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Finally our first FTF!


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:)

Stealthily moving through the night, we hunted down the cache.

Lo and behold! The log was blank, we were the first to arrive!

Man, what an awesome feeling, now I finally see why people get so excited about their FTFs.

We cant' wait to get another one.

Does everyone feel this good when they get their first FTF?

Or are we just a little goofy for being sooo excited?

-=[MaplessInSeattle]=-

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Congratulations...Can't speak for everyone but with 75 FTF's I still get excited. There is nothing like being the : first to desecrate a new log......... :)

wow, 75 FTFs!

Jeez, now I really feel like a newbie.

We haven't even hit double digits on our finds yet.

But, tomorrow should be at least one find.

Of course, we've only been geocaching for 10 days I think. We bought our GPS on the 25th of October.

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We're really new to this too, 100+ finds and 2 FTF's. I think they're fun to get because, to us, it's closer to what a real treasure hunt would be. You're the first person to go looking and find the "treasure" (no matter what's inside). It's as close as most people are going to get to having a treasure finding adventure, unless you have a large boat and tons of equipment to start searching the open sea. That being said, we're not in a rush to get more. When the opportunity arises to get one, that's great, but if not.....that's ok too. We have a couple of groups here that really enjoy the FTF hunt and they live much closer to where the largest majority of caches are placed. We did stay up latte one of the times to go out and get one. It was pretty entertaining as we usually don't get to night cache with three little kids......but they got to have a special adventure.

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eventually i'll get one, but I've got a family that I'd have to ditch in order to run to a FTF. hubby might "let" me if it's during the day, but he gets concerned when i want to go at 11pm. ah well.

 

i did, however, recently drop everything near midnight (with "permission") upon getting a tipoff (thanks again, you-know-who-you-are) that a moving cache was in my area. it turns out that the owner was going to archive on 10/31, and I was the last hider for that four-year legacy.

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It turns out that if we had hesitated about 25 minutes, Intolerable would have got the FTF instead, whew!

As owner of the new cache that MaplessInSeattle scored their first FTF on (only their 9th cache!), I received several excited emails last night. ;) Congrats again - well done on a somewhat tricky hide.

 

However, don't think Intolerable would've beaten you, as he wasn't aware of the cache when he got FTF on my other new one nearby (weird, he got a notification for one but not the other). He told me he was pretty sick, crawled out of bed to get the Monkey cache, then went straight back home. So, you had a clear shot in the dark!

Edited by hydnsek
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Does everyone feel this good when they get their first FTF?

 

Nope I don't care if I'm first or fiftieth. I figure I'll let the FTF hounds work out the kinks of a new cache like dealing with mistyped coordinates, puzzles that don't work out right and caches that aren't there yet because the owner didn't expect it to be published so quickly.

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Does everyone feel this good when they get their first FTF?

 

Nope I don't care if I'm first or fiftieth. I figure I'll let the FTF hounds work out the kinks of a new cache like dealing with mistyped coordinates, puzzles that don't work out right and caches that aren't there yet because the owner didn't expect it to be published so quickly.

Me neither.

 

Somewhere in my logs, I have some FTFs. I have no idea how many, nor do I have any interest whatsover in counting them. None at all. Those I have got, I've pretty much just turned up at and found a clean log.

 

For me, I'm Geocaching to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. So if one was rushing out with only the thought of being first, one would be missing the sights and sounds of nature.

 

In fairness to all, a couple of our local FTF hounds do put a lot of effort into being first to a cache and they also go after the difficult-to-get-to caches. That's a significant effort and I do respect that.

 

However, for balance with regard to these discussions about counting FTFs and so on. In terms of Geocaching, if a cache is worth visiting, it's worth visiting no matter how many people may, or may not, have been there before. The converse applies too.

 

Hence, if I leave in the morning and many miles later I arrive to find that the cache has already been logged, my experience is no less than it would have been were circumstances different.

 

Finally, a lot of bandwidth is spent celebrating being "First" to a cache. Well, I'd rather celebrate the fact that some other Geocacher was there "before" me and took the effort to drag an ammo can back up that mountain to give the rest of us somewhere to appreciate life, the universe, and everything. Ref: jonboy, and the art of placing Geocaches; ISBN xxx-x-xxx-xxxx-x ;)

Edited by poohstickz
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re: poohstickz comment

Oh we definitely don't ignore our surroundings ever.

My wife and I are bird watchers and nature lovers.

It just happened that this cache was placed somewhere that I was familiar with, and we grabbed it. I don't think we'll become FTF hounds ever, but we sure wouldn't mind getting a few more under our belt, because of the whole "undiscovered" aspect is very cool.

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Congrats -=[MaplessInSeattle]=- for your FTF's

 

We just hit 200 found caches and just got 3 FTF's, it is very difficult to get up early and beat everyone in our area, sometimes they are out at midnight looking for that FTF. Or at 4AM looking for that FTF, so how ever bad you want to have allot of FTF's under your belt is how early you are willing to get up and get those caches.

I for one just don't want them that bad to get up at midnight or even 3 or 4 AM to look.

I just wanted a few FTF's just so i could have some.

Yes it is allot of fun getting out there and finding them early before everyone else does. And yes it is a rush, we had 3 rushes this past weekend when we found ours. Not only found 3 FTF finds but hit 200 caches.

 

we have true geocachers in our area that love the sport, so it is very competitive to get those FTF's

Good luck :D

we"re lost

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Followed by 3 DNFs! Even more impressive. My brother must have been in Oregon... ;)

Erm, i'm confused by this post??

He's talking about his sib FunnyNose, a noted FTF hound. However, FunnyNose rarely visits those of us on the East Side (across Lake Washington from Seattle), even for FTFs. Ditto for many other Seattle cachers (MaplessInSeattle not included). Why, I have a puzzle over here that has had only 2 finds in 2 months. If it were within the city limits of Seattle, the puzzle heck hole, it would've had 20 finds by now.

Edited by hydnsek
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Honestly, I'm not sure what the allure is of being FTF is. I have 6 out of 766 finds now. I don't make it a point to be FTF, but when I get the oppurtunity to steal a FTF from the normal FTF hounds, I go for it. This usually means getting ftf on multi's, puzzles, or traditionals at 3am.

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Honestly, I'm not sure what the allure is of being FTF is. I have 6 out of 766 finds now. I don't make it a point to be FTF, but when I get the oppurtunity to steal a FTF from the normal FTF hounds, I go for it. This usually means getting ftf on multi's, puzzles, or traditionals at 3am.

wow 3am geocaching?!?

some of you people scare me.

LOL j/k

I would probably do that to if the wife let me

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Honestly, I'm not sure what the allure is of being FTF is. I have 6 out of 766 finds now. I don't make it a point to be FTF, but when I get the oppurtunity to steal a FTF from the normal FTF hounds, I go for it. This usually means getting ftf on multi's, puzzles, or traditionals at 3am.

wow 3am geocaching?!?

some of you people scare me.

LOL j/k

I would probably do that to if the wife let me

 

click on my profile and look at my FTF's in my stats. There's some cool stories in there if you are interested.

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wow, on the same day?!

 

I've had four or five days with 5 - 6 FTF each. I think my best day was 9 FTF in one day. I'm currently at 137 FTF but my I think my neighbor down the street is over 200 FTF and there's another guy locally who has a bunch more than my neighbory has. If you want the FTF it helps to be insane............... ;)

 

I live in California and my first FTF was on a cache in Montana. It had been published several days before and nobody had gone for it. I was visiting my daughter and managed to snag the FTF. It made for a memorable first FTF.

Edited by Thrak
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I guess we do feel a bit of excitement when we realize we have an FTF. Thought we had one last weekend when we arrived at a new cache and saw the FTF prize was still there. ;) Then we opened the log book to find...someone already signed it! ;) There should be a law against signing a log as FTF but not taking the prize! :)

wow, I agree. considering the FTF prize for our first difficult hide is going to be a digital camera. I'd hate someone to just leave it there.

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I have a few FTFs, and enjoyed seeking them out. However, there are now a couple of cachers in the area who will do anything to be the FTF. I mean, heading out a 4 in the morning because you woke up early, checked out the nearby caches, saw a new one and just had to go after it? Give me a break. I'm not that desperate to get them.

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:laughing: I've been caching for a couple of months now and as soon as I learned what FTF was I somehow wanted my own. I keep admiring those that had 4 or more to thier name. Well I was back and forth on the computer last night while my girls were at church and I seen a new cache show up. Let me just say that feeling that deer hunters get when they see that Big Ole buck (buck fever!) I can understand now! I threw everything down, got the coordinates, a flashlight and went to pick up my girls at church just in time to rush out to find this cache. But I forgot a coat and it was in the thirtys outside with frost warnings. When we got to the spot we were freezing!! So I don't know if I was still shaking from the excitement or the cold. Being the first to find is a totally different feeling than a regular cache. I will defintely try for another, but I'm not going to be one of those diehards out at three in the morning though! I thought I had it bad but not that bad Gessh!!! Our cache totals now 22 finds, one FTF. :mad:
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:laughing: I've been caching for a couple of months now and as soon as I learned what FTF was I somehow wanted my own. I keep admiring those that had 4 or more to thier name. Well I was back and forth on the computer last night while my girls were at church and I seen a new cache show up. Let me just say that feeling that deer hunters get when they see that Big Ole buck (buck fever!) I can understand now! I threw everything down, got the coordinates, a flashlight and went to pick up my girls at church just in time to rush out to find this cache. But I forgot a coat and it was in the thirtys outside with frost warnings. When we got to the spot we were freezing!! So I don't know if I was still shaking from the excitement or the cold. Being the first to find is a totally different feeling than a regular cache. I will defintely try for another, but I'm not going to be one of those diehards out at three in the morning though! I thought I had it bad but not that bad Gessh!!! Our cache totals now 22 finds, one FTF. :mad:
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Interesting. I have had 32 or 33 (my stats say 31, but there was a period there where I didn't bother to log FTF in the online logs), with I believe as many as 6 in a day.

 

Here's the irony - I have only actively attempted to find 2 of those!!! All the rest just happened. Hakuna metata, and the fun will come.

 

While fun to be the first to find a new cache, I won't get caught in the fever for two reasons:

 

1) It also means you can be the first to DNF (bad coordinates, improper placement, et cetera). Not worth my effort to be a first DNF...

 

2) Newer cachers, like the OP, find so much excitement in the FTF. Might as well let them find the small joys of an FTF that I've already managed 32 or more times.

 

I have no qualms with those that still find it incredibly exciting, and make that an integral part of their game, and can appreciate the fun that may bring - it is just that the bug hasn't bitten me.

Edited by Jeep_Dog
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All cachers here in our aea get up at any hour of the night or morning to get that FTF.

I live 3 blocks from a cache that was posted at 6:30AM and i threw my shoes on and out the door i went to be teh FTF, thought surely i am gonna get a FTF, well i wasn't someone was 1 minute in front of me. I guess they were on thier way to work and got a message on their phone??????? I know nothing of how that works.

 

we"re lost

 

craziness of geocaching gotta love it

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All cachers here in our aea get up at any hour of the night or morning to get that FTF.

 

craziness of geocaching gotta love it

 

:laughing: Hehehehehe...some logs following one of my FTFs -

 

"came out at 4:30 am to be FTF. Found it in the dark with no light took it down to the park to lessen being spotted by muggles(police). Only to open it and find Jeep Dog had all ready been there. Now I have to take it back in stealth mode.

T: geo sticker & ball L: neopet? and tiger keychain"

 

"Wow! Don't go to this one at 830am. Too many muggles dropping off their kids. I was very suprised to see that cachers are out between midnight and 430 in the morning. "Early bird gets the worm" doesn't work here. A better phrase might be "Be the worm." TNLN"

 

I suppose the second loser (eg, 2nd to not FTF) is calling me a worm? :)

 

One of the by-products of my foray to this cacheat 12:37 am was a run-in with the police- with a good end to the story.

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