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We have been really enjoying Geocaching since we started in June. Lately we have been getting into the other half of the game - the hide!

Our first attempts went really smooth - they were published quickly - people seemed to find them easy enough and we had some great reviews about our placements and our write-ups. We didn’t have a single DNF (did not find) yet at all! Well - that was the first five hides anyway…

This past weekend we published two more - number six and number seven. We hid them about a week prior to publishing them - checked the coordinates several times on several days - did some great write-ups and even created some nice graphics. We were ready to hear the great reviews.

DNF!

What? DNF? How can that be? Something must be wrong with the guy’s GPSr - right?

DNF - again? - again!

A friend and fellow cacher called me to let me know they were having difficulty. Their GPS was pointing to the bench out at the front of the library. That doesn’t make sense - the cache is around the side of the building close to the back.

Ok - now we know something is up - time to recheck - again. I got home from going out to lunch and grabbed the GPSr’s - both of them - and headed out to the spots. First to the Library. I followed the coordinates we had posted and ended up exactly where my friend did - at the bench!?! Now the bench is at about the same North coordinate as the cache but the West coordinates were way off! - like 175ft?! So I trecked over to where the cache was and took new coordinates. I used my grid method to help me get some new coordinates and wrote them down - then checked again. One thing I did not do is confirm the cache was still there. There was fresh snow and me going to the cache location would pretty much give it away.

Off to the next cache - Queen’s Rose. Once again the North coordinates seemed to be fine but the West coordinates were off again - not as bad this time but it pointed into a fenced off - no trespassing area… Now some people had figured this one out with the coordinates being 35ft off but we still decided to change to the new coordinates.

After updating the coordinates on the web site I decided to send messages to those who recorded a DNF as a courtesy. The remarks I received back were very gracious - this is a kind community for the most par

Hmmm - Lessons Learned…

1) Check your coordinates - double check - tipple check - then check again - then again
2) Then again
3) If you hide a cache long before you publish it - check it is there again before you publish
4) Even when people make mistakes, it is nice that the community can encourage each other.
5) Check your coordinates - again

Our apologies to those who spent their Sunday afternoon looking for our latest caches to no avail. Thanks for your kindness and understanding.