right back after your 3 minutes. The objective is to make sure that each team finds the caches on their own. These caches are spread out so, that we don't expect this to be a big issue, but needed some way to deal with any traffic jams that may develop.

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Awesome.....I knew there weren't any unpublished FTFs on this upcoming trip ;) I do like the idea of the Whistle blow that starts the official 3 mins. timer. Unfortunately my egg timer is only 2mins. :( Hey...there's a new geocaching invention for the industrious among us. A 3 mins. Rallye Timer!! Talk about useful swag!!

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Originally Posted by squirrelcache

It's at the end of the Geocaching.com official FAQ. I suppose it depends on how you read it. If Everyone has GPSrs capable of bringing them all w/in a 30' convergence........why would you need radios to get you together!? lol

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True, while the GPSrs would get you to the same spot, but oftentimes there are several ways into and out of a cache site. It was thought with the radios, most with a two mile range minimum, a person could broadcast from the parking area if there was a potential geocachers vehicle there, or just check randomly from the trails to see if any other cachers were heading to or from the cache.

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Originally Posted by squirrelcache

You're in the serene woods of Maine.....hunting for a geocache that's been promoted as a great find. You walk over the hill only to find someone sitting w/the opened cache in their lap and reading the logs. That doesn't sound like fun to me Any which way you cut it!!

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Well, if I am the one at the cache, I don't care if a cacher comes and joins me. I can see where I may not want to spoil my hunt if it I thought it was a good one so may opt to turn around and hold back (or if we were using the radios, stay out of sight knowing he was there), but in most cases for me, it would not ruin the experience.

I was FTF at a cache once - I went to the site and looked all over for about 5 minutes, and at that point the cache owner walked up with the cache and stated " I think this is what you're looking for!". He had published the cache the night before and figured no one would be there before 7 AM the next day. That did lessen the experience a little, and today I might not claim the find until I went away and came back when it was in place.

Maybe it's my not so good hearing, but I am not sure I would hear a whistle unless I was close enough to be in sight with the whistlers anyway. Of course, if radios were used for the rally, I'd probably forget to turn it on or run out of batteries!

I've done over a thousand caches in the state of Maine and can still count on one hand the "encounters" I've had with other cachers at a cache site(excluding Event caches). When I have run into another cacher, meeting that person (or team) generally has turned out to be more memorable than the cache itself. Seems to me if a person wants complete and assured solitude and wants to completely remove the risk of running into another person then that person should give up geocaching and go aimlessly hike the western mountains somewhere. After all, the posted coordinates at geocaching.com ARE a convergence point and anybody who cares could load that point and go there.

I also wanted to comment about the cynicism and sarcasm regarding the rallye. How is it that those who are being satirical about the rallye can say they had a great time at a geo-caching event? They have games and raffles at a Gecoaching Event too. Couldn't it be construed that these Events are promoting an atmosphere of competition by promoting the, "best of..." or the, "most creative...." How are these competitions so much more pure and "ethical" than any other competitions? I've even been to an event where we all raced to an unpublished caches to get the prize which was essentially an FTF prize, remember Haffy, wasn't it a money award for getting to the cache first? It was either the Mount A. Event or a Cache Bashe event. Either way, it was a competitive event and it was FUN!! I'm sure these competitions at the geo-events had rules and guidelines to help promote a fun atmosphere, or at least the events I went to did.

Seems to be a lot of hippocritical cynicism. As far as building a 3 minute egg timer I think I'll be old fashion and watch the secondhand on my wristwatch. Old school I know but it still works.

The only difference I see is that at most events the caches are most likely temporary or are already published, and the caches used for any games are on the premises of the event where permission to use the property for such games is assumed. In my opinion there is less likelihood of any problems arising with landowners or other non-cachers in these cases. I have even participated in some of these event competitions myself, and though it's not really my thing, I can't say as I didn't have fun either. Actually, it's been kind of funny at the Cache Bashes, 30 people wandering a 100 foot radius and it still takes 20 minutes to find the stupid thing! In fact I'd feel more comfortable if these competitions were done on a single property, such as a state park and with permission. Many of these properties could entertain perhaps a hundred of temporary and virtual style caches in a controlled environment. I might even support geocachingmaine.org holding an event in this manner. In fact, I like this idea enough to think we should entertain the idea and discuss the possibility.

That being said, I will once again say I have never heard of any serious issues that have resulted from any of the similar rallies in this state.

I want to appologize if my light hearted posts have offended anyone! My job as a goofy Dad often carries over into other interests. Life all around us is Too Derned Serious All the time. So I do what I can to cut up and have fun w/those around me. Just so long as no one gets hurt.....it's all good.

I was trying to be funny in painting a picture of standing earshot from a cache w/an Egg timer...and yelling "My turn"! I honestly don't have an issue w/any of the guidelines set forth to create a safe and fun environment for the event. If I did.....I'd do more than speak up....I'd get involved. I've done it many times in my own community, while others stood by heckling from the sidelines.

Once again I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. My e-mail's open to anyone that's taken offense. Please give me a chance to clarify/rectify if possible, Before you form false opinions.

I liked the egg timer response!

The prizes are piling up, we are amazed at the generosity being displayed by our sponsors. At this time it is likely that everyone who participates will receive prizes with a value in excess of the cost of their entry!! Some will do much, much better. The top three teams will receive very generous prize packages! Also don't forget the PN-40 and NUVI which will be raffled off with everyone eligible!

I enclose a link to a web page with details of rules, equipment needed or suggested and a list of our sponsors.

http://sites.google.com/site/mainegeorallye3/sponsors-3

At this moment there are 20 teams with money in, several more we are expecting. Only one team from Bangor area so far, come on down folks! We have New York and Massachusetts teams coming. No one from New Hampshire yet.

The entry deadline has been extended to Wednesday September 23th. Please speak up and let us know if your entry is coming.

I'm curious how the scoring is done, on a geocache's D/T rating. I've seen online discussion of such, and no particular formula that I can remember. Anyone remember last year or know how it'll be done this year?