High Volume Numbers of Caches

[Wandering Wal]

I have recently been introduced to geocaching by a friend and although I haven't actually been out caching yet, work gets in the way, but I am an outdoors and adventurous type. He has invited me to go to Nevada next year where he tells me there are trails where you can accumulate huge numbers of finds in one day. I have looked at some of the numbers recorded by people in my local community and indeed some people have recorded finds of 700+ and 800+ finds a day according to their statistics.

 

These are certainly fantastic numbers and got me extremely excited until I started thinking about the practicalities of such an undertaking. By my calculations (using the stats for one anonymous individual in my locality who has recorded 873 finds in one day) 873 finds in one day works out at just over 90 seconds per find over a 24 hour period.

 

My questions are simple, how does one prepare for this?

 

i) How fit do I need to be to sustain that kind of activity for 24 hours?

ii) How does one eat or drink anything without making yourself sick?

iii) How do I go to the bathroom?

iV) How do you find and log the cache whilst driving a vehicle or is it actually quicker to run (in the desert?) the 528 feet between each cache in just 90 seconds?

 

Anyone who can fill in the gaps I would love to hear from especially the people who have achieved similar feats, hats off to you!

Edited May 19, 2015 by Wandering Wal

[+Mausebiber]

i) How fit do I need to be to sustain that kind of activity for 24 hours?

ii) How does one eat or drink anything without making yourself sick?

iii) How do I go to the bathroom?

iV) How do you find and log the cache whilst driving a vehicle or is it actually quicker to run (in the desert?) the 528 feet between each cache in just 90 seconds?

 

You probably talking about the ET Highway.

 

Usually there are three to four people sharing one car and logging as a team. One is driving, one is logging, two are running. They rotate every hrs or so.

The runner has a film container in hand and is running the few yards to the cache-hide, dropping the film container in hand and picking up the container which is there.

Back to the car, handing this container to the logger and receiving from him the next container. While you run again, the logger puts a pre-printed sticker in the logbook. Same procedure, you drop a container, picking up the next one. This way, the container moving from one hide to the next.

 

The driver is just driving and watching traffic.

 

Since there is one more on board since actually needed, one always can eat, drink and take a short nap.

 

Good preparation is the key for success, gas, water, food, stickers and so on.

 

Greeting, MB

[+NanCycle]

Good preparation is the key for success, gas, water, food, stickers and so on.

 

Don't forget replacement containers. You'll need one to replace the first container that you are going to take with you to the second location. And of course you'll need to have spare containers to replace any that might be missing--can't be having any DNFs on a Power Trail.

 

Not my idea of fun.

[+niraD]

Of course, such numbers run trails don't have to be done using the container-swapping technique (aka the three cache monte). For example:

 

[+T.D.M.22]

Also remember, those caches were logged on that day, not nessesarily found on that day. Some people do it to pad their numbers for most finds in a day. Some people just don't care enough about their stats to care what day the caches where found, and don't bother correcting the date.

[jholly]

Also remember, those caches were logged on that day, not nessesarily found on that day. Some people do it to pad their numbers for most finds in a day. Some people just don't care enough about their stats to care what day the caches where found, and don't bother correcting the date.

800 a day is doable. Some are done with flashlight.

[+T.D.M.22]

Also remember, those caches were logged on that day, not nessesarily found on that day. Some people do it to pad their numbers for most finds in a day. Some people just don't care enough about their stats to care what day the caches where found, and don't bother correcting the date.

800 a day is doable. Some are done with flashlight.

 

Didn't say it wasn't. And that remind me of a few of the local power trails. They're best done in low light, so you drive and your headlights illuminate the caches covered in reflective paint.

[Wandering Wal]

This is all sage advice and I appreciate it.

 

How legitimate is it to claim such high numbers in your stats? I notice a lot of people quite proudly display their stats using one of the web based generators, but they don't appear indicate they are part of a team either in the stats or the logs and realisticly may have only set eyes on 2/3rds to a half of the caches which they log. It seems a little contrived given the kudos they garner from their local geo-community? I wouldn't want to be labelled a fraud or cheat or is this quite common practice?

[TahoeJoe]

This is all sage advice and I appreciate it.

 

How legitimate is it to claim such high numbers in your stats? I notice a lot of people quite proudly display their stats using one of the web based generators, but they don't appear indicate they are part of a team either in the stats or the logs and realisticly may have only set eyes on 2/3rds to a half of the caches which they log. It seems a little contrived given the kudos they garner from their local geo-community? I wouldn't want to be labelled a fraud or cheat or is this quite common practice?

I don't play for numbers so I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion (and according to the guidelines) you can't claim fame to a geocache unless you find it, sign the logbook and place it back to it's original location. As long as you are following the guidelines, have fun and don't worry what others think.

[Pup Patrol]

These "power trails" aren't the "norm" for everyday caching. The ET Highway, for example, is a different kettle of fish compared to "regular" caching.

 

I hope you get lots of experience in caching before hitting the "power trails".

 

Three Cache Monte, swapping containers, that sort of thing, isn't going to go down too well outside of that kind of caching experience.

 

But there are numerous cachers who have found tens of thousands of caches without going that route. They are signing physical logs, not just claiming "finds".

 

Time and dedication and focus over a number of years....it's certainly possible to to do it. (Not to mention owning and maintaining their own hundreds, even thousands, of caches.)

 

B.

[Wandering Wal]

This is all sage advice and I appreciate it.

 

How legitimate is it to claim such high numbers in your stats? I notice a lot of people quite proudly display their stats using one of the web based generators, but they don't appear indicate they are part of a team either in the stats or the logs and realisticly may have only set eyes on 2/3rds to a half of the caches which they log. It seems a little contrived given the kudos they garner from their local geo-community? I wouldn't want to be labelled a fraud or cheat or is this quite common practice?

I don't play for numbers so I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion (and according to the guidelines) you can't claim fame to a geocache unless you find it, sign the logbook and place it back to it's original location. As long as you are following the guidelines, have fun and don't worry what others think.

 

Thank you TahoeJoe, this is kinda my whole point. My understanding of the rules are the same as yours, but there seems to be more than a little hostility towards newcomers in my area and these individuals with crazy numbers seem to be revered as demigods?

[Wandering Wal]

These "power trails" aren't the "norm" for everyday caching. The ET Highway, for example, is a different kettle of fish compared to "regular" caching.

 

I hope you get lots of experience in caching before hitting the "power trails".

 

Three Cache Monte, swapping containers, that sort of thing, isn't going to go down too well outside of that kind of caching experience.

 

But there are numerous cachers who have found tens of thousands of caches without going that route. They are signing physical logs, not just claiming "finds".

 

Time and dedication and focus over a number of years....it's certainly possible to to do it. (Not to mention owning and maintaining their own hundreds, even thousands, of caches.)

 

B.

 

Thanks PupPatrol and TahoeJoe that sounds like the kind of thing Im actually interested in

[+Cachefoxxe]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

[+Uncle Alaska]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

[+niraD]

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

Yeah, but I think there's a difference between teams like this (where two or more people--usually related to each other--share an account) and the leapfrogging and other divide-and-conquer techniques that are sometimes used on number run trails.

 

I've been on group geocaching trips where we signed an informal team name instead of having everyone sign their own names on every log. But everyone on our informal team was actually there at every cache.

Edited May 19, 2015 by niraD

[TahoeJoe]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

Very true, the days before geocaching became in some minds a competitive sport about numbers. Pretty sad that the geocaching community has become divided so that Wandering Wal feels hostility from other local geocachers. Not a very warm welcome for new members.

[+niraD]

I don't play for numbers so I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion (and according to the guidelines) you can't claim fame to a geocache unless you find it, sign the logbook and place it back to it's original location. As long as you are following the guidelines, have fun and don't worry what others think.

As long as I have been geocaching, there have been at least two schools of thought for group geocaching trips. I prefer the huckle buckle beanstalk method, where everyone gets a chance to spot the cache without anyone else in the group spoiling the hide. But others prefer the three musketeers method, where the entire group declares victory as soon as anyone in the group spots the cache.

 

Both methods are fine on group trips. And I'm not going to hold people on a numbers run to a higher standard than people on a normal group geocaching trip.

Edited May 19, 2015 by niraD

[+Uncle Alaska]

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

Yeah, but I think there's a difference between teams like this (where two or more people (usually related to each other) share an account) and the leapfrogging and other divide-and-conquer techniques that are sometimes used on number run trails.

 

I've been on group geocaching trips where we signed an informal team name instead of having everyone sign their own names on every log. But everyone on our informal team was actually there at every cache.

I completely understand the difference between the two situations...I am pointing out the tired argument "you have to hold the cache and sign the log with your own hands for it to be legitimate" WHEN family "teams " have been doing this forever and seem to get a "free pass" from the community (with wife caching in France while husband caches in Argentina and kid caches at home in California all on the same day) I don't agree with team split up caching, but why only people doing power trails should get persecuted for it is beyond me.

[TahoeJoe]

I don't play for numbers so I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion (and according to the guidelines) you can't claim fame to a geocache unless you find it, sign the logbook and place it back to it's original location. As long as you are following the guidelines, have fun and don't worry what others think.

As long as I have been geocaching, there have been at least two schools of thought for group geocaching trips. I prefer the huckle buckle beanstalk method, where everyone gets a chance to spot the cache without anyone else in the group spoiling the hide. But others prefer the three musketeers method, where the entire group declares victory as soon as anyone in the group spots the cache.

 

Both methods are fine on group trips. And I'm not going to hold people on a numbers run to a higher standard than people on a normal group geocaching trip.

I agree both methods you mentioned are fine because in the end, all members of the group are signing the log. Most geocachers probably play this way when out with others. When groups start using methods like Three Cache Monte, I think that's when others start asking if the guidelines are really being followed. My opinion is that when others start trying to change the guidelines and push back at the ones who follow the guidelines, emotions are going to get strong. In the end it doesn't matter because geocaching is not about competing or numbers, it's about getting out and having fun.

[+cerberus1]

In the end it doesn't matter because geocaching is not about competing or numbers, it's about getting out and having fun.

Sure?

The way some are going, I thought maybe on the 20th anniv, there's prizes and cash.

[Wandering Wal]

Although this has widened the thread a little I would have said that in principal my I am in complete agreement with TahoeJoe a kind of one man/one vote principle and my argument has been based on a team coming together solely for the purposes of simply completing a power trail and then having your stats appear to reflect that they alone have completed xxx hundred caches a day.

 

However, UncleAlaska raises an interesting point. My brother lives in the UK with his wife, she frequently flies to the US on business and whilst there caches in her spare time thereby enabling them to log caches on two continents at the same time. I had not considered this? But I do feel there should be some latitude for a husband/wife logging the 'odd' cache. I also know of a brother & sister who cache together and use an amalgamation of the two team names from time to time but again although they are logging individually they are not claiming huge numbers, neither do they hide their stats from the rest of the world as again I notice a lot of the individuals claiming high numbers appear to do, what's that all about?

Edited May 19, 2015 by Wandering Wal

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

 

[+Path Pacer]

I don't get the numbers thing. A few days ago I decided to do a run of caches along a local road to kill some time. I didn't realize they were a power trail (are power trails marked as such?). After finding the second container dropped by the side of a telephone pole in the tall grass, just a few poles up from the first one, I thought, "Are they all like this?" I looked down the road at all the telephone poles and then headed on home.

 

To each his own, I guess, but it seems a bit mindless to me. Is this just to get online numbers? Maybe I'm missing something.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

If getting a high number of geocache finds under your name really interests you, just start couch logging all the caches on the ET Highway today without ever going to find them. Noone will know the difference and you'll probably have more fun that way. Unless desert landscape is appealing to you (it is to me)...then I'd go and drive that highway and take in the sights, stopping for a geocache every now and then.

[+humboldt flier]

I have recently been introduced to geocaching by a friend and although I haven't actually been out caching yet, work gets in the way, but I am an outdoors and adventurous type. He has invited me to go to Nevada next year where he tells me there are trails where you can accumulate huge numbers of finds in one day. I have looked at some of the numbers recorded by people in my local community and indeed some people have recorded finds of 700+ and 800+ finds a day according to their statistics.

 

These are certainly fantastic numbers and got me extremely excited until I started thinking about the practicalities of such an undertaking. By my calculations (using the stats for one anonymous individual in my locality who has recorded 873 finds in one day) 873 finds in one day works out at just over 90 seconds per find over a 24 hour period.

 

My questions are simple, how does one prepare for this?

 

i) How fit do I need to be to sustain that kind of activity for 24 hours?

ii) How does one eat or drink anything without making yourself sick?

iii) How do I go to the bathroom?

iV) How do you find and log the cache whilst driving a vehicle or is it actually quicker to run (in the desert?) the 528 feet between each cache in just 90 seconds?

 

Anyone who can fill in the gaps I would love to hear from especially the people who have achieved similar feats, hats off to you!

[/quote

 

Reasearch, planning, planning, planning ... and find some like-minded souls to venture out with. Best to take a very LARGE cup of perseverance as well.

 

The mega trails WILL numb your mind and test your resolve.

 

REMEMBER: The fish will start to spoil about day 2.5 >>>>>>> When I take the Boy Scouts to Summer Camp I refer to it as the "Tuesday Effect"

 

Go and have a blast enjoy yourself.

 

When you get to the Memorial Caches for Officer Stevenson and the Memorial Cache for Michael David Adams PLEASE don't use a lame "trail run log".

 

The Officer was executed after rolling up to a crime scene, the perp wounded the officer then executed him while he was down. The Officer had a connection with the town of Rachel, Nv.

 

Mr. Adams was a geologist and Geocacher who was killed in a late night auto vs. livestock incident on Hwy 375.

[+Mudfrog]

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

Yeah, but I think there's a difference between teams like this (where two or more people (usually related to each other) share an account) and the leapfrogging and other divide-and-conquer techniques that are sometimes used on number run trails.

 

I've been on group geocaching trips where we signed an informal team name instead of having everyone sign their own names on every log. But everyone on our informal team was actually there at every cache.

I completely understand the difference between the two situations...I am pointing out the tired argument "you have to hold the cache and sign the log with your own hands for it to be legitimate" WHEN family "teams " have been doing this forever and seem to get a "free pass" from the community (with wife caching in France while husband caches in Argentina and kid caches at home in California all on the same day) I don't agree with team split up caching, but why only people doing power trails should get persecuted for it is beyond me.

 

There is a bit of a difference. I'd say there are very few families that set up team accounts for the sole purpose of splitting up and racking up numbers on a power trail.

 

As has been mentioned,, power trails like ET and 66 can be done using geocaching techniques. That is where you use a gpsr to locate the cache, sign the log, then replace everything back the way you found it. But,, most people who do these trails are doing them to see how many they can log so just about anything goes. Imo, people who do these things aren't geocaching.

[+Uncle Alaska]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

[+L0ne.R]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

 

I'm not crazy about the word cheating when it comes to geocaching. Maybe because it's a leisurely pastime and not a competitive sport. One's finds is a personal thing.

 

But it does start to bother me when it effects sportsmanship* and shapes the mindset of the pastime. It glorifies numbers over good sportsmanlike* practices.

 

If a family uses a family name and doesn't boast about their numbers that's fine, it doesn't effect the game. It's a personal way that they handle recording what caches they've visited as a family, both individually and together. When asked about their numbers they let people know that they combine their finds into one family account. No deception, it's simply a way they like to keep track of their families finds.

 

But when people come in to the forums and boast about their numbers, claim it's possible to find extraordinary amounts of caches in a single day, this attitude effects the pastime, and turns it into a free-for-all no-holds-barred competitive game, encouraging others to emulate this behaviour. These competitors ten to let people assume they found caches by the original rules, until the actual method is pried out of them. Often, they carry a sackful of pill bottles of which 30% of their finds were the pill bottles they tossed out, and the other 70% were caches they took from one place and moved to another place, That's poor sportsmanship*.

 

*Sportsmanship (or sometimes sportspersonship) is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.

[+wmpastor]

I have recently been introduced to geocaching by a friend and although I haven't actually been out caching yet, work gets in the way, but I am an outdoors and adventurous type. He has invited me to go to Nevada next year where he tells me there are trails where you can accumulate huge numbers of finds in one day. I have looked at some of the numbers recorded by people in my local community and indeed some people have recorded finds of 700+ and 800+ finds a day according to their statistics.

 

These are certainly fantastic numbers and got me extremely excited until I started thinking about the practicalities of such an undertaking. By my calculations (using the stats for one anonymous individual in my locality who has recorded 873 finds in one day) 873 finds in one day works out at just over 90 seconds per find over a 24 hour period.

 

My questions are simple, how does one prepare for this?

 

i) How fit do I need to be to sustain that kind of activity for 24 hours?

ii) How does one eat or drink anything without making yourself sick?

iii) How do I go to the bathroom?

iV) How do you find and log the cache whilst driving a vehicle or is it actually quicker to run (in the desert?) the 528 feet between each cache in just 90 seconds?

 

Anyone who can fill in the gaps I would love to hear from especially the people who have achieved similar feats, hats off to you!

 

Most of the questions have been answered, but a few points to tie up loose ends. Food and drinks should be in the car - this is a "business" trip and even getting a sandwich at 7-11 is a big waste of time.

 

I've never heard of someone running or biking on the trail. It's about numbers, not exercise, right?!

 

Your question 3 was not answered. I wonder also whether that activity is done indoors or out. If numbers rule, use the great outdoors, like our ancestors did!

[+CanadianRockies]

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

But if a two-person team is together while looking for a cache, then that would be "cheating" as well, since there's an extra pair of eyeballs helping with the search.

 

If geocaching was a competitive sport, then it would make sense to allow only one person per account, since that would make it easier (but still hopeless) to fairly compare numbers across different accounts. But I think geocaching still is more of a fun, family activity rather than a serious, competitive sport.

[jholly]

I have recently been introduced to geocaching by a friend and although I haven't actually been out caching yet, work gets in the way, but I am an outdoors and adventurous type. He has invited me to go to Nevada next year where he tells me there are trails where you can accumulate huge numbers of finds in one day. I have looked at some of the numbers recorded by people in my local community and indeed some people have recorded finds of 700+ and 800+ finds a day according to their statistics.

 

These are certainly fantastic numbers and got me extremely excited until I started thinking about the practicalities of such an undertaking. By my calculations (using the stats for one anonymous individual in my locality who has recorded 873 finds in one day) 873 finds in one day works out at just over 90 seconds per find over a 24 hour period.

 

My questions are simple, how does one prepare for this?

 

i) How fit do I need to be to sustain that kind of activity for 24 hours?

ii) How does one eat or drink anything without making yourself sick?

iii) How do I go to the bathroom?

iV) How do you find and log the cache whilst driving a vehicle or is it actually quicker to run (in the desert?) the 528 feet between each cache in just 90 seconds?

 

Anyone who can fill in the gaps I would love to hear from especially the people who have achieved similar feats, hats off to you!

 

Most of the questions have been answered, but a few points to tie up loose ends. Food and drinks should be in the car - this is a "business" trip and even getting a sandwich at 7-11 is a big waste of time.

 

I've never heard of someone running or biking on the trail. It's about numbers, not exercise, right?!

 

Your question 3 was not answered. I wonder also whether that activity is done indoors or out. If numbers rule, use the great outdoors, like our ancestors did!

In regards to question 3, your 40 miles from the nearest form of civilization, there is lots of sage brush around. Where do you think all those cows go when they have to go?

[+Uncle Alaska]

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

But if a two-person team is together while looking for a cache, then that would be "cheating" as well, since there's an extra pair of eyeballs helping with the search.

 

If geocaching was a competitive sport, then it would make sense to allow only one person per account, since that would make it easier (but still hopeless) to fairly compare numbers across different accounts. But I think geocaching still is more of a fun, family activity rather than a serious, competitive sport.

 

You wouldn't know it if you spent much time in these forums...

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

 

No, I don't agree that all "cheating" is the same. Cheating on a cross word puzzle is not the same as cheating on one income taxes.

 

 

[knowschad]

You wouldn't know it if you spent much time in these forums...

 

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

My rule is that I must be present to log a find under my "team" name. Some of my kids have their own accounts but it's rare for them to go caching without me and log it online.

[+jwmoe1973]

Another way I have seen to get the high numbers, is several people form a team for a day or whatever they then split a power trail along a highway like RT 66 or similiar. One or two of the cachers per car, one car per section. All cars signing the same name to the logs, then at the end of the day every cacher involved logs every single cache by "We signed as Team Whatever".

 

What some people do for the numbers, huh.

Of course, this has been going on for years without power trails in play. There are many "Team" cachers (husband/wife and/or family) logging caches. Husband on business trip in Italy logging caches on the same day wife and kids are logging caches along a bike path in Arizona....all under one team name.

 

Perhaps, but a family could be geocaching for 10 years with one of them taking an occasional business trip while the other finds a few caches at home and it wouldn't add up to the number of caches one could "find" by driving a vehicle along the ET highway in a single day.

 

Why should total numbers matter? Cheating is cheating, right? If ALL members of said "team" are not present to find and log the cache, then its not geocaching...right?

 

I'm not crazy about the word cheating when it comes to geocaching. Maybe because it's a leisurely pastime and not a competitive sport. One's finds is a personal thing.

 

But it does start to bother me when it effects sportsmanship* and shapes the mindset of the pastime. It glorifies numbers over good sportsmanlike* practices.

 

If a family uses a family name and doesn't boast about their numbers that's fine, it doesn't effect the game. It's a personal way that they handle recording what caches they've visited as a family, both individually and together. When asked about their numbers they let people know that they combine their finds into one family account. No deception, it's simply a way they like to keep track of their families finds.

 

But when people come in to the forums and boast about their numbers, claim it's possible to find extraordinary amounts of caches in a single day, this attitude effects the pastime, and turns it into a free-for-all no-holds-barred competitive game, encouraging others to emulate this behaviour. These competitors ten to let people assume they found caches by the original rules, until the actual method is pried out of them. Often, they carry a sackful of pill bottles of which 30% of their finds were the pill bottles they tossed out, and the other 70% were caches they took from one place and moved to another place, That's poor sportsmanship*.

 

*Sportsmanship (or sometimes sportspersonship) is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.

 

"Plan to bring at least 50 film canisters with logs (for cache maintenance along the way)". And THAT's how to find 116 caches in an hour. Why even stop? Just toss 'em out the window every 1/10th of a mile. SMH... Not my kind of game.

[+jellis]

Didn't someone agree that 3 cache monte was acceptable since Moun10bike did it?

As a team in our car, we had the driver, spotter, runner and stamper. We are in sight of the cache and within a respectable distance. Team name is on each log (using a stamp is quicker then writing names). We did not split up and conquer and we did not leap frog (since we only had one vehicle).

 

But warning if you do decide to do it, best to have a minivan with sliding door, stamp with team names, plenty of food and water. We did not spend the whole time caching the power trail, your mind will melt. We did take some bathroom breaks and also cache other types of caches to break up the monotony. Don't bother trying to break the record. Just have fun....

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Didn't someone agree that 3 cache monte was acceptable since Moun10bike did it?

 

 

Someone tried to argue that 3 cache monte was acceptable since Moun10bike did it but I'm not sure that he convinced anyone else but himself.

[+cheech gang]

Didn't someone agree that 3 cache monte was acceptable since Moun10bike did it?

 

 

Someone tried to argue that 3 cache monte was acceptable since Moun10bike did it but I'm not sure that he convinced anyone else but himself.

 

Exactly.

[+Ben0w]

these individuals with crazy numbers seem to be revered as demigods?

Just ridicolous...

 

I enjoy my own numbers (since I know how they were archieved) and am in no way impressed just by someone other's find count (since I don't know how this was collected). I might be impressed by the background story. This even may include a story around doing a real power trail.

 

Numbers alone aren't impressive, the stories behind them are!

 

(BTW, same is true about favourite points - you simply don't know why they are given unless told)

[+jellis]

these individuals with crazy numbers seem to be revered as demigods?

Just ridicolous...

 

I enjoy my own numbers (since I know how they were archieved) and am in no way impressed just by someone other's find count (since I don't know how this was collected). I might be impressed by the background story. This even may include a story around doing a real power trail.

 

Numbers alone aren't impressive, the stories behind them are!

 

(BTW, same is true about favourite points - you simply don't know why they are given unless told)

I agree with that. The number #1 now in California is so humble you wouldn't even notice him.

 

edit to add: it is NOT Alamogul!!!!

Edited May 22, 2015 by jellis

[jholly]

these individuals with crazy numbers seem to be revered as demigods?

Just ridicolous...

 

I enjoy my own numbers (since I know how they were archieved) and am in no way impressed just by someone other's find count (since I don't know how this was collected). I might be impressed by the background story. This even may include a story around doing a real power trail.

 

Numbers alone aren't impressive, the stories behind them are!

 

(BTW, same is true about favourite points - you simply don't know why they are given unless told)

I agree with that. The number #1 now in California is so humble you wouldn't even notice him.

 

edit to add: it is NOT Alamogul!!!!

 

Huh !?!

 

California

Alamogul is listed as 115244.

Materus is listed as 64616.

 

Worldwide

Alamogul is listed as 115244.

Bobcam is listed as 100949.

 

Seems Alamogul is still top dog. What list are you looking at?

[+jellis]

Yes Alamogul shows #1 on the Leaderboard for the state but he is no longer a resident of this state, he is a resident of Nevada now, though he still has a house here and is here most of the time. So technically Materus is #1 for California. And if anyone has met him would know what I am talking about him being overlooked because he blends in with the crowd.

This is when we use to cache together

Edited May 22, 2015 by jellis