MnGCA

Jonas

This vote will run from August 25th through August 31th 2007.

GC138K7 - Cannon River Bend by Lewis and Clark
Nominated by dornole
My sister sunsetglory and I did bflentje's Cannon River canoe caching series today (5 accessible by canoe only, one is "Cannon River Bend" and it was a fantastic caching experience! Kayaking, swimming, lunching, caching on a gorgeous little river. I also appreciated that you can rent canoes or kayaks at an outfitter in Cannon Falls and make all the finds on the 8-mile float from there, which is nice for those of us who don't have boats. I highly recommend this fun caching experience!!

GC11PYB - Mastermind by pfalstad
Nominated by msteffel
Pfalstad and others have done had some great puzzle caches in the past, but not only did this one take a LOT of work on his side setting up, but it's a fantastic puzzle and it takes you to an absolutely beautiful location as well.

I've been to some beautiful cache locations and done some great puzzles, but the combination of this great puzzle & beautiful location make this one standout above the rest. Thanks.

epsdoc · Geocacher Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 1

This was an imaginative and challenging puzzle cache with a terrific hike and find. It deserves this month's cache of the month--hands down!

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3654

merkman · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 2032

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3654

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3654

merkman · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 2032

I'm sorry if I upset you.
So what is your solution to make cache of the month better?
Do you think it should only be people who found the cache that can vote?
Or should we get rid of cache of the month all together since it can never be fair?

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3654

EPMinnesota · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 1898

Wow. Where did that come from? I was going to vote for it (didn't know who "Lewis and Clark" was and hadn't noticed who it really belong to) because it sounded like something my family would enjoy even though I haven't done either cache nominated.

merkman · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 2032

Personaly, I like the idea of a canoe only cache and I hope to hit all of them in that series someday.

Marsha and Silent Bob · Past MnGCA President Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 6261

Woot! Trollfest! Rolling Eyes

_________________
Sad state of affairs.

dornole · Geocacher Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 352

Personally, I view any cache that is nominated as awesome -- I look at the list of nominated caches all the time when I want a special adventure. When the cache is outside the metro it's going to get less traffic. I hope that by highlighting it -- more people got to do this awesome cache. Just read all their comments and you'll know the series is enjoyed by everyone.

Marsha and Silent Bob · Past MnGCA President Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 6261

EPMinnesota · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 1898

I use the cache of the month as a recommendation list. I haven't been to many of the previous nominees yet but they're on my list when I'm in their area! I wouldn't have known about Fun Side of the River if it hadn't been nominated. It's still my kids favorite cache so far. It doesn't matter whose cache it is or who nominated it.

msteffel · Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:50 pm Post subject:

I probably shouldn't comment, but my $.02

Even though I nominated Mastermind I decided NOT to vote as due to other factors in my life I wasn't able to do the Cannon River Bend - yet. I have added it to my list of caches 'to do' and that's, personally, how I use the COTM lists: to find out what caches are really worth visiting, especially those that are 'out of town' for me so I can make sure I'm getting the most 'bang for my caching buck'. Smile

However, I did look into both caches as much as I could... I read the logs to see how much people liked them (& laughed at the 'trash talk' in there), look at the lists that they've made, checked out the picture on Cannon River Bend, read chadknows post (who I don't know from Adam) who visited both in which he thought it was a coin flip. Given all that, I could see how people who haven't visited one (or neither), if they decided to vote (which I believe is ok with the current rules), could vote one way or the other depending their interest and what they put more stock in.

With any type of vote there is usually some 'popularity' contest that plays some factor whether concious or subconcious. Especially if it's a close call. Heck, I was worried that a nomination from a nobody (no cache hides, just recently joined the MnGCA) might hurt Mastermind's chances.

Votes could have been made on what people who went to both caches thought, number of lists made, if they like puzzles or not, if they like kayaking/canoeing or not, how much people seemed to like the cache in the logs, the write up in the COTM, the cache owner, the nominator (why is that even listed, except to possibly add credability or not), or if a coin landed 'head's or 'tails'. I'm not saying any of these are GOOD reasons to vote for one versus the other, I can just see people voting that way.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Changing the rules so that only people that have been to both caches could vote might be a good idea, but it would have it's drawbacks as well. But I think that is a topic for another discussion.

I believe mastermind is good enough to be a cache of the month, and given that knowschad's message, it sounds like Cannon River is too.

Either way, I hope epsdoc doesn't shy away considering he got blasted a bit on his first ever post and that bflentje and pfalstad both continue to keep hiding such wonderful caches. Thank you both & keep up the good work!