comfortablynumb63

KC area here. My bro in Dallas will be watching. Friend in Vegas too.

I find that I get really chaffed when wearing the geocaching.com bumper stickers on my fanny [pack]. Luckycharm retired her spinnerbait earrings for two travel bug keychains, and now has a piercing with a micro geocoin lodged in it. You'd be surprised what Garmin pays for us to wave at their building every day while we drive off to another cache!

That's a very good point. In my OP example the survey caches and registers were all in small cairns that were meant to be seen. Folks who traverse high country know what they are and leave them alone, or sign the register and replace as found. They KNOW the only value there is a history of visitors to that spot. You are exactly right. I think of the Bridge Mountain hike out in Red Rock Canyon (near Las Vegas, NV). There have been cairns that mark the trail for ever, and the coffee can that hold the log for successful climbers to the summit - sits out in the open. I have always wanted to sign that book, but never had the motivation to make the 17 mile hike to the top. Some day I will. Sometimes, the journey is more significant than the destination.

The sad truth is in an area north of Kansas City, it seems that one group of cachers always has "inside" info on the new placements, and have claimed most of the FTFs for the caches hidden near our home. One particular cache comes to mind. The cache literally was posted on a Friday evening at 8:47PM. in an area that is closed to the public at dark (it was in the winter). We decided to hike to the cache since it was literally in our back yard (and we have access by property rights. at 9:15PM, we were on the cache, which not only had been signed by this group (how they traveled 9 miles down a busy county road, and hiked into the woods at least 1/2 mile in the dark), but another cacher who frequently accompanies them. After that, we canceled our "premium" membership and notifications. We gave up on FTF's because of this obvious advantage that some cachers seem to have the FTFs.

I am not sure I got into caching for the money, but yes, I have been fortunate to reap the benefits of some generous FTF prizes. Just not enough to retire on. I want to geo*cash* all I ever do is geo*cache* If that's what you want to do, then I would suggest you take up metal detecting! I belong to a group of amateur detectors, and some of them have sold their booty for $$. Geocaching serves a much different purpose. First of all, it is goal oriented, meaning there is an end to the means...secondly, it has the potential to build strong bonds with those who you geocache with. Third, you are outdoors for the most part, so you get to interact with nature.

My wife, caching partner, and luckycharm (all one perosn) was a den leader for Web I's & II's, and now is an advancement coordinator for a Boy Scout Troop. One of the Arrow of Light requirements was to attend a campout with the Boy Scouts. It was during this activity, we set up a multi-geocache for the sole purpose of introducing them to the hobby, and having the Scouts & Webeloes get acquainted! It was a huge success. The leaders, the Webs and the Scouts each had a turn finding one of the stages, with the rest following. It was a great icebreaker, and we loaded the final cache with some brag-blanket patches for all the participants....

I really appreciate the feedback from all of you! It gives me a different perspective! Thanks for taking the time to respond.... I think the next time we're out "for the toys," I might ask the little cachers to point out something other than the geocache that they remember. That's how it used to be, and that's the stuff I used to include in the logs. The surprise critters that we saw, the unique terrain...I guess I was getting a little too focused on "the find" rather than the companionship, the journey, etc! Once again, thanks folks. All of your replies were most helpful!

My caching team, consisting of young 'uns ranging from age 6 to age 14 have recently started our geocaching adventures again. We are fortunate that there are one or two fellow cachers that have placed some great geocaches in our community, but we recently have completed all within our city limits. Now, we have been moving out and caching for a variety of hides within the Kansas City metro area. What we have encountered is geocaches that are so well-concealed, that 14 sets of eyes cannot locate them. When we first joined geocaching.com, the majority of caches were well placed, well hidden, but were found somewhat adventurously by the kids who we take. Now, we deal with disappointed spirits to the point where they only hesitantly participate in geocaches. Has the philosophy of geocaching changed to where it is the "hider's" goal to make their caches as difficult as possible. The majority of the caches have now become "micro" or "nano," which isn't very rewarding for our younger participants. I'm just curious if this is the new trend, or is it unique to the KC area? Any feedback would be appreciated.

My caching team, consisting of young 'uns ranging from age 6 to age 14 have recently started our geocaching adventures again. We are fortunate that there are one or two fellow cachers that have placed some great geocaches in our community, but we recently have completed all within our city limits. Now, we have been moving out and caching for a variety of hides within the Kansas City metro area. What we have encountered is geocaches that are so well-concealed, that 14 sets of eyes cannot locate them. When we first joined geocaching.com, the majority of caches were well placed, well hidden, but were found somewhat adventurously by the kids who we take. Now, we deal with disappointed spirits to the point where they only hesitantly participate in geocaches. Has the philosophy of geocaching changed to where it is the "hider's" goal to make their caches as difficult as possible. The majority of the caches have now become "micro" or "nano," which isn't very rewarding for our younger participants. I'm just curious if this is the new trend, or is it unique to the KC area? Any feedback would be appreciated.

My caching team, consisting of young 'uns ranging from age 6 to age 14 have recently started our geocaching adventures again. We are fortunate that there are one or two fellow cachers that have placed some great geocaches in our community, but we recently have completed all within our city limits. Now, we have been moving out and caching for a variety of hides within the Kansas City metro area. What we have encountered is geocaches that are so well-concealed, that 14 sets of eyes cannot locate them. When we first joined geocaching.com, the majority of caches were well placed, well hidden, but were found somewhat adventurously by the kids who we take. Now, we deal with disappointed spirits to the point where they only hesitantly participate in geocaches. Has the philosophy of geocaching changed to where it is the "hider's" goal to make their caches as difficult as possible. The majority of the caches have now become "micro" or "nano," which isn't very rewarding for our younger participants. I'm just curious if this is the new trend, or is it unique to the KC area? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I read all the rules and requirements, and I guess the best thing to do would be to create the coins, and put them in caches, but not use Groundspeak to track them. (frankly, I'm looking to made a total of 10, not 250!!!), but follow their path through the logs... I remember when geocaching wasn't so commercialized!!!

Absolutely beautiful...

When our family first started geocaching, some hand-made tokens were being circulated around as travel bugs. Now that my wood-carving skills have improved dramatically, I have started to make geocoins with designs carved on pine, cedar, & basswood. After reading the information on geocoins, it indicated that geocoins can be designed and purchased through certain vendors. What if I want to start circulating mine? Can I assign tracking numbers to the coins I have made and put them out in some local caches? I'm not looking to sell the coins, but wanted to do something unique, similar to a "wooden" nickel, only the coins I've made have Boy Scout or Indian design on them (our 3 boys are involved in Scouting)... Just curious whether this would be OK?