Spring cleaning for your caches
Here in the Northern Hemisphere ice is starting to thaw, birdsong floats through the air, and fragrant flowers are starting to bloom. Spring is on its way and we’re ready for the brighter days and longer cache outings the season brings. With the weather getting warmer, now is also a great time to check on your caches and do a little spring cleaning. Caches often need maintenance after the colder and wetter months. Follow our tips below to freshen up your cache and make it ready for a new season of “Found it” logs and Favorite points. Cachers in the Southern Hemisphere, who are entering autumn, can also follow these tips to make sure their caches are in good shape after a busy summer season.
Check on the location
Sometimes things can change around the area where a cache is hidden and what was once a great spot for geocache camouflage becomes a location where your geocache is totally exposed and visible. The hedge that hid the ammo can may have been removed, or the rocks that provided camouflage might have been rearranged. Check the location of your cache hide and make sure it is still a good place for the cache.
Check on the logbook
A logbook that has lived through wet and cold seasons often needs to be replaced. What starts out as a crisp, clean notebook or tight scroll might become a soggy lump of paper. Additionally, if it’s been a while since you last checked on the cache, the logbook might be full and need to be replaced so geocachers have a place to sign their usernames.
Is it time for a new container?
Another important part of a geocache spring cleaning ritual is making sure that the cache container is clean and functional. If the container is broken, not closing properly, or if its time in nature has made it undesirable for finders to touch, it may be time to replace the container.
Check your trackable inventory
One final step of freshening up your cache is making sure that its trackable inventory is accurate. Sometimes the listed location of a trackable no longer reflects its accurate location. If a trackable is listed in your cache on the website but is not physically in the cache container, you should mark the trackable as missing. Similarly, if there are trackables physically in your cache, but not in the inventory, you should “grab” the trackables and then “drop” them in your cache via trackable logs.
What seasonal steps do you take to get your cache ready? Let us know in the comments!
