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It seems like when I first got into geocaching, one of the stipulations was that saturating an area was not the way to go.

 

Now I find that people are putting caches every 600+/- feet along a bike trail, or a highway, or some other trail just to get 'numbers'.

 

Personally, I think this is not the intent of geocaching. Some may think that having hundreds of geocaches hidden is cool, but you and I know that they are not well maintained or kept track of.

 

I have made a decision NOT to search for these 'saturation' caches. To me a cache should give you something to enjoy besides getting your numbers up. To travel down a highway and every 528' find a cache just doesn't seem like it was what geocaching was meant to be.

 

Opinion 101 :lol:

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Some like power trails, some don't. Some like long hikes with an ammo can hidden under a pile of sticks, some don't.

 

If you don't like em, don't do em.

 

Did you actually read all his post? He said he wasn't going to do them. And his observation was "it wasn't like this" in 2003, when all three of us started. He clearly states it as his opinion, but I imagine the "not the intent of Geocaching" stuff is what is going to set some people off. :)

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Some like power trails, some don't. Some like long hikes with an ammo can hidden under a pile of sticks, some don't.

 

If you don't like em, don't do em.

 

There are also more issues than this short sighted statement takes into account.

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I started in '05 and I can agree with what you say. But that just goes to show how many more GPS units have been sold since then, how many newspaper, magazine, and TV features there have been (it has even been mentioned on major TV shows, at least one movie, and a few books). There are a whole lot more people geocaching these days, and sooner or later, most of them end up wanting to hide caches, as well.

 

Starbrand tells us that Nebraska is a good place to go if you don't care about finding a lot of caches. Go there now, though, 'cause my very words may have sparked a powertrail.

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We need a yawning-frog icon. We've seen this movie before, everyone knows how it comes out.

 

Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

Here's another news flash: things change.

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We need a yawning-frog icon. We've seen this movie before, everyone knows how it comes out.

 

Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

Here's another news flash: things change.

 

Change =

 

Can

Handle

Any

New

Growth

Experience

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Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

 

Football

Soccer

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

 

Want me to carry on?

College Football: there was no BCS Championship Game before 2006.

Soccer: Ok, it's more than 8 years... but the offside rule was amended in 1990.

Baseball: steroids.

Basketball: eight years ago no one had ever heard of Butler.

Cricket: I have no clue.

Hockey: eight years ago, no team from below the Mason-Dixon line had ever won the Stanley Cup.

 

Things change.

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It seems like when I first got into geocaching, one of the stipulations was that saturating an area was not the way to go.

 

Now I find that people are putting caches every 600+/- feet along a bike trail, or a highway, or some other trail just to get 'numbers'.

 

Personally, I think this is not the intent of geocaching. Some may think that having hundreds of geocaches hidden is cool, but you and I know that they are not well maintained or kept track of.

 

I have made a decision NOT to search for these 'saturation' caches. To me a cache should give you something to enjoy besides getting your numbers up. To travel down a highway and every 528' find a cache just doesn't seem like it was what geocaching was meant to be.

 

Opinion 101 :lol:

:mmraspberry:

I personaly kind of aggree. When I have the time I love going for the remote caches. But, like a lot of people, I usualy don't have the time. So I am glade for the polethora of caches close to my house. in fact, there are not many unfound ones within 5km of my house now. I wish there was more.

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Some like power trails, some don't. Some like long hikes with an ammo can hidden under a pile of sticks, some don't.

 

If you don't like em, don't do em.

 

I wish there was a way to ignore them in bulk. As far as I know the only way to do it is:

  1. find one of the PT caches on gc.com
  2. open up the cache page
  3. click on 'ignore listing'
  4. click on 'Yes. Ignore it.'
  5. click on 'Go back'
  6. click on 'all nearby caches that I haven't found'
  7. click on the next PT cache on the list
  8. repeat steps 2-7

I could end up spending hours going through the process of ignoring 100s of PT caches. I don't want them clogging up my PQ.

Also, there used to be a limit on the ignore list - is there still a limit on the ignore list?

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I like have geocaches all over the place! I know I don't have to find them all, but it's nice to have the option of looking for them nearly everywhere I go. I like not having to pace myself or ration them, since I know I won't run out of geocaches to do.

 

The complaint about poorly maintained caches is really a seperate issue. There are people who only have one hide, and the cache is poorly maintained. There are people who have 100 hides, and all of them are well maintained.

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I always like talking to the old timers at events on how geocaching WAS. Most of them say we had to drive forever to find caches. There weren't that many caches to find. The game has taken off like others have mentioned above. It's just change. The best thing about this game is you can play the way you want. Like you said you wont find certain caches anymore.

 

I'm with the others this isn't new news. It's an old sad song. :signalviolin::cry:

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I rather like the saturation actually. Heck, I've been working on caches for weeks now to populate my hometown back in MO as it only has two. I've got a stack of creative ones, and some standard ammo cans; the whole nine yards. I want to place down a walking path to encourage people to visit it, and in town at a few of the landmarks we have. In short, I plan on "saturating" an area that is basically off the grid from geocaching. The town economy is doing really poorly, and call me optimistic, but I hope that if I make it worth people's time with a nice variety of caches, geocachers will travel into town, stop in for lunch, maybe buy something or the other and help out.

 

Does that kind of thinking ruin the spirit of the game?

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I rather like the saturation actually. Heck, I've been working on caches for weeks now to populate my hometown back in MO as it only has two. I've got a stack of creative ones, and some standard ammo cans; the whole nine yards. I want to place down a walking path to encourage people to visit it, and in town at a few of the landmarks we have. In short, I plan on "saturating" an area that is basically off the grid from geocaching. The town economy is doing really poorly, and call me optimistic, but I hope that if I make it worth people's time with a nice variety of caches, geocachers will travel into town, stop in for lunch, maybe buy something or the other and help out.

 

Does that kind of thinking ruin the spirit of the game?

 

No, it does not. What you describe is not even close to what the original poster describes.

 

As a side note, and slightly off-topic though, you will need a "local maintainer" if you plan on dropping a bunch of caches in your hometown in Mo.; this does not have to be a Geocacher, could be a sibling, cousin, childhood friend, etc..

Edited by Mr.Yuck
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I started in '05 and I can agree with what you say. But that just goes to show how many more GPS units have been sold since then, how many newspaper, magazine, and TV features there have been (it has even been mentioned on major TV shows, at least one movie, and a few books). There are a whole lot more people geocaching these days, and sooner or later, most of them end up wanting to hide caches, as well.

 

Starbrand tells us that Nebraska is a good place to go if you don't care about finding a lot of caches. Go there now, though, 'cause my very words may have sparked a powertrail.

A powertrail has sprung up right at 100 miles southwest of me. Across the Pawnee grassland - every 528 feet - coming up out of Colorado and into Cheyenne. Sigh.....

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I rather like the saturation actually. Heck, I've been working on caches for weeks now to populate my hometown back in MO as it only has two. I've got a stack of creative ones, and some standard ammo cans; the whole nine yards. I want to place down a walking path to encourage people to visit it, and in town at a few of the landmarks we have. In short, I plan on "saturating" an area that is basically off the grid from geocaching. The town economy is doing really poorly, and call me optimistic, but I hope that if I make it worth people's time with a nice variety of caches, geocachers will travel into town, stop in for lunch, maybe buy something or the other and help out.

 

Does that kind of thinking ruin the spirit of the game?

 

For me, the problem isn't the saturation as much as

  • the boredom of the same old same old every .1 miles.
  • the cache descriptions are cookie cutter, every cache description the same as the next except for the hint (if there is a hint)
  • containers are usually sub-par (example exactly the same leaky pill bottle, exactly the same rusty coffee cans) because if you're going to plant 300 caches you can't afford anything but free or almost free.
  • containers are usually exactly the same 300 leaky pill bottles
  • they're put in unattractive ho-hum spots because the spot is exactly .1 miles from the last one

But if you're going to put out a variety of water tight containers, in decent spots along the trail and you plan on maintaining all of them in a timely fashion, that's OK in my book.

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Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

 

Football

Soccer

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

 

Want me to carry on?

 

But as new sports, they DID evolve in the first years of existence. Look at LaCrosse...it started out as weapons used in war by the American Indians....look it up....

So...sorry....these sports have changed just in my lifetime...football now allows referees to go back and look at the video footage of a play.

Baseball - the infield fly rule wasn't always in place. etc etc.

 

so...sports change....

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I've seen some hidden along a trail that you have to walk or bike along. It encourages us to park and walk further than we would otherwise have done. I have seen groups park cars at each end of the trail so that there can be a ride back for some - it is a long, long trail. For that reason, the caches placed encourage me to get going and get some exercise. For that alone, I am grateful the caches are there.

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Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

 

Football

Soccer

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

 

Want me to carry on?

 

But as new sports, they DID evolve in the first years of existence. Look at LaCrosse...it started out as weapons used in war by the American Indians....look it up....

So...sorry....these sports have changed just in my lifetime...football now allows referees to go back and look at the video footage of a play.

Baseball - the infield fly rule wasn't always in place. etc etc.

 

so...sports change....

 

Sports change but if you went back in time to 1888 and saw a baseball game or went back to 1922 and saw a basketball game you'd have a good idea as to what is going on.

 

Geocaching on the other hand has changed so much that it would be nearly unrecognizable to someone who stepped out the year 2000 and directly into 2011. It was once about finding geocaches. "The language of location" "All you need is a GPS and a sense of adventure".

 

Now it sometimes doesn't even involve finding geocaches. What were once "found it" logs used to document your hunting experience have become "smileys", a commodity that can be traded or awarded for things that have nothing whatsoever to do with finding geocaches.

Edited by briansnat
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I started in '05 and I can agree with what you say. But that just goes to show how many more GPS units have been sold since then, how many newspaper, magazine, and TV features there have been (it has even been mentioned on major TV shows, at least one movie, and a few books). There are a whole lot more people geocaching these days, and sooner or later, most of them end up wanting to hide caches, as well.

 

Starbrand tells us that Nebraska is a good place to go if you don't care about finding a lot of caches. Go there now, though, 'cause my very words may have sparked a powertrail.

A powertrail has sprung up right at 100 miles southwest of me. Across the Pawnee grassland - every 528 feet - coming up out of Colorado and into Cheyenne. Sigh.....

 

You have some pretty good tornadoes down that way. I wouldn't worry.

Link to comment

Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

 

Football

Soccer

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

 

Want me to carry on?

 

But as new sports, they DID evolve in the first years of existence. Look at LaCrosse...it started out as weapons used in war by the American Indians....look it up....

So...sorry....these sports have changed just in my lifetime...football now allows referees to go back and look at the video footage of a play.

Baseball - the infield fly rule wasn't always in place. etc etc.

 

so...sports change....

 

Sports change but if you went back in time to 1888 and saw a baseball game or went back to 1922 and saw a basketball game you'd have a good idea as to what is going on.

 

Geocaching on the other hand has changed so much that it would be nearly unrecognizable to someone who stepped out the year 2000 and directly into 2011. It was once about finding geocaches. "The language of location" "All you need is a GPS and a sense of adventure".

 

Now it sometimes doesn't even involve finding geocaches. What were once "found it" logs used to document your hunting experience have become "smileys", a commodity that can be traded or awarded for things that have nothing whatsoever to do with finding geocaches.

 

Commodity? I have found every smiley I have on my list - I do have virtuals and earthcaches...but I did follow requirements to earn them...how is that something that has nothing to do with finding a geocache?

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I started in '05 and I can agree with what you say. But that just goes to show how many more GPS units have been sold since then, how many newspaper, magazine, and TV features there have been (it has even been mentioned on major TV shows, at least one movie, and a few books). There are a whole lot more people geocaching these days, and sooner or later, most of them end up wanting to hide caches, as well.

 

Starbrand tells us that Nebraska is a good place to go if you don't care about finding a lot of caches. Go there now, though, 'cause my very words may have sparked a powertrail.

A powertrail has sprung up right at 100 miles southwest of me. Across the Pawnee grassland - every 528 feet - coming up out of Colorado and into Cheyenne. Sigh.....

 

You have some pretty good tornadoes down that way. I wouldn't worry.

Traveling caches aren't allowed anymore.

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I started in '05 and I can agree with what you say. But that just goes to show how many more GPS units have been sold since then, how many newspaper, magazine, and TV features there have been (it has even been mentioned on major TV shows, at least one movie, and a few books). There are a whole lot more people geocaching these days, and sooner or later, most of them end up wanting to hide caches, as well.

 

Starbrand tells us that Nebraska is a good place to go if you don't care about finding a lot of caches. Go there now, though, 'cause my very words may have sparked a powertrail.

A powertrail has sprung up right at 100 miles southwest of me. Across the Pawnee grassland - every 528 feet - coming up out of Colorado and into Cheyenne. Sigh.....

 

You have some pretty good tornadoes down that way. I wouldn't worry.

Traveling caches aren't allowed anymore.

Thanks.... yeah, I forgot to mention that point.

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All anyone can say is that the game is still evolving.

 

For better or worse, people seem to want to rack-up numbers as fast as possible, with the least effort possible.

 

Geocaching.com is a commercial website that caters to the desires of the general user population (theoretically at least).

 

In the good 'ol days, there was not likely an interesting location 528 feet from another...nowadays the fact that there is a geocache there is interesting enough (to some, but not all have succumbed to the lure to become pitiful numbers whores).

 

Is it OK to say 'pitiful numbers whores'?

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People play the game in different ways. Quantity not quality and vice-versa, FTF's, high-star rated D/T etc. I've been playing for 2+ years and cache saturation is definitely approaching in many areas near me (there aren't caches 528' in all directions, but almost every path/park has caches). But that in itself encourages the cachers to dream up new ideas - e.g. all the owners of caches along a particular path co-operating to archive their old caches and create a new series.

 

Cricket: I have no clue.

 

I have no clue about the other 5 but cricket's changed too - huge rise in popularity of twenty-twenty and the introduction of the third umpire.

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I disagree, I think the "power trails" have there places. I have been going caching with my 5 year old and his cousin who is 6 with a heart defect. They can't hike that far, typically 2 miles or so. The 2 of them have been having so much fun geocaching on trails where they can hike through the woods and find several (or more) caches in one trip. They are always asking to go out and treasure hunt, this is so much better than playing video games and gets them into the sport. If you dont like a cache dont go find it. There is more to caching than numbers, and the "power trails" have been more than numbers to me and my kids.

 

I agree the hides should be unique and not all under similar "pile of sticks", even if the container type is the for all of them the SWAG is different enough to keep the kids interested. I dont care much for the SWAG myself, i just do a TNLNSL. And i suspect anyone else who is just looking to sign the log then they would not really care if the containers are all the same. Just please maintain them and be clever with the hides.

Edited by emabie
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I rather like the saturation actually. Heck, I've been working on caches for weeks now to populate my hometown back in MO as it only has two. I've got a stack of creative ones, and some standard ammo cans; the whole nine yards. I want to place down a walking path to encourage people to visit it, and in town at a few of the landmarks we have. In short, I plan on "saturating" an area that is basically off the grid from geocaching. The town economy is doing really poorly, and call me optimistic, but I hope that if I make it worth people's time with a nice variety of caches, geocachers will travel into town, stop in for lunch, maybe buy something or the other and help out.

 

Does that kind of thinking ruin the spirit of the game?

 

I agree with all you say, go for it.

If you hide it they will come........and believe me $ will be spent. I think the economic impact of geocaching is often overlooked....rooms, meals, attending local attractions, park entry fees, it all adds up.

The true " spirit " of the game is hiding and finding caches. New tools make it easy to hunt for what you feel like finding at a given time. Saturation is not a problem....look or don't look. I enjoy a power trail now and then but would NOT want to do one every time out. I would like to do a nice hike almost everytime out but either my wife or I may not be physcially able to do it.

Do try to change it up a bit and be creative.

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It seems like when I first got into geocaching, one of the stipulations was that saturating an area was not the way to go.

 

Now I find that people are putting caches every 600+/- feet along a bike trail, or a highway, or some other trail just to get 'numbers'.

 

Personally, I think this is not the intent of geocaching. Some may think that having hundreds of geocaches hidden is cool, but you and I know that they are not well maintained or kept track of.

 

I have made a decision NOT to search for these 'saturation' caches. To me a cache should give you something to enjoy besides getting your numbers up. To travel down a highway and every 528' find a cache just doesn't seem like it was what geocaching was meant to be.

 

Opinion 101 :lol:

 

So, neener neener to bad, bad, wicked saturationists then? :unsure::laughing:

 

Some like power trails, some don't. Some like long hikes with an ammo can hidden under a pile of sticks, some don't.

 

If you don't like em, don't do em.

 

Did you actually read all his post? He said he wasn't going to do them. And his observation was "it wasn't like this" in 2003, when all three of us started. He clearly states it as his opinion, but I imagine the "not the intent of Geocaching" stuff is what is going to set some people off. :)

 

Yeah the noive of some people huh? Goin' into a forum and posting opinions and stuff. :anibad:

 

To summarize our "Geocaching Tree of Angst" so far:

 

We have an atmosphere rich with CO2 that is represented by one atom of "Entitlement" ( C ) and two atoms of "Expectation." (O2) :laughing:

 

We have a rich medium for the growth of angst in our soil, which is represented by a common/general, "unawareness that this hobby is intrinsically linked to other people." :laughing:

 

The water (H2O) that nourishes the tree is either actual or perceived (H2) negative interaction (O) between geocachers. :D

 

Our tree is furtilized by misconception, misinterpretation, and misunderstanding (MMM) whether actual or deliberate. ;)

 

The roots of our tree are based in actual participation and experience in geocaching as an activity.... Hiding, finding, & moving trackables. :laughing:

 

The trunk of our tree emerges over time. It is actually just individual experience that expresses itself in this way, "I know better than YOU what geocaching is supposed/intended to be all about." :D

 

From there our "Tree of Angst" branches out in many directions. Some branches sprout from the trunk and some branches think they are attacking the trunk from the other side, but are seemingly unaware that they are part of the same tree. :laughing:

 

The named branches of our tree so far:

 

The Theory of Geocaching Evolution

 

Geocaching would be more fun for me, IF :laughing::huh:

 

Perceived Staunch Defenders of Everything Perceived Lame (P.S.D.E.P.L.)

 

Geocaching was so much better way back when

 

The Theory That It's the "OTHER GUY" Who Is Just Sucking the Fun Out of Geocaching

 

The Theory of Keeping with The Highly Subjective "Spirit of Geocaching"

 

The theory that with the ease of attaining apps for smartphone and Iphones, and a geocaching.com account "Low quality cachers" are infecting this game.

 

Linky thingy Yeah, I know I just gave someone on that OT thread a BINGO. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Edited by Snoogans
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All anyone can say is that the game is still evolving.

 

For better or worse, people seem to want to rack-up numbers as fast as possible, with the least effort possible.

 

Geocaching.com is a commercial website that caters to the desires of the general user population (theoretically at least).

 

In the good 'ol days, there was not likely an interesting location 528 feet from another...nowadays the fact that there is a geocache there is interesting enough (to some, but not all have succumbed to the lure to become pitiful numbers whores).

 

Is it OK to say 'pitiful numbers whores'?

 

I agree with you. The beauty though, is that we have the option not to find all those caches if we don't want to; so even though things are changing (they've even changed a lot since I started in '06) it seems like folks still have the option of caching 'the old way' if they want to.

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I'd call this over-saturation. :( Note the 2000 ft scale in the lower corner. I'd say the hiders worked pretty hard to space them the minimum 528 feet from one another. <_< Also note the other nearby parks with no caches. All I can figure is that caches must not be allowed there.

 

b0bad7fc-488b-4925-a2bf-3bcfc84f54f7.jpg

 

medoug.

Edited by medoug
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Now it sometimes doesn't even involve finding geocaches. What were once "found it" logs used to document your hunting experience have become "smileys", a commodity that can be traded or awarded for things that have nothing whatsoever to do with finding geocaches.

I'm still offering a donut for every 5 smileys. Jelly-filled ones cost 7 smileys.

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I'd call this over-saturation. :( Note the 2000 ft scale in the lower corner. I'd say the hiders worked pretty hard to space them the minimum 528 feet from one another. <_< Also note the other nearby parks with no caches. All I can figure is that caches must not be allowed ther

 

That "other park" is a cemetery.

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I'd call this over-saturation. :( Note the 2000 ft scale in the lower corner. I'd say the hiders worked pretty hard to space them the minimum 528 feet from one another. <_< Also note the other nearby parks with no caches. All I can figure is that caches must not be allowed ther

 

That "other park" is a cemetery.

 

After a short internet search, I now see that. Also, the third "park" shown is actually a golf course.

 

I don't think it's that common for a cemetary to be called a "park", but the "memorial" might have been a hint. I do know, however, of quite a few regular public parks with "memorial" in their names.

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Gosh, geocaching isn't the same as it was eight years ago. There's a news flash. Can you tell me any one thing that is the same now as it was eight years ago?

 

 

Football

Soccer

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

 

Want me to carry on?

College Football: there was no BCS Championship Game before 2006.

Soccer: Ok, it's more than 8 years... but the offside rule was amended in 1990.

Baseball: steroids.

Basketball: eight years ago no one had ever heard of Butler.

Cricket: I have no clue.

Hockey: eight years ago, no team from below the Mason-Dixon line had ever won the Stanley Cup.

 

Things change.

One NHL team ABOVE the Mason-Dixon line hasn't won a Stanley Cup in over 40 years.....RATS!!

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It seems like when I first got into geocaching, one of the stipulations was that saturating an area was not the way to go.

 

Now I find that people are putting caches every 600+/- feet along a bike trail, or a highway, or some other trail just to get 'numbers'.

 

Personally, I think this is not the intent of geocaching. Some may think that having hundreds of geocaches hidden is cool, but you and I know that they are not well maintained or kept track of.

 

I have made a decision NOT to search for these 'saturation' caches. To me a cache should give you something to enjoy besides getting your numbers up. To travel down a highway and every 528' find a cache just doesn't seem like it was what geocaching was meant to be.

 

Opinion 101 :lol:

Choose only caches with a high D/T rating which are far from home. It will be just the way you imagine caching used to be. Problem solved! You're welcome. :huh:

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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