Did you ALMOST give up Geocaching?

January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

3.7k · January 6, 2013

Call me a pervert, but other than number 4, these would make me want to cache MORE.

6.2k · January 6, 2013

No.

1. Never happened, I would give up after 30 minutes which has happened few times.

2. Lost count of the number of times this has happened, and have had worse too.

3. (see 2.), it was particularly bad on a couple of occasions when I was wearing waterproof socks, and the ONLY way forward was to go into water above the top of the socks, which then fill with water. The thing about waterproof socks is they're waterproof both directions, so once they're full of water they STAY full of water!

4. We don't have poison oak in the UK, but I regularly cache in shorts and in the summer I've had nettle stings and bramble scratches that hurt for days afterwards.

It's all part of the game

2.8k · January 6, 2013

Call me a pervert, but other than number 4, these would make me want to cache MORE.

OK, pervert.

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

I've never spent more than an hour looking for a cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

I got a nice cut on my forhead once but that beats a broken tailbone from paragliding.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

People pay good money for mud baths.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

I've gone through poinson ivy so many times and every time I do i swear I'll keep a better eye out next time but I never do but never considered quitting.

7.9k · January 6, 2013

Yes...sorta.

I took a hiatus from 03/29/2008 to 10/09/2008.

Crappy urban hides were chapping my hide.

Crappy attitudes from crappy urban hiders did not improve my mood.

So, I went benchmarking instead.

Eventually, I recovered my perspective.

2.1k · January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Nope. Not once in eleven years.

...here's a few reasons why

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

What? No bees, tripping blackberries, garbage dumps, human excrement, deep snow, mega rainstorm, black widow spiders (your area is thick with them), rattlesnakes? I'm missing much more...

And how about your third dnf at the same cache and then a newbie comes along and says how easy it was?

And how about hiking to a cache with several dnfs then a recent find only to find out they really didn't find anything they just felt they earned a find because of simply getting there?

Nope. These things don't stop us. There is too much fun to be had on "The Hunt".

7.8k · January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Not yet.

And how about your third dnf at the same cache and then a newbie comes along and says how easy it was?

Pfft. Come back when you get to the 10th attempt on a cache. Yes, I did eventually make the find, but not before dozens of cachers logged it as a QEF. It was even the first find for a few cachers.

4.5k · January 6, 2013

Call me a pervert, but other than number 4, these would make me want to cache MORE.

My better half might call me that but i think the term "weirdo" fits a little better in this instance. :lol:

Those little setbacks, even getting the itches from poison ivy, help to make caching even more memorable!

January 6, 2013

I tried, had a bad experience at an event. I came back after a cache was placed very close to my house and I wanted to find it. Now I am back for real after meeting some great cachers who I call "friends" and seeing that there can be great events.

January 6, 2013

Actually, I did give up Geocaching in 2003 and only started again in November 2012.

Now I'm back and have logged 19 caches so far, 6 of which I located today.

My reasons for stopping then were that I simply didn't have the time anymore, had changed jobs, relocated to a new city, been divorced, had to sort out basically my entire life.

I came back to Geocaching last year more by coincidence.

For paragliding, I'd bought a Garmin Oregon 550T last summer. When playing around with it I noticed the Geocaching functionalities and thought 'hey, you did this once, many years ago, you might give it a try'.

So I registered on Geocaching.com and started again.

6.5k · January 6, 2013

Welcome Back WeeLurk, I enjoyed chatting with you yesterday morning and saw your handle on a number of caches we found later in the day.

#1-Have spent over an hour at the same cache on more than one occasion, it just toughened my resolve to find it the next visit.

#2. Gotten a few scratches and bumps, but cannot remember anything that qualified as a slam. /shrug

#3. How about water and mud so deep that one of my hip waders filled up, and I had to be helped out of the hole by someone else? WILDLIFE Still ranks as one of the top 10 caching hunts of my life. Keep in mind that when we went for this in 2005 the helpful online mapping links and satellite images weren't on cache listings.

#4. Never got PO, but have had a few minor PI rashes. The most pain I've incurred from geocaching was a copperhead bite a few years back. It stopped me from caching the rest of that day, but I was back there looking for that cache a month later.

I now own a snake related puzzle cache at that location. Guess it didn't scare me off either?

14k · January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

This would never cause me to give up geocaching. There are always plenty of other caches that are easy to find. If, however, there were no caches which might require an hour or more to find, that might make me think about giving it up. I don't *want* every cache to provide instant gratification. I want to see some variety so that if I'm looking for a challenge, there are some caches out there that will provide it. There has been a trend to more roadside, quick finds that provide no other challenge other than to see how many one can find in a short period of time. If that trend continues such that fewer and fewer cache owners are placing caches which have a challenging or creative hide, that's what is going to cause me to give up geocaching.

6.1k · January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

I've done all of that while looking for one cache. It's best to keep a pair of spare shoes, socks, and pants in the car, as well as a first aid kit. Once, I took a small chunk off the top of my skull in a tunnel. Learn what poison plants look like, and wash off any exposed areas immediately after. It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it. Prepare for the worse, and usually not much will happen.

January 6, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

Hmm, I took a 3 month break last year, mostly due to hot weather and other activities. But I didn't really considering giving up completely. Taking a break was good, as it got me back to wanting to cache.

1.1k · January 6, 2013

My slump was from 12/27/9 to 7/24/10 not sure why as I never quit caching just stopped doing it. I did no go to Quartzsite AZ that spring so that may be a big reason as I love caching there.

January 6, 2013

Twice. I gave up in 2010 and didn't come back until 2012 because I couldn't find a single cache. Piled up nine finds in a short time, but there were dozens of DNF's mixed in. 692 days after find number nine, I picked up number ten. Felt good to grab six on my return day to caching.

Then when I received a nasty email from another user a month or two ago. Considered it, but not for very long.

January 6, 2013

Yes...sorta.

I took a hiatus from 03/29/2008 to 10/09/2008.

Crappy urban hides were chapping my hide.

Crappy attitudes from crappy urban hiders did not improve my mood.

So, I went benchmarking instead.

Eventually, I recovered my perspective.

Yeah, I moved to an area that was full of them. That caused me to stop too.

1.8k · January 7, 2013

Nearly every time I hunted a sweetj cache in N.W. Calif.

Jason specializes in Geo-torture with his hides. After >100 of his caches I can be committed to a rubber room. LOL, LOL.

3.4k · January 7, 2013

Yes...sorta.

Crappy urban hides were chapping my hide.

Crappy attitudes from crappy urban hiders did not improve my mood.

I took a hiatus a couple of times, not sure when. just came back after a long lay-off.

going to look for a cache that is listed as medium and finding a film canister.

going to look for a cache that is listed as small and finding a bison tube - or another film canister. i have to be really bored to go look for a film canister.

getting discouraged with the amount of trash in a cache. i come from the old school of caching when it was supposed to be a treasure hunt. still like that aspect, even if the cache is full of new dollar-store items. one can always use another first aid kit or fingernail clippers.

my car is no longer reliable for drives more than 30 miles from home.

my two caching buddies moved away and i haven't been able to interest anyone else in the hobby. going alone became a bit of a problem when i took a couple of nasty falls while in the middle of the bloody desert while by myself. you know, the kind of fall or slip that has you praying, "please god let me get off the side of this hill/mountain/pile of rocks without siding over the edge or breaking a leg." that is a tad discouraging.

so i guess the biggest reason even now is going alone when a fall would put a big damper on the day and out here in the deserted desert could be life-threatening.

lara

2.2k · January 7, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

None of those things would bother me.

I did give up on planning caching during a roadtrip from NYC to Baltimore recently. The map was so cluttered with pointless micros that I gave up on making a PQ and just stopped randomly a couple of times to see what was nearby.

1.8k · January 7, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

None of those things would bother me.

I did give up on planning caching during a roadtrip from NYC to Baltimore recently. The map was so cluttered with pointless micros that I gave up on making a PQ and just stopped randomly a couple of times to see what was nearby.

Indeed, from the above post, "I gave up on making a PQ and just stopped randomly a couple of times to see what was nearby".

I and members of Team STNY have done exactly that and found some memorable gems.

ie: Last summer a surfing spot on the Snake River outside of Yellowstone Nat'l Park serves as one example. Serendipity is great.

3k · January 7, 2013

Frustration from the plethora of roadside park and grabs and parking lot hides has made me think of walking away many times. I get tired of driving to caches and driving away without getting out of the car. I'm hoping the new GPS that holds cache descriptions will get rid of this issue. I usually cache with only waypoints. The app only works if you have service, or pre-loaded a list.

None of the issues you mentioned would make me stop.

As for DNFs, I rarely go back for a second try. But mostly because I rarely cache close to home. I go caching to see new places. Even with a DNF, I got to see the place already. The container isn't that important to me.

The only thing holding me back now, that might bring about the demise of my caching, is my health. But I'm workingon that.

January 7, 2013

1. There is one cache I've looked for 4 times for a total of probably an hour and a half. It is there. I WILL find it.

2. I've banged my head on tree limbs, scrap concrete, rebar, bridge beams, etc. Some drew blood. Some quite a bit of blood.

3. Stepped in holes above my boots, slipped into creeks with water deeper than my boots, slipped in creeks and got covered in moss and mud, scraped/gouged legs and arms on ancient barbed wire sticking out from the ground.

4. Been to urgent-care clinic twice for my face swelling up from exposure to poison something. Once for a tick bite that swelled and turned a dark purple/green about two inches around.

Makes me more determined to keep up this great hobby. If it was perfectly safe and extremely easy it wouldn't be near as much fun.

3k · January 7, 2013

Was there a time you almost gave up geocaching completely?

Yes for me - - here's a few reasons why . . .

1. Spending over an hour and still cannot find the cache.

2. Slamming my head on a tree branch.

3. Foot sunk in the mud so deep that water got inside one boot.

4. Three months in a row contracting Poison Oak.

None of those things would bother me.

I did give up on planning caching during a roadtrip from NYC to Baltimore recently. The map was so cluttered with pointless micros that I gave up on making a PQ and just stopped randomly a couple of times to see what was nearby.

EXACTLY THAT!!!!

January 8, 2013

The tricky caches and the injuries never put me off but now and again where someone has put a cache in a spot that is only going to get me into trouble I do consider it and walk away (if I don't find it very quickly) - who puts caches in playgrounds, next to day-care centres, opposite police stations anyway?

The only time that I seriously consider it is when I get a strange moment of clarity and realise what a really strange hobby this is. Why on earth am I trying to get a find on every day of the year? Why am I trying to find a cache on 100 days in a row? Does anyone really care? But then I realise it's all part of the game - play it how you like - you are only ever cheating yourself.

It's the great caches (usually multis or mysteries) that rekindle the interest along with remote hides or awesome camo/tasks.

Will I still be going in five years? Watch this space I guess. I wonder how it feels to give it up.

January 8, 2013

Will probably never give up caching! But now greatly reduced!

I don't cache near as much now. It is something I do when not doing other things like biking canoeing or Hiking! I like to cache on short notice and now have a hard time finding caches I WANT to find.

Cache that don't interest me are:

any cache close to the parking coords

any pointless location

Caches no one brags on

Almost any micro, any urban or high muggle area

Cemetary caches

Caches I do like:

Caches that have a hike involved (Miles)

Caches that lead me to a network of other trails

Caches with Photo Opportunity

Caches with bushwascking involved or available

Caches with Streams, Lakes, Rock Formations

Caches with Mountain biking Opportunities

Caches with beautiful plants and bugs too! Wildlife! of all kinds

Multi-caches especially if each legs has an interest.

So I now spend way to much time weeding thru all the easy, pointless caches to find one I would enjoy!

When I started all caches fit my desires!

3k · January 8, 2013

I do like how what we used to call "lame", is being labeled as "pointless". It's a much better term than lame.

(But "Des palourdes sont mortes" will live in infamy!)

2.4k · January 9, 2013

Nope, never give up, never surrender!

I have slowed down when life gets in the way but it just makes me want to cache more.

I injured my back looking for a cache. I couldn't walk more than about 50 feet for four months. Did I give up? No, I just did drive up caches for a while

I've ripped clothing (a lot) fallen, gotten scraped up, banged up and bruised. Beats the heck out of watching TV.

I had a friend take a bad fall on a terrain 5 cache.

He cracked two ribs, and was bloody all down his right side from top to bottom. Badly bruised and scraped, did he give up? Heck no. The following weekend he grabbed me and dragged me along so he could try again and have someone nearby to call 911 if he fell again. We both made it this time and signed the log. It was really hairy and scary and dangerous.

What a lot of fun! I wish there were more caches like that!

38.2k · January 9, 2013

Call me a pervert, but other than number 4, these would make me want to cache MORE.

Same here.

2.1k · January 10, 2013

Nope, never give up, never surrender!

I have slowed down when life gets in the way but it just makes me want to cache more.

I injured my back looking for a cache. I couldn't walk more than about 50 feet for four months. Did I give up? No, I just did drive up caches for a while

I've ripped clothing (a lot) fallen, gotten scraped up, banged up and bruised. Beats the heck out of watching TV.

I had a friend take a bad fall on a terrain 5 cache.

He cracked two ribs, and was bloody all down his right side from top to bottom. Badly bruised and scraped, did he give up? Heck no. The following weekend he grabbed me and dragged me along so he could try again and have someone nearby to call 911 if he fell again. We both made it this time and signed the log. It was really hairy and scary and dangerous.

What a lot of fun! I wish there were more caches like that!

OoooOOO, which cache was that. I want to try for that one.

January 10, 2013

I have had some really bad days geocaching but even the worst day geocaching is better then the best day doing something else .

I had one really bad day where I.

1) stepped on a yellow jackets nest (note my forum tittle)

2)lost my GPSr (still using my phone to this day)

3) didn't find a single cache out of 5 attempts (mainly because I couldn't feel my legs after #1)

3.6k · January 10, 2013

None on the list. Almost gave up the first week I started caching due to some RUDE local cacher. A few newbies had quit because of them.

January 12, 2013

There now. Reason has nothing to do with caches...everything to do with cachers.

2k · January 13, 2013

Between April 2011 and December 2012, I only found about 15-20 caches. I don't look at it as giving up so much as just not finding any. I still maintained the caches I owned and went to a couple events.

The reasons I decided to step back from the game for awhile were a product of my own attitudes and perceptions. I was frustrated when people didn't play geocaching like I thought they should. I was getting angry at caches being placed that I didn't approve of and fellow cachers doing things I didn't approve of. Like when people placed 5 star difficulty caches in my area and the only way to find them was to be told or shown where they were (under the guise that it was a 'hint') by PAF's. Or when I first heard about some of these power trail techniques like leapfrogging and cache shuffling and stuff.

During my 'break' I practiced changing my perceptions of life and expectations of other people. My new perspective on things transfers well in to how I play geocaching today. For example, I no longer take issue with people placing 5 star caches because I now use my Ignore List (something I never used before) and am then blissfully ignorant of the caches existence. I also play my own game instead of playing it as if it's a competition with other cachers. For example, if someone wants to do the power trail and practice leapfrogging...that's their business and how they play geocaching. I just play my game and know that that is not how I play geocaching.

6.7k · January 13, 2013

Between April 2011 and December 2012, I only found about 15-20 caches. I don't look at it as giving up so much as just not finding any. I still maintained the caches I owned and went to a couple events.

The reasons I decided to step back from the game for awhile were a product of my own attitudes and perceptions. I was frustrated when people didn't play geocaching like I thought they should. I was getting angry at caches being placed that I didn't approve of and fellow cachers doing things I didn't approve of. Like when people placed 5 star difficulty caches in my area and the only way to find them was to be told or shown where they were (under the guise that it was a 'hint') by PAF's. Or when I first heard about some of these power trail techniques like leapfrogging and cache shuffling and stuff.

During my 'break' I practiced changing my perceptions of life and expectations of other people. My new perspective on things transfers well in to how I play geocaching today. For example, I no longer take issue with people placing 5 star caches because I now use my Ignore List (something I never used before) and am then blissfully ignorant of the caches existence. I also play my own game instead of playing it as if it's a competition with other cachers. For example, if someone wants to do the power trail and practice leapfrogging...that's their business and how they play geocaching. I just play my game and know that that is not how I play geocaching.

Excellent attitude!

1.4k · January 13, 2013

I didn't think of giving it up, but I have become what I call a casual cacher. I'm not into numbers and I don't care for micros so I have become more selective with the caches I go after. I was spoiled by the "good old days" when most caches were big enough to have trade items and sometime travel bugs.

January 31, 2013

I started and gave up on geocaching in Silicon Valley. I could never find the micros, and there seemed to be nothing but micros. When I became a full-time RVer, years later, I gave it another hot because I wanted to entertain myself outdoors instead of indoors. I was thrilled to find one at a campground, but again, there was a long gap before I tried again. Really, I needed to become one with my GPS and once I really learned how to use it, I started doing so. It's only in the last couple months--since finding a massive series along a stretch of old route 66--that I've started actively hunting again. I really don't like micros unless there's an obvious thing they're hidden in, and love the larger caches with stuff in them. It's a great excuse for a hike and hard to get lost, unless I run out of batteries.

February 1, 2013

For the last 2 years I have been occasionally working near an isolated cache, it was the first my 9 year old son found, the lid keeps getting broken by cachers piling rocks on top of the tupperware box.

As my son comes to work with me he likes to check it, I have given him two boxes to replace the broken ones, the last lasted just two cacher visits. He was a bit upset, so I posted a message, again, saying do not pile rocks..I had already put a note in the box.

Last week a cacher posted that they would have to be very careful with the cache box as I may say something, they went knowing the box was damaged, did'nt replace it, and then posted an insulting comment about me.When I replied, they became abusive.

I have now said that as it isn't my cache, I am not replacing it again. This resulted in more abuse."get a life, etc.."

The owner lives a long way away, and was very grateful for my help,my son is going to be upset, but I've had enough of trying to help, when others do nothing to replace the box, and are abusive to someone who tries to be helpful, I feel like giving up, it leaves a bad taste.

1.1k · February 1, 2013

HAHA this is going to be a good thread :-)

we did take a brake a few times, got kids, got alot of overwork, and travel alot,

just forgot geocaching, too busy with so much stuff that was at least as funny or even more..

any way now we are back, and in full effect.

the things on many peoples lists of stuff they dislike

is actually what makes it fun for us :-)

the harder the meaner, the more dirt, the more rain, snow, ice

height, mud, what ever.. we do it and have fun !!

3.4k · February 2, 2013

I found about 20 caches back in 2003. After the last one I didn't feel like driving 20 or 30 miles to find a couple more. I also got into road biking.

The road biking thing lasted until I broke my right collar bone and found the torn muscles in my back were not up to riding for a long time. Bones knit quick, torn muscles knit slowly.

Looking for something to do to keep outdoors and active I returned to caching in 2007. Shocked! Utterly astounded by the enormous number of caches around. One park where I started caching (and found the 3 hides it hosted) now had about 70 caches, it has since grown to about 100. Caches were placed without much thought other than density the challenge was gone. I nearly quit again.

I've stuck with it because I make the game what I feel like on a particular day. Sometimes I feel like a quick few finds others I want (more like need, my body insists upon these long hikes, this is not the plan of the grey matter!) a period of exertion, like a 5 mile hike, or much longer.

Now it's also worked into a ploy to keep me amused when I travel. I get cabin fever pretty easily (having grown up for the most part in the Great White North) and love exploring.

Really looking forward to GeoWoodstock in Florida. Hope it's a blast.

February 2, 2013

#1

Also, rock pile caches. A thousand places to hide it. :mad:

February 2, 2013

I give up every time I go out.

If I didn't I would look like Gandalf the grey traveling around the woods moving from cache to cache.

You have to go home and eat sometime.

Shaun

1.3k · February 3, 2013

I gave up for a while to focus on benchmark hunting.

February 3, 2013

I stopped for a while. Had a kid... It was tough to go caching. I always knew I would get back into it, though. The proliferation of park and grabs and the phone app were a big help.

February 3, 2013

We've so small number of caches here in Russia that "to stop geocaching" makes little sense. If you manage to find one cache per week you may call yourself a very active geocacher over here.

1k · February 3, 2013

I've never spent more than an hour looking for a cache.

Neither have I. I give up well before that.

February 4, 2013

Almost. After moving to Burbank CA I cam to the realization people don't know how to hide a good cache. It's all the same. Very disappointing. Then some extremely rude city people telling me the rating I put on a cache was wrong, the size was wrong, or it wasn't going to last long at all and should just take it down. Yeah, wasn't very fun. I just shook it off and continued hiding to the best of my ability.

Did you ALMOST give up Geocaching?

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