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All Hide, No Seek


edexter

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dprovan wrote: "And, really, I would say the one core quality is "seek". (Not "no seek", whatever that means.) "Hide" itself is, from my point of view, no longer a core quality"

 

Ok, I think I finally understand your position: "Seeking the cache" is what matters to you: but not the hike, not the view, not the terrain, not the hide, not the cache container, not the creativity in cache design or the cache page, not the uniqueness of the markers or the historical interest of the area it all boils down to "seek". So you are looking for an object and how you get there doesn't matter much and neither does how it is hidden...

 

Here's the definition of seek

verb. sought (sôt), seek·ing, seeks

verb .tr.

1. To try to locate or discover; search for

2. To endeavor to obtain or reach:

3. To go to or toward:

 

Well, assuming others share your view which seems likely, you have successfully explained the explosion of curbside micros to my satisfaction. When driving to within feet of an object hidden only well enough to avoid detection by a passerby meets your one core value for a quality cache it does explain both why the game has changed so much and why you don't recognize the changes as an obvious decline in quality. The metaphor "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater comes to mind" but...too late.

Based on this logic, I will define "all hide, no seek" for you by use of a simile: It's like "all hat, no cattle"

edexter

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dprovan wrote: "And, really, I would say the one core quality is "seek". (Not "no seek", whatever that means.) "Hide" itself is, from my point of view, no longer a core quality"

 

Ok, I think I finally understand your position: "Seeking the cache" is what matters to you: but not the hike, not the view, not the terrain, not the hide, not the cache container, not the creativity in cache design or the cache page, not the uniqueness of the markers or the historical interest of the area it all boils down to "seek". So you are looking for an object and how you get there doesn't matter much and neither does how it is hidden...

Wait a minute. We're talking about core values for the sport. This has nothing to do with what matters to me. As it happens, for me it's really all about how I get there, although unlike you -- apparently -- I can work out fun ways to get somewhere even when one possibility is to drive up and park right next to it.

 

But even if I didn't have other priorities, having one core value doesn't make other values irrelevant. It just means they are not essential to any given cache.

 

Well, assuming others share your view which seems likely, you have successfully explained the explosion of curbside micros to my satisfaction. When driving to within feet of an object hidden only well enough to avoid detection by a passerby meets your one core value for a quality cache it does explain both why the game has changed so much and why you don't recognize the changes as an obvious decline in quality. The metaphor "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater comes to mind" but...too late.

When I say "core value", I mean that value which all caches must have. I don't mean it's the only value that applies, nor do I mean that having that one value automatically makes a cache good. What I'm objecting to is the contrary claim that the core value of geocaching walking in nature. There are many possible ways to make a cache good, several of which can be applied even if the cache happens to be near parking. I have no problem with a value system that says hiking caches have a lot of value, but I deny that caches that don't involve a hike are, by definition, low quality.

 

But, yes, it explains why curbside caches are so popular: walking is no longer consider a requirement. I think most cachers like to walk and don't consider a hike an inherent negative, but they also don't consider it a requirement.

 

Based on this logic, I will define "all hide, no seek" for you by use of a simile: It's like "all hat, no cattle"

OK, fair enough. So my point is that your complaint amounts to saying "all hat, no cattle" to people who are wearing hats for sun protection.

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Stumbled upon this thread several years too late... I recently moved from RI to AK and I have to say that the change in cache types here is amazingly refreshing. While I have nothing against a park and grab (and in fact often prefer them when I'm doing a road trip) nothing quite beats claiming a smiley at the end of a hike. Recently I've been sorting caches by "last found" and going for those lonely caches in an effort to find good hiking ones. So long as the last few logs haven't been DNFs odds are good that they're caches at the end of a good hike.

 

Went on a  two mile hike yesterday and gained 750' to claim a cache that hadn't been found in 18 months. Perfectly dry, stocked with swag and despite the rain, was an exhilarating find. 

 

That being said, I definitely used Edexer's bookmarks when I was in RI to target some caches... You actually helped introduce me to the FisheadJr caches in Tiverton area!

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