Luck isn't my forte. LOL

I don't consider myself unlucky; I'm just saving it up for something big like the lottery. ;-)

This looks like a huge amount of fun! I'm signed up for the one in Ypsilanti, MI in May. Are you going to run or walk it, or a combo? I've been working on running, but can only do 1.25 miles without walking for a bit. This is WAAAY better than when I started, but nowhere near a 5k yet.

Congrats on reaching your goal!!!

good thing no one was nearby
I laughed and laughed. I'm still laughing
Love the man in charge of their safety.

I'd like to improve my clue-writing. All this talk about great boxes has made me wonder what others consider great. So, what do "blue diamond" clues look like, to you?

Omniglot is awesome. I always wanted to create something in rotor script, but it seemed like a lot of effort to create the animated gif file, so I settled with my Pain in the Brain box. Consider it rotor script for the lazy.

LeBug

For those lazy as I, here is the direct link to rotor script:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/rotor.htm

If somebody is interested, I do have the actual alphabet, which does show that I may one day be motivated to create a box based upon it. :-)

LeBug

There is a local creative clue writing community - CCCP.

Cheers,

LB

I've earned my NC Treasure Hiker 100 mile tag quite a while back, but I find that I still like counting miles. I've looked at Ryan's new site that he mentioned in his blog, and I really like it. You can count any miles anywhere. :) You can also enter it by steps off your pedometer and it converts to miles or miles off whatever GPS app you are using. Very, very simple to use. Then you get to see your progress on a map and photos of trails you may never otherwise see.

Anyway, if you are in to walking for exercise and fun like I am, it's worth checking out at http://www.walking4fun.com/

I emailed the distinguished cachers

Meh, they're Numbers Cachers, the kind that have a list of 20 caches to find that day and spend the entire time racing around the city trying to get as many as possible in that time. That's why they get so bent when they can't immediately find something. But I would agree that because your type of hide is so unusual, the "Cache not at coordinates" note should be immediate. The nice thing about adding it to the title is that a lot of people are caching from their phones now, and the phone apps don't always allow access to the description page.

Yeah, I had my other hybrid listed with it in the title, but this one I was trying to be consistent with how I listed it on AQ. Oh well!

I agree, numbers, numbers... :) They probably only looked for 10 minutes before they looked up the cache page!!! Because numbers people have about a five minute tolerance. But usually numbers people are well-known and liked, and these have been caching for 11 years... also I figured they've seen a few hybrids. I've been letterboxing for 1.5 years with less than 200 finds (although to be rectified this weekend), but when I see boxers who don't maintain their caches and they are all soggy and buggy or have bad directions, I don't go to them.... and we have a lot of those near where I live. In geocaching I have 300 finds in 2 years. Only about 10 of those stand out as fun or interesting, and I seek mostly those types of caches now, or just cache when I happen to have no letterboxes around, as a way to explore.

I did have Not at Posted Coords in the original description, but the word limit made me drop it. I wanted more info to make sure they knew it was a letterbox, and would be different. Well, now it's changed.

ok, now that's a perfect example of not all boxes are for all boxers.

that would give me a migraine to solve.

~tigs (guess what? i do have limits)

Haha...when people know their left from their right and list the tree type correctly, that certainly makes for a better clue. <wink>

make me think - sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. tell a story, teach me something. if you teach me something, tell me a story and it's a great place -5. if it's just a mediocre place but there's a surprise twist at the end, (look up the Middle of Nowhere box) -5. If there's something that makes me laugh, or just makes me remember, plus the components of the box - 5.

a Blue Diamond isn't just for the clue: it's for the whole thing. i don't care how great your clue and stamp are: if you stick a bought logbook in there, you're getting a 4. If the logbook, stamp and clue are great and you're sticking it in a crappy box, still a 4 (because in all probability, everything is soggy or moldy -or if bugs jump out at me because of the pouch/box, it's a 3).

~tigs(so now you know my ranking system)

and if there is a snake anywhere near it, you may be SOL

By the way, I wanted to just mention how cool I think it is that Ryan designed a way to see the self-identified boxers by state. There are a lot more than I would have guessed for Georgia. Thank you!

I definitely am going to snag one of those premium memberships to help continue to support the development of this site! Hooray for innovations... especially as it relates to letterboxing.

when you share yourself, others share with you. It's that simple.

Hip Hip Hurray for tigger. This goes down as the statement of the year.

Hmmm... Unless it's intended to be backwards, of course. :-)

i second what RIClimber has said. . . now if i can just get to them, and stop emptying out Topsham and Bowdoinham, i can get them. . .

~tigs (maybe this summer. . .but then, there's Oz. . .)

you're not walking for fun

you're walking for competition ;-)

and Evil Genius. *nodding wisely*

~tigs (walk walk walk walk)

and if there is a snake anywhere near it, you may be SOL

What if THAT'S the surprise twist at the end?? ;-)

You are in luck... with the recent warmer weather - we have almost no snow cover. But the ground has completely refrozen overnight. And lucky us - the wind is just lovely, NOT. I might suggest Royal Cousins, The Dash and Kissing Cousin - (all Giddy boxes) as well...

Just be careful when trying to pry them out - I've had tragic results this time of year and am no longer allowed to box with the trowel...

mud

Hey, competition IS fun! LOL!! But I'm telling ya-- I didn't start it!!!!

Fun little word play. I remember one that said to take the correct trail.
Well, which one is the correct trail?
If you don't know I guess you'll be left behind at the junction.

My plan is to run, but we'll see where I'm at by then. Haven't actually reach a goal, just set one I'm really excited about. :)

These are blue-diamond clues. And so are these. Oh, and let's not forget these! :^)

Some reviewers are better than others. My reviewer is a PITA to deal with. He insists on having final coordinates, so I put them as a secondary waypoint. The last one I posted, I even copy/pasted the the text from the guidelines page to the Reviewer Note that said "This cache type pays homage to an older form of scavenger hunt. A Letterbox Hybrid must include significant GPS usage for AT LEAST PART of the hunt. Letterbox-style clues may be used to guide seekers to the container, but only if the clues are accompanied by coordinates specific to the hide. The container for a Letterbox Hybrid must include a stamp, which stays with the geocache and may be used by letter-boxers to stamp their personal letter-boxing book. The cache can be logged without using the stamp." I just think my reviewer is anti-letterbox.

One of the first hybrids that I tried placing using directional clues ended up going back and forth about 5 times before it finally posted. I even blogged about that one. http://nativtxn.blogspot.com/2012/09/frustrations-with-trying-to-get-cache.html

Again, the review team on opencaching.us is MUCH easier to get along with.

I agree with LB about checking out the CCCP board.
I also spent a lot of time last year working with some great clue writers. The boxes we did together all went BD:
http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=198901
http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=198897
http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=199840

And then I tried working on and solving some of the mysteries clues that went BD:
http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=201103
yt clues
And some that I just thought looked fun:
http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=180826

It didn't really matter if I could find the box. I just wanted more exposure to creative clues. :)

So, what do "blue diamond" clues look like, to you?

Well, aside form the obvious comments already stated here (accurate, fun, unique, creative, visual, complex) I think a blue diamond clue takes a person on an adventure from start to finish.

LB, DD, Es, FK, MMM, MS, and so many others have created amazing clues that are just too much fun.

For me, its the collaborations that make the perfect blue diamond clues. LB and others helped put this one together. I'm a bit partial, but I think its pretty purple.

3 Blind Mice

I'm familiar with some of the mysteries that you and Mama Wolf have posted here. Coming up with the clues (let alone the stamps, logbooks, and locations) for these types of boxes can be incredibly time-consuming. I have one mystery plant that I'm pretty happy with, and it took quite a bit of time to research, write, and rewrite the clues.

It is already on my list to go there. And we will be going to a couple when we go back east as well. I'm just looking to get in on another aspect of this fun hobby.

Just heard on the radio that the nc forest service is doing a controlled burn at Halliburton park in Wilmington. At least 3 of five boxes of mine will most likely be burned. I don't have time to save them. :-(. Maybe ill get lucky