Geocachers of the Rochester Area

[sno_man]

Ok, now that this one has finally been found by somebody, I have some questions about the approval process. First, do reviewers have any inkling at all about a cacher's age? I don't remember having to give a birthdate when I created my geocaching account, but maybe I did. I ask, because after several email and text conversations with this cache owner, I get the impression that he is in high school. Now, that may not be a problem on a typical cache, but one with stage 1 in Ohio and stage 2 in New York, I would think for maintenance purposes that an owner should be able to drive after dark!!! Is there some sort of proxy (like a co-signer on a loan) that lives in New York near the final??? I know there is no precedent for geocaches, but what is the typical radius beyond a cacher's home coordinates where a reviewer would raise maintenance questions? Thanks!

[sapiencetrek]

We know nothing about a cacher's age. There is no requirement for a minimum or a maximum age for a cacher to be when they place or find a cache. I encourage all cachers young and old to find and hide caches!

As far as maintenance, a cacher must have a maintenance plan for all their caches, regardless of how far away a cache is from their home. When a cache is placed, we know how far away the cache is from the coordinates they entered on their profile, and we may question what their maintenance plan is if a cache is hidden far from home. "Far" is relative, as a cacher that travels a lot may have no problem performing maintenance tasks on a cache 500 miles from home. And a person that is unable to travel may be unable to maintain a cache 5 miles from home.

In this cache the cache owner has indicated they have a local maintainer who can perform needed maintenance, if needed. I have no reason to doubt this, so as long as they verify somebody will take care of the cache in their absence the cache can be published.

That said, if I notice that a mysterious maintainer never came to be, a note may be added to their permanent record indicating so, in which case their next vacation cache placement may be questioned more strictly. Yes, we have access to your permanent record, the same one that prevented you from getting into Yale because you pulled little Sally's ponytail on the bus in kindergarten. So please, don't give us a reason to add to this. I'd hate to see a vacation cache impact your ability to get into a school of your choice, or get a job offer.

[Bruce]

[Wandering Buck]

For the cache that Sno refers to, I believe the Owner has a relative that lives nearby.
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[Blue_stone]