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Such high numbers!

low tide

By low tide
in How do I...?

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jholly

jholly

Posted
Posted

I see some users with thousands of finds and posts about hundreds found in a day. How is that possible? What is the trick?

Whiffle dust and lots of caches close together. Take a look at route 66 outside of Barstow, CA and NV-375 between Crystal Springs, NV and Warm Springs, NV. Also they plan trips to cache dense areas and carefully plot efficient routes.

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Chief301

+Chief301

Posted
Posted

Some of these cachers have been doing this for years, and do it a LOT. Go out and find 10 every weekend, that's over 500 in a year. 10 a weekend is actually pretty low volume by some people's standards.

 

Now the 100 or more in a day is often accomplished via power trails...that is, a series of identical easy caches along a highway placed every .10 of a mile apart. Designed to cater to the numbers hounds. Some folks disdain them because they're boring and low quality, others love them as a way to boost their find count.

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WRASTRO

+WRASTRO

Posted
Posted

I have almost 3,200 in nearly nine years. I plod along and find caches. My biggest find count in a day is 36. Big fun! If you want the big numbers you will need to do the power trails and spend a lot more time hunting caches than I do. Have fun playing the game in a way that works well for you. My way works for me. :)

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AZcachemeister

AZcachemeister

Posted
Posted

I've done 90-100 in a day and not on a power trail. I start early, go until 7 or so and have a carefully planned route in an urban environment.

 

^^THIS^^

And, do it every day.

 

Some folks are 'professional' Geocachers...this is all they do, every day.

Being retired, with a substantial pension, and owning a motorhome are near absolute necessities.

 

Naturally, being fabulously wealthy also works.

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Bowlr

+Bowlr

Posted
Posted

To help you go fast, get a stamp or even stickers. I prefer the stamp, though. :anitongue:

Get a partner or 2,3,4 to help you find them. Log them afterwards, keep a paper log till then.

have a route pre-planned. I actually number my caches. Yes, I go in and edit so they look like 1-GC1234 2-GC2345, so I know which one is next by just looking. I have found in the past if I go to the nearest one, I could be zig zagging back and forth, not going in a straight line. Some plan their route where they just need to make right hand turns, left hand turns take longer due to lights.

Start at pre-dawn and never stop for food, bathroom breaks, just go and go and go.... :D:D

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JL_HSTRE

+JL_HSTRE

Posted
Posted (edited)
I see some users with thousands of finds and posts about hundreds found in a day. How is that possible? What is the trick?

 

The two questions have mostly different answers.

 

To find 100+ caches in a day, you generally need to be on some kind of Power Trail (easy park-n-grab hides every .1 mile). There are also geo-trails which aren't true Power Trails but will still generate lots of finds in a single day. For example, sections of the Florida Trail have lots of cache placements, but you have to hike (not drive), the hides are not all the same container or style, and they are more spaced out due to terrain and the trail curving more than a road would. I found 49 caches in a day on the FT in about 8 hours (with 2 DNFs), accompanied by 2 veteran cachers. If we'd started earlier, we could have found more but we ran out of daylight. I should add that caching with other caches - especially experienced ones - will allow you to find caches faster. Also, the more experienced you get generally you can find caches faster as you have improved your "geosense"; when you first start pretty much every cache hide is in a style and/or container you've not encountered before.

 

(While we're on the subject, I'd be curious to know what the claimed 24 hour record is without using power trails...)

 

As for having thousands of finds: many prolific cachers are retired so they can essentially cache full-time. Longevity certainly helps as well; geocaching has been around for more than a decade and some people have stayed active the entire time.

 

If you really get into the hobby and stick with it then 1000 caches in a year isn't unreasonable. If you average 20 finds/week you will find over 1000 in a year. Even without a power trail, 20 caches in a single day (depending on where you live) is very possible. With over 37,000 active caches in Florida (where I live), there are a slew of parks and preserves and bike trails with 20 caches. Keep in mind that that's just active caches; thousands of new caches are published every year, some of them filling areas where old caches used to be (I'd guess more than a thousand caches are archived in Florida every year) so there's a certain amount of geo-renewal allowing you to revisit areas you've been to before and gain more smileys without always traveling steadily greater distances.

Edited by Joshism
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niraD

+niraD

Posted
Posted
To find 100+ caches in a day, you generally need to be on some kind of Power Trail (easy park-n-grab hides every .1 mile).[...]

 

(While we're on the subject, I'd be curious to know what the claimed 24 hour record is without using power trails...)

There were 24-hour numbers runs with find counts in the 300-400 range before the appearance of the modern numbers run trails (e.g., Trail of the Gods, ET Highway, Route 66, ET Highway II).

 

I know people who have done numbers runs of more than 100 caches without using a numbers run trail, and without caching in the dark. That requires averaging only 1 cache every 8 minutes for 14 hours: 7.5 caches/hour * 14 hours = 105, which is a relatively relaxed pace by modern numbers run standards. IIRC, one group did a numbers run like that, finding 100+ puzzle caches in the Yuba City area.

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Need me glasses

+Need me glasses

Posted
Posted

If you want an idea of what a modern numbers run trail like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail is like, then see this video:

 

Wow, I am shocked by that, I had no idea this is what was meant by "being a numbers person" I dont see any point in that form of caching, where is the fun in it? the caches arent even hidden or in any way memorable! seems like a completely different game to me, maybe over time it will branch off and evolve into a new game in it's own right with a new name. Just my opinion, each to their own.

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briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted

If you want an idea of what a modern numbers run trail like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail is like, then see this video:

 

Wow, I am shocked by that, I had no idea this is what was meant by "being a numbers person" I dont see any point in that form of caching, where is the fun in it? the caches arent even hidden or in any way memorable! seems like a completely different game to me, maybe over time it will branch off and evolve into a new game in it's own right with a new name. Just my opinion, each to their own.

 

You'll get no argument from me. That game bears little resemblance to geocaching.

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Bowleybagpuss

Bowleybagpuss

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you want an idea of what a modern numbers run trail like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail is like, then see this video:

 

Wow, I am shocked by that, I had no idea this is what was meant by "being a numbers person" I dont see any point in that form of caching, where is the fun in it? the caches arent even hidden or in any way memorable! seems like a completely different game to me, maybe over time it will branch off and evolve into a new game in it's own right with a new name. Just my opinion, each to their own.

After watching that video I can see why people do have such high numbers. If thats the way you want to do it fine. I would rather have some accomplishment to a find and I appreciate the caches in remote locations that hare hard to get to more than a park and grab (Which I have refrained from doing until now, after 120 finds and a years caching).

Whilst watching the video all I could think was.

1/ Couldn't they walk between the caches?

2/ Whats the point?

Edited by Bowleybagpuss
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niraD

+niraD

Posted
Posted
1/ Couldn't they walk between the caches?

2/ Whats the point?

1/ Sure, but that would be slower and take longer.

2/ The point is to find a lot of caches in a short span of time. Numbers runs have existed long before numbers run trails like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail. These numbers run trails just make it easier to plan a numbers run.

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GrievousAngel

+GrievousAngel

Posted
Posted

To help you go fast, get a stamp or even stickers. I prefer the stamp, though. :anitongue:

Get a partner or 2,3,4 to help you find them. Log them afterwards, keep a paper log till then.

have a route pre-planned. I actually number my caches. Yes, I go in and edit so they look like 1-GC1234 2-GC2345, so I know which one is next by just looking. I have found in the past if I go to the nearest one, I could be zig zagging back and forth, not going in a straight line. Some plan their route where they just need to make right hand turns, left hand turns take longer due to lights.

Start at pre-dawn and never stop for food, bathroom breaks, just go and go and go.... :D:D

 

No stickers! They take longer than a stamp or a pencil, and stickers in small logs make those nano and micro logs even harder to roll up and to extract if a cacher is thoughtless enough to use them.

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RED 5

+RED 5

Posted
Posted

If you want an idea of what a modern numbers run trail like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail is like, then see this video:

That's disturbing. Watching that made my stomach turn. I'm not sure what game they're playing, but it's certainly not Geocaching. I wonder if the driver logged those "finds" as well.

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jholly

jholly

Posted
Posted

If you want an idea of what a modern numbers run trail like the ET Highway trail or Route 66 trail is like, then see this video:

 

That's disturbing. Watching that made my stomach turn. I'm not sure what game they're playing, but it's certainly not Geocaching. I wonder if the driver logged those "finds" as well.

Why do you care?

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AZcachemeister

AZcachemeister

Posted
Posted

I wonder if the driver logged those "finds" as well.

 

Of course he did, as well as the cameraman...since they were there when the log was signed...errr stamped.

They probably switched positions throughout the run, so everyone gets a rest from all those strenuous 20 foot dashes.

 

They are really loosing a lot of time with all that door opening and closing. Better to use a mini-van (and leave the sliding door open), a JEEP with no doors, or a pickup (and the runners sit on the tailgate).

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Don_J

+Don_J

Posted
Posted

Are there better caches along that route? Further in? Hiking ones?

 

The 80 miles of Hwy that those caches are on, has always had about ten normal roadside caches. Get out and stretch your legs, look at the scenery type of thing. There are dozens of dirt roads that criss cross the desert that have randomly placed caches. There is also the Pisgah Crater.

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