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Just to bring some sanity here ...

 

No one is accusing anyone of "cheating".

 

But, there have been some (let's call them 'strange') logs on some of the caches which indicate that all may not be straight up and down. There may be a valid reason for this, e.g. caches replaced after the FTF, caches logged in error, etc.

 

Of course, the only way to really prove that a certain cacher (or group of cachers) has done some or all of the caches is to make a GPS tracklog (with timestamps) available to anyone who asks. That will not give any secrets away as the route is straightforward and can be planned by anyone with a little knowledge of Mapsource.

 

As one of the previous holders of the "SA Caches in a day" record (the 144 in Bloemfontein in March this year) I believe that a distinction should be drawn between Power Trail records and Conventional Cache records. To do 120+ of Oom Louwtjie's caches in one day is very different from doing the Gauteng Power Series.

 

And, yes, I would like to give the Gauteng Power Series a try, when I can make it up to Gautengaleng. But I would always see that as being different from conventional caching. Like the difference between a Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Otter Trail.

 

Just my 2c.

 

PT

Edited by TechnoNut
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Lots of positives and lots of negatives regarding a power series, at the end of the day we did something that was in agreement to the rules of caching and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. On Wednesday I did a few other caches (not GPS power trail related) and again thoroughly enjoyed it. I agree it would have been nice if the GC website gave one the option to ignore certain caches in listings other than your ignore list, then you could just add the bookmark list that I've created to the list and ignore all the GPS - * caches, but maybe in a future release they would do that. Regarding the authenticity of us capturing and registering the finds, I think any remarks are premature. I think we are the only cachers in South Africa that has any idea what it entails to log 500 plus caches and let me tell you, it is a nightmare. So if we make a few minor mistakes, please excuse us, we will sort them out. The persons that did this with me are some of the greatest people that I’ve met and none of them are the dishonest types. It took a lot of struggle and work to get this done and to find them. But we did and we really enjoyed it. Fortunately we’ve got GPS tracklogs, I even have a field note with the 524 odd caches that we found (we didn’t do all), here is a copy and NotBlonde has uploaded a copy of a tracklog onto the facebook page…. So please, you can view your opinion about the power trail, thats for you to do, but to get personal and on a public forum accuse the persons involved as cheats is really uncalled for. Here is the copy….

 

Let us all forget about this monster and populate our pocket queries, it is weekend and there are still many other caches to be found. It still is a game and I am still enjoying it tremendously!

 

fb85e8a8-37d4-458f-9b86-346738cc3ec2.jpg

Edited by B and C Inc
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There clearly seem to be quite a mix of cachers, with quite a few different ways of playing the game. I hasten to say I try not to say any way is correct, or better than another. I play it VERY non competitively (I have quite a few finds that I probably won't get round to logging).

 

Just an idea for those competitive ones:

 

How about having Event caches around the country near the end of the year where you can meet and draw up some competitions for the year. Things like:

Fastest to next thousand

Most caches in a year

Most difficulty/ terrain grid finds, or fastest to fill in one year.

Most finds in a day

Most cache types in a day (or fastest to get them)

Most distance covered in SA in a year between caches

Most cache by type (I would probably like to win the "Most event caches attended")

Most TBs transported

Most GCoins found

 

Clearly the more caches you have found, the harder it would be to compete with a very keen newbie, so what about a handicap system, or strata (Those with 500-600 finds at beginning of the year only compete against others with 500-600 finds at beginning of the year...the same strata)

 

A prize giving Event could be held

Then, at least the numbers would MEAN something, and wouldn't just be numbers.....

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Reading the posts in this forum reminded me why I do not partake in the forums, it would seem that it is a place where people complain, moan and make accusations without having any facts.

 

Bremar Josrut - Why do you not contact one of the cache owners and ask them about the facts and how they will maintain their caches? Do you know how many cachers took part in putting the GPS together?

Loen St, if you feel so strongly about the statement above, why dont you tell us the facts?

 

Wazat - You are implying that I lie when I log caches, on a public forum.disappointedinted

 

You know, in Afrikaans there are a few sayings that sums stuff like this up ---

Waar daar 'n rokie is is is daar 'n vuurtjie. For the souties out there it means that is there are rumors, the rumours are normally normaly true! I have heard a lot of romours about the FTF from some credible people so YES, I feel the same as WAZAT.

SAD DAY FOR CACHING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Edited by geocacher_coza
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Shew! I've been off the forum for a while - been really busy with all sorts of other things (called work yuk!). Well, well, well....I've just read the recent logs about the new power trail in Gauteng - the GPS. So much negativity and criticism....why??? Why so much hatred and pointing fingers? What is wrong with geocachers here? To me geocaching is about fun - lots of it - and it means different things for different people. Geocaching is an experience and that experience is different for each individual.

 

We were privileged to be part of this momentous GPS Series and we had a lot of fun with all the hides we placed. We decided to place micros for "muggle" reasons, but we put down some easy and some not so easy hides. It was a busy road but we chose the service road alongside and hid most of the caches along there. We did a maintenance run recently of our 43 hides within 1.5 hours. Only 5 caches had gone missing - 3 due to veld fires and 2 due to being muggled. The majority of them were there after three months of hiding them. The one cache I still remember that I battled to find - it was very amusing. To see the CO scratching around in the wrong OPOR!! I laughed at myself. Another of the caches we met up with a snake when we hid the cache. It would be a challenge to find the cache - so many rocks and a well camouflaged spec bottle - and a snake in the vicinity! :o

 

Yesterday, I went out scouting a venue to host the upcoming Mega Event. A section of the GPS route was in the area. I had to find a cache for the day so I decided to find one of the GPS ones. It was great. It made me stop at an interesting spot and I got a closer view of the structure that the cache highlighted. I had always driven past this structure without getting close to it. Yesterday I had a reason to get out of my car and take a closer look. I must say that I was so tempted to stop for all the other caches as I headed on home. It was really exciting to see these little green boxes light up on SASHA's screen. My heart started pounding with the excitement, but I exercised discipline and did not continue finding them. I had promised Rolf to do the GPS some other time and see how many we could find as a team. We may even hook up with other teams if we can get the planning right.

 

Not all the GPS caches are micros, some are smalls as well. Many of them are in interesting spots, or structures and they are just loads of fun. The caches were placed by a lot of teams and each cache took effort to place and were not just slapped together. Being involved with the GPS also brought a lot of teams together, from newbies to not so newbies. Through the planning and discussions, we have got to know many teams a lot better. I know I spoke to other teams and they too had lots of fun with the placement of caches (even meeting up with a lion at the one cache - seriously). So many memories were made just by hiding the caches, never mind finding them. I know it was a memorable day when the teams set off just after midnight to go and find these caches. It was by no means an easy task and it required a lot of teamwork and careful planning. It was an endurance challenge and so what if over 600 smilies were attained? Some folk choose to take 5 years to reach a target, others wish to take 5 months to reach a target. It is a matter of individual choice.

 

As for our Reviewer ROTSIP - he had the choice not to support this idea. But he chose to support it and he committed to make it happen. We are very grateful for his support and dedication, and we have enormous respect for him and for his better half as she also supported him through the hard work. And it was loads of hard work, but he was happy to do it. The main thing was that he was not forced to do it. Thank goodness for his open mind! Yay - we don't have a dictator for a Reviewer! Thank goodness for that.

 

Geocaching is about so many things - taking you to an interesting spot, showing you something different, enlightening you about some historical event, sharing some personal experience with you, giving you a challenge, allowing you the opportunity of having fun, giving you a reason to climb a mountain, making you take note of geological/earth science phenomenons, making you stop and smell the roses, giving you the opportunity of the wind in your hair, making your heart pound loudly in your chest, giving you a challenge to encounter. Each cache type and idea will give you one or two or more of these experiences AND it could be in from one or two or 600 caches. Geocaching is about the zest for life.....Geocaching is about the journey - whether it is for one cache or for 600. For some folk some aspects will not please them or interest them, but that is all a personal opinion and should be kept to his/her own personal point of view. To shoot other people down and to dictate how things should be, is in my opinion not in the spirit of geocaching.

 

I guess it is a lot like parenting. So many parents have their own view about parenting. Some agree to discipline, others prefer the "laissez faire" method. There is no right or wrong way of being a parent - you do what you think is best for your children. So geocaching to me is very similar - there is no right or wrong way - there is the way that you like it and if it is different to what the next person likes, then that is just one of those things. But don't criticise a guy if he enjoys something different to you. So what if we have a cache hidden every 161m? So what if we have a cache hidden in a leopard's lair in the middle of nowhere? So what if we have a cache hidden in a cave with a muggle sleeping there and it is pitch dark? If you want to find it you will, if it does not appeal to you, you ignore it.

 

We like all the different facets of the geocaching gem! AND... I think we are very fortunate to have so much to offer in our country with regards to geocaching. We have something for everyone - isn't that an achievement? I think so, and I'm proud to have been part of so many of the geocaching experiences in South Africa, including the GPS series.

 

PS: We love Fish Eagle's idea of the hike!! That is a brilliant idea and that route he is looking at is in a very beautiful part of the country. We may just join you for that one B).

Edited by GEO936
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First off I am not implying that people are lying. I am just trying to get clarity on the fact it was done when I hear that some logsheets are empty... Quite a few have one set of tyre tracks leading to the cache and one set of foot prints... There was a stamp used and I am lead to believe that some containers look like they have spent many days subject to the elements and the logsheet is soaked yet it is stamped. It was all preplanned with all the cachers in the team ready to go out and find the series with a prior knowledge of all the caches to be published on the day. There are Danie's stats coming through that give varying amounts of finds... yet there are claims of 600 plus finds. I guess that some finds have just not been logged yet... There seems to be a lot of bad vibes going round and lots of rumours. I do not doubt that it can be done, 650+ is quite possible in a day... I would love to attempt it, but I might tackle it in a different way.... I am still deciding. I must however congratulate those involved. It is a large number to chase, but most of all there was much fun to be had. I know, I have done a straight 24 hour caching run... (Oh just another clarity to be cleared, some say 19 hours and others say 24, see this is all confusing)...

 

Now to see how these caches get maintained... as already it seems a lot are going missing... Hopefully the maintenance is going to be as thorough as what we found with Oom Louwtjie. We found a cache lying at the bottom of a pole and informed Oom Louwtjie (At 1am in the morning - He insisted we call if there were problems even at that time). The cache was replaced and we could go back later to sign the log.

 

By the way 600+ copy and pastes are not a problem. Just use GSAK. The challenge is to log each one with a short explanation of the hunt for that particular cache...

 

Right now is someone going to do my powertrail of one cache high up on a mountain... It is not for numbers I am afraid, but for an experience that will take a day to complete and reward you with a view you won't forget.

Edited by Wazat
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Could anyone tell me how a true geocaher looks like?

YOU look like a "true" geocacher.

 

A person registered on geocaching.com, who has found and logged a geocache, is a true geocacher! You don't need to have any stats - you just need to have found a cache or hidden one! The way I see it...all geocachers are true geocachers!

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I too am "not a fan" (to understate it in the extreme) of powertrails. I too feel they detract from the ethos of taking people to unique places of interest. I also feel the undermine the whole purpose of a multicache. If the area is a fantastic area, placing a multicache would be able to take visitors to that area.

 

Powertrails raise an issue for me. Let it be said, that from the beginning, I know that what I am about to ask is somewhat rhetorical:

 

Is there a place for some kind of referendum system, where local cachers can vote on certain issues, to allow certain local rules, that may break from the overall GC rules?

 

If for example, most cachers in the county did NOT want power trails,could we decide locally to disallow them?

 

As I said, a rhetorical question. There can never be local rules. It would be nice though to have some forum where cachers could air their feelings regarding issues like these. It would be nice if we could have a system where the reviewer had a sense of what the majority of cachers felt on issues, and then could "advise" cachers that, although legal, their cache was against the general local communities desires for geocaching. "I will publish your cache in the KFC parking lot, but perhaps consider....."

 

Nobody knows what the majority of geocachers in South Africa would prefer. We have such a diverse population with all sorts of preferences. Thinking of the number of geocachers in the country though, I reckon that there would be no majority rule in any area of geocaching. I am certain there would be a balance of what geocachers would prefer across the country...there would be an even spread all round.

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One can walk into a store and buy a bottle of coke or gingerbeer, just because you don't like the gingerbeer does not mean it should be taken off the shelves.

 

Would I do a powertrail..... perhaps. As I come from the era of Geocaching where doing 50 caches in a year was considered a major achievement, the "modern" numbers mean precious little to me. However, the last few caching outings I've had have been with fellow cachers where we carefully plan a day out and go and have fun. The powertrail would obviously require less planning, that's kind of done for one.

 

I do know one thing though, that if I do get to the point of doing a powertrail, I would only do it with Geocaching buddies, the caches may not be our preference or our perceived utopia of a cache, but I'm darn sure that we would have a good day out as mates. Good caches are of course a bonus :rolleyes:

 

Would I remember the caches, probably not. A few may stand out, but many will be a blur. Would I remember the day and the adventure with friends, for sure!

Edited by GlobalRat
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For all who want to see the track log in Mapsource, come and see me and I will show you the date and times on my pc!

If you are so sure we are liers, you will come and see me, there is coffee and maybe a beer also!!

If you don't come and see me, I took it that you believe me!!

I will not send out my tracklog.

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icon_funny.gif

 

If a store only sold coke, then suddenly started selling ginger beer, AND it was found that ginger beer was bad for you...

 

I am really just being devils advocate, I don't really care! :lol:

 

WHAT???

Do the stores in the shade of Devil's Peak really only sell Coke? Has nothing changed in all these years since I left?

Edited by MadSons
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For all who want to see the track log in Mapsource, come and see me and I will show you the date and times on my pc!

If you are so sure we are liers, you will come and see me, there is coffee and maybe a beer also!!

If you don't come and see me, I took it that you believe me!!

I will not send out my tracklog.

 

Did someone say beer?

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For all who want to see the track log in Mapsource, come and see me and I will show you the date and times on my pc!

If you are so sure we are liers, you will come and see me, there is coffee and maybe a beer also!!

If you don't come and see me, I took it that you believe me!!

I will not send out my tracklog.

 

Did someone say beer?

 

Jip, not Gingerbeer

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@MadSons... I think we exist on opposite ends of the spectrum! I have spent hundreds of hours working on 5 caches! Only now am I actually getting the bugs worked out of them so they are robust enough to be handled by rough geocacher hands!

 

But I too call myself addicted to geocaching - Illustrating all to well that people seek to advance the game in different ways. I respect the effort that must have gone into the GPS and I'm sure placing it must have been fun.

 

I personally don't like the idea of a power trail -- but now that I write this I can't think of any good reason to justify why such a thing should not be allowed.... My personal feelings are this:

 

Perhaps it is just because the vast majority of cachers don't like the power trail idea, and that the introduction of such a thing creates a great disturbance to the existing virtual geocaching order of things:

 

There are people who love processing stats and flip there will be major disturbance there...

There is a general understanding of how experienced a cacher is, and how much super-cool they are based on their number of finds (which is now really valueless if such a massive power series exists)...

Those who don't like power trails will have to endure the green symbols on their previously conquered map... (my main reason)

Those who are in Gauteng are inflating their finds but these numbers will now be considered less valuable...

 

Ultimately there is a component to geocaching which is numbers... but just like currency, value is determined by relative scarcity. What a power series does in my opinion is the equivalent of printing money - Something the German's tried once - The find has less value, the log has less value... A bitter taste in the mouths of a great many more cachers than smiles on the faces of others.

 

This said... You have every right to place a power trail. And the trail you guys placed is nothing short of epic!

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Soutie version: Where there is smoke, there is fire.

I did not want to comment on this forum until such time as I had experienced it for myself. I set off yesterday with Villiagegoers and J_Man. I only added 115 to my personal tally as we decided to call it a day at dusk. We were tired and had had enough. We considered it and thought when you are tired and it is night, you are more likely to make lapses in judgement from a security perspective especially as our caching route was approaching the informal settlements.

 

I am glad I have done part of the route but I am not likely to be rushing out on the public holiday in two days time to complete it. Maybe in the summer time when I need to get a boost in numbers I may consider it. There were some things, however, which disturbed me about the series but they are personal and others may disagree:

a ) Because the emphasis is on numbers and speed, care is not taken at the caches. Some cache owners put their logbooks in ziploc bags in anticipation for the summer rains. In the rush to get the log books out, many of them were just torn open and worse just discarded.

b ) Care was not taken to replace the caches diligently and many of them were exposed and thus likely to be muggled. Likewise, care was not taken to roll up the log sheets properly and we even encountered one where the log sheet was just stuffed back without even being rolled up at all.

c ) Owing to the very nature of highveld conditions, the risk of veldfires is very real as we came across three caches where the containers had melted from the heat but had not been consumed. The containers were irreparably damaged but the log sheets were still in tact and thus we were still able to sign them. This is going to put an added burden on the cache owners from a maintenance perspective. Time will only tell and testify to their commitment to their part of the maintenance of the series.

d ) We did encounter anomalies where there was only one signature dated 23/7 on the log, indicating that this was not a replacement log sheet, but 10 finds on GC. There was one cache where the coordinates and hint referred you to a particular chevron. When we could not find it we widened the search and I found the cache about 30m away still with a pristine log sheet within. Was this just a mistake in the listing or had the cache been replaced in the wrong place by some well meaning subsequent cacher or was it just logged as found, in error?

e ) We came across one irate farmer who did not take too kindly to what appeared to him as us tampering with his fence posts. We opted not to hang around to try and explain what was happening.

 

So, to sum up, Geocaching is, at the end of the day, just game and what you want to make of it. Some people take pride in the fact that their caches are so exclusive and demand an excessive amount of cerebral fitness, or specialised knowledge in some obscure discipline to solve the puzzles and take great delight in the fact that their caches only get found once or twice a year. This beggars the question as to whether the cache is there for caching sake or to get one up on another cacher: my cache is more difficult than yours! Other cachers take delight in the fact that they achieved 600+ in a day and I take my hat off to them. However you look at it, it was an amazing feat of endurance and tenacity. I would have gone insane long before then. Some cachers make you hike for hours to get to the top of some arbitrary mountain for the sake of a micro under a rock. This is fine and the views are generally great, but many of us would not have that amount of time free if it were the rule, not the exception. These inaccessible caches may not lend themselves to taking the family along, especially small children. But if you don't have that consideration or restriction, then go and enjoy the outdoors and a good hike. There is thus sufficient variety of caches in South Africa to appeal to all caching tastes and therefore do what you enjoy and are comfortable doing. Leave the extreme caches to those who would like the personal achievement of accomplishing some feat or other. If you are just a social cacher who enjoys finding an odd cache or two over a weekend that is great. Enjoy it to the full. The only caveat is not to criticise if others play the same game differently from you but still within the Groundspeak guidelines. There is room for everyone and more, which brings me to another concern. There are some cachers who are very insular in their thinking and are reluctant to promote Geocaching for fear of being inundated by newbies, but that is another whole discussion for later. <_<

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Reading BruceTP log makes me wonder why people is upset because some of us shoot down this ridiculous power trail.

1. Logs in pristine shape and not even on at the correct location. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)

2. Anomalies where there was only one signature dated 23/7 on the log, indicating that this was not a replacement log sheet, but 10 finds on GC. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)

3. Farmer getting upset because you at his fencepost! As per the rules of geocaching you should ask permission to place a cache and if the farmer is getting upset it means he does not know about it. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)

4. The containers were irreparably damaged. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)

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Reading BruceTP log makes me wonder why people is upset because some of us shoot down this ridiculous power trail.

To be fair, the points listed are not unique to the GPS series:

* I have encountered caches before where the given coordinates were way out, even up to 1.6km out.

* There are cachers who place substandard or inappropriate containers or who don't maintain their caches and they end up being archived as a result.

* On many an occasion I have been confronted by land owners wanting to know what we are doing on their land as they did not know of the existence of the caches. Some of those encounters were not pleasant either.

* As cache owners I have come across occasions where your cache has been logged by someone who was clearly not ever there. Some may have been logged in error, some were deliberate. Some sign the log but never enter it on GC. That is also fine by me.

 

At the end of the day, it is still only a game and you are only accountable to yourself and your integrity for how you play the game. The GPS series may not appeal to some. No-one if forcing you to do it or even part of it but don't criticise just because it does not appeal to you. It was meticulously planned and executed which was an amazing feat in itself. Well done to all involved who translated an idea into a reality. There is nothing in Groundspeak rules which prevent such a trail, so let be.

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I want to congratulate BruceTP for having the discipline to hold opinion to himself until he had the opportunity to investigate and experience the GPS (or a part thereof) for himself. Thank you Bruce for your balanced perspective and feedback. I appreciate it.

 

Geocacher_coza, it seems to me that your opinions are a bit biased.

Firstly they are based on rumours, not facts. Perhaps you should concider withholding your opinion until you could back it with facts?

Secondly you yourself have 5 or 6 caches disabled or archived, from a total of 16 published, yet you are concerned about how the GPS will be maintained, even making bold statements that within one year 50% will be archived.

Thirdly, I noticed that you did log a powertrail (for beginners) of 20 caches in May this year, yet you so agressively object to a powertrail in SA. I wonder why...

 

I understand most of the objections against the GPS, if one look at each individual cache as a stand alone. Quite boring, most of them. Like a single step, not much in it. But putting it together, enough steps could help you finish a marathon, and that is an achievement. And if you run or only jog the marathon with a few friends, it makes the experience so much more rememberable and fun...and that what it is all about.

 

Happy hunting, greetings from the lion's lair

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Geocacher_coza, it seems to me that your opinions are a bit biased.

Firstly they are based on rumours, not facts. Perhaps you should concider withholding your opinion until you could back it with facts?

Secondly you yourself have 5 or 6 caches disabled or archived, from a total of 16 published, yet you are concerned about how the GPS will be maintained, even making bold statements that within one year 50% will be archived.

Thirdly, I noticed that you did log a powertrail (for beginners) of 20 caches in May this year, yet you so agressively object to a powertrail in SA. I wonder why...

First of all, personal attacks are not appreciated. maybe YOU should look at some facts.

First it is facts, or are you saying BruceTP and other are lying??????

Second the caches archived is for the precise reason why I say it should not be done. At least when i could not get to my caches I archived them. And it is not six by the way. Maybe you should learn to count first. AND I stick to my statement.

The 20 I did in May is a total different series. It is constructive caches. Maybe you should look first and then comment. AND it was placed by a single person. Each with a unique container and hide to teach people how geocaching is done. Maybe guys like you can learn something from the lady that placed them. This power trail of SA is just to teach us how to bend figures, and a lot of junk places in nature. Nothing constructive, nothing to learn, very little to see.

Geocacher_coza, it seems to me that your opinions are a bit biased.

What ever.... as I am entitled to my opinion that is according to you biased you are entitled to yours. I did not expect everybody to like what I wrote anyway. At least I have the B.......S to say it!This is a sad day for geocaching in South Africa. Faceless people on the internet attacking someone elses opinions.......

Edited by geocacher_coza
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I see that a number of comments was based on the "fact" that the bigger community of cachers are against the idea of a power trail. I have analized the posts on the forum so far, and have found the following:

 

Against=12

For = 9 (posts) only + 7 (cache owners in the GPS and posts) + 24 (cache owners in the GPS) == 40

 

So far at least 15 other teams, not involved in the placing of the GPS, have logged finds on portions of the GPS

 

It seems that the community is not as against the GPS as some cachers thought.

 

More greetings from the lion's lair

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Against=12

For = 9 (posts) only + 7 (cache owners in the GPS and posts) + 24 (cache owners in the GPS) == 40

Again bending of the facts. Your numbers don't even tally up! How can you count the owners in the GPS and posts and then again the cache owners in the GPS????????

 

My last post anyway on this matter as we are now going around in circles! I have given my opinion and I'm sticking to it and I do not have to explain to you why I decided I do not like this power trail.

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I have been out of this game for a long time and have been reading this whole matter over the course of the day. Why not just end this forum topic with:

 

Isn't it great that there is something for everyone to enjoy in this awesome sport/hobby? If you like 'em - hide 'em and find 'em. If you don't - don't. This community is too small (a good thing) to get worked up about all this.

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I have been out of this game for a long time and have been reading this whole matter over the course of the day. Why not just end this forum topic with:

 

Isn't it great that there is something for everyone to enjoy in this awesome sport/hobby? If you like 'em - hide 'em and find 'em. If you don't - don't. This community is too small (a good thing) to get worked up about all this.

 

Totally Agree!

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I have been out of this game for a long time and have been reading this whole matter over the course of the day. Why not just end this forum topic with:

 

Isn't it great that there is something for everyone to enjoy in this awesome sport/hobby? If you like 'em - hide 'em and find 'em. If you don't - don't. This community is too small (a good thing) to get worked up about all this.

 

Cape Geckos, if you stood for president, you would have my vote! Your point of view is objective, and positive. Thanks

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"Good listing + Interesting hide + Awesome location = Great Cache

If you wouldn't make it a Favourite....why place it?" - My motto with geocaching too, rather have a few quality caches and maintain them well than spreading geolitter all over the show for the sake of numbers!

 

Gape Geckos said: "I smell a making up event cache... " wil have to do something of this kind or else events are never going to be the same! :o

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Right, I have done it... I went out and I looked for the caches in the Power Trail, We did a run of 655 planned searches plus a few unplanned searches too and came out with a few DNFs It was a long and very tiresome process of doing all of them in a 24 hour period with a team of 4. It was to say the least... a far more rushed effort than the 24 hour spree we did in Bloemfontein but thankfully not as painful on the feet. In the end 2 of the team gave up and myself and Gringer1 carried on... initially to make up for the DNF's just to reach 600 but in the end I found some energy and we did the entire PT except for the short dogleg of 6 caches in the Cradle.

 

My view of this was... a lot of containers that have no meaning other than numbers. Granted a few caches did stand out, a few by Timmo1977 and one or two in the PTA region. But the rest really had no point nor purpose other than to make for a generation of numbers. I was surprised at who had hidden some of these and confronting them they really wished they had not placed the caches.. Mail boxes are filling up faster than they can be cleared for the cache owners and I can imagine the frustration of receiving all these emails. Most as meaningless as the caches...

 

Of the caches that stand out on the bad side, one was placed next to a tree but one has to walk through what can only be described as a roadside rubbish dump. And this rubbish has been here much longer than the cache. for the sake of putting one down every 161m surely moving an extra 50 or even 100m further up the road would have been more appropriate... In hindsight I should have just picked up the cache and have it archived... Children cache too and I would hate to see kids rummaging in this muck to find a cache, what untold things lurk in amongst this rubbish.

 

In the end all I can say is that it was only an experience of finding a lot of repetitive and mostly boring micros... It left me empty really... I got a lot of numbers to add to my stats, numbers that will boggle my mind, but they will not remain memorable... I think the best thing to come out of this is the fact that I will have a lot of favorite points to allocate to a real cache somewhere. There are only going to be 3 or 4 on the GPS series that will be in line, but that is still debatable...

 

In a nutshell... a PT with little meaning like this will get a thumbs down from me... been there done that and hey I get a badge to add to the collection... I wonder if that means something? Maybe I can show it to my kids one day... they might be impressed... but i doubt it...

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And it came forth from the people of the concept thereof... The PT was solely designed to grant those looking for it, the opportunity to get 400 finds in a day in order to get a Diamond badge, but for that to happen a select group of cachers were roped in to place initially 50 caches each, but then you cannot find your own cache so a more reasonable number of 450 was decided on and that gives everyone of the cachers an opportunity to reach 400. But then more cachers came to the party (Regretting it later) which pushed up the total to over 650... So in the end it is all for a badge... a virtual badge created by some fancy programmer in whatever country... I laugh he ups the requirement for the Diamond achievement to 650 finds in a day... And this will most likely happen as I have seen that requirement levels have changed before (I did badges too)... I am sure no reviewer here wants to have a repeat of publishing so many caches in one day....

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