All the recent PT talk has me thinking...

[+chrisandjanet]

There's been a lot of talk lately about Power Trails, with very heated opinions on both sides of the coin. Seems to me the crux of the con argument is the uninspiredness (I'm aware that's not a real word) of a film can or hide-a-key every 528'.

 

That kind of got me thinking. We have some pretty good rail trails around my town. I'm thinking a power trail of sorts geared toward newbies, kind of a way for them to "get their numbers up" and address one of my little annoyances, caches with the wrong size rating.

 

Start out with the micros: Cache 1 is a blinky, cache 2 a bison tube, then film cannister, etc. Move on up the food chain, culminating in a five gallon bucket. If done right, I could wind up with a 20-30 cache "Power Trail".

 

Now if I can just get the time off work and get the wife to let me out of painting the house this spring, I'll be all over it.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

Power trail with a purpose!

[+A & J Tooling]

Wouldn't you want to do that in reverse? Have the noobies find the big easy ones first and work their way to the hard ones?

[+M 5]

That would be alright, and not the same type of power trail. There is a difference in PTs. Just don't limit yourself to 528, start looking then and if it takes a lot further to find a good spot, then so be it. We have a similar series of 8 hides with about 4 others on a walking trail here. Works great.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

There's been a lot of talk lately about Power Trails, with very heated opinions on both sides of the coin. Seems to me the crux of the con argument is the uninspiredness (I'm aware that's not a real word) of a film can or hide-a-key every 528'.

 

That kind of got me thinking. We have some pretty good rail trails around my town. I'm thinking a power trail of sorts geared toward newbies, kind of a way for them to "get their numbers up" and address one of my little annoyances, caches with the wrong size rating.

 

Start out with the micros: Cache 1 is a blinky, cache 2 a bison tube, then film cannister, etc. Move on up the food chain, culminating in a five gallon bucket. If done right, I could wind up with a 20-30 cache "Power Trail".

 

Now if I can just get the time off work and get the wife to let me out of painting the house this spring, I'll be all over it.

 

There are many con arguments about power trails and the "uninspiredness" is only one of them, and not one that many that are anti-PT will spend much time debating simply because making that argument is essentially saying "don't place a cache that I don't like". There are numerous other arguments that many have been much more vocal about but I'm not going to turn this into a debate about power trails.

 

On one hand, I have a hard time endorsing something that creates a perception for newbies that geocaching is about "getting your numbers" up. On the other, you might have a neat idea for demonstrating the diversity in geocaching while at the same time provide lots of caches to be found. If you look at this as a means to build geocaching experience instead of a way to rack up numbers it might be pretty popular.

 

If you're going to create such a trail I'd suggest *not* placing them as close as possible. Varying the distances, the size and type of container, and the hiding method would, to me, provide a better example of the diversity in geocaching. You could even throw in an unknown, multi, and letterbox hybrid to add to the diversity and still provide enough cache for someone to rack up a decent daily total.

[Clan Riffster]

...then film cannister

I like your concept. Sort of a Geocaching 101? Neat! One thing that caught my eye was, in your opening post, you discussed the "uninspiredness" of film cans and hide-a-keys. (I do like that word!) The problem isn't that the containers are uninspired. That phrase is generally used to describe the location. It seems that the only qualification for a power trail location is the distance it is from another location. Little thought is given to whether or not the seeker is being taken to a really kewl spot. You could change that with your power trail, if you wished.

 

Back to film cans.

As I mentioned before, the problem with black & gray film cans, hide-a-keys, Altoids tins, camo taped Ziplock baggies, Gladware, etc., is not that the containers are uninspired. The problem is they are not even remotely waterproof. Some folks think this can be resolved by cramming a baggie into the not so water tight container, which, for the first finder, would work OK. But since baggies are fairly fragile, they don't stay waterproof very long. Eventually, you get seekers who experience the joys of wet, moldy logs. If this is acceptable to you, then by all means, use a crappy container. It is not acceptable to me, so I use every means at my disposal to avoid that, only using those containers which have been proven over time, to survive in various environments.

 

Something I like to preach: "If you must use a baggie to keep your log dry, your container has already failed at a very basic level".

[+dakboy]

Similar idea, but implemented as a Multi. http://coord.info/GCZY5C

[+the4dirtydogs]

Sounds like a good idea. I also like what NYpaddler said about changing up the cache types. Make an easy multi, a puzzle, etc. Good luck

[+StarBrand]

If the hide spots and the walk are interesting - I like this concept!!

[+MikeAndHike]

Wouldn't you want to do that in reverse? Have the noobies find the big easy ones first and work their way to the hard ones?

 

+1

 

I have to say as a newbie myself I would love a trail like that to get my eye in. I would say it needs to go from big to small so you don't just frustrate us newbies. I hope this catches on. If there isn't one locally when I hit my 100 find mark or so I think I will create one. Hope you don't mind me borrowing the idea

[+hukilaulau]

Ironic. What you present sounds like a cool idea, but for the wrong reasons!

"Uninspiredness" is NOT the crux of the con side, and "to get your numbers up" is a way bad purpose for a set of caches. NYPC and others said the same thing. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this!

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

Rails to trails is a great place for something like this. You can take the opportunity to really mix it up...traditionals, multi and mystery/puzzle. See how creative you can get without using a container twice. That is what new cachers need to see. We made a multi around this concept. Have fun!

[+chrisandjanet]

My tongue in cheek attempt didn't come across very well, I'm afraid. I would certainly not stick to the hard and fast every 528 feet just for numbers concept - not the least reason being, I probably couldn't gaurantee a suitable hiding place that exactly.

 

I probably wouldn't place them in order of size - good points there. You wouldn't have to find them in order anyway. I'm thinking the cache page would read something like "The container you are looking for is XXX. Ddecoding the hint will tell you exactly where it is."

 

CR, I also shudder at film cans. I have seen a (very) few that work in specific circumstances. I suppose I'd strive to make each of the hides a quality example for the type. Hard to do with film cans or magnetic sheets, but possible.

[Mr.Yuck]

My tongue in cheek attempt didn't come across very well, I'm afraid. I would certainly not stick to the hard and fast every 528 feet just for numbers concept - not the least reason being, I probably couldn't gaurantee a suitable hiding place that exactly.

 

I probably wouldn't place them in order of size - good points there. You wouldn't have to find them in order anyway. I'm thinking the cache page would read something like "The container you are looking for is XXX. Ddecoding the hint will tell you exactly where it is."

 

CR, I also shudder at film cans. I have seen a (very) few that work in specific circumstances. I suppose I'd strive to make each of the hides a quality example for the type. Hard to do with film cans or magnetic sheets, but possible.

 

The Province of Ontario is loaded with rails to trails power trails. So many, I can't even keep track of them. The one I personally did was all smalls and regulars with a variety of containers and hiding methods (there was a tree climber, one rigged up high in a tree with rope, and a pile of rocks hide, for example), although the vitamin bottle with a coat hanger duct taped to it accounted for several.

 

I too love your concept, go for it.