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Lengthy Caches

The Cartooners
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Donmoore

+Donmoore

Posted
Posted (edited)

I walked 35 miles taking in 4 caches and placed another. This was not a caching trip as such just out for a walk with a friend and it was done in 2 parts. The first 18miles it was pouring with rain and then a hail storm with lightning as we are stood in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to shelter. So we walked on and stopped at a B&B over night.

 

Also another nice one is a 17mile walk which now takes in about 7 caches but I had doen them all when I went on the walk.

Edited by Donmoore
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La Fifi

+La Fifi

Posted
Posted (edited)

As far as I was able if it was really worth it....and to me, that means the walk, not necessarily the cache at the end of it.

 

I'm not really very fit these days so the longest I reckon would be 10-12 miles.

 

In real terms, the longest I've walked is just over 9 miles, for 2 ( one a DNF ) in Spain last year.

 

Next nearest was just short of 7 miles on a circular walk - should have been 5 caches but again one DNF'd - in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.

 

Edited to add....feel rather pathetic now lol

Edited by La Fifi
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The Cartooners

The Cartooners

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Posted

My longest walk for 1 cache was 8.5 miles king john all washed up is a cache that I had been wanting to do for a long time and will probably always remain my favourite cache. Recently I have been caching for numbers as I wanted to reach a particular milestone by a certain date but now I'm going back to caching to enjoy the walk and if I only get 1 cache then so be it.

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

The cache that you mentioned is a prime example for my question although I didn't mention it at the time.

 

Although you are prepared to walk the distance, and I suspect, enjoy the walking as much, if not more than finding the box, I suspect that most cachers wouldn't go the "extra mile" to just find one cache. With only 15 finds in 2 years this would go some way in proving my arguement. We have a cache with a similar find rate (9 finds in a year).

 

I'm just wondering is it worth the effort creating a cache which involves a significant walk when the likely hood is that it would rarely be found.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of a good cut off distance when creating a cache yet gaining a better find rate.

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scottpa100

+scottpa100

Posted
Posted

It depends where I am, but certainly in my locality (Snowdonia, north Wales), I'm more than prepared to go for the high mountain ones and remote moor ones. Indeed, like others have said, they end up being amongst the most memorable. You might be walking for 90 minutes, 2 hours or 4 hours just to find a butty box, sign a log book and then turn back and head back towards your car. And that's why the cache's are so memorable, you've had maybe to 8 hours to reflect on what you're doing, why you're doing it, what you going to achieve etc.

 

Nipping out of the car and getting a soggy loggy micro in the ivy - whilst some are still nice locations, they don't seem to have quite the sense of achievement about them...

 

Keep on hiding decent caches and people will visit. Remember - its not about the numbers! For finds or visits!! B)

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The Cache Hoppers

+The Cache Hoppers

Posted
Posted

0.1 miles B)B)

 

that must have taken it right out of you.... :laughing:

It did! I was exhausted :laughing: In all honesty though, I think my favourite lengthy caching expeditions were when I started off at 5.45am en route to Round Loaf earth cache with a bunch of lovely chaps, taking in several caches along the way and back down again, some of which were revisits. I think it was a five or six mile trek, but we are talking up hill, down hill, tufted grass and big puddles. It was brilliant. My other long trek was The Otmoor Ring - mud mud glorious mud - loads of caches, very expensive baguettes in a lovely village pub, took about six hours and was just about the best fun ever! :laughing:

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Stuey

+Stuey

Posted
Posted

Next time I'm in Cornwall on holiday (this summer I hope) I intend to do a multi which is (apparently) over 20 miles. I *think* I've got all the caches on the coast round those parts, so it will be 20 miles for a single cache (probably).

 

I have started to make cache and dashes into longer walks now though, turning down the chance of a 100 yard level walk and choosing the 7 mile circular option instead on several occasions!

 

It's not about the numbers (at the moment!)

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minstrelcat

+minstrelcat

Posted
Posted

My longest walk for 1 cache was 8.5 miles king john all washed up is a cache that I had been wanting to do for a long time and will probably always remain my favourite cache. Recently I have been caching for numbers as I wanted to reach a particular milestone by a certain date but now I'm going back to caching to enjoy the walk and if I only get 1 cache then so be it.

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

The cache that you mentioned is a prime example for my question although I didn't mention it at the time.

 

Although you are prepared to walk the distance, and I suspect, enjoy the walking as much, if not more than finding the box, I suspect that most cachers wouldn't go the "extra mile" to just find one cache. With only 15 finds in 2 years this would go some way in proving my arguement. We have a cache with a similar find rate (9 finds in a year).

 

I'm just wondering is it worth the effort creating a cache which involves a significant walk when the likely hood is that it would rarely be found.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of a good cut off distance when creating a cache yet gaining a better find rate.

 

I think that cache gave us the longest walk we have done for a single cache, though we have walked further in one go doing several caches.

 

As for whether it is worth placing a cache with a long walk - it depends on how much it matters to you to get lots of finds! The optimum distance for finds is going to be a cache where you can reach out of the car window and grab it, unfortunately.

 

The other thing to bear in mind with long walks is that you have to do the walk yourself every time you want to maintain it - worth thinking about!

 

Lisa

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careygang

+careygang

Posted
Posted

I'm thinking of doing this one soon, GCA3EB , 45 finds and 5 DNF in 6 years, last 2 logs were April and September 2006. It's not even a hike, it's a 4x4 drive most of the way, the first challenge is finding the track.

There are others in the area that are hikes, which have a similar low attendance. This one GCE6CF seems to get found every 18 months or so... :)

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Delta68

+Delta68

Posted
Posted

Our longest walk for one cache is 10 or 11 stage multi probably 6 to 7 miles in total. OK, so we picked up two more during the walk but we hadn't planned to do them so they don't count.

 

The walk was also longer than it should have been because we couldn't find the final micro, carried on back to the car had lunch, parked a bit closer to the elusive micro and walked back for another look but to no avail. We then returned a few weeks later to do finally find the final yet another ¾ mile or so round trip.

 

 

Not too keen on long there-and-back walks. A circular walk would be preferable... :)

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Gralorn

+Gralorn

Posted
Posted

Walked ten miles last weekend in the Pewsey Vale doing a series of thirteen caches. But usually only walk a distance of anything under a mile for one solitary cache! Certainly would not walk some twenty miles for one. It all depends I feel on the matter of whether or not your hobby is Walking or Geocaching. Half of our planning is how close one can actually get with the car, which is the most level approach etc. In deed many years ago the hobby would have been different and we would have treated it more like orienteering and jogged miles all over the country, but sadly those days are past, so shorter the better these days. :):mad:

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The Other Stu

+The Other Stu

Posted
Posted

I'm not always convinced it's about the length but about the difficulty of the walk.

 

For instance, we did a cache near Bristol (I won't mention it again because I bore people with it). It was about 0.4 from the car. Horizontally. Vertically, it was probably about 0.2. It wasn't quite climbing, but there were times when we were on our hands and knees. Needless to say, it was the only cache we did that day.

 

On the other hand, it's a lot less difficult for me to cycle 20 miles down a canal. In fact, I'm going to be doing that daily over the next few weeks after work after tea due to an upcoming charity event which I need to get in trim for.

 

So distance isn't necessarily the key! Take into account other factors.

 

I'm disappointed that people feel that a mile is a long walk for a cache. I'm probably a bad offender for putting out 0.1 caches too, but at least mine involve a 6 mile walks to get 20 caches (rather than a series of drive-bys). Try doing the Woburn series in a car! You can't! A well experienced cacher quite rightly pointed out that a couple of multis would have sufficed for that series, but I think in the current climate these wouldn't be visited every weekend by 3 or 4 caching teams (which was the idea)

 

Maybe again, we should take note from Australia. Cache and dashes are rare over there. Most caches involve a trudge through the bush (spiders, snakes and so on). The worst thing for us was that we attempted a cache, walked about 2 miles up a hill to it, got about 6 foot away and realised we were the wrong side of a 12 foot fence.

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gazooks

+gazooks

Posted
Posted

One of mine is a mile walk 'for the serious cacher' as I put it... gets a reasonable find rate - mormally about once a month or so.

 

There is another near me that is a 4 mile multi - 4 miles there and 4 miles back - I'm just waiting for a decent sunny day to do it and enjoy the walk. :P

 

Last year me and a cacher friend went to the peak district with the plan to enjoy a good walk but pick up as many caches along the way. We did a 12 mile with 8 caches and then next day an 8 mile with 6 caches. We thoroughly enjoyed both aspects of the walks. :P

 

As far as how far would I walk for a find - it would depend on location and what is possibly at the other end (interesting location etc.) I would be less likely to go for a long walk if all there was at the end was a micro !! :)

 

:mad:

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T.R.a.M.P.

+T.R.a.M.P.

Posted
Posted

I consider myself totally unfit and probably wouldn't walk more than a mile for a single cache.

Having said that, a team around here have started setting micro trails of about 8 miles and I have done all those except this year's - that's just waiting for better weather :).

The best ones have a pub (shh!) about halfway around for refreshment.

:mad::P:P

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The Cartooners

The Cartooners

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The concensus of opinion seems to be that a longer cache is a more memorable one.

 

We have set 2 caches of some length, both circular and around 4 miles. I find this an acceptable distance that anyone could manage at their own pace.

 

When hunting for numbers then we are probably guilty of cutting the walk as short as possible as much as everyone else. However, as far as caching and dashing is concerned we wouldn't miss them if they were to be abolished.

 

My sentiment is to continue to create lengthy and hopefully enjoyable caches whilst attempting to diversify into DIY containers.

 

Thanks for your comments so far.

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Simply Paul

+Simply Paul

Posted
Posted

I think my longest was 10 miles for one cache. 5 miles there and 5 miles back. Plus the best part of a mile up (4,400ft) and down again to find the one on the top of Ben Nevis. I'd do the same again for something outstanding, but I've plans to set something needing an overnight stay for a single cache...

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The Blorenges

+The Blorenges

Posted
Posted

How far would I walk for one cache? :)

 

It just depends on -

How much time I have available...

What the terrain is like...

Whether I'm on my own/with MrB/in a group of cachers

What previous logs have said about the cache and

Whether it has a good "reputation".

 

If it was known to be a rather "special cache" in some way, I'd probably walk 10 miles (max) if it was with a group of friends.

 

Personally, it doesn't bother me how many "finds" our various caches get in a year, as long as cachers are enjoying doing them. One of ours (well, it's one I set) has only had 17 finds in 23 months, which is not that many, but everyone who's logged it has said positive things about it and, to me, that's reward enough. :)

 

MrsB

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Maple Leaf

+Maple Leaf

Posted
Posted

Well, last weekend I walked 8 miles to get to an event cache that was less than a mile from where I started :) ....... and to visit another cache that I had found 3yrs ago :)

 

..... but it was all in a good cause ... to celebrate the Morgan Mob's 1000th cache ... with at least 15 other cachers (and I did manage to log another cache half way around).

 

 

Also, this time last year Paradiddle and I spent 6.5 hours in the woods (the same time as you - The Cartooners - I believe) doing The Kings Wood Boundary Stone Game cache. We had so much fun, we had to keep reminding ourselves that there was a cache to find at the end.

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Team Incredible

+Team Incredible

Posted
Posted

Would walk all day for one cache.

 

Death of power, ben nevis what elsi, padarn treasure hunt spring to mind

 

Us too. Too be honest, the longer the walk the better for Mr Incredible. We like caches you have to put in a bit of effort to get to, by walking or hill climbing. Death of Power being our all time favourite and we would recommend it to any one.

 

The longest cache we've done was about 14 miles. Most of the ones we've put out involve a walk. We have one where we tell people its a 6 mile walk and it gets a handful of visits a year. Our youngest was only 9 when he wanted to put a cache on top of a hill, with no paths to get right to it and a round trip of about 8 or 9 miles, surprisingly it has had 2 visits in a year. We recently put two out which involve a 13 mile walk, they've had 2 visits too.

 

With our caches, apart from one, involving a bit of effort to get to, we enjoy the few find emails we get even more. And have a smile at peoples antics.

 

Place the long walks, we will come do them :)

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The Cartooners

The Cartooners

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Posted

Well, last weekend I walked 8 miles to get to an event cache that was less than a mile from where I started :) ....... and to visit another cache that I had found 3yrs ago :)

 

..... but it was all in a good cause ... to celebrate the Morgan Mob's 1000th cache ... with at least 15 other cachers (and I did manage to log another cache half way around).

 

 

Also, this time last year Paradiddle and I spent 6.5 hours in the woods (the same time as you - The Cartooners - I believe) doing The Kings Wood Boundary Stone Game cache. We had so much fun, we had to keep reminding ourselves that there was a cache to find at the end.

 

We did indeed spend over 6 hours on this cache. We were so determined to find all of the stones that we walked the woods over 2 consequetive days.

 

As you say, it was good fun.

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markandlynn

markandlynn

Posted
Posted

:)

Would walk all day for one cache.

 

Death of power, ben nevis what elsi, padarn treasure hunt spring to mind

 

Us too. Too be honest, the longer the walk the better for Mr Incredible. We like caches you have to put in a bit of effort to get to, by walking or hill climbing. Death of Power being our all time favourite and we would recommend it to any one.

 

The longest cache we've done was about 14 miles. Most of the ones we've put out involve a walk. We have one where we tell people its a 6 mile walk and it gets a handful of visits a year. Our youngest was only 9 when he wanted to put a cache on top of a hill, with no paths to get right to it and a round trip of about 8 or 9 miles, surprisingly it has had 2 visits in a year. We recently put two out which involve a 13 mile walk, they've had 2 visits too.

 

With our caches, apart from one, involving a bit of effort to get to, we enjoy the few find emails we get even more. And have a smile at peoples antics.

 

Place the long walks, we will come do them :)

 

I must say jac jac !! and then our youngest walked up ben nevis at the age of 7.

 

It makes me smile considering just how far ours walk without complaining its just what we do and they love a good day out in the hills.

 

the ones of yours we did were very enjoyable we will be back in the next few years.

 

Id also add five 2 liter hyration packs made a big difference in planning big days out.

 

For another good walk try the Brieddens in shropshire

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Tatty-Hunters

+Tatty-Hunters

Posted
Posted

We've walked miles in the desert for a single DNF in 40C and up mountains just to draw a picture! (The ART CACHE GC179QR)

On the other hand, we would rather do a shorter walk for a more interesting cache than a long hike for a micro. Especially if the walk is a bit dreary - as some can be!

 

Since we have started geocaching we have seen many beautiful places we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Those places have been worth the walk whether it was 0.1 miles or 10 miles. Thanks to the cachers who draw our attention to these otherwise unknown places. It's more than a walk :blink:

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