Reminiscing ........

[+wandering4cache]

The other night I decided to go read some of the cache logs from out very first hidden/adopted cache hidden in 2001. It got me to thinking about how fun it was to have an adventure of really trying to find that cache. Parking wasn't given. People parked on wrong side of river and thought nothing of crossing the shallow river or finding a fallen tree to walk across on. NORMAL people too. Not the serious outdoors type. lol They went thru prickers, biting flies, mud puddles.....to find this cache.

 

Gosh, you don't see logs like than anymore.

 

Also got me to thinking that the few caches hidden in MA at the time were really nicely hidden caches too. Just for the heck of it, I think I'm going to sort by GSAK database & map those few caches that existed when we started caching. Just to remember what it used to be like to have to drive 20 miles to get to the next nearest cache and how great of an adventure it was to find it.

[+PhxChem]

It's weird how everything seems better in the rear view mirror.

 

I'm guessing that since the were so few caches, you really couldn't pass one up for one 500 ft away (there probably wasn't one).

 

I'm guessing those who owned GPSr back in '01 might not have been normal people. They were probably more adventurous to begin with. I'm sure you could still find an adventure, you just have to look in the right place.

[+Sioneva]

The other night I decided to go read some of the cache logs from out very first hidden/adopted cache hidden in 2001. It got me to thinking about how fun it was to have an adventure of really trying to find that cache. Parking wasn't given. People parked on wrong side of river and thought nothing of crossing the shallow river or finding a fallen tree to walk across on. NORMAL people too. Not the serious outdoors type. lol They went thru prickers, biting flies, mud puddles.....to find this cache.

 

Gosh, you don't see logs like than anymore.

 

<snip>

 

You think not? Try reading through the logs on this cache... my log in here doesn't mention falling in the creek, but I was one of about seven people who have!

[+wandering4cache]

The other night I decided to go read some of the cache logs from out very first hidden/adopted cache hidden in 2001. It got me to thinking about how fun it was to have an adventure of really trying to find that cache. Parking wasn't given. People parked on wrong side of river and thought nothing of crossing the shallow river or finding a fallen tree to walk across on. NORMAL people too. Not the serious outdoors type. lol They went thru prickers, biting flies, mud puddles.....to find this cache.

 

Gosh, you don't see logs like than anymore.

 

<snip>

 

You think not? Try reading through the logs on this cache... my log in here doesn't mention falling in the creek, but I was one of about seven people who have!

There's a photo in that cache's gallery that kind of worries me.

[+TeamGumbo]

There's a photo in that cache's gallery that kind of worries me.

 

It's OK...he's wearing a Fender t-shirt.

 

Guitarists are TOTALLY normal.

 

[+wandering4cache]

There's a photo in that cache's gallery that kind of worries me.

 

It's OK...he's wearing a Fender t-shirt.

 

Guitarists are TOTALLY normal.

 

True! But wrong picture.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

The other night I decided to go read some of the cache logs from out very first hidden/adopted cache hidden in 2001. It got me to thinking about how fun it was to have an adventure of really trying to find that cache. Parking wasn't given. People parked on wrong side of river and thought nothing of crossing the shallow river or finding a fallen tree to walk across on. NORMAL people too. Not the serious outdoors type. lol They went thru prickers, biting flies, mud puddles.....to find this cache.

 

Gosh, you don't see logs like than anymore.

 

Also got me to thinking that the few caches hidden in MA at the time were really nicely hidden caches too. Just for the heck of it, I think I'm going to sort by GSAK database & map those few caches that existed when we started caching. Just to remember what it used to be like to have to drive 20 miles to get to the next nearest cache and how great of an adventure it was to find it.

Well, as PhxChem pointed out in his post just below yours, there are a lot of factors which come into play here, but briefly, I can assure you that there still exist a goodly number of caches such as that which you describe, and these caches were placed in 2005 or 2006 or later, and there still exist plenty of folks willing to seek such caches, and willing to do any of the following to reach the cache:

• go on long hikes which involve bushwacking at least a third of a mile from the nearest trail in rather rough forested terrain
  
• crawl on their bellies through polluted stormwater in tiny tunnels in the darkness, surrounded by spiders and all sorts of other insects
  
• crawling through muddy dark caves in the wilderness
  
• crawling through the smelly, littered abandoned tunnels under an abandoned military fort in the darkness, surrounded by drug dealers, druggies, stoned goth teenagers, semiconscious street people high on alcohol, broken liquor bottles, broken syringes, used condoms, puddles of human bodily fluids, the accumulated wastes of wild rats and feral cats, while covered with cave crickets and spiders which drop from the walls
  
• rappelling down a 72 foot vertical cliff to reach a cave opening halfway down the cliff face, and then entering the shallow cave from the rappelling line to retrieve the cache
  
• climbing a sheer vertical 72+ foot tall bridge piling in the middle of a raging river to reach a small waterproof container on the top; two teams spent over 20 hours per person tackling the cache in question over periods of several weeks
  
• chartering a helicopter in an attempt to sign the log of a cache located atop a sheer vertical 72+ foot tall bridge piling in the middle of a raging river, and failing twice in two attempts spanning four weeks.
  
• climbing the steel structure under an abandoned railroad bridge high above a river gorge in the wilderness to find a tiny magnetic container
  
• driving down six miles of dirt roads to reach a hiker's trailhead parking lot at an elevation of 7,000 feet and then spending hours making a 3-mile trek with an elevation gain of 3,000 feet to reach a cliff at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, climbing a the sheer cliff face below the cave mouth in the face of the waterfall cascading from the cave mouth, and then crawling over 600 feet into the cave to find a container.
  

In fact, we own a number of such caches, and you can read the wild tales of some of the finders by reading the logs of our Psycho Urban caches and Psycho Backcountry caches.

[+briansnat]

Gosh, you don't see logs like than anymore

 

Sure you do. Just depends on which cache logs you are looking at. There are still caches out there that are an adventure

Edited April 21, 2008 by briansnat

[+SeventhSon]

From the movie Caching Cars: "People didn't cache to make good time, people cached to have a good time."

[+Miragee]

I created a couple of Bookmark Lists and two caches to encourage people to visit the oldest caches in San Diego County. There have only been a few finders so far, but I think people are working on them and enjoying the motivation to visit those old caches.

 

The logs on the old caches are usually a lot longer than the logs you see around here on newer caches, except on a few exceptional caches . . .

[+MarshMonsters]

From the start (only 26 caches found!) my cousin and I decided to do a scrapbook of our geocaching adventures. That way we could remember the fun adventures, injuries, and mishaps.

[+the hermit crabs]

Also got me to thinking that the few caches hidden in MA at the time were really nicely hidden caches too. Just for the heck of it, I think I'm going to sort by GSAK database & map those few caches that existed when we started caching. Just to remember what it used to be like to have to drive 20 miles to get to the next nearest cache and how great of an adventure it was to find it.

You might be interested in Clan Delaney's "Massachusetts' First 173 Caches" bookmark list. Caches are listed in order starting with the oldest.

 

("Why 173??" you might be asking... it lists all of the caches hidden in MA through Dec 31, 2001.)

[+wandering4cache]

Also got me to thinking that the few caches hidden in MA at the time were really nicely hidden caches too. Just for the heck of it, I think I'm going to sort by GSAK database & map those few caches that existed when we started caching. Just to remember what it used to be like to have to drive 20 miles to get to the next nearest cache and how great of an adventure it was to find it.

You might be interested in Clan Delaney's "Massachusetts' First 173 Caches" bookmark list. Caches are listed in order starting with the oldest.

 

("Why 173??" you might be asking... it lists all of the caches hidden in MA through Dec 31, 2001.)

Thanks for saving me from doing the work.

[+Night Stalker]

To give newer cachers an idea of cache density back in the "olden days". There was a time when I was #10 in the world for the most finds in a day. The day started at 6 am and ended at 10 pm. In order to find those 26 caches I and my caching partner traveled over 250 miles. Now that's cache density.

[+Klatch]

To give newer cachers an idea of cache density back in the "olden days". There was a time when I was #10 in the world for the most finds in a day. The day started at 6 am and ended at 10 pm. In order to find those 26 caches I and my caching partner traveled over 250 miles. Now that's cache density.

I was looking at my first finds just yesterday and remarked to my wife how far we traveled for those early caches. When a new one showed up it drew folks from 50 or 60 miles - not anymore in this neck of the woods.

[+Sioneva]

To give newer cachers an idea of cache density back in the "olden days". There was a time when I was #10 in the world for the most finds in a day. The day started at 6 am and ended at 10 pm. In order to find those 26 caches I and my caching partner traveled over 250 miles. Now that's cache density.

I was looking at my first finds just yesterday and remarked to my wife how far we traveled for those early caches. When a new one showed up it drew folks from 50 or 60 miles - not anymore in this neck of the woods.

 

Did they have to walk uphill in the snow to find it?

 

Both ways?

[Scamp]

When I started caching, I lived on the north side of Chicago. There were about seven caches within walking distance (which I considered to be about a five mile radius) of my apartment at that time. Now, a search from my old address yields 73 caches within the same radius...

 

Holy smokes. That's more caches than I have even found in six+ years.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Scamp