That is good news! And leads into a couple of thoughts I had reading down the thread

I don't geocache. I tried a few when I first started letterboxing and determined it was not for me. However, I met some of the nicest people. Just like in letterboxing, there are fantastic, conscientious folks and there are casual, ill-informed, careless folks. Some people are amazing. Some people suck.

My experience has been geocachers seldom replace a box...they tend to trade out the stamp--that is, take the stamp and leave other trinkets. It makes sense that the folks who reported your box replaced were in error in that respect.

If there is a cache that close to your box, definitely consider moving your box! If letterboxers found the cache by accident, cachers will almost certainly find your box by accident. A search of the boards will give you some good information regarding how to determine a "safe" distance. If you haven't, poke around the geocache.com boards on a rainy afternoon and take advantage of the wisdom of some of the folks here who do both

So glad your box is safe!

We are not Newbies…. Been doing this since 2006. The description is very similar and very close. We certainly left the geocache right were it was! We will definitely be going back to see our mistake in interpreting the directions. The directions were excellent throughout the whole series…. We must’ve just unknowingly took a wrong turn. We feel bad we gave Riggs Raven such a scare, and caused such a commotion. We have also planted boxes ourselves and know the hard work that goes into carving and planting. And we are so grateful to those of you fellow planters out there. Happy trails to all!

The people have been letterboxing for a while, they were very nice. We all figured out where the mistake was.

I did look for the geocache to see if it was near, but couldn't find it.

What bothers me with all of this, and I am feeling like a broken record, due to the 'findabality' changed the box from 'good' to 'average' I wouldn't feel the rush to go see if it was there.

Also, then the finders who logged in feel bad as they listed it as attempt and now they have to go back and list it as NA so it goes back to good.

PLEASE...I dont want to bash the system, but it was a brand new box. I wish the 'system' was set up differently that the box had to have at least 3 attempts before it goes down to 'average'.

@stero sister1 You were so kind through all of this you even changed the status back to good. What more can i ask? ❤️

I just feel bad because you couldn't find the box (especially because it had the log in it), but then, because of my own anxiety as having the box downgraded to 'average' (because thats how it looks to me), you then had to go into the computer and change your status to NA and changed your comment. Too much work if you ask me...lol. (thank you so much for that).

Im fine with the 'attempt', I'M fine with 'comments' that someone stating they couldn't find it, I just wasn't fine with the 'downgrade' (average). Only because it's the first thing thing someone will see before anything else.

Sure, we can all turn that feature off, but that comes with getting more experienced around the site.

It was a simple mistake. Anyone could of made it. Don't feel bad about giving me a scare. It was ironic that I was so involved in another thread discussing this very topic about the 'system', that one of my boxes went down a level because someone made a simple boo boo....lol. My personal pet peeve about the system.

Like I said earlier, I just wish there were a few 'attempts' before a box gets downgraded. We're all human, so we are all gong to make mistakes, but the 'system' dictates that it might be gone.

SIDE NOTE : I know 'average' doesn't mean that it's gone, but looking at all my boxes in that series, that all read 'good' but one. I do read it as that it's probably not there.

Maybe add a note that says there is a curse on the stamp if it is removed a la the curse of the pharaohs!

;)

I have a series of 25 boxes where all of the stamps are glued to the lids.

I did a series recently where the stamps are glued to a rock (flat piece of cement, no box needed...lol. Except the last one with the log book.)

You are putting far too much importance on the ratings and worrying about it far too much. You shouldn't be wasting energy being anxious.

Personally, if people aren't going to look for a box of mine because they let an algorithm do their thinking for them that's their loss. I'm not going to worry about it.

Had this happen. I had a box in a great place off the beaten path, it was there for *years*, where there wasn't even a trail so there should have been no reason for anyone to go back there. It contained my FIRST STAMP that I EVER CARVED: Keith Haring's 3-eyed Monster. It was special to me.

Then, one day, I got word that a letterboxer reached into the tree and they found my letterbox's lock and lock. Inside? Plastic junk. No stamp, no logbook.
I went on to the GCing website and lo and behold, there's a Geocache there now, where my box was. THEY USED MY BOX AND TRADED AWAY OR KEPT MY FIRST STAMP. I messaged the owner and all of the finders. "No one knew where my stamp was"/"They didn't see it". Yeah, okay.

Still bitter about it.
There's a lot of GCers that are fine people, I am one of them.
But there are also a lot that are...smoothe brains.

Dont get me wrong, some of my boxes have gone missing, its not a big deal to me. Some might be downgraded to average or even challenging. Im fine with it. I've even retired some because a few were missing. No biggy, just not attached to them.

But something about my 'new boxes', especially if its part of a series and if it has the log book in it, I just feel its to soon to be downgraded..lol.

For me, something about getting the whole series just feels like I conquered something. I mean, who really wants to go find a 'skeleton series' that people are saying they cant find skull and ribs?....lol.

But I do agree, I think there is a certain amount of acceptance that I have to do around the ratings. If people aren't looking for it, then they are just not going to look for it. I have no control of who goes and who doesn't.

"Personally, if people aren't going to look for a box of mine because they let an algorithm do their thinking for them that's their loss. I'm not going to worry about it."

But this goes back to perceptions. I dont think everyone knows that an algorithm is the one dictating it. Plus, I wonder if someone new comes along, they also may thing the planter is the one who is rating the boxes. It's hard to know what people think so I try to think of all possible variables how people might perceive something.

I *think* that once you check on your box and mark it as being found, the status goes back to "good" findability.

Anyway, great that you all figured out what exactly happened, and you can decide if anything needs to be modified or not.

is there any chance that yhe stamp was hidden in the pinecones?
smile

No.

That's how Troll Bait was born.

This sound familiar.
Was this recently or was I with you for the "find" or did you tell me about it?

This past winter. Nope, this was local, down here. I probably griped to you about it. lol

What is the point of listing a box before you plant it???? It’s not like you have to reserve a spot.

I do it so I can put the AQ# on the logbook and stamp. Sometimes the name is bigger than the stamp. The number tends to be smaller.

I often create a box listing ahead of time so that I can get the AQ number to write in the logbook, but I don’t publish it—I don’t think you do, either, PG. I think Miss Moon is asking why some people publish box listings before they plant the box. This seems to happen a lot before an event.

You are correct, Rocklun. I don’t publish the box till it is planted.
Ive only come across one or two boxes that were published before it was planted.

I see it fairly often in New Boxes before an event. Maybe folks don’t know about the Save feature?

The only time I post boxes early is a day or two before an event so that the attendees can print the clues. They are clearly marked as for the event and not in place until the event (even if they often are already in place)

I quit wasting my own paper and ink when I had 55 people signed up for an event the night before (down from nearly 70). I printed and assembled 50+ clue packets... and only 11 people attended!! Maybe 7 clue packets were used!

Now people can deal with a series being listed the day early.

Absolutely! I did the same thing for events I hosted. Why kill trees if people don't show up?

I think Miss Moon is talking about folks who publish box listings, usually without clues and often without a location, more than a few days in advance of an upcoming event. I love the Save option and find it especially helpful when I'm planning to plant a box while traveling, because I can get the basic typing out of the way while using my PC's keyboard instead of my phone.

I do too. I use the save feature to get the number. Once its planted, then I publish. Im guessing people might think the only way to get a box number is to publish it.

I mean single boxes that never get planted. I've put watches on some over time because they were listed in an area that I box in sometimes. Months later they are still not planted. Nothing to do with events.

Okay. I hardly ever see those.

Maybe ask the planters about them directly?

I would check to see how active they are. How many plants and finds they have? If they are active, then I would just ask them. If not, it may be they just had good intentions but never planted it and then forgot about it.

For the record, I only ran into this problem once. However, they did plant something, but it wasn't a letterbox. It was really weird. (no, it wasnt a geo.)

Just a suggestion, if the box is published, and its not there, maybe just click 'attempted' and write in the comment section that the box is gone. At least others wont go looking for it.

It might be easier then to be watching the box to see when it will be planted. If the planter has a problem with your comment, they contact you.

I always assume if a box is gone, a little squirrel got curious. They don't care if a box is an hour old or 10 yrs old.

Watching a box is not a big deal. Just click on “watch”.


I’m not going to log an attempt on a box I never looked for.

That was done.