My Geocaching History

[+aka Monkey]

When I was a kid I read about GPS navigation in a magazine (Omni? Popular Science?) and thought it was really cool, this idea of knowing exactly where you are anywhere on the planet. I heard about it periodically over the years, and promised I would get myself a GPS unit if the price ever dropped to $100 (I couldn't justify it for any reason other than being cool, so I wasn't willing to spend more than that, and at the time they still cost many hundreds of dollars). Years later I was in EMS with my dad and saw the Yellow eTrex on sale for $150. Close enough.

 

Selective Availability was turned off a few weeks after that, and to be honest I'm not sure where I heard about Geocaching, but it was about a year later. I found my first cache on September 15, 2001, a few days after the attack on the World Trade Centers. I remember how quiet it was with no planes in the sky, and it was a very strange experience writing in the log. The whole idea seemed so trivial at that time, but it brought a smile to my face and reminded me that the most important things in life are really the ones that make you happy, no matter how small or meaningless.

 

It all seemed so innocent back then. Now, we have fights about numbers and ratings, caches are placed in parking lots, and it seems like every cache I find is filled with broken toys and golf balls—all of it exemplifying the selfishness and thoughtlessness of people. The hikes are often enjoyable, but the caches themselves so often leave me disappointed.

 

I hope someday Groundspeak is willing to make some changes to the activity, but as popular as it is now I don't really see it happening. And since there's little money to be made in the sport, I don't have a lot of hope for seeing competant rivals spring up anytime in the future (yes, they're out there, but they still aren't anywhere near as good as Geocaching.com, despite its faults). Heck, all Jeremy would really need to do is open GeocachingPro.com, and make a few changes to the base system (a cache rating system being the most fundamental one). Charge people $100 a year to join. I'd be one of the first to sign up, if I could be sure that the next cache I seek isn't going to be by a highway and filled with expired coupons and business cards. You know, a cache that would put a smile on my face, like it did in the beginning.

 

Good Lord, am I pining for the days of yore? I must be getting old...

 

Are there any other old-time cachers out there (2001 or earlier)? Does the sport seem much different to you, or am I just remembering the way things never were?

Edited June 10, 2006 by aka Monkey

[bogleman]

Well if it makes you feel any better I pride myself when placing my caches. I try to find neat places, several involve a hike of at least a mile or more. I have always stocked my caches with decent trade items (no dollar store trinkets from me). Yes I do have some simple caches but I want to entertain those who do not want or cannot make the hike.

 

I don't really remember when I got my first GPS (99-00) but I used it for hunting, when I found out about geocaching the oldest cache in my state was right in my favorite hunting spot. I enjoy lame urban micros and tough regular caches. I have never really found any decent trade items in a cache, nor do I care.

 

What is my point??? I am having fun finding caches at my own pace when, where and how I want to find them.

 

Everyone has their take on this activity, I at least hope that everyone that finds one of my caches enjoys themselves while doing so.

[+TEAM 360]

Charge people $100 a year to join. I'd be one of the first to sign up, if I could be sure that the next cache I seek isn't going to be by a highway and filled with expired coupons and business cards. You know, a cache that would put a smile on my face, like it did in the beginning.

 

$100 a year? Let's not give him any ideas, okay?

 

It wouldn't matter if you charge $30, $100, or $1000 a year...eventually, in all caches, you will find the good swag disappears and gets replaced by junk...it's just human nature, and nothing will change that.

 

What you are describing is 'micro burn-out'...I've got it big time...you are probably sick of wasting gas and time, running around town, signing a fake name to a scrap of paper in an Altoids tin or a 35mm container.

Doesn't that sound silly? I mean, WHY? For WHAT?

The beautiful view of another trash dumpster, light pole or electrical box?

 

The game hasn't really changed, you still go out, find the cache, and sign it...it's just been flooded with a big numbers race to rack up urban microtrash caches. The core of the sport is still there, hidden under all that 'micro spew'...yes, the ever-elusive 'ammo can' is out there, but like the Loch Ness Monster, few people have seen it and others just don't believe it exists...

 

You need to concentrate on QUALITY caches. The trick to finding good swag is to find a good cache, one that is out of the way and doesn't get many people visiting it. If you have to hike to find it, the reward will be worth it, in quality swag and the enjoyment of the hike, especially with good company.

Wouldn't you rather have ONE good quality cache a month, rather than 100 lamp post finds in a week?

 

THAT'S what it is all about.

Edited June 10, 2006 by TEAM 360

[+sun-moon-starz]

It all seemed so innocent back then. Now, we have fights about numbers and ratings, caches are placed in parking lots, and it seems like every cache I find is filled with broken toys and golf balls—all of it exemplifying the selfishness and thoughtlessness of people. The hikes are often enjoyable, but the caches themselves so often leave me disappointed.

 

I hope someday Groundspeak is willing to make some changes to the activity, but as popular as it is now I don't really see it happening. And since there's little money to be made in the sport, I don't have a lot of hope for seeing competant rivals spring up anytime in the future (yes, they're out there, but they still aren't anywhere near as good as Geocaching.com, despite its faults). Heck, all Jeremy would really need to do is open GeocachingPro.com, and make a few changes to the base system (a cache rating system being the most fundamental one). Charge people $100 a year to join. I'd be one of the first to sign up, if I could be sure that the next cache I seek isn't going to be by a highway and filled with expired coupons and business cards. You know, a cache that would put a smile on my face, like it did in the beginning.

 

Good Lord, am I pining for the days of yore? I must be getting old...

 

Are there any other old-time cachers out there (2001 or earlier)? Does the sport seem much different to you, or am I just remembering the way things never were?

 

Hey old timer! I often talk about the early days of caching fondly as well. Remember when there were only a dozen caches in town? Remember how my nearest cache page took me 50 miles out? Remember when micros were a "novelty"? But of course, we put on those rose-colored glasses when we look back.

 

I also remember some of the not-so great stuff, how crappy some of my early hides were, how slow the website got when GC.com got popular, when the founds disappeared from the maps, when the coordinates were not so accurate due to poor GPSr antenna reception; when we would circle around a cache trying desperately to find the right roads to get to it.

 

Geocaching.com is always evolving, I like some of the changes that have happened over the years. I usually avoid the forums, then tend to make me get jaded. Hmmm, the GeocachingPro.com idea is interesting, but man, talk about getting flack for being elitist!

 

My husband gets his .gpx files and excludes all the micros. I filter the multis. There are still enough ways to do custom quality hunts. Ignoring the numbers is the best way to ensure a good geocaching day. I would have to counter that we have many more tools available on the website as well as fancier GPSr's with routing software and paperless caching, making caching definitely easier and more comprehensive. That being said, we had recently talked about going Geocaching "old school" with the yellow etrex and printouts in an effort to grab some of that old "fun" back.

 

Recently a Geocaching friend told me that it wasn't usually the caches that made caching so great for him, it was being out on the hunt, enjoying hikes with good friends and the experiences that he had along the way. I tend to agree. This friend has returned to geocaching after a nearly one-year total hiatus from the sport. I'm glad to have him back.

 

My suggestions: find someone new to cache with, take a one-month break from caching, plan a geocaching event or CITO, explore an entirely new area of the country you have never cached in. Somewhere along the way, it will come back to you. See you on the trail.

[+Renegade Knight]

A year after 9/11 I had just finished a job interview and had driven up a canyon where I got out of my car changed my clothes and avenged a skunk in short order. This was 300 miles from home, and 30 miles from where I now call home.

 

It was the one year anniversary of 9/11 and the moment was surreal.

 

Micro’s were already starting to take over urban areas, the battle about stats had already started and so on. It didn’t matter, that day. I was in a canyon, by an alcove just below a cave sitting on the rocks and reflecting back. When I was done I washed up in a small creek and drove home.

 

Later I would find out that I didn’t get that job, that Iraq was going to happen, the forum wars would go on, and I’d end up working for the same organization that didn’t hire me that day just the same.

 

There are more caches out there that will be surreal, or scenic, or strange, or fun for no good reason other than the company you have.

 

In 2002 there was a cache called the Mile High Cache. In 2002 us second generation Boise cachers found it because we had to, to have anything to find. It peaked in 2003 and 2004 saw it’s last visitor. Since then there are so many other caches that this pioneering cache doesn’t see play. The days of yore are still out there if you know where to look. Plus there are more Mile High Caches to be found that are newer and just as worthy and sometimes the hard thing is making the choice.

[+Bud]

Hey old timer! I often talk about the early days of caching fondly as well. Remember when there were only a dozen caches in town? Remember how my nearest cache page took me 50 miles out? Remember when micros were a "novelty"? But of course, we put on those rose-colored glasses when we look back.

 

I also remember some of the not-so great stuff, how crappy some of my early hides were, how slow the website got when GC.com got popular, when the founds disappeared from the maps, when the coordinates were not so accurate due to poor GPSr antenna reception; when we would circle around a cache trying desperately to find the right roads to get to it.

 

Geocaching.com is always evolving, I like some of the changes that have happened over the years. I usually avoid the forums, then tend to make me get jaded. Hmmm, the GeocachingPro.com idea is interesting, but man, talk about getting flack for being elitist!

 

My husband gets his .gpx files and excludes all the micros. I filter the multis. There are still enough ways to do custom quality hunts. Ignoring the numbers is the best way to ensure a good geocaching day. I would have to counter that we have many more tools available on the website as well as fancier GPSr's with routing software and paperless caching, making caching definitely easier and more comprehensive. That being said, we had recently talked about going Geocaching "old school" with the yellow etrex and printouts in an effort to grab some of that old "fun" back.

 

Recently a Geocaching friend told me that it wasn't usually the caches that made caching so great for him, it was being out on the hunt, enjoying hikes with good friends and the experiences that he had along the way. I tend to agree. This friend has returned to geocaching after a nearly one-year total hiatus from the sport. I'm glad to have him back.

 

My suggestions: find someone new to cache with, take a one-month break from caching, plan a geocaching event or CITO, explore an entirely new area of the country you have never cached in. Somewhere along the way, it will come back to you. See you on the trail.

 

I'd heard about this cool idea to hike using GPS to find things hidden by other geeks in the woods. I was just finishing my degree in Network Administration, and the geek appeal coupled with the fact that I'd been spending too much time at my computer and getting fat made me want to get out and hike. So, in April 2001 I pooled my money with a friend to split the $125 (gasp!) cost of a low-end Magellan, and out we headed to find the only cache in San Antonio. I still have the scars on my shin from running in to the barbed wire while watching the GPS instead of where I was going. We were hooked, and took a week off to drive north to Austin, and find 12 of the 13 caches that existed there.

 

Since then, I got my wife started a few months later. We've had occasion to cache in 30-some states, met friends that we never would have if we hadn't picked up this crazy penchant for hidden ammo cans, er, um, metal boxes, and have lost a lot of weight and feel great.

 

Geocaching as a sport and website is always evolving, and I have to believe that it's for the best, though some of the changes and growing pains aren't always pleasant. As my wife mentioned above, I filter micro's, and don't hunt them on my own. However, I love caching with other people, and will even hunt a skirt-lifter if I'm out having a good time with other folks. I remember the first micro that I found, and thought it was a novel idea, but never thought it would grow to the popularity (blight?) that it has today. I also always enjoyed the virtuals, which were easy to hunt at 3AM when we were working overnights during the hot Texas summer. I understand the reason for them going away, but they were enjoyable, and I'll still log any that I find along the way. Locationless were OK for when our nearest unfound cache was 80 miles away, but it wasn't really geocaching, so I don't miss it that much.

 

Thankfully, GPSr's have gotten better, though the $125 starter that I had pales in comparison to the amount of cash that I've laid out since then on mapping software, hardware, PDA's, a digital camera just to take along, and various other expenses. I'm not a poor student any longer, either, so it doesn't hurt as much as it would have back then.

 

I troll the forums, but try not to post, just because there's always someone getting offended, and b|tch sessions starting up over some simple subject. I prefer to spend the time on the trail, and let the complaining be done by those who like to complain.

 

Well, this old-timer is heading off to the trail, it's a beautiful Saturday, and I'm burning daylight. See you in the woods!

[+Team GeoBlast]

I can't claim to be an old timer but I like what I am reading here by some of the old timers. One of the advancements, it seems, of Geocaching is the technology that is available now. Using some of the features of the website along with some 3rd party software, you have complete control over what you are hunting. You even have the ability to read what others have experienced first in finding the cache if you want to invest the time. Find yourself in a hissy fit in a Walmat parking lot over the film canister in your hand? Don't blame the wrongful evolution of the game. Blame your own inability to adapt to the changes and master the advanced tools that are at your disposal.

[+Cracker in the Hat]

I am by no means an 'Old Timer' when it comes to GeoCaching. In fact, I have only been participating in this therapy for 6 months (give or take) I have been using a GPS to find 'stuff' for years though, and what I have found is that while we all pine for yesterday, no matter how or what yesterday represents to the individual, today is the yesterday of tomorrow. I know this sounds absurd, but what I really mean by this twisted ramble is represented by my screen name...It was 'given' to me by a clerk in a 7-11 late one night while I was setting out for a hunt (I usually don't leave home until 10:00 PM or so)...It was a good spirited jab at my attire, and JimInPotomac and Sherman T. Potter quickly picked up the name. It has now become a reward to me. It's an honor to have another nic-name, and a true honor for me because of what it represents. Jim, Sherm and I had a regular Thursday night cache outing and it became therapy for the three of us. Life is stressful. Life gets in the way of life. For the three of us, hiking in the woods in the middle of the night, often until 1:00 or later, was the greatest therapy we could ask for. We had great conversations and almost solved the ills of the world, sometimes we barely spoke at all. The hunt is the reward. Signing the log is merely a way to say "I was here" and to thank the owner for placing a cache that took us out of our comfort zone. It is the Journey folks, not the destination. While I understand that the majority of the caches out there are filled with broken McToys and range balls, I challenge you to find the reward in the hunt, not in the trinket you trade for. Some of the trails have brough me to places I would never have found, and I've discovered a lot more about me as a person than I had ever thought would happen while simply enjoying a sport. The micro burnout you describe is normal. Micros can suck. So can anything else in this world. Enjoy the hunt for the micro, not the find. Take an alternate route to a cache....If the best approach is from the north, approach from the south. Make it interesting, make it harder. Try it at night, darkness adds a whole new dimension to otherwise boring caches. There are some caches that aren't woth the paper you sign, the journey to the cache is the real reward.

 

Feel free to flame (I'll probably just ignore it anyway)...

 

I wish I had started as long ago as you, I just didn't know all of this (including this great community) existed. I hate the thought of someone getting frustrated with GeoCaching because someone is too cheap to use quality trade items. Discover the fun in the hunt and your faith may be renewed.

 

Just my $.02

 

-Cracker in the Hat