"...one of many skirts. you've gone to the dark side. I hope at least you got an eyeful." - Ridgemaster
GC1EVZ0.
Yeah, I was there at Tilted Kilt and thought, "I can find this without the GPS." And I did find it, since I looked under the WORST POSSIBLE skirt in which to locate a cache at this location. When you go there for a beer, you'll see.
Anyway, I've given up on trying to encourage others to place good caches - I'll just find what's there and try to place good ones. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't keep him from taking a whizz in the river while he's there.
I found a few on my drive up to the 49'ers game over the weekend - worse and worse. It's not just Bako, it's just geocaching in general. We'd have hoped to keep Kern County a cut above in cache quality, but like the air quality here, whenever someone farts in Stockton, we get to smell it. The epidemic is here, the only way to fight it is to stay well yourself. Think healthy, place healthy. Find sick.
Showing posts with label lame geocaches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lame geocaches. Show all posts
Monday, September 08, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Hope for Geocaching... Not!
I see the problem. There's not a defined goal to geocaching. Is this a competitive pursuit, or non-competitive? What's a "good" cache? Everyone knows how to start caching, but no one knows when they're finished.I think some rules are in place on GC.com that steer cachers toward the wrong conclusions.
People get smileys for finds, and no smileys for placing, so implication #1:
Finding caches is a greater priority than placing caches.
Just look at who the heroes are. Everyone knows who the TeamAlamos and EMCs are, many cachers probably even know approximately how many finds the Finders have. But, does anyone have any idea who's the cacher with the most caches placed? How many caches does the leading Place-r have? Who cares? No one gets smileys for placing.
One Smiley for One Find. Implication #2:
Go after only the easiest caches.
How can you boost the numbers? Power cache the nearest, most accessible, easiest finds you can. Park and Grabs flourish. Hikes, Puzzles and Multis languish. When someone logs their copy/paste of all the caches they bagged on their powercaching excursion, what's your reaction?
...whose goal this weekend was to set our own personal best records. Our attempt was power cache 200 caches in 1 day -SO- we recorded our visits on the log as T200 to expedite our quest. We exceeded our goal! ~~
My# from this adventure= 251 caches in 1 day (Sat. in 17 hrs) / and 422 caches for the weekend.
Do you think that they're superhuman? Or that they bypassed the area's good caches to bag all the dreck? I feel pity, not awe.
Here's an issue: The star system for difficulty rating is veneer only. Ratings are totally subjective to the hider. Not to mention that one cache hider's 2 star is another's 4 star. That, and the question's always so easy when you know the answer. The hiders usually rate the harder ones too easy, since it's hidden just Right There, why can't ppl see it? And the easier ones? The skirt lifters still get two stars, don't ask me why.
Why can't the finders rate the difficulty after they've found it? Consensus wins the day.
Hey, while they're at it, they can rate the quality of the placement. Let the placer get some pointage for extending himself. Otherwise, a smiley a placement turns into another skirt lifter parade, polluting the supply like the demand's already been poisoned.
Anyway, I like the Terracaching rating system. I think it's underused there. The ratings make the multiple points per find/placement possible on that site, but I don't think ppl rate regularly. Don't ask me why.
I conclude that rating's the only ray of sunshiny hope for caching. Until there's a definitive gameplay goal, variable scoring for caches, some reward for placing (better) caches, and ratings for difficulty and quality, caching is gonna continue to serve the lowest common denominator.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
And He Got the Cache Published.
Geocache player broke all the rules of Internet treasure hunt
Mike Vogel
Idaho's NewsChannel 7 BOISE, ID
Tuesday’s closure of Highway 55 has brought a lot of attention to something called geocaching.
Police say this green bucket beneath the Rainbow Bridge contains trinkets for a popular Internet treasure hunt game known as geocaching. It did not contain explosives as first feared.
This was not the first time that a geocache has been mistaken for a possible bomb. Police say it was the third or fourth time the Boise bomb squad has responded to a false alarm. For people who participate in Internet treasure hunts known as geocaching, there are very specific rules and guidelines to follow. But just about every one of those rules was broken when this geocache was placed underneath the Rainbow Bridge.
“It's not illegal to play these games, but the bridge is state property, just use common sense, put it by a tree or something,” said Scott Tollersen, Idaho State Police.
Common sense is one thing that would have avoided a lot of headaches for motorists and police on Tuesday. Idaho 55 had to be shutdown because of a suspicious looking green bucket that turned out to be part of an Internet treasure hunt known as a geocache. The other important thing police say those involved in geocaching should do is follow the rules of the game.
“What we suggest is follow the guidelines on the Web site, don't place it in historical locations, or on historical structures, don't place it on bridges or schools or other places that could potentially be a terrorist target,” said Kip Higby, Boise Police bomb technician.
Originally, the caches were placed off of trails or where there isn't normally a lot of traffic. Authorities say you should ask for permission if you place a geocache on private lands and make sure you find out the rules before hiding it in a national park. And finally, choosing the right container can help out any law enforcement that might come across them.
“We also encourage on their geochache to put it on a clear plastic container, rather than something that can't be seen into, if we can see into it we can rule it out rather easily,” said Tollersen.
Meanwhile, Valley County is still looking into filing charges against the man who placed that geocache under the bridge.
Mike Vogel
Idaho's NewsChannel 7 BOISE, ID
Tuesday’s closure of Highway 55 has brought a lot of attention to something called geocaching.
Police say this green bucket beneath the Rainbow Bridge contains trinkets for a popular Internet treasure hunt game known as geocaching. It did not contain explosives as first feared.
This was not the first time that a geocache has been mistaken for a possible bomb. Police say it was the third or fourth time the Boise bomb squad has responded to a false alarm. For people who participate in Internet treasure hunts known as geocaching, there are very specific rules and guidelines to follow. But just about every one of those rules was broken when this geocache was placed underneath the Rainbow Bridge.“It's not illegal to play these games, but the bridge is state property, just use common sense, put it by a tree or something,” said Scott Tollersen, Idaho State Police.
Common sense is one thing that would have avoided a lot of headaches for motorists and police on Tuesday. Idaho 55 had to be shutdown because of a suspicious looking green bucket that turned out to be part of an Internet treasure hunt known as a geocache. The other important thing police say those involved in geocaching should do is follow the rules of the game.
“What we suggest is follow the guidelines on the Web site, don't place it in historical locations, or on historical structures, don't place it on bridges or schools or other places that could potentially be a terrorist target,” said Kip Higby, Boise Police bomb technician.
Originally, the caches were placed off of trails or where there isn't normally a lot of traffic. Authorities say you should ask for permission if you place a geocache on private lands and make sure you find out the rules before hiding it in a national park. And finally, choosing the right container can help out any law enforcement that might come across them.“We also encourage on their geochache to put it on a clear plastic container, rather than something that can't be seen into, if we can see into it we can rule it out rather easily,” said Tollersen.
Meanwhile, Valley County is still looking into filing charges against the man who placed that geocache under the bridge.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Flame On.
One of the problems with the internet is that it's always open season for
the thin-skinned to take offense. Jokes are interpreted as affronts, friendly ribbing is a stab in the side. Direct criticism is punishable by electrocution.
One of the problems with a geocache rating system, the opponents argue, is that it's open to flaming. Ppl who don't like you will rate your caches into the toilet. If that's all they do, rather than actually stealing your cache containers and physically chucking them into a toilet, that's preferable, I say. But the worry is there.
I don't see why, geocaches don't care if they're winning a popularity contest. Their owners do, though. Place a cache and hover over it like a proud parent, expecting the world to queue up and coo over your baby.
All of my (active) cache babies are available for review. Not an hour after they were up, someone [read: the only other Kern cacher with reviewable caches on the site] rated a couple of mine as lowly as possible. Granted, they're pretty sucky, but maybe not meritorious of the worst possible. Am I gonna cry? I haven't yet.
I'll take my licks at the bottom end, and try to take the best ratings with a grain of salt too. The idea is to see what's trending, what kind of caches are making ppl happy or getting just a lukewarm response. The worst, I'm predicting, will be if they get no review at all - that's mediocrity at it's uh, most mediocre.
Next up: a rubric to check before cache placement - hopefully to ensure that it's not absolutely flammable. Or, to ensure that they're the type of caches I like to find. Your opinion? Blow it out your @ss.
Geocache Rating System.
Okay, since geocaching.com won't get their act together and allow ratings, ratethiscache.com has to step in and get 'er done. Maybe if we all put ratings on our caches then the site will pony up and enter the new era. Or we can post our caches on Amazon.com and have a superior rating program at our disposal.
At the least, I'm gonna put ratings on all my caches, retro to this day and following. It's the right thing to do.
At the least, I'm gonna put ratings on all my caches, retro to this day and following. It's the right thing to do.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Dumbing it Down.
Gonna begin my "Dreck-Free" campaign in earnest. No pressure on anyone else, I'm just changing the game for myself. Guess it's been building for a while, but a couple of last-straws hit me today.
• I negated a new cache posting to my ignore list rather than run out the door to FTF it. That was like toeing a line in the sand.
• I reviewed my owned caches and saw this:
Only multis and puzzle caches going unfound, running neck and neck with archived caches for finds... noice. All traditional 1/1s up the list (and therefore not pictured) getting found frequently.
In my workaday life, I have to dumb down product to meet customer demand. But in my playaday life, I don't. I'm going to post caches like ones I've had to work to find, and found challenging, and therefore enjoyed, and hated, and loved to hate, and found memorable for those reasons.
So, I started by beginning to systematically delete the crappé I've placed, and to rethink all the hides I have in the pipe, and set forth with a new grim determination to only hide caches for us, and those like us (d*mn few left, heh).
They're probably not going to get found, I know. But hey, the fun is in the hide.
• I negated a new cache posting to my ignore list rather than run out the door to FTF it. That was like toeing a line in the sand.
• I reviewed my owned caches and saw this:
Only multis and puzzle caches going unfound, running neck and neck with archived caches for finds... noice. All traditional 1/1s up the list (and therefore not pictured) getting found frequently.In my workaday life, I have to dumb down product to meet customer demand. But in my playaday life, I don't. I'm going to post caches like ones I've had to work to find, and found challenging, and therefore enjoyed, and hated, and loved to hate, and found memorable for those reasons.
So, I started by beginning to systematically delete the crappé I've placed, and to rethink all the hides I have in the pipe, and set forth with a new grim determination to only hide caches for us, and those like us (d*mn few left, heh).
They're probably not going to get found, I know. But hey, the fun is in the hide.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Geocaching Quality Control.
I'm reaching out through the internet and lifting high QuestMaster for all to see. With these words, you become one of my caching heroes.
>>If you hide more than one cache per month, that's probably too many.
>>If you hide more than one cache per month, that's probably too many.
We don't need more hides. We need quality hides.
In a better vanished time, people must have actually read the Tips on Hiding Your First Geocache and they must have actually gotten the part about "Ultimately you'll want to place a cache in a place that is unique in some way. The big reward for geocachers, other than finding the cache itself, is the location. A prime camping spot, great viewpoint, unusual location, etc. are all good places to hide a cache". We used to take this business very seriously. We considered it a duty to deliver people to special places that they might not otherwise have known about. We never even considered hiding caches in uninteresting places like a Wal-Mart parking lot because we would have been ashamed to hide such a cache for our fellow geocachers.
That was then... This is now...
The community of geocachers is different. Too many of the new players just don't get it. Where, pray tell, is it written that the object of this game is to write one's name on the greatest number of waypointed stationary? It's a numbers game for many of them and they're just not going to bother with the old way of doing things. It's too much work for one measly point in their game.
Excellence, in their way of thinking, is achieved by aiming at the easiest targets and hitting them. Their precious find count is typically a gauge of their "talent" for picking out the easy ones and enduring the tedium of finding them all. It's all fine and well to play the game this way but it's probably not wise or healthy to brag about about one's degree of anal-retentiveness, which is often the case, whether they will admit it or not. In that better vanished time, fellow geocachers shared stories about the great caches they had found. Today it's more about how many guardrails they have kissed. These folks are the biggest bores that ever were.
I really don't see that this game is going to be getting any better anytime soon. It's too easy for the numbers cachers to populate the list with more than their share of lame hides because typically they have already relieved themselves of any responsibility to provide an interesting location, a decent container, swag, and proper maintenance. The quantity of caches they hide is pretty much all that matters to them. The good caches ultimately get lost in the mix and it follows that anybody who might enjoy a quality cache in the old school tradition just isn't going to give geocaching a second look when they key in their zipcode and see that this is a game of hide and seek the microscrap in parking lots.
I'm fortunate that I discovered geocaching when I did and that I got to play the game before the mass hiders of junk appeared on the scene. With due diligence and a little luck, it's still possible to find a decent cache once in awhile.
The Long Description.
WARNING! This cache is LAME!
Why didn’t I think of this before? How could I be so dumb? Here I was lugging heavy ammo cans full of stuff way up into the hills when I could have just dropped a film canister into the grass by the turnpike less than 5 minutes from home! If you have enjoyed any of my other hides then you will not like this one at all. It is exactly nothing like any of my other caches. Please do not go looking for it! I, personally, wouldn’t want to go hunting for this cache on a bet but then there is no accounting for taste, is there?
This cache is hidden just like its inspiration on the other side of the pike. A certain amount of stealth will be required to bag this cache since you will be in the direct view of the MacDonald’s employees working the drive thru window. Be on the lookout for the police who frequent this area because they could take exception to strange behavior around the dumpsters. They may try to arrest you for vagrancy if they think you are poking around in the trash for something to eat. Have the cache page at the ready and politely explain that you are looking for a piece of trash stuffed inside a small plastic container. They may accept this explanation or have you committed but either way you’ll have a great story to tell!
I hid this cache really well so that it would be very difficult to find because some people really enjoy the challenge of looking for a needle in a haystack. If you enjoy a challenge like this and cannot resist a cache conveniently located by a superhighway then this is the cache for you! Cache is small, so remember to bring something to write with.
Additional Hints (Encrypt)
If you haven't got a clue then you aren't going to get the hint either.
Why didn’t I think of this before? How could I be so dumb? Here I was lugging heavy ammo cans full of stuff way up into the hills when I could have just dropped a film canister into the grass by the turnpike less than 5 minutes from home! If you have enjoyed any of my other hides then you will not like this one at all. It is exactly nothing like any of my other caches. Please do not go looking for it! I, personally, wouldn’t want to go hunting for this cache on a bet but then there is no accounting for taste, is there?
This cache is hidden just like its inspiration on the other side of the pike. A certain amount of stealth will be required to bag this cache since you will be in the direct view of the MacDonald’s employees working the drive thru window. Be on the lookout for the police who frequent this area because they could take exception to strange behavior around the dumpsters. They may try to arrest you for vagrancy if they think you are poking around in the trash for something to eat. Have the cache page at the ready and politely explain that you are looking for a piece of trash stuffed inside a small plastic container. They may accept this explanation or have you committed but either way you’ll have a great story to tell!
I hid this cache really well so that it would be very difficult to find because some people really enjoy the challenge of looking for a needle in a haystack. If you enjoy a challenge like this and cannot resist a cache conveniently located by a superhighway then this is the cache for you! Cache is small, so remember to bring something to write with.
Additional Hints (Encrypt)
If you haven't got a clue then you aren't going to get the hint either.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A Geocaching Treatise
Geocaching is silly simple. Few things in life are as good, clean out-and-about fun like this is. Well, clean except for the foxtails.
I enjoy the sense of virtual community we experience. Props to you Bakersfield cachers - you add a dimension to the fun.
Caches are fragile things - only takes one muggle or one bad cacher to ruin it for us all - but it amazingly infrequently happens that way. Geocaching is proof that there's hope for
American society.
I love those caches that are brazenly hidden in plain sight - where only those who are seeking will find 'em. If a thousand people look right at it but never see it, but anyone with
a GPSr in hand can walk right up and grab it, that's an awesome cache in my book.
I think anyone who can place one thoughtfully located, challenging but findable cache is worth more than the guy with 1000 finds but no cache hides. Creating a world class cache is a work of
art, and there's darn few out there who can do it. To those who put up the caches that inspire us to hunt, I salute you.
I believe that we're hiding caches from muggles first, and geocachers second.
You should be able to find any of my hides from the description and coords - the hint is there as a spoiler safety-net only.
I used to say here that I don't want anyone to go home with a DNF. But I realize that making sure-find caches is going to be the sure-death of geocaching. If not today, then tomorrow. They're boring. They're derivative. They're not worth the gas to get there. So I promise to make caches that either take ppl to a remarkable location, or challenge on the find, or batter your brainpan with the puzzle, or any combination of the above, or do something of another nature. Who knows?
I don't, yet. I just know that I don't want to place another monkeyseemonkeydo hide and add to the cache and dash disease destroying our hobby. And I here-and-now promise never to toss a cammo'ed film canister into a dusty, spider-infested poisonous bush and call it a cache. As a hedge lover, heh, I beg you - do the same! I have enough marriage troubles without justifying leaving my own yard work to go dig through a random bush somewhere, only to sign a logsheet.
I think if you log a cache as a find when you didn't actually find the cache, well, karma says that you're gonna get your overdue IRS audit this year.
I believe that Travel Bugs should travel. Seems obvious, but most TBs seem to languish in TB jails. Travel Bug caches that attempt to impose limits on the number of bugs that may come and go are really prisons. “Take a bug, leave a bug” is a nice suggestion, but if it’s a demand, then the bugs are incarcerated. Bugs should be free to do what their owners intended for them to do, travel.
Keep 'em moving, I say!
Hey, you. Yeah, You, the one skanking geocoins from caches into your private collection. May the fleas of a 1000 camels infest your crotch, and may the sun never set on your scratching.
I believe that Happy Meal toys are most happy when cached. They transmute there, in the darkness and quiet, into treasure. Cache with a kid and you'll never feel bad about trading
toys into a cache again.
What we need is a user-compiled rating system for all caches. That way the cream can rise and the stank can sink. The problem isn't micros, it's not knowing which micros suck before
wasting an hour on them. If the FTF can say, "this one's really great" and give it five stars, or a thumbs-up rating, or, conversely, a 1-star/thumbs down instead of the abiguous notation "thanks for placing the cache, SL, yawn", those of us who follow after can concretely figure out which are worth the trip - especially at however-many bucks+ a gallon.
But yes, the premium membership, for those of you who aren't and wondering, is worth the gallon a month.
Finally,
Please, for Pete's sake, don't place micros unless you have a reason.
Trade up!
Replace 'em better than you found 'em.
Give other hiders positive feedback.
Add some TBs and Geocoins to the pool.
and
Thanks for hiding one! Without you, there's no geocache to find, and no geocaching!
I enjoy the sense of virtual community we experience. Props to you Bakersfield cachers - you add a dimension to the fun.
Caches are fragile things - only takes one muggle or one bad cacher to ruin it for us all - but it amazingly infrequently happens that way. Geocaching is proof that there's hope for
American society.
I love those caches that are brazenly hidden in plain sight - where only those who are seeking will find 'em. If a thousand people look right at it but never see it, but anyone with
a GPSr in hand can walk right up and grab it, that's an awesome cache in my book.
I think anyone who can place one thoughtfully located, challenging but findable cache is worth more than the guy with 1000 finds but no cache hides. Creating a world class cache is a work of
art, and there's darn few out there who can do it. To those who put up the caches that inspire us to hunt, I salute you.
I believe that we're hiding caches from muggles first, and geocachers second.
You should be able to find any of my hides from the description and coords - the hint is there as a spoiler safety-net only.
I used to say here that I don't want anyone to go home with a DNF. But I realize that making sure-find caches is going to be the sure-death of geocaching. If not today, then tomorrow. They're boring. They're derivative. They're not worth the gas to get there. So I promise to make caches that either take ppl to a remarkable location, or challenge on the find, or batter your brainpan with the puzzle, or any combination of the above, or do something of another nature. Who knows?
I don't, yet. I just know that I don't want to place another monkeyseemonkeydo hide and add to the cache and dash disease destroying our hobby. And I here-and-now promise never to toss a cammo'ed film canister into a dusty, spider-infested poisonous bush and call it a cache. As a hedge lover, heh, I beg you - do the same! I have enough marriage troubles without justifying leaving my own yard work to go dig through a random bush somewhere, only to sign a logsheet.
I think if you log a cache as a find when you didn't actually find the cache, well, karma says that you're gonna get your overdue IRS audit this year.
I believe that Travel Bugs should travel. Seems obvious, but most TBs seem to languish in TB jails. Travel Bug caches that attempt to impose limits on the number of bugs that may come and go are really prisons. “Take a bug, leave a bug” is a nice suggestion, but if it’s a demand, then the bugs are incarcerated. Bugs should be free to do what their owners intended for them to do, travel.
Keep 'em moving, I say!
Hey, you. Yeah, You, the one skanking geocoins from caches into your private collection. May the fleas of a 1000 camels infest your crotch, and may the sun never set on your scratching.
I believe that Happy Meal toys are most happy when cached. They transmute there, in the darkness and quiet, into treasure. Cache with a kid and you'll never feel bad about trading
toys into a cache again.
What we need is a user-compiled rating system for all caches. That way the cream can rise and the stank can sink. The problem isn't micros, it's not knowing which micros suck before
wasting an hour on them. If the FTF can say, "this one's really great" and give it five stars, or a thumbs-up rating, or, conversely, a 1-star/thumbs down instead of the abiguous notation "thanks for placing the cache, SL, yawn", those of us who follow after can concretely figure out which are worth the trip - especially at however-many bucks+ a gallon.
But yes, the premium membership, for those of you who aren't and wondering, is worth the gallon a month.
Finally,
Please, for Pete's sake, don't place micros unless you have a reason.
Trade up!
Replace 'em better than you found 'em.
Give other hiders positive feedback.
Add some TBs and Geocoins to the pool.
and
Thanks for hiding one! Without you, there's no geocache to find, and no geocaching!
Happy First Geoversary!
6/6/07 was my one-year anniversary caching. My year involved:
• 569 Finds, 47 Hides, 34 FTFs & 125 DNFs in 6 states
• 10 Unknowns, 14 Multi's, 6 Virts, 1 Event, 11 Benchmarks, 1 Letterbox, 1 Earthcache
• 240 Geocoins and 123 TBs Moved or Discovered; 41 Geocoins and 9 TBs Owned
• Overall find Rate: 1.55 per day, 10.86 per week
• Total days with a find: 119. Average finds per caching day: 4.78
• Best day: 3/11/07 - 31 finds in San Jose, CA
• Most consecutive days with a find: 11 from 6/05/06 to 6/15/06
• Longest caching drought: 38 days from 11/30/06 to 1/06/07
• Average total cache difficulty: 1.64 - Average total terrain rating: 1.4
• Approximate cache-to-cache distance: 26,934 miles
• 528 of the caches I'd found are still active (92.8%, but this doesn't count the muggled caches I'd DNF'ed!)
• Average log size: 17.2 words - Biggest log: 166 words - Shortest log: 1 word - Number of one-word logs: 3
• (see all your stats in the same way if you're a Premium member at itsnotaboutthenumbers.com) •
I was lucky to encounter three good caches on my first day out -
a well-stocked ammo box cleverly and elegantly hidden (Higher Class
- GCRCK9), an informative virtual (Human Powered Flight - GCBA31),
and an unpretentious, well-hidden but findable medium-sized
challenge (blair's first - GCQVMF). Thanks to luv2fly1479c, Uncle
Alaska and blairwater101, these set the tone for my early days
caching. If I'd been presented with a run of log-only micros and
skirt lifters at the onset, well, I'd not be here writing this
right now.
Noteworthy caches this year? I remember cracking a huge smile driving up on Castleman's Multi-Meter in Porterville (GCW8JG) and having a good laugh at redwoodcanoe & Pleaides' Can You Give Me A Boost? (GCPBTC) in Hanford. I loved the elegance of CA Royal Flush's Our Name Is The Game (GCV01H) puzzle cache in Bakersfield, and the straightforward defiance of Cobalt's Pitcairn (GC55B7) physical challenge not far away. I DNF'ed hard on Razor Sharp Catwalk (GCT4ZZ) in San Jose - what a heinous location! Blue Man's Orlando Airport TB Hotel (GCBDC2) in Florida held over 20 TBs and Coins, and always seems to stay stuffed with goods.
… shuffles papers, returns …
Yeah, of 569 finds this year, there were twice as many micros as regulars, and I have to admit that very few stand out as remarkable as I look back. Dreck hides are the death knell for geocaching, something we have got to get under control if Geocaching is going to have a future beyond 20-find tries. In a year, I've seen excited explorers out to cache for the first time, and, after a series of skirt lifters, obvious hides in trashy locations, standard issue micros and bush dives, return home disenchanted. Then I hear And this is the Geocaching that you're so into, Hedge? Embarrassing.
That said, I see that I'm going to be spending more time hiding than seeking this year. If only because I've exhausted caches to find in the Bakersfield area (actually, I pretty much ran the table for Kern County in my first couple of months this year) and it will take less time to plant a new hide than to drive to the finds.
I said a few things about hiding caches in the forums, under the heading "Hiding and Marking your New Cache - for Newbies!" Maybe some of it still makes sense.
• 569 Finds, 47 Hides, 34 FTFs & 125 DNFs in 6 states
• 10 Unknowns, 14 Multi's, 6 Virts, 1 Event, 11 Benchmarks, 1 Letterbox, 1 Earthcache
• 240 Geocoins and 123 TBs Moved or Discovered; 41 Geocoins and 9 TBs Owned
• Overall find Rate: 1.55 per day, 10.86 per week
• Total days with a find: 119. Average finds per caching day: 4.78
• Best day: 3/11/07 - 31 finds in San Jose, CA
• Most consecutive days with a find: 11 from 6/05/06 to 6/15/06
• Longest caching drought: 38 days from 11/30/06 to 1/06/07
• Average total cache difficulty: 1.64 - Average total terrain rating: 1.4
• Approximate cache-to-cache distance: 26,934 miles
• 528 of the caches I'd found are still active (92.8%, but this doesn't count the muggled caches I'd DNF'ed!)
• Average log size: 17.2 words - Biggest log: 166 words - Shortest log: 1 word - Number of one-word logs: 3
• (see all your stats in the same way if you're a Premium member at itsnotaboutthenumbers.com) •
I was lucky to encounter three good caches on my first day out -
a well-stocked ammo box cleverly and elegantly hidden (Higher Class
- GCRCK9), an informative virtual (Human Powered Flight - GCBA31),
and an unpretentious, well-hidden but findable medium-sized
challenge (blair's first - GCQVMF). Thanks to luv2fly1479c, Uncle
Alaska and blairwater101, these set the tone for my early days
caching. If I'd been presented with a run of log-only micros and
skirt lifters at the onset, well, I'd not be here writing this
right now.
Noteworthy caches this year? I remember cracking a huge smile driving up on Castleman's Multi-Meter in Porterville (GCW8JG) and having a good laugh at redwoodcanoe & Pleaides' Can You Give Me A Boost? (GCPBTC) in Hanford. I loved the elegance of CA Royal Flush's Our Name Is The Game (GCV01H) puzzle cache in Bakersfield, and the straightforward defiance of Cobalt's Pitcairn (GC55B7) physical challenge not far away. I DNF'ed hard on Razor Sharp Catwalk (GCT4ZZ) in San Jose - what a heinous location! Blue Man's Orlando Airport TB Hotel (GCBDC2) in Florida held over 20 TBs and Coins, and always seems to stay stuffed with goods.
… shuffles papers, returns …
Yeah, of 569 finds this year, there were twice as many micros as regulars, and I have to admit that very few stand out as remarkable as I look back. Dreck hides are the death knell for geocaching, something we have got to get under control if Geocaching is going to have a future beyond 20-find tries. In a year, I've seen excited explorers out to cache for the first time, and, after a series of skirt lifters, obvious hides in trashy locations, standard issue micros and bush dives, return home disenchanted. Then I hear And this is the Geocaching that you're so into, Hedge? Embarrassing.
That said, I see that I'm going to be spending more time hiding than seeking this year. If only because I've exhausted caches to find in the Bakersfield area (actually, I pretty much ran the table for Kern County in my first couple of months this year) and it will take less time to plant a new hide than to drive to the finds.
I said a few things about hiding caches in the forums, under the heading "Hiding and Marking your New Cache - for Newbies!" Maybe some of it still makes sense.
Happy Second Geoversary!
After two years caching, here's what my stats looked like. Draw your own conclusions.
| Stat Summary |
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| Charts and Graphs |
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My 777th find on 2/21/08 was an unknown: GC12N21 - Central Park Carousel in NYC. Guess that number was significant for me, mostly because it wasn't a skirt lifter milesone. |
Snarky Geocache Logs We'd Like to See
Enjoyed finding your cache. After much deliberation,
we decided to take the emerald earrings, and leave a rolex watch.
It's not every day that one finds such a high class hide. Let's
hope it never gets muggled. Thanks for the fun.
This was the 7th cache of the day. Thank you for bringing us to the
dumpster behind the take out chicken place. I had no idea that
grease baking in the sun could smell that bad.
Thanks for bringing us to your very special place!
My, what a lame cache. As soon as I came in site of the Wal-mart
sign I knew what I was going to find and where to look. Parked 200
feet away and left GPSr in the car to add to the challenge.
A 12-billion dollar satellite system overhead, and this is the best
hide you could come up with! TNLN and almost didn't bother signing
the log!!
This cache is still making me angry!
This cache made me fall in love with caching again! Nice view of
the alley!
Thanks for introducing me to a new area. Left a Travel Bug so
others could see how bad this cache is.
This cache was a head-scratcher!
This cache is the reason the phrase TNLNSL was coined. One more for
the record books!!
AWESOME CACHE!! THE ADDITION OF BEER CANS AND BROKEN GLASS AS CAMO WAS TIMELESS!!! POISONOUS SPIDERS AND OLEANDER ONLY ADDED TO THE AMBIANCE!!!! A+++++++++++++++!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we decided to take the emerald earrings, and leave a rolex watch.
It's not every day that one finds such a high class hide. Let's
hope it never gets muggled. Thanks for the fun.
This was the 7th cache of the day. Thank you for bringing us to the
dumpster behind the take out chicken place. I had no idea that
grease baking in the sun could smell that bad.
Thanks for bringing us to your very special place!
My, what a lame cache. As soon as I came in site of the Wal-mart
sign I knew what I was going to find and where to look. Parked 200
feet away and left GPSr in the car to add to the challenge.
A 12-billion dollar satellite system overhead, and this is the best
hide you could come up with! TNLN and almost didn't bother signing
the log!!
This cache is still making me angry!
This cache made me fall in love with caching again! Nice view of
the alley!
Thanks for introducing me to a new area. Left a Travel Bug so
others could see how bad this cache is.
This cache was a head-scratcher!
This cache is the reason the phrase TNLNSL was coined. One more for
the record books!!
AWESOME CACHE!! THE ADDITION OF BEER CANS AND BROKEN GLASS AS CAMO WAS TIMELESS!!! POISONOUS SPIDERS AND OLEANDER ONLY ADDED TO THE AMBIANCE!!!! A+++++++++++++++!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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