The Infielders

The other day, one of my non-caching friends asked, "what's it like when you find a cache? Are you happy, relieved, no-emotion, what?" I replied, it's like when you buy a scratch off ticket and win. If the cache is a 1/1, then it's like scratching and getting a free ticket. If the cache is a 2/2 or harder, it's like scratching and winning a few dollars. The harder the cache, the more money it feels like you won when you find it. So what's it like when you find a cache?

at a city park in Terre Haute, Indiana, I set out on my 1st cache hunt. I didn't have success that day due to a cold front coming in and the fact that we were under a tornado watch (warning in some nearby counties). In many ways it seems hard to fathom that it's been a year, in other ways it feels like more than a year. It wasn't until the next day, Monday, Nov. 11th that I was able to claim a find. I do remember vividly searching for each fo the 4 caches I tried that day. While I moved away from Indiana and back to my native Florida, I never did find the other two caches I looked for on 11/11. I was back in Terre Haute this August and tried one of the 2 and struck out. I'll be up there for Thanksgiving and MAYBE give those two caches one last shot. But it's been a fun year of geocaching. At first, I was out there every weekend and then slowed down some. In May I got back into it "full-time" on most weekends and now I'm as addicted as I could possibly be. I'm planning a weekend camping trip December to do some caches on Florida's east coast and in a couple weeks when I'm in Indiana, the ol' GPS is going with me to get some new ones up there. With some luck, I'll do some caches on the road. Happy caching! ---rob

I set out on my 1st cache hunt. I didn't have success that day due to a cold front coming in and the fact that we were under a tornado watch (warning in some nearby counties). In many ways it seems hard to fathom that it's been a year, in other ways it feels like more than a year. It wasn't until the next day, Monday, Nov. 11th that I was able to claim a find. I do remember vividly searching for each fo the 4 caches I tried that day. While I moved away from Indiana and back to my native Florida, I never did find the other two caches I looked for on 11/11. I was back in Terre Haute this August and tried one of the 2 and struck out. I'll be up there for Thanksgiving and MAYBE give those two caches one last shot. But it's been a fun year of geocaching. At first, I was out there every weekend and then slowed down some. In May I got back into it "full-time" on most weekends and now I'm as addicted as I could possibly be. I'm planning a weekend camping trip December to do some caches on Florida's east coast and in a couple weeks when I'm in Indiana, the ol' GPS is going with me to get some new ones up there. With some luck, I'll do some caches on the road. Happy caching! ---rob

I'm kind of curious as I was in scouts and earned Eagle Scout in 1986. I remember a lot of what I learned at summer camp being used in various ways in geocaching. How many of you guys were Boy Scouts, and how far did you get? How many of the ladies here were in Girl Scouts and how far did you get in it?

How cool is that?! I know you're also in Florida, too. I'm currently working as the on-site substitute teacher at a middle school. Once the next teacher leaves I'll be hired full-time and teach social studies and geography. I thought about telling the current teachers about geocaching and bringing in my GPS but I'll hold off and save that for myself next semester or next school year. Oh, by the way, I was looking at your profile and your favorite virtual, Down by the Banyan Tree is in St. Pete, not Tampa. [This message was edited by Go For The Green on November 05, 2003 at 12:26 PM.]

how much do you think it's changed in your time? I started just about a year ago (I registered on 10/30 and got a GPS a week later) and have loved it ever since. Obviously the site has changed and some of the rules and regulations have been implemented or modified, but how do you think the R.A.S.H. has changed since you've been at this? Has it changed for the better or worse or some of both? I think it's overall been for the better. I like the look of the site now a lot more than a few months ago (the new icons are cool). I think making virtuals a thing of the past is good. I do have 2 virtuals and I'll freely admit one is lame but the other has enlightened many cachers. What are your thoughts on the evolution of geocaching?

Good with kids? Hearty enough to take a day of geocaching? Able to take cold weather as if it's no big deal? My friend, you NEED a Labrador Retriever. No doubt about it! I have a 4-year-old black Lab and she's the sweetest dog I've ever met. Great with kids, obedient as the day is long and has been to many a geocache in the last year. Labs are troopers! I'm sure other breeds are great too, but when it comes to the "perfect" breed of dog for companionship, loyalty, love and stoutness, God made Labs for just that.

If people claim a find they didn't actually find, the only one they're hurting are themselves. I sign the log in the caches I find but because someone else chooses not too, well that's their business. I enjoy Geocaching and I believe that 99.9% of all cachers are honest enough not to claim a find when it wasn't. To the .1% who claim a find when they didn't find it, well have fun cheating.

Yes I do. I try to keep the GPS in the car and fresh batteries as well. I have a few 35mm film canisters and log sheets in there too as I love micro caches and enjoy finding neat parks/places to hide them.

The Tampa Bay and Orlando areas have a lot of caches in them so I did a search for Lakeland, Florida (about 1/2 way between Tampa and Orlando). There were 51 pages of 20 and 1 page with 1 cache within 100 miles. So while we're not as densely surrounded with caches as Stockton, Cali, we have almost 1,300 caches in the area. Now if I could find more time and had money for gas, I'd set out to get every one of them.

I asked a similar question to this back in May. I was concerned about some cachers in the Tampa Bay area who have 200+ finds and no hidden caches. Boy, did I take a beating from all of the know-it-all cachers who post here daily. I wanted to try to maintain a 5:1 ratio but I'm going to strive for 10:1 or maybe 15:1. I have 174 finds and 30 hides to date. There's a cacher from Jacksonvill, Florida who has hidden a ton of caches since he started the hobby/sport/addiction earlier this year. His name? As David Lee Roth once sang, "Ice Cream Man".

On occasion I leave a brand new Florida Lottery scratch-off ticket. Who knows, it could be worth a lot. I'm on a pretty limited budget, but I do like to put something in there for the 1st Finder.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I have read them all over the last couple of days as more have been added. Ok, so there are some of you who have found way more than most of us and for you a 5:1 ratio would be impossible. I've found 71 now and I think given the area I live in, 5:1 is still very real for me. I think there are plenty of places for virtual caches where you can teach/expose someone to history in the area that they may not know. To me, learning more is a big part of this. I love to go to virtuals where something signifcant is there to be read or seen. For those who can't do a 5:1 ratio or don't agree with it (and that's cool) maybe placing a cache three to five times a year would be better. My issue with starting this thread is to shed some light on those who are out there finding but not hiding caches. It wasn't to take anyone to task, I had to use an example of a recent log on a cache to start the thread however. Again I thank you for reading the post and replying. Happy caching. Now to DaveW6DPS, I have two caches here in the house which I will have hidden in time for Memorial Day weekend, so yeah my "personal" ratio will be back to the 5:1 area. To Mopar, two of the caches you linked are ones I hid when I still lived in Indiana. One of them was supposedly archived, (the 1st one I hid) but maybe it was just temporarily removed. I will look into it. The other, as far as I know is still there because no one has reported not finding it. I'll email some of my caching friends in Indiana to see if any will be in that area of the state and if they are to check it for me. Any other suggestions? That's the best I know to do since I live 1,000 miles from there.

While I see your point, I have to disagree. That's the beauty of the sport. I've equated it to golf many times. You can go to a cache, find it, log it and play by the rules. Just like you can hit a par putt and make it for par. Or you could get near where the cache is and say you found it and log it and cheat. Just like you could roll that putt past the hole just missing it and then record par anyway. No one's going to know but you. And in doing that, you've defeated the purpose. We're all out here to have fun. I am as competitive as anyone you'd ever meet. But this is a chance to get away from that and just get out and have a good time.

caches should be. It's my personal policy to try to hide one cache or virtual for every five I find. Well last week (last Friday night) a cacher here in the Tampa Bay area logged one of my recently hidden caches. They said they didn't know why it was rated at a 2.5 and that they found it without any difficulty. The tone of the log was kinda condescending. I posted a note to explain it was rated that way because the rating site put it at two but the neighborhood it's in is a tricky one where you can get turned around. Anyway, I looked at their statistics and they've found almost 200 caches and only hidden 3! I think they need to spend a weekend hiding some to get a feel for it and how sometimes it's not easy to get a good difficulty rating. I feel like people like that take away from geocaching. It costs money to hide caches, not a lot but some. What are your thoughts on what cachers ratios of found to hidden caches ought to be? I think if everyone were in the area of 7 to 10 found for every 1 hidden, there'd be plenty of good caches.

I'm totally needing to get out and do some caching this weekend but there's still snow out. While it's possible to do snow-caching, it's tough! I don't mind the cold, just get rid of the snow so I can get my cache fix! []

I love the whole concept of the challenge of trying to find something that someone felt was interesting enough to hide. Sure, it's a pain if the coordinates are off but then you get to use your skills and hunt in places you think it may be in. I live in Indiana and am not a native. I was born and raised in Florida. So since I've lived here and been Geocaching here, I've seen places I would have otherwise never gotten to see. THAT is what makes this sport so much fun. My other love is golf and while that is a challenge, you have all the fees involved and waiting to play and all the other stuff. There's a lot to not like about golf, but I haven't experienced anything to not love about Geocaching.

a golf ball. I use a green sharpie and write I love (with a red heart) Geocaching! on it. Then put my name. I figure a golf ball is a perfect signature item for me since my Geocaching name derives from the best golfing advice: Go For The Green. Also, golf balls fit into almost all caches and they seem to be popular among cachers.