I'm one of those who tries to log at least a paragraph. Usually when we're out caching, I've got the laptop with me and type something up in GSAK immediately after leaving the cache while we're heading to the next one, so remembering is no problem. On a couple occasions, I've jotted down notes in a small notepad that I keep in my geo-bag and logged them when I returned home that night.
To me, the logs are more of a diary that keeps track of my caching experience. What I write can vary greatly from things that might be of interest to the hider to just notes to myself on the weather or what I was thinking or car troubles we might have had. I approach it this way because I don't expect that many people are likely to review anything I write, but there's a good chance I'll re-read my "history" at some point. If it's a cache I enjoyed some aspect of I'll be sure to write that in the log. If I found it boring, there will probably be more about what was going on in my mind that day. If I know the hider, my log may be a direct message to them, especially if it was a good hunt.
As a noob seeker a few months back, I didn't really see the point of writing much in a log, other than to help people that came along later and were reading the "last 5." There's a bunch of micro PNGs in this area and, honestly, I had a hard time coming up with anything to say about them other than Thanks. And that TFTC was more of a polite thing, hence the beginning of my "diary." As I cached more I realized that I liked the challenge of hard to figure out/find/reach caches. I also found it much easier to write more involved logs if something was successful at engaging my interest.
Very recently, I hid my first cache which was a puzzle. It's been found 6 times. The first few logs were one or two liners mostly talking about what the cacher was thinking. The kind of thing that I sometimes write, expecting that the hider has no real interest in it. What surprised me was that I found I really enjoyed "going along" on their experience. Maybe having gone to the trouble to devise the puzzle, find a hiding place, driving back 3 separate times to average coords, assembling the swag, and hiding the cache, I feel I've got an investment in their hunt. One of the logs was a couple paragraphs, which really thrilled me. It was more like being with them and enjoying the fun.
All that being said, a couple weeks back my wife and I went on a road trip and decided to do some caching along the way. Basically we were going to collect counties for the all county challenge. In all honesty, our goal for the day was to hit those 10 counties - 1 cache per county. The caches were irrelevent, just getting those counties was important. A late start, some rough roads, rough weather, and a few other things combined to make tempers grow short. I was having a hard time finding anything positive to say in the logs and at that point I came very close to doing a cut'n'paste job. I'd actually written up a paragraph and saved to do just such a thing. Hunting so many, with a goal of finding a certain number, makes any given cache much less important, and harder to write anything about.
At some point I recognized that we were getting on one another's nerves and that we weren't having fun anymore. Reaching this goal was too much work - and that's not why we started caching. We backed off, talked, settled our nerves, and started enjoying the trip again - with a new outlook. I now know that if I can't write a log about a cache, I shouldn't be hunting that day. Chances are that my priorities are wrong and that I'm not having fun. We now realize that the important things to us are 1) Enjoying time spent with each other, 2) Having fun, and 3) enjoying the experience of each cache, whether it be a neat area, a good hide, or an LPC. Any other goal only comes after those three. Writing logs will be easy for me as long as we follow these priorities.
I realize that not everyone caches for the same reasons that we do. Those with different priorities will have different outlooks on logging. If I was more competitive and oriented toward completing an ACC or Delorme or somesuch, my attitude on logging would be vastly different. I proabably wouldn't write anything more than TFTC, since the cache itself would lose its individuality - it'd be just a step to a goal, and the logging would be little more than a necessary evil. Different people enjoy the same cache for different reasons.
Just like some people prefer lots of PNGs in one day, and others prefer to spend lots of time, money, and health on a 5/5, people have different ideas on what constitutes "acceptable" logging. Best chances of happiness come from seeking those who are like minded, and accept the others for who they are without letting them rile you.
Boy, am I long winded, or what?
