Local caches archived

I have noticed a worrying trend over the past few months: The increasing number of caches that are being archived due to a lack of maintenance by the owners.

The latest to be archived was NOGHU # 103 "Plenty - O - Pine" GCYA8B. This cache has been running smoothly since Sep 06 and was archived by Cache Tech on 1 Apr 09 with no reasons given.

Having gone there twice, I found the cache and its content to be in great shape (even had the bungee cord tied to the tree!). The only issue I had during my visits was getting an accurate signal on my GPS the second time around. Other than that, I am not sure what issue would cause this cache to be disabled.

We also lost another cache GCNF90 #103 Get Moving! This cache had been serving the local caching community since Apr 05. I replaced the logbook during my visit there, but did not have any container or swags to restock. I understand that the NOGHU no longer exists, but performing basic maintenance would have saved this cache.

While caching in London a few weeks back, I also noticed a very disturbing trend. Cachers are entering an alarming number of "maintenance required" logs. Most of these entries concern the absence of basic supplies such as logbook or pen to log the find. The London area has over 600 caches and some of these caches requiring maintenance may be archived. In London, loosing a few caches due to a lack of maintenance may not be an issue, but in Northern Ontario, given the great distance that one has to travel between caches, we - as a geocaching community - should take care of our local caches. We all should carry Zip Lock bags, small logbooks and pens to replenish a cache. If you perform local maintenance on a cache, send a message to the cache owner. On most occasions when we did, we got a message from the owner thanking us for doing it. Like most of us, the owners have busy lives and do not always have the time to replace a wet/missing/full log. It only takes a few minutes to empty a container and replaced a bagged logbook and in the end, potentially saves a cache for someone else to enjoy.

I would suggest that maintenance logs be only entered when the cache is in such an obvious state of disrepair, missing or in the wrong location. We have so few local caches that as an organization, we should prevent our local caches from being archived for such easy things to fix.

I have personally sent a message to the Cache Tech concerning the deactivation of Plenty O' Pines. Yes, my son and I have both found and logged the cache; however, I feel that the cache is in such a nice area that other non-local cachers are going to miss out on this nice location now that this cache has been archived.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the WWMF Ville de North Bay on 2 May

Happy Easter to all

Gator (of team allie_gator2006) sends

The reason Cache tech archived those caches was because they were Commercial - The users profile and cache pages all had a direct link to a commercial advertising site, and the caches were originally bought as paid advertisements for local companies. Groundspeak is undergoing a crackdown in the guidelines lately, specifically on ones of Commercial incentives.

If you know of a cache that he archived - that is still out there and running smoothly - I say go out there and change the logbook and publish it as a new cache! Just remember that you gotta maintain it!

Cheers!

I thought that when a cache was archived it was supposed to be removed by the owner ... I mean there is enough litter in the bush without us putting out there as well If you find a cache that was archived and dont plan on Taking it over it should be removed .. At least then its contents could maybe be recycled ..I have come across this problem at another time when the ecology center in Mattawa were setting out caches for people to find for an event and then were not picking them up afterwards ,not a proud moment for the Ecology ....I,m just saying there are enough caches out there that never maintained we dont need to be forgetting about them as well..

sadly, people do not always play be the rules. Often a cache is archived simply because the owner does not want to maintain it (so why would they go pick it up?)

Sad but true!