Archived caches – Dartmoor Geocaching

Archived caches

reb10 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:11:51 +0000

I have just worked out Dartmoor Dave’s ‘Explore the Dartmoor Archives’ and was amazed to see that archived caches can still be logged as found. I’m not complaining, i would log an archived cache if i found one and could work out what it was.
But it does pose some questions, like why are caches archived and left in place? and why can they still be logged?
This means that archived caches that are still in place are there to be found and logged, so why archive them?

Reply To: Archived caches

Dartmoor Dave — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:29:11 +0000

In my experience archived caches fall into 3 categories:

Where a cache owner has decided that he wishes to archive a cache and goes and collects it – therefore can’t be found again
Where a cache owner loses interest and just archives it – it may be there, but probably has already gone missing or is in a bad state of maintenance – possible to find again
Where a reviewer notices that a cache has not been maintained or when somebody else has logged a “needs archive” he will normally give 14 days notice and then archive it. It appears to be this sort that can often be found, because the reviewer is not going to go and retrieve it!

I have found several archived caches in the last 12 months or so. One of the Granite Trail caches had been archived, replaced by another CO and I found both caches within 30 or 40m and logged them both. The first one should never have been archived, but once again a reviewer archived it because he had no reply from the CO, but the cache was still there!

I suspect that there may be several other archived caches out there as I know at least one cache owner who suddenly archived several active caches and I always wondered if he bothered to retrieve them!

I am currently maintaining one very old archived cache and hope one day to get it unarchived, but that is not easy. If I do, it will probably be Dartmoor’s oldest cache, but of course in name only as neither the log book or cache are original.

Reply To: Archived caches

GoldenHaystack — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:23:12 +0000

Thanks Dave for bringing the Oldest Cache on the moor to my attention. I will hopefully find and log it soon. I’m still on my current challenge of trying to log 100 of Devon’s Oldest caches before they are archived. So far I have found 1 placed in 2001, 13 in 2002, 14 in 2003, 26 in 2004 and 23 in 2005 totalling 77 caches placed in Devon before the end of June 2005.
Regarding your “very old archived cache”, I can see your problem in getting it back up and running. Good luck with your negotiations. GH.

Reply To: Archived caches

reb10 — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:23:10 +0000

By my calculations the cache in question is about 75 feet from an active cache, which poses another question, when a cache is archived (and left in place) and another one is placed close by are people finding the right one?
Last year we were looking for a cache but there was nothing at the given coordinates, we widened our search and found a cache but it was obviously a much older cache. Then nearer to the right coordinates a cache was found and we assumed this was the right cache. But recently the cache owner has said the cache was indeed missing and has put a new cache in place. This means there are three caches very close together, are the other two archived caches or bonus caches?
Perhaps this is a good reason to label caches with its name and gc code.

Reply To: Archived caches

Dartmoor Dave — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:17:51 +0000

If we are talking about the same cache (which I would prefer was not named in this thread) I have moved it to a new location almost exactly 0.1 mile from the active cache, and I have noted the new location in my log. When I found it, it wasn’t at its original location, which of course is why it went missing and was archived.

Is your next example on the moor and if so, which cache are we referring to please?

I totally agree with your last point and this is why I have said several times in this forum that I consider that all caches should be labelled correctly, at least with a geocaching sticker. They are very cheap and in my opinion turn a piece of litter into a geocache! On Dartmoor it is even more important as the moor is littered with so-called letterboxes which are no more than a broken ice cream carton with a soggy notebook in. Several times caches have been logged as found when I know very well that they are really these ice cream cartons that have been found. Judy and I cleared about 9 of them from Hound Tor before I placed my cache there, but even then we missed one very close by!

Reply To: Archived caches

reb10 — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:37:38 +0000

Yes its on the moor and its one of yours, Beardown Man (GC2W3VF).

Reply To: Archived caches

GoldenHaystack — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 23:00:11 +0000

Oh what a shame. Now you’ve moved the old cache how can it be the original cache any longer?? Surely the way forward should have been to negotiate with the nearby newer cache owner to get his required information, if you see what I’m alluding to, placed in the oldest cache and then either move or archive the newer cache. This would leave the space free to either unarchive the old cache or lay a multicache to lead cachers to it so they could log it even if it’s archived and collect the information they are looking for. GH.

Reply To: Archived caches

Dartmoor Dave — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:24:20 +0000

What defines a cache? Surely it’s the cache number and nothing else. Clearly you can’t expect an original log book in a cache 10 years old and probably not the cache container. Caches also often get moved for one reason or another. In this particular case the cache had already gone missing which is why it was archived. However, it had actually been moved to a new location and was found and logged there long before I came across it. I couldn’t move it back to the original location as a new cache had been placed there and I couldn’t leave it where it was as it was exposed and in a very wet location. I have moved it away from the new cache so that if we could unarchive it, it would be in an acceptable location. When I found this cache it was smashed and saturated. However, the original label was still in place on the container which is how we identified it as a cache and not a letterbox. I have preserved this, but that was all that was left. Even with hindsight I don’t think I would have done anything differently.

Reply To: Archived caches

Dartmoor Dave — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:36:45 +0000

With regard to Beardown Man I went there recently but had not realised that my cache had been found nearby. It was getting very late and I didn’t have much time to get home, in fact I arrive back in the pitch black anyway. I knew the cache was not where it should have been and I had a quick look round and then placed another. If reb10 is correct, there are indeed 3 containers there, possibly two of mine and a much older one. I will need to return and investigate.

Another possibility is that some caches have not been logged with Groundspeak but with say Open Caching. In this case we may find a cache and assume that it is an old archived one, but is actually live on another system. I don’t think this is true of Beardown Man as I think the log had not been signed recently, at least not until it was mistaken for my cache.

Reply To: Archived caches

GoldenHaystack — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 06:37:13 +0000

Yes, you are right. A groundspeak cache is defined by it’s GC code number.
However, I like the dictionary definition. (Each to his own definition of course). Maybe I’m just being awkward.

Cache [kash] noun, verb, cached, cach·ing.
Noun 1. a hiding place, especially one in the ground, for ammunition, food, treasures, etc.
2. anything so hidden.
Verb (used with object) 3. to put in a cache; conceal; hide.

By the way. I’m just about to drive down to the moor so, please don’t move it again until I’ve logged it!! GH.