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What's The Fun Part In Geocaching?


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Yesterday I had another one of these frustrating caches. Very public location. Hardly any description or hints. Not even sure if I was looking for a micro or some coordinates. Could be anywhere.

 

Personally, I hate these caches (or waypoints of caches). But in the logs I sometimes get the impression that people like these "challanges".

 

Do you?

 

Do you like the difficult caches? In public locations?

Or would you prefer visiting a nice location. And an easy cache with a detailed description / spoiler as an add-on?

 

Or do I get the wrong impression from the logs? Are the 20 frustrated non-logging-people for every proud finder?

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That is why we have ratings and descriptions on cache pages.

If that isn't your thing leave it for those who enjoy it.

Me, I don't like highly public areas.

Like hides on canons, they are always in highly public places and have many places to hide a micro.

I always feel like the whole world is watching. Some peple like that sort of thing.

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What makes this hobby/sport so great is that there is a way to do it for just about everyone. Like hiking miles into the woods breaking brush? got ya covered. Want to feel like a secret agent knowing something the rest of the public doesn't. Got that out back for you . Puzzles? yep.... Need a quick fix? sure,, got some of those... Want to spend all day going from waypoint to waypoint? We can accomodate you. Or do you just want to go to some very beautiful place nearby you never knew about? we have that to.

 

You can enjoy this anyway you want to. Be a treasure hunter or a casual tourist. Its up to you. And the best part? I mean the really good part? You can be all of these things or just one of them, and you can do it all in one day. The rules are so simple to, just leave it better than you found it.

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The only type of cache that routinely gets hit by my dreaded "Ignore" button are film cannisters in the bushes of fast food resteraunts.

 

I do so hate bushes.

 

I do like the more challenging caches sometimes, when I'm in the mood for them, and my geosense is working properly.

 

I love going hiking sometimes too, just this time of year, its not very fun since its so hot!

 

I don't really like caches in busy places as I don't like having to look every which direction to make sure a muggle doesn't see me grab or replace the cache.

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Do you like the difficult caches? In public locations?

 

No. In the old days, when geocaches were few and far between I would do all kinds of caches. Now there are plenty of caches and I skip the ones that do not appeal to me. Searching for a well hidden object in a busy place does not appeal to me. And I do not enjoy meeting police officers, except in social settings.

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When we first started caching I felt the same way but with time I came to enjoy all caches some more than others, it does get fun trying to find a cache in a high muggle area, give it time and I think you might like them better and if not simply dont hunt urban caches. Hunt what you like and this game will be more fun than you have ever had.

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Yeah, sometimes I do like the challenge of trying to snag a cache in a busy urban setting. Other times, I prefer a series that takes me on a stroll along a winding city park walkway, or an ammo can deep in the woods, or...Well, I guess I like a lot of different kinds of caches. I would soon get bored if there were only one kind of cache, no matter which "one kind" that might be.

Edited by Team Neos
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Yesterday I had another one of these frustrating caches. Very public location. Hardly any description or hints. Not even sure if I was looking for a micro or some coordinates. Could be anywhere.

 

Personally, I hate these caches (or waypoints of caches). But in the logs I sometimes get the impression that people like these "challanges".

 

Do you?

 

Do you like the difficult caches? In public locations?

Or would you prefer visiting a nice location. And an easy cache with a detailed description / spoiler as an add-on?

 

Or do I get the wrong impression from the logs? Are the 20 frustrated non-logging-people for every proud finder?

Some times part of the challenge is figuring out when the best time is to hunt the cache. Luchtime downtown isn't always the best. What's a good time for you might not be a good time for the cache.

 

Of course, these types of caches are a good time to work on you acting skills - including costuming & props. I once spent 30 minutes examining a park bench (turned out it was the wrong location, but that's another story) and everyone who walked by thought I was getting ready to clean the darn thing - it wasn't anything I did except act like I should be there.

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It depends.

 

I'm fortunate to live in an area where there are some very smart and creative cache hiders. Many of these hard caches are cleverly designed camoflage containers -- you might spend 2 hours searching for a cache, but you might be talking about it for a week afterwards.

 

In general,

 

- Needle in a haystack type hides are not usually fun - fake rock in a field of rocks, fake pine cone in a pine tree (fake pine cone under an oak tree - maybe!)

- Super itty bitty cache containers are not usually fun - the kind that are as small as your thumbnail. Sometimes these are cleverly disguised as a fake bolt or something else that seems out of place. These are okay. But generally, these don't require much creativity to hide, and they don't provide much satisfaction to find.

- Caches (especially difficult ones) in a place where you'll look really suspicious searching generally don't interest me - public places are okay, but a playground, a front yard, the side of a busy road, etc. aren't usually fun.

 

If there are a lot of "TNLNSL, TFTC" type logs, I'd skip it. But some of these caches can really be fun. Read the logs; you can generally tell.

Edited by Mary&Dave
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What makes this hobby/sport so great is that there is a way to do it for just about everyone. Like hiking miles into the woods breaking brush? got ya covered. Want to feel like a secret agent knowing something the rest of the public doesn't. Got that out back for you . Puzzles? yep.... Need a quick fix? sure,, got some of those... Want to spend all day going from waypoint to waypoint? We can accomodate you. Or do you just want to go to some very beautiful place nearby you never knew about? we have that to.

 

You can enjoy this anyway you want to. Be a treasure hunter or a casual tourist. Its up to you. And the best part? I mean the really good part? You can be all of these things or just one of them, and you can do it all in one day. The rules are so simple to, just leave it better than you found it.

 

I couldn't have said it better, so I won't try - Ditto!

 

Having said that, some of the most fun caching I do is in groups of friends - and the stories we all remember most are things like snagging the cache from a phone booth while a muggle was talking on the phone, grabbing one from under a bench at WallyWorld with three muggle ladies sitting on it, snagging a cache out from under a carousel horse with people walking by, walking into a wedding by a waterfall, snagging the cache and chatting with the guests, grabbing the cache from a nearby tree in a cemetary while a funeral was going on ten feet away and many more memorable experiences like that, and never being noticed by the muggles!

 

Sure, I like caches out in the boonies, but if I can snag one literally out from under folks and not give it away I love it!

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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Yesterday I had another one of these frustrating caches. Very public location. Hardly any description or hints. Not even sure if I was looking for a micro or some coordinates. Could be anywhere.

 

Personally, I hate these caches (or waypoints of caches). But in the logs I sometimes get the impression that people like these "challanges".

 

Do you?

 

Do you like the difficult caches? In public locations?

Or would you prefer visiting a nice location. And an easy cache with a detailed description / spoiler as an add-on?

 

Or do I get the wrong impression from the logs? Are the 20 frustrated non-logging-people for every proud finder?

 

I hate (hatehatehate) tough urban micros.

They are all the rage in my area, with hiders tossing them like Johnny Appleseed.

High-difficulty, ultra-nano, very public, too many to count.

You should see the size of my ignore list...

 

Ed

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Yesterday I had another one of these frustrating caches. Very public location. Hardly any description or hints. Not even sure if I was looking for a micro or some coordinates. Could be anywhere.

 

Personally, I hate these caches (or waypoints of caches). But in the logs I sometimes get the impression that people like these "challanges".

 

Do you?

 

Do you like the difficult caches? In public locations?

Or would you prefer visiting a nice location. And an easy cache with a detailed description / spoiler as an add-on?

 

Or do I get the wrong impression from the logs? Are the 20 frustrated non-logging-people for every proud finder?

 

I hate (hatehatehate) tough urban micros.

They are all the rage in my area, with hiders tossing them like Johnny Appleseed.

High-difficulty, ultra-nano, very public, too many to count.

You should see the size of my ignore list...

 

Ed

:huh::unsure:B)B)

A week ago I found a vitamin bottle (not cameoed -just like you buy it in the store) under a light post cover behind a fast food restaurant! It don't git no better than that! :lol:

 

* Needless to say I'm back on the scenic trails.... :lol:

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...grabbing the cache from a nearby tree in a cemetary while a funeral was going on ten feet away and many more memorable experiences like that, and never being noticed by the muggles!

 

Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

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A week ago I found a vitamin bottle (not cameoed -just like you buy it in the store) under a light post cover behind a fast food restaurant! It don't git no better than that! B)

 

* Needless to say I'm back on the scenic trails.... :huh:

 

Ah, but did the cache description, or the approach to the cache if you didn't read it, fool you into thinking it would be anything other than a micro snatch-n-grab?

 

I would have liked this cache, I have done several, maybe 10, that I reached out the car window to get.

 

This is the part where 'The game offers something for everyone' and 'If you don't like something, don't hunt it' come in. :unsure:

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I don't like most urban micros either, but I agree with several other posters--to each his own. Besides, there have been a few (very few) that I enjoyed. Usually it takes a creative/conscientious hider.

 

Edited for spelling fun

Edited by NotNutts
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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

 

Actually, challenging something you weren't there to see and know nothing about seems a bit disrespectful to me.

 

Why don't you instead find out who was there (about a dozen well-respected geocachers), how it was done and if anyone attending the funeral even had an idea it was being done before condemning it?

 

Pictures were posted, it's been discussed at events and over many geocacher's campfires, yet you are the first to find fault with it. :unsure:

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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

Actually, challenging something you weren't there to see and know nothing about seems a bit disrespectful to me.

 

Why don't you instead find out who was there (about a dozen well-respected geocachers), how it was done and if anyone attending the funeral even had an idea it was being done before condemning it?

 

Pictures were posted, it's been discussed at events and over many geocacher's campfires, yet you are the first to find fault with it. :unsure:

Perhaps he is the first to voice his opinion, but it sounds kinda rude to me, also.

 

Also, if someone is going to mention it proudly in the forums, they should be willing to accept a challenge to whether or not it was appropriate.

 

Edit: I'll go ahead and voice my concern about barging into someone's wedding, also. I would have had you kicked out. Kicked out with real kicking, perhaps.

Edited by sbell111
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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

 

Actually, challenging something you weren't there to see and know nothing about seems a bit disrespectful to me.

 

Why don't you instead find out who was there (about a dozen well-respected geocachers), how it was done and if anyone attending the funeral even had an idea it was being done before condemning it?

 

Pictures were posted, it's been discussed at events and over many geocacher's campfires, yet you are the first to find fault with it. :rolleyes:

 

How do you think you can post something that "sounds" disrespectful with little or no explanation without getting a negative response? Then knowing that you didn't describe the situation clearly, why would you get angry with someone who was offended?

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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

How could it possibly be disrespectful if it went unnoticed? I could see folks getting into a hand-wringing competition if he had jumped in the hole, opened the casket and pried the micro from between the deceased's dentures, but that's not how it happened. I guess since we live in The Nation of The Offended, I should get used to this kind of remark.

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How do you think you can post something that "sounds" disrespectful with little or no explanation without getting a negative response? Then knowing that you didn't describe the situation clearly, why would you get angry with someone who was offended?

 

Angry? I am the least angry dude you'll ever meet!

 

Any anger you read into my posts is your own, I am having a ball!

 

I believe that one can disagree without being disagreeable, and debate without arguing.

 

Maybe that info will help you 'get' the tone my posts intend. :rolleyes:

 

I am not here to do anything harmful or insulting to anyone!

 

Ed

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I like the well placed well thoughtout micros, sometimes. I bounce back and forth, middle of the week got a few hours, hit a few micros. Weekend feel like finding an ammo can, road trip. Personaly I could do without the lampost micros. Now a nicely cammod bison tube in a park that is a pain to find, I like. Did the easy ones when I first started because I wanted to get 100 finds, on the second day I reaziled that it should be quality not quantity. I also skip anything the leeds me to a huge rock pile. just so you know I still sometimes hit a few of the easy hides in a mini marathon, If they are going to hide them I might as well find them. To not do so would be rude.

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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

How could it possibly be disrespectful if it went unnoticed? I could see folks getting into a hand-wringing competition if he had jumped in the hole, opened the casket and pried the micro from between the deceased's dentures, but that's not how it happened. I guess since we live in The Nation of The Offended, I should get used to this kind of remark.

 

The mourners did not notice the game. Therefore, they were not offended. Playing the game ten feet from people who were burying a loved one shows disrespect for those people - whether they were aware of the game or not.

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I, for one ,love urban caches. I only regret the overuse of guardrails. I like the ones that have a historical summary of the area on the page. Turtle..something.. in my area hides these types of caches well and they include historical urban places that are long gone and are fun to revisit. Some places in an urban setting are scenic and often unnoticed by passers by. In my area, I have learned the origins of my town, city, and local parks. found a few parks I didn't know about, and a roadside graveyard I pass by every day. There are some things to see in the city and I think the idea of placing caches in common areas or muggle-heavy areas makes the game more exciting.

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I tend to like woodsy places but do enjoy NYC Central Park also. No ticks, out in a pretty park environment and yet the caches are not as boring as road-side rail type magnetic type. And the muggles can be all over the place. Yet caches stay hidden and found. Here's one in Central Park where there are dozens of people around at times yet there are over 300 finds.

 

Lakeside View

 

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Edited by Alan2
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Playing the game ten feet from people who were burying a loved one shows disrespect for those people - whether they were aware of the game or not.

Well, I gotta admit. That was not the silliest thing I ever heard in my life. Rosie O'Donnell speaking at a Democratic rally still holds that title. But you were close! :laughing: Rather than paw through your profile like some of the folks here, lemme ask you this; You've been playing this game for almost 5 years, according to the date under your name. In that time, have you ever hunted a cache at a cemetary? Have you ever hunted a cache at a memorial? Have you ever hunted a cache that was dedicated to someone else who died? If you answered "Yes" to any of those, then your argument is illogical. Interupting mourners is disrespectful. Hunting a cache at a cemetary, when no one is aware of your activities, is not.

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I don't like most urban micros either, but I agree with several other posters--to each his own. Besides, there have been a few (very few) that I enjoyed. Usually it takes a creative/conscientious hider.

 

Edited for spelling fun

 

Urban Micro's in non-historical/non-interesting places/no significance at all(Set of All McDonald's could be ok) are kinda bland, and really people could make them 100% more interesting by at least making them puzzle caches, no?

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One sort of cache does not appeal to everybody. That's what's so great about caching. You can pick the ones you want to seek. We love micros, urban or rural. it's nice to find an ammo box, but nothing thrills us more than great camouflage.

We don't do puzzles, they just don't interest us. Some people just live for puzzles. That's what makes the world go around.

If you don't like a cache type, don't do them.

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Playing the game ten feet from people who were burying a loved one shows disrespect for those people - whether they were aware of the game or not.
Well, I gotta admit. That was not the silliest thing I ever heard in my life. ...

 

have you ever hunted a cache at a cemetary? Have you ever hunted a cache at a memorial? Have you ever hunted a cache that was dedicated to someone else who died? If you answered "Yes" to any of those, then your argument is illogical. Interupting mourners is disrespectful. Hunting a cache at a cemetary, when no one is aware of your activities, is not.

I get your point, but I think you can see that the chance of bothering mourners is the issue, not the fact that it was a cemetary. Is it really worth taking the chance of bothering the mourners?

 

Was it really necessary to barge into someone's wedding?

 

These are situations where it would obviously be better to skip the caches and come back to them at a more appropriate time.

Edited by sbell111
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Urban Micro's in non-historical/non-interesting places/no significance at all(Set of All McDonald's could be ok)

 

Wait, you want to see a cache at every McDonalds? Really? Oh wait, we already have that.

Everybody has that.... :laughing: I like to use a simple rule of thumb when I place a cache: Would I visit this location if I was not geocaching? IMHO, we should all try to make the experience of finding a cache fun for the finder in some way. If you've done this long enough you'll reach a point where just getting a smiley isn't fun....

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i hate caches that you have to walk like 3 miles to. around me there are some that say it a nice 4.5 mile round trip or something like that. <_< i just don't have the time for those.

That's what terrain ratings are for.....Anyhow, you missed the point. Whether the cache is a 1 terrain or a 5 terrain (ideally) it should be located in a place that the majority of people would enjoy visiting.

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i hate caches that you have to walk like 3 miles to. around me there are some that say it a nice 4.5 mile round trip or something like that. <_< i just don't have the time for those.

 

One of the really cool parts of premium membership is that you can filter caches based upon difficulty or terrain ratings. You might want to look into it -- I think it might make your caching experience more enjoyable. Simply search for caches with a 2 or lower terrain rating. Cheers!

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I kind of feel like we are debating about which flavors should be allowed at Baskin Robbins. I think any flavor is OK as long as you don't have to go behind a trash can and scrape up the ice cream off the floor......if you get my drift! <_<

 

Oh come on - even the bubble gum flavor? You've got to draw the line somewhere... :D:o

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First, I hate people. with that said i can't stand caches that involve public places with people. like a drugstore or and any kind of public place for that matter. i just look at the d/t and read the cache page. if it's an urban cache with high muggle activity i stay far far away. i'm a deep woods/back country cacher and hate anywhere there is humans <_< but there are people who love doing caches like that, that is what makes this hobby/sport interesting!

 

just my $.02

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i hate caches that you have to walk like 3 miles to. around me there are some that say it a nice 4.5 mile round trip or something like that. :D i just don't have the time for those.

 

One of the really cool parts of premium membership is that you can filter caches based upon difficulty or terrain ratings. You might want to look into it -- I think it might make your caching experience more enjoyable. Simply search for caches with a 2 or lower terrain rating. Cheers!

I agree! <_< Also if you don't like difficult finds search for caches with a 2 or lower difficulty rating. You can also filter out micros, virtuals, puzzles or just about anything else you don't like.... :o

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I kind of feel like we are debating about which flavors should be allowed at Baskin Robbins. I think any flavor is OK as long as you don't have to go behind a trash can and scrape up the ice cream off the floor......if you get my drift! :angry:

:angry:

 

Actually no, I don't get your drift. What is your drift? <_<:D:o

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Man, that is so disrespectful. I'm sorry, I can't let that go by unchallenged.

 

Actually, challenging something you weren't there to see and know nothing about seems a bit disrespectful to me.

 

Why don't you instead find out who was there (about a dozen well-respected geocachers), how it was done and if anyone attending the funeral even had an idea it was being done before condemning it?

 

Pictures were posted, it's been discussed at events and over many geocacher's campfires, yet you are the first to find fault with it. :)

 

Make that the second.

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... snagging the cache and chatting with the guests, grabbing the cache from a nearby tree in a cemetary while a funeral was going on ten feet away and many more memorable experiences like that, and never being noticed by the muggles!

 

 

ooh, you have just engaged my twisted sense of humor! How's this for "different flavor of ice cream"?

Well known, respected geocacher passes away. the time and place of the visitation is announced and posted as an event cache: OPEN CASKET - with a small or micro in the tuxedo pocket! All the muggles respecting your 'privacy' as you pay your last respects - by signing his log! I know, a little macabre and morbid, but, for my funeral, I want people to have a smile on their face. Don't mourn my death, celebrate my life!

 

What I haven't figured out is what to do with the cache log? Do we bury it with the Geocacher? Aaah, funerals, what fun!!!!

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. . .it should be located in a place that the majority of people would enjoy visiting.

Uh oh... we may have missed something in some of our hides; it may be back to the drawing boards for us! Now I am worried. . .

  • Is an abandoned nuclear reactor containment housing a place the majority of people would enjoy visiting?
  • How about the old ammo storage tunnels under an abandoned military fort, where the dark and filthy passageways are cluttered with garbage, broken liquor bottles, empty syringes, the dark stinky hallways filled with goth kids smoking pot, taggers spraying every available vertical surface with graffiti, and gaunt-faced, hollow-eyed people in filthy clothing looking for quick sex? Oh, and mugggers and drug dealers lurking on the filthy pathway outside the entrances to the tunnels...
  • How about crawling on your belly through a 16 inch diameter storm drain pipe, deep under the streets of a city, with four inches of polluted runoff rain water from nearby unremediated EPA-listed toxic waste dumps coursing along the bottom of the pipe, with spiders in your hair and on your face, and, about fifteen feet distant, the reflection of the eyes of a large and inquisitive rat located further down the tunnel?
  • How about the rusty iron understructure beneath an abandoned railroad bridge in the wilderness, your body clinging to a girder twenty feet below the bridge deck and 110 feet above the river gorge below?
  • How about climbing to an elevation of 9,800 feet and then crawling deep into the belly of an ancient mountain in the face of a raging waterfall?
  • How about a sludge pit in a Superfund toxic waste site in an urban wasteland?

Uhhh ohhh, spaghettios. . .!

:anicute:

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