Milestone Characteristics

[+Brantflakes]

I just found my 197, 198, and 199th caches. A few local cachers emailed me with congratulations, and were wondering what cache I was going to do for my milestone at 200. What kind of things should I look for in a cache to make it a memorable experience?

 

Things to consider would be the difficulty and terrain ratings, previous logs, awards, etc. Also, What kind of caches have people used for their own milestones, and why?

[+bflentje]

Any high profile cache that stands out for various reasons, whether it be cool container, cool adventure, or really difficult. Just something out of the ordinary is all require. But at approaching 3200 finds, I stopped counting minor milestones after 1000 and only worry about the big ones.. 4000 is next.

[+JohnE5]

Gold, must be made out of gold.

[+Castle Mischief]

Availability. I'm not picky.

[+Kit Fox]

I just found my 197, 198, and 199th caches. A few local cachers emailed me with congratulations, and were wondering what cache I was going to do for my milestone at 200. What kind of things should I look for in a cache to make it a memorable experience?

 

Things to consider would be the difficulty and terrain ratings, previous logs, awards, etc. Also, What kind of caches have people used for their own milestones, and why?

 

I've gotten to the point where each 100 is a big decision for me. I've got an entire watchlist of caches I want to find for each milestone. Milestones for me require: Great Hikes, Great Adventure, great photographic opportunities. You can check out my profile to get an idea of what Milestones are to me.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

Several factors I've used:

 

A nice walk

A nice walk with the family

An event (I used my annual summer event for two of my milestones)

A cool cache in another state while on a cache run through that state (Louisiana, Michigan)

A cool cache in another state while there on business trip (Hawaii)

 

For my 100th Hide Milestone, I put the cache in the woods on a nice walk, at a cool location, with a creative hide for the first stage.

 

(edited to add Hide milestone)

Edited October 28, 2009 by BBWolf+3Pigs

[+terrkan78]

The name! I like milestone caches with good names for the profile list.

[+flask]

i look for a cache that's there.

 

typically while i am at a milestone cache i am unaware of it; i am habitually behind in the writing of logs because i take the time to write out a decent log for every cache i visit.

 

and there just aren't that many milestones. some people consider every hundred or even ten to be milestones, but when i started playing this game, i decided that the milestones worthy of note were 1, 44, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, and every thousand after that.

 

because i do not advertise my milestones any more than i would advertise my bank balance, i am unconcerned what names go on lists that i do not compile or display.

[+GeoGeeBee]

when i started playing this game, i decided that the milestones worthy of note were 1, 44, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, and every thousand after that.

 

Why 44?

 

Just curious.

[+Chrysalides]

Availability. I'm not picky.

Me neither. Most of the time I realize it is a milestone only after logging the cache. I think at least a couple of them are LPCs.

 

The only milestone I really wanted to find something special for was #666, but didn't, as I can't find one nearby in theme - the only one is a puzzle I haven't solved yet.

 

To the OP : only thing I can suggest is look for one similar to what you enjoy.

[Skippermark]

I used to keep track of milestones, but it got to be a pain trying to figure out which one it would be and then making sure we were able to find it when needed. Sometimes we'd have to drive past caches we wanted to find just so we could find the milestone.

 

And then, after finding the milestone, you realize a month later that you forgot to log a cache that you found before the milestone, so now your milestone is off and really is milestone cache plus one.

 

In the end, I stopped looking at my numbers and instead just look for interesting caches find. I find them when I can and don't really pay attention to what find number they are. It seems that others know more about my find numbers than I do.

 

That said, if you want to keep track of milestones, then by all means you should definitely do it. I'd pick a cache that looks like it will be memorable and one you'll remember for a long time. For me, that would be a scenic hike or a spot where you wouldn't normally go, a different state or something special like that.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Skippermark

[+CanadaKate]

Not so many milestones for me yet, but I did choose #50 (in California on a visit from Canada) and #100 (a nice multi) with care. My kids, who cache under a different name, bypassed an easy 100th because they said "Mom, we don't want our 100th cache to be called Fungus Tree" and decided to have their hundreth cache be an after-event gathering.

As I head for 200, I am alert for a meaningful cache. Maybe I'll be more jaded as I head into the thousands ... or not ...much of the fun of caching, for me, is to set targets and meet them (as long as there are some nice hikes and ammo cans along the way.

[knowschad]

Personally, I prefer a nice round number in the base-ten numbering system for my milestones.

 

Unfortunately, those benchmark numbers somehow seem to keep getting further away, the more you find. I mean, here are some typical benchmark numbers:

 

1 (of course. not a round number, but it has to be counted as a benchmark!)

10

100

200 (well, maybe...)

1000

5000

10000

 

See what I mean?

 

Now, I'd love to say that my benchmark caches were all memorable. Some were. My #15 was the Buddy Holly Shrine virtual near Clear Lake, IA. My #2000 was a very cool old cemetery cache in the U.P. of Michigan. But my #14 was once called Irish Skirt Lifter, and that is exactly what it was... an LPC, and many others were not particularily memorable, either.

Edited October 29, 2009 by knowschad

[+flask]

when i started playing this game, i decided that the milestones worthy of note were 1, 44, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, and every thousand after that.

 

Why 44?

 

Just curious.

 

when i started playing, 44 was the most caches anybody in my state had found!

[+bittsen]

Milestone 666 should be an evil hide.

[+WRASTRO]

While I admit to enjoying playing with the numbers from time to time I do not plan anything special for milestone finds, whatever those may be. I do keep track of the ones that turn out to be even hundreds, but that is just because it is a convenient way to keep an idea of roughly how many caches I have found in a given period of time.

[+GMartinTX]

I log my finds in the order that they happen, and let the milestones fall where they may. Much of the time they occur in the middle of an out-of-town run, so there is just no way to plan a special one to mark. One that fell very nicely was the virtual at Geronimo's burial plot, in Lawton, OK. But that was just luck. I've had them on a power run, an LPC, etc. I won't drive miles out of the way or make special plans for milestones. I make an itinerary before I leave the house and stick to it, as much as possible. Just one DNF would throw off the entire scheme on one of those runs, if I were trying to target a cache for a milestone. It would be sweet to get a FTF when a milestone # comes around though! But I won't wait around, anticipating it.

[+Cpl. Klinger]

My #100 is coming up soon, and I am going to go all out for a 5/5 hide. Don't care about the name, just want it to be a toughie.

[k_statealan]

I try to make them ones I have to work a little more to get to, or are a beautiful natural location or at a place that is special to me. Haven't always been able to or I've miscounted on a couple of the even 100's.

 

For example, #100 was at a really cool geologic formation in western Kansas. Beautiful area.

 

#500 was little more than a park-n-grab, but it was near Bill Snyder Family Stadium (Home of my Kansas State Wildcats--hence my screen name)

 

#1000 was intended to be Groundspeak HQ on my honeymoon, but in all the business before the wedding, I came up a little short and it was only #997. Instead, I got it at the virtual at Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park. It was the first time I ever stepped foot in the ocean, plus it was an amazing place, plus I shared it with my new bride. Definitely made up for not making Groundspeak HQ the milestone.

 

Planning on picking up #1400 in the morning. Haven't figured out where I want it to be, though.

[+flask]

last night i discovered two caches that i had found but not logged. i found them a year and a half ago, so if i had made any special plans for milestone caches since then, i'd have miscalculated.

 

add to that the handful of caches that i have found but will never log, and my numbers become more and more unreliable.

[Skippermark]

last night i discovered two caches that i had found but not logged. i found them a year and a half ago, so if i had made any special plans for milestone caches since then, i'd have miscalculated.

That's exactly what I was saying in my earlier post. I know people that would log the 2 caches you found 18 months ago with the current date so their milestones stay lined up, but the milestone wasn't really a milestone. It was milestone cache plus 2. That's why I just cache and let the numbers fall where they may.

[+Wooden Cyclist]

I don't pay a lot of attention to which cache I will find for a milestone, but I was satisfied with the one that turned out to by my 500th.

 

I was heading out for a day of sales calls when a notification popped up for a new cache in the area I was going to be working in. The cache was hidden by a local caching "old timer" and had an interesting FTF prize. The first cacher to find the new hide would adopt the cache.

 

I made a couple of stops at my customer's locations then took my lunch break. I found a couple of nearby caches then drove about 8 miles to the location of the new cache. It was placed on an old public beach at Lake Michigan. It has gotten an extensive restoration and is now one of the nice facilities on the shores of that great lake. I found the cache and was surprised to see the blank log sheet. There are some FTF houndes in that area.

 

It was a satisfying fine because I turned out to be my 500th find, and FTF and I got to adopt a cache from one of the more respected cachers in the area.

 

I should hit my 1000th find in Dec or January. For that one I will choose carefully because my intention is to make it a trifecta. A milestone, a new state added to my finds list and a Earth Cache medal.

[+Ralfcoder]

My milestones have been mostly either old caches, or ones that interested me, or ones that were somehow out of the ordinary. I just passed 600, and #500 and 600 were from the 25 oldest caches in the state of Michigan. If I was in the area, I'd look at Little Tube Torcher (GCTD33) or The Spot (GC39) or the BIG Orange Travel Bug Convention Center (GCK8ZV) or Beverly (GC28). All have something unique about them that interested me, and so I had them on my watch list until I found them. But pick something that sounds interesting, and is reachable, and go for it.

[+sheppardnik]

I'm approaching my 1,000th and since I started I wanted to go for the 1,000 steps cache - I think it's in PA. Since a trip just isn't possible right now, I looked for something, ANYTHING with 1,000 in the name that was within a day's drive. Nothing.

 

Sooo... I got my team together and we decided it was time to put out a milestone challenge series. So far we've got 500 Smileys and 1,000 Smileys - with plans to place more soon.

 

And yes, I do plan to "find" that 1,000 Smileys cache, even though I'm on the team that placed it. Y'all be nice - it's not the way I wanted to do it but darn it, I want that "1,000" name on my stats!

 

[Andronicus]

I just hit my #200. I was hoping for a good mountain top cache. Ended up being a cammo match safe in a pine tree next to the freeway. The good news was that it was on my DNF list for a few months, and it was my 3rd attempt. I got the Mountain top cache as my #201

 

My #100 was a grandfathered moving cache.

[AZcachemeister]

I just found my 197, 198, and 199th caches. A few local cachers emailed me with congratulations, and were wondering what cache I was going to do for my milestone at 200. What kind of things should I look for in a cache to make it a memorable experience?

 

Things to consider would be the difficulty and terrain ratings, previous logs, awards, etc. Also, What kind of caches have people used for their own milestones, and why?

 

I've gotten to the point where each 100 is a big decision for me. I've got an entire watchlist of caches I want to find for each milestone. Milestones for me require: Great Hikes, Great Adventure, great photographic opportunities. You can check out my profile to get an idea of what Milestones are to me.

 

What he said, but only for the even thousands.

In most cases, my milestones have been found in the company of people that matter in my life, and that is what is really important.

[+Okiebryan]

For my 500th cache, I did an underground multi that involved about half a mile of crawling through storm sewers. I chose it because it was just cool, and many others had praised it highly. for my 1000th, I did the oldest cache in Oklahoma and brought along another family who I am friends with.

 

Recently I finished my state's Delorme Challenge. Before going to the final, I cached my way to that area so I could make that final my 1300th find.

 

I want caches that I want to remember to be milestones, so that the list on my profile is something I enjoy reading...