A great issue for you this week. Some great tips, a cacher profile and an article from Blue Grass Tom. Not a lot of milestones being hit during this cold snowy spell in Iowa but there were a few who braved the cold to claim their milestones.

There is a new event listing. It sounds like great fun. It is the same weekend as MOGA, so anyone not able to head south run on over to Davenport and put a team together for a fun day of caching and camaraderie.

Finally, the ever present begging for cacher profiles, tips and tricks, and cache highlights. I find it hard to believe no one wants to brag about there hides. Finally, if you have a good caching story, share it here. Have a special caching event coming up, write up a couple paragraphs about it and send it in. (newsletter at iowageocachers.org)

From goobers5 - To get more caches done in less time: take another cacher with you... more sets of eyes, less time.

From goobers5 - Caching while traveling? Depending on how far away, you may want to double your traveling time. A 12 hour drive to Mobile, AL took 24 hours thanks to my caching schedule... and I didn't even do half of what I wanted to do, lol!!!

GC.Com Username: IowaBeaver (Terracaching Username: ScrabbleMan)

Number of Finds/Hides: 1792 / 23 (57/5 terracaches)

Occupation? I work for the United States Army as an engineer. My job takes me to military sites throughout the United States and occasionally overseas.

How you got your username? "IowaBeaver" is from the state I live in and the mascot for Oregon State University where I spent two years at school in the Chemical Engineering Department. “ScrabbleMan” is from my favorite board game.

How long have you been caching and how did you get started? My first geocache hunt was Jumble (GCHAD1) in May 2004. We did not finish the cache, due to a misreading of coordinates and my friend who had the GPS needed to get home. My first find was Duck Creek Cache, GCGEC1, on 17 Jun 2004 using a borrowed GPS. By the end of that month I was in Texas for work and bought a GPS as a diversion after work when I’m away from home.

Favorite cache/why? I’ve narrowed it down a bit, but there is not just one favorite for me: “A Cache of Palindromes”, a locationless cache was a great find for me. I hiked an 8 mile roundtrip in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada to the Desolation Wilderness in California to stand in a field of manzanita to claim the cache. I grew up in California and this has always been one of my favorite places. "Suspended between benchmarks" in Utah is a great puzzle cache ending with an outstanding hike up a canyon. The “Ten Hills” series in California and the “Jubilee” series outside of Peoria, IL would be my favorite series. “The Galaxy” is a favorite multicache. This list would not be complete without “Greenland” and “Fire cache” in Colorado. I told a friend that if he went geocaching and breathed in the fresh air of the Colorado mountains, he would forget his splitting headache and would be glad he came. He went and everything I promised came true! Finally there is Skywatcher Gorge as a great local hike.

Least Favorite/why? I’ll pass up a micro for a regular cache any day.

Current caching goals? Create harmony between terracaching and geocaching. I track my milestones using both numbers. I would like to find a cache in all 50 states (currently at 31). Most importantly is to have fun!

Good manners are a sort of lubricant for our interactions with other people in our daily lives – they make things go more smoothly. Likewise, in geocaching there are certain things we can do for each other to make the sport go more smoothly. Here are a few ideas of mine:

Cache Finding

Descriptions: Your geocache should be difficult or not on its own merits for the finder, not because the description of it is poor. The size of the geocache should always be listed, and if it’s a multi, it doesn’t hurt to list the size of each stage. With the proliferation of micros, I might suggest some additional language to help out. To me a micro is something like a pill bottle or spice container. A cache like a “bison” container, the ones that look like little scuba tanks might be referred to as a mini or mini-micro, and the small round magnetic ones that are a little smaller than a button might be called a nano. These terms are all helpful, especially to the newer geocacher.

Hints: I’ve seen hints that range from “No hints needed” to “Under the third log from the big rock 12 feet off the path.” Probably something in between these would be a good hint. Much of the hint thing I think depends on the location and the terrain there. The best hints are the ones that are truly a hint without giving the answer away, like “see the title” or “look for a tree shaped like a rocket.”

Disturbing the Terrain: When we are searching, especially when we are frustrated, it is easy to adopt the “destroy everything within a 16 foot circle” mentality. Remember that this may not only make it harder for the next finder, but may also catch the eye of park officials and hurt their opinion of our sport and its participants. A couple years back, someone looking for the first stage of one of my hides, adopted the “scorched earth” policy and trashed part of a hillside. I immediately cut that part of the cache from the description, and started with the next stage. Since caching is a family sport for many, this is a good opportunity for parents to model for their children how to handle frustration and to channel our emotions into positive energy spent looking for the geocache.

Seasonal considerations: Right now, winter is upon us in varying degrees according to our location. I, like many other hiders, need to go back and edit the attributes of our cache pages to indicate whether a cache is able to be found in winter or not. I’ve done some real digging through snow on some and didn’t mind it that much, but not everyone’s like me.

Cache Placing

Good Judgement: This covers a wide range of things I suppose, but what immediately comes to mind are distance and safety. I don’t know of a standard distance for caches in the Midwest, but it seems most require a walk ranging from under a mile one way to literally a drive-up. Anything’s fine as long as you list it in your description so the family cachers don’t end up like the Griswolds on their way to WallyWorld, full of wear-and-tear at the end! Safety should always be an issue, and, again, if you give a good description that helps. But, be aware of what type of moves finders will try, and how those might affect their safety. And, if kids shouldn’t be there, mention it in the description and the attributes.

Cache Re-Placing

Good Judgement: The goal should be to put the cache back where it was found without making it harder or easier than the cache placer intended. If it has camo around it, please fix it up that way before you leave, and make it look natural. One complaint I’ve heard from other cachers often involves leaving a cache open or out of place. If you cache with kids and let them replace the cache, teach them how to check for air-tightness. If the hide is a bit difficult, don’t expect them to put it back right, but, rather, show them how to do it. This helps to teach consideration for those future cachers who will come to that spot.

Cache Maintenance

Dampness: This seems to be the numero uno complaint I see on logs. You work hard to find a neat cache, and open it to record your find, and…you’ve got a mess of paper pulp in your hand! Waterproof containers should always be used. Just because you can’t see how it would get wet does not mean it can’t get wet. Cachers sometimes just put it back wrong. The container usually involved in reports of wetness is the decon container, or a Tupperware-type container, where the last finder doesn’t snap it shut correctly – always double-check that every corner of the lid is down. Using ziplock bags for every log makes a difference, too. Small ones are available extremely cheaply online.

Full logs: When you place a log, you have an obligation to keep sufficient paper in the cache for everyone to log their finds. Cache finders can help in two ways: not using more space than is necessary on the log, and by carrying some paper with them to replace a log that is full. We all depend on each other to make this work!

Container Integrity: Things happen, plastic cracks, paint peels, parts rust in some cases. When someone posts an owner maintenance note, take heed, and try to fix the problem promptly. I’ve taken to carrying a couple caches with me at all times, and I provide a temporary replacement and notify the owner.

Cache Posting

Good Judgement: When my son went to college, part of the orientation process involved how to use email, with the advice that it should not be used to express negativity, because it usually can not be taken back. When we post our logs, we have all been tempted (and sometimes given in to that temptation) to “flame” the hider on one or more issues. Before doing so, I would recommend that you check the hider’s profile, to see if he or she is new at the sport. All of our early hides probably had a few similar issues. Also, following the guidelines above on descriptions and hints can avoid some criticisms. In general, just think about your words before hitting “submit.” Is your comment truly something that should be posted, or is it something that an hour or two later you’ll look at and says, “Why did I do that? It really wasn’t that bad.” Thanks goodness we can edit our posts. And, if you need a hint, email the owner. Most are helpful in my experience, as most of us do like for our caches to be found. Finally, avoid the urge to say “it must not be there.” About 95% of the time it is there, and it was us, not the hider, who was responsible for the DNF.

To sum up, we are all different people. We prefer different types of caches, some like to get out all the time in the great outdoors, while others prefer the city park kind of hides. Respecting each other and each other’s caches is what good etiquette is all about, and keeps caching fun. Good caching in 2007!