High Cache Finds: Are They Real?

[+FYR_Now]

We've been Caching since 2007 on Geocaching.com  We took a break for a while and are now back at it.  What has me puzzled is the crazy amount of cache finds people are claiming.  For example, people are reporting finding 300 finds in a weekend.  If they slept for 8 hours each day and spent the remaining full 32 hours caching, they would need to find 9+ caches an hour.  Unless they are spaced out at .1 mile, how is that even possible?  Seems like an impossible find pattern.

 

Thoughts?  Ideas?

[+Max and 99]

4 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

We've been Caching since 2007 on Geocaching.com  We took a break for a while and are now back at it.  What has me puzzled is the crazy amount of cache finds people are claiming.  For example, people are reporting finding 300 finds in a weekend.  If they slept for 8 hours each day and spent the remaining full 32 hours caching, they would need to find 9+ caches an hour.  Unless they are spaced out at .1 mile, how is that even possible?  Seems like an impossible find pattern.

 

Thoughts?  Ideas?

There are many, many discussions on the forums about incredibly high numbers, especially in short time. Here is just one of those discussions you might enjoy reading. Watch the video too.

[+barefootjeff]

8 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

Unless they are spaced out at .1 mile, how is that even possible?

 

Yes, there are many power trails where the caches are just that - quick and easy finds every 0.1 mile. There's even a Power Trail attribute now. For me, though, once I get past seven or eight in a day my subsconscious starts saying "Can we go home yet?"

[+FYR_Now]

6 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

There are many, many discussions on the forums about incredibly high numbers, especially in short time. Here is just one of those discussions you might enjoy reading. Watch the video too.

9000 caches in a single year.  63000 caches in 10 years.  I gotta call foul on finds like that.  How can that actually happen?

[+FYR_Now]

3 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Yes, there are many power trails where the caches are just that - quick and easy finds every 0.1 mile. There's even a Power Trail attribute now. For me, though, once I get past seven or eight in a day my subsconscious starts saying "Can we go home yet?"

Sure, we've seen those.  But they don't go on for miles and miles over days and days.  Allowing someone to accumulate 9000 caches in a single year.  63000 caches in a 10 year period.  Something aint smelling like roses...

[+Wadcutter]

12-13 years ago someone put out a power trail not too far from my house.  He had placed pill bottles every other power pole along country roads about every .1 mile.  They were all just stuck in the ground at the base of the pole.  Once you found a couple you knew where to look for the others as they were all the same.

My wife and I thought it would be fun to knock it out in one day.  It wasn't fun.  She drove and filled out a paper log.  I hopped out, found the cache, and signed the log.  It got boring.  After about 100 finds we talked of quitting.  Wasn't fun anymore.  We'd only been going a couple of hours so we took a break, got some lunch, then decided to go back and finish the power trail.  We logged 202 that day.  

We did another power trail a few miles from New Orleans a few years earlier.  IIRC we logged about 100 that day.  That one wasn't bad as the scenery was different than what we have at home.  But by the time we finished for the day I was tired of climbing in and out of our truck.

We've done a couple of other 100+ days that weren't power trails but in a saturated area.  The change of scenery and variety of caches made it more tolerable.  

[+Mudfrog]

It hasn't been mentioned yet but there are some unsavory methods that people have come up with to speed things up. Teams splitting up to cover more ground and three cache monte are a couple. 

 

That being said, finding 300 over a weekend, using proper geocaching etiquette, wouldn't be all that difficult given the right circumstances. For instance, a power trail along side a road with identical hides, a dedicated crew, and a lot of coffee. 

 

Myself, I don't like power trails. I feel the condoning of them has hurt geocaching as a whole. 

[+MNTA]

I agree it's doable but would I call it fun? No way. Did 103 + 5 challenges. Heck of a lot of driving ~500 miles getting where I started to get to the power trail and then home. I was glad to have done it and finished 100 solo but I doubt I'll ever try again. Was no fun. I was so tired of getting in and out of the car. Even stopped doing the seat belt after a bit.  

 

Probably averaged 5+ minutes per cache.

 

 

[+kunarion]

4 hours ago, FYR_Now said:

9000 caches in a single year.  63000 caches in 10 years.  I gotta call foul on finds like that.  How can that actually happen?

 

I rode with a husband and wife team one time, as they came through town.  They contacted me, and I met up with them, but I was too slow to follow them in my car.  Obviously, it's find-sign-find-sign the whole time.  PAFs, lots of PAFs.  They blew through town, then dropped me off, because they were on their way to other towns.  It was an eye-opener for sure.  If you wonder how it's done, traveling with power cachers is a way to find out.

 

I really don't care, and I also don't care to cache like that.  I'm too slow for most any caching group. I take pictures, including pictures of my own TBs and TBs in the cache, I may do some work on unscrambling a few logs of TBs that aren't in there, trade some Swag, return the container to its spot, create the unique log story specifically for each cache, and check out the place.  I may even stay so long, I skip the rest of the caches on my list that day.  I have no interest in "9000 caches in a single year", even though I understand how they do it.  They enjoy that, more power to them.

 

By the way, I recently learned that this caching duo kind of "burned out"...

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by kunarion

[+niraD]

10 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

That being said, finding 300 over a weekend, using proper geocaching etiquette, wouldn't be all that difficult given the right circumstances. For instance, a power trail along side a road with identical hides, a dedicated crew, and a lot of coffee. 

You don't even need a dedicated crew. Years ago, a solo cacher on a motorcycle got more than 300 in a single day on one of the numbers trails in Nevada. There were no divide-and-conquer shenanigans, no three cache monte, no shortcuts of any kind. Just a lot of identical caches along a desert highway and someone willing to do the same thing over and over and over.

[+niraD]

8 hours ago, kunarion said:

If you wonder how it's done, traveling with power cachers is a way to find out.

I've met one of the high number power cachers. I haven't gone caching with him, but I know people who have. They said that it's hard to keep up with him. He moves quickly, finds caches quickly, signs logs quickly, replaces caches quickly, and moves on to the next cache quickly. He's retired and he travels a lot, so he is always visiting new locations and finding LOTS of caches there.

[+Wacka]

I've been caching with him. There was an event in a town in the general area. There were 25 mysteries  and everybody had to go to one general area to find  the info needed. Then we wet back to the event area to make sure everybody got the info.  When alll 25  coords were solved, people went out to find the caches.  I was in his car and he said "Everybody is starting near here. Let's go to the other side of town and work our way back. We ended up getting all 25 and had 15 FTFs on them. as nariD and people above said  he signed first and was already racing back to the car  before you could sign.

Edited December 23, 2024 by Wacka

[+Smitherington]

My best day for a long time was 85 when I found all the caches of some geoart in Michigan.  It involved solving, preplanning, making maps, and starting early.  It was challenging long day, but rewarding.

 

I surpassed that later with Adventure Labs but it was not nearly as rewarding.

 

I have not tried a power trail and I usually cache alone and take a photo of my trackables with the log so my numbers will never be high.

 

Cache the way you want to.  For most of us it is not a competition.

[+GeoElmo6000]

It's possible if you're dedicated, but now the numbers are skewed with the introduction of Adventures / lab caches.  Finding lab caches is an easy way to artificially boost your numbers using unmemorable non-caches (lab caches are not actually geocaches).  I have 1500 finds over 10+ years and, if I wanted to, I can drive today to a rest stop in my state of New Jersey and collect hundreds of "finds" without moving from a single spot, probably within an hour or a few.  I chose to create a second account for lab caches so as to keep my find count separate (though I have around 10 lab caches from before I made that decision).

 

Play the way you want to play and don't worry about other people's numbers.  

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by GeoElmo6000

[+CAVinoGal]

12 hours ago, kunarion said:

  I'm too slow for most any caching group. I take pictures, including pictures of my own TBs and TBs in the cache, I may do some work on unscrambling a few logs of TBs that aren't in there, trade some Swag, return the container to its spot, create the unique log story specifically for each cache, and check out the place.

 

That's my style of geocaching too!  I've done one, sort of power trail, that had a cache on every other power pole along a straightaway country road.  We needed 30 more caches for a monthly challenge of 100, something like that, and there were like 80 caches along this road.  We hit our 30 and we were DONE, it really got to be work!

 

Our highest finds in a day was 40, and that was doing only 1/2 of a geoart in the desert; we did the other half like a year later.  Typically, after 5 or 6 finds, hubby will ask, "Had enough fun yet?" and we will stop for the day!

 

Our highest finds in a year was in 2018, 900+, but we set a goal to do at least one cache a day for the year; when we traveled we did more than one.  We won't be doing another year long streak again!  We're not about the numbers, we're about enjoying the experiences geocaching brings us, and the friends we have met through this hobby.

[+niraD]

16 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

That being said, finding 300 over a weekend, using proper geocaching etiquette, wouldn't be all that difficult given the right circumstances. For instance, a power trail along side a road with identical hides, a dedicated crew, and a lot of coffee.

You don't even need a modern numbers trail. Back before modern numbers trails were allowed, a team set a "new record" of about 300 finds in a day (midnight to midnight). There was a lot of planning beforehand, and they did take one questionable shortcut (signing the outside of some containers, rather than signing the log inside the container). But that shortcut didn't really save them all that much time. And with similar planning in a similar cache-dense area, it should be possible to find 300 in a 24-hour day with no shortcuts of any kind.

[+cerberus1]

20 hours ago, FYR_Now said:

...  What has me puzzled is the crazy amount of cache finds people are claiming.  For example, people are reporting finding 300 finds in a weekend.  If they slept for 8 hours each day and spent the remaining full 32 hours caching, they would need to find 9+ caches an hour.  Unless they are spaced out at .1 mile, how is that even possible?  Seems like an impossible find pattern.

Thoughts?  Ideas?

Yeah... it's supposedly possible.  I don't see how either.  Just bathroom breaks messes that "timing" thing up...

By stats, Groundspeak says my "best day" was only 31, and it wasn't close to my best day. 

MY best day was one cache with a lengthy walk and an awesome area...

Varied terrain, 31 caches every 580 feet (only 3 1/2 miles...) wasn't fun for me, even though one had my name on it.

I left PT jobs that were less boring...    

[+x7Kevin]

You might find this blog post interesting: 

 

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2013/11/116-geocaches-an-hour-and-aliens/

 

9+ finds an hour is no issue driving a power trail, and they usually are spaced the minimum distance or close to it. 

[+FYR_Now]

Thanks everyone.  I don't doubt you could follow a power trail and collect a bunch.  but there are only a finite number of those (stupid caches).  I am talking about people who cache 3000-6000 in a year.  That's 16 caches a day, every day of the year.  I call BS on that.

 

But I guess someone here said it best: cache your way.   We prefer traditional, hunt and seek caches.   Quick finds are fun from time to time but we like the challenge.  Our new caches are called Camo Cache #.   None will be easy park and caches.  
 

Good luck everyone.  Have fun.  Happy Holidays.

 

Cheers!

[+niraD]

11 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

I am talking about people who cache 3000-6000 in a year.  That's 16 caches a day, every day of the year.  I call BS on that.

Based on what evidence? The way you like to go geocaching, and the assumption that no one does it differently? I'm not a numbers-oriented geocacher myself. My best days geocaching have involved spending hours on a single find. My "Best Day" statistically was only 28 caches.

 

But those 28 caches took only a few hours. A few more hours would have brought the count into the 55-60 range. Do that twice, and I'd have the 115 needed each week for an annual count of 6000. That leaves 5 days to travel to a new location and find a new spot to spend a couple days finding a lot of caches. If you're retired, spend a lot of time traveling, and spend a lot of time geocaching, then these numbers aren't at all impossible. The only question is whether you want to keep it up for years.

 

That kind of geocaching isn't for me. It isn't for most people. But for the few that it appeals to, those kinds of find counts are completely reasonable.

[+GeoElmo6000]

33 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

I am talking about people who cache 3000-6000 in a year.  That's 16 caches a day, every day of the year.  I call BS on that.

 

I don't cache that way either, but don't call BS just because you wouldn't do it that way.  I knew personally a guy who was local and retired who found 50 caches every day and didn't miss a day from 2007 until just before he died not that long ago.  People have their priorities and for some it's geocaching.  Some have the time and the means and resources to geocache a lot and so they do.

 

33 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

We prefer traditional, hunt and seek caches.   Quick finds are fun from time to time but we like the challenge. 

 

That's great for you and I hope you enjoy.  But don't judge people for finding high numbers that include lots of park and grabs.

 

Again, play the way you want to play and don't worry about other people's numbers.  

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by GeoElmo6000

[+barefootjeff]

16 minutes ago, FYR_Now said:

I don't doubt you could follow a power trail and collect a bunch.  but there are only a finite number of those (stupid caches).

 

A finite number, yes, but a quick search shows that globally there are over 130,000 with the Power Trail attribute. In the USA there are 30,000 and across Europe there looks to be some 70,000. Plenty of fodder for the numbers-chasers in those parts of the world.

 

At home, there are no power trails in my region and the nearest one, the Dog's Head Trail, is about 100km north. It consists of 215 caches set along rural roads that form the shape of a dog's head. A bit further up the coast is the Mid North Coast Wander made up of a bit over 150 caches. There are a good number of cachers around here with find counts above 10,000 but getting there takes a lot of traveling. There are plenty of retirees here who buy a camper van and spend years driving all over the country, and a cacher doing that could easily average 16 caches a day. I'd be bored with it after the first week, which is probably why my longest streak is 7 days and my "best" day is 25 finds, the latter done with a group of friends along part of a kayaking power trail in southern Sydney, but there are many others who relish in that kind of repetitive activity.

[+Goldenwattle]

It does assist some people that when they have a DNF they log a find anyway.

[+ecanderson]

We don't have any big power trail days, either.

 

What we do have is a day of finding 'normal' caches in a target rich area we'd never cached before, and setting our daily total record of 102 in the process.  Yup, 102 everyday caches between an 8:00 breakfast and sunset.

 

CoBiker and I didn't even realize we'd busted 100 until logging them all.  24 June 2014, all in the area of Brighton, Colorado.  What's amazing is how many of them have NOT yet been archived after all this time:

 

 

 

 

 

[+geodarts]

I had a friend who had found 10,000 caches before it was popular. Another person with even more numbers organized a series of caches in his honor. Soon after he got tired of getting up in the morning to find containers and quit “competitive caching.”  

 

It might have meant something in those days.  
 

Over the years the standards have gotten increasingly skewed.  By the time I did it, it was not something to even note. With the advent of repetitive caching (they are not powerful to me) and containers dropped in the nearest parking lot, it lost whatever meaning it had.  

 

The numbers quoted don’t seem far fetched for today.  But I am more impressed by people who would do a long hike for a single cache.   

[+thebruce0]

22 hours ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

It's possible if you're dedicated, but now the numbers are skewed with the introduction of Adventures / lab caches.  Finding lab caches is an easy way to artificially boost your numbers using unmemorable non-caches (lab caches are not actually geocaches).

 

This is a very significant point these days, and another reason why using challenge caches for statistics is actually more informative than just smiley counts. I don't put much weight at all these days on 'find counts', because "find" has almost lost all its meaning, at least per its initial intent. If you can get 300 smileys in 15 minutes at an airport counter, then 9000 in a day isn't outside of possibility in theory.  But stick your stats through a checker that says how many physical caches you've found, and the number may imply something very different. Apply any combination of filters for even more views on someone's 'accomplishments' are. Of course there's also non-testable factors in the stats as well, like was cache with a scuba attribute really requiring a scuba dive? People may have 1000 scuba caches in a day, just because they did a power trail where the CO added the attribute to make them more easily searchable.

 

So you always need to take stats with a grain of salt. Unfortunately that now also applies more than ever to the general 'find' count.

 

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

Awhile back when I was at the peak of my caching, I did some calculations. If I was retired, traveled a lot, and cached frequently then it was very feasible for me to get at least 5,000 Finds in a year. No power trails, no cheating, no ALs. Just caching a lot in parks and preserves with high cache density. Teamwork (even honest teamwork), power trails, and now ALs (even legit ALs instead of the BS ones) certainly make 10,000/year achievable during the last decade.

 

The biggest factor is mentality. Most people find a few caches and call it a day. Even really enthusiastic cachers who travel a lot do a lot of sightseeing besides caching. The numbers hounds probably all share a similar hyper-competetive mindset. Several people in this thread have mentioned how fast they go. They're not just willing to play the game in a way most people aren't, they are compelled to do so. A relentless, obsessive pursuit of "winning." It's not just geocaching; these are the same kinds of people who try to set records for how fast they can complete the AT. Their lives are perpetual competition and they can't stop.

 

A psychology student could probably write an interesting masters thesis about number hounds.

 

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

Awhile back when I was at the peak of my caching, I did some calculations. If I was retired, traveled a lot, and cached frequently then it was very feasible for me to get at least 5,000 Finds in a year. No power trails, no cheating, no ALs. Just caching a lot in parks and preserves with high cache density. Teamwork (even honest teamwork), power trails, and now ALs (even legit ALs instead of the BS ones) certainly make 10,000/year achievable during the last decade.

 

The biggest factor is mentality. Most people find a few caches and call it a day. Even really enthusiastic cachers who travel a lot do a lot of sightseeing besides caching. The numbers hounds probably all share a similar hyper-competetive mindset. Several people in this thread have mentioned how fast they go. They're not just willing to play the game in a way most people aren't, they are compelled to do so. A relentless, obsessive pursuit of "winning." It's not just geocaching; these are the same kinds of people who try to set records for how fast they can complete the AT. Their lives are perpetual competition and they can't stop.

 

A psychology student could probably write an interesting masters thesis about number hounds.

 

 

What is the cache count where it becomes Too Many Finds, a suspicious number of caches? I've found 1822 caches. I know non-Geocachers who wonder why I don't get a life, they have no Finds and 1822 is unfathomable to them. That is, they believe that ZERO Geocaches is the suitable number.

 

I sometimes plot a route through a park, and I'll try for half of the caches, and then I keep going. Just to see if I can get them all. OK, maybe that's 10 caches. But it's not so that I will be Winning. It's just like potato chips. If these are great, weather's fine, and the place is nice, might as well keep going.

 

As you mentioned, in the case of retirement with lots of traveling, I might just keep hunting caches all the time. If I were to do that, my wish would be for everyone to NOT post about how it's Too Many and that I'm crazy and Must Be Cheating. Because what if I just like to travel everywhere and go get a lot of caches? It's my thing.

 

Edited December 25, 2024 by kunarion

[+niraD]

8 minutes ago, kunarion said:

As you mentioned, in the case of retirement with lots of traveling, I might just keep hunting caches all the time. If I were to do that, my wish would be for everyone to NOT post about how it's Too Many and that I'm crazy and Must Be Cheating. Because what if I just like to travel everywhere and go get a lot of caches? It's my thing.

Some people devote untold hours to building intricately detailed model railroads. Some people devote untold hours to collecting coins or stamps or ceramic unicorns. Some people devote untold hours to playing bridge.

 

Some people devote untold hours to finding hidden containers in the woods.

[+JL_HSTRE]

4 hours ago, niraD said:

Some people devote untold hours to finding hidden containers in the woods.

 

Or on roadsides and in parking lots.

[+FYR_Now]

 

On 12/23/2024 at 7:29 PM, geodarts said:

The numbers quoted don’t seem far fetched for today.  But I am more impressed by people who would do a long hike for a single cache.   

 

Amen to that!  Old school caching...

[+barefootjeff]

On 12/24/2024 at 11:29 AM, geodarts said:

But I am more impressed by people who would do a long hike for a single cache.

 

Of my 82 caching days this year, on exactly half (41) I've logged a single find. Some, like yesterday's train/ferry trip to Sydney harbour, were specifically to attend an event, some have been unintentional when I've failed to find all but one of the caches I've been going for, some were for the rare new cache close to home, but also many were a long drive and a hike or kayak paddle just for one appealing cache. Those are generally my "best" days, not the days when I've found lots of caches.

[+igator210]

On 12/23/2024 at 5:16 PM, FYR_Now said:

Thanks everyone.  I don't doubt you could follow a power trail and collect a bunch.  but there are only a finite number of those (stupid caches).  I am talking about people who cache 3000-6000 in a year.  That's 16 caches a day, every day of the year.  I call BS on that.

 

But I guess someone here said it best: cache your way.   We prefer traditional, hunt and seek caches.   Quick finds are fun from time to time but we like the challenge.  Our new caches are called Camo Cache #.   None will be easy park and caches.  
 

Good luck everyone.  Have fun.  Happy Holidays.

 

Cheers!

Take a look at the desert regions of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Miles and miles of fairly flat open land. You could do 200 caches every weekend and not run out of caches for a few years. There are people that are retired and have turned caching into a full time hobby.

[+JoLTeam]

This guy is the champion of fast:

https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=746fa799-4d3f-4826-8110-ee62141fd2dc&wid=2fb850f6-fb8d-4708-a89a-99ba02d67665&ds=2

 

But he seems to be banned now. Does anyone know what happened?

[+BooBooBee]

The thing is: we all play this game whatever way works for us. I'm not into power trails, and while I've had my obsessive periods, in 20 years I've found just over 1,500 caches. Our playing has ebbed and flowed as the family has grown and our local, relatively rural community has also offered limitations. I'm not into power caching (numbers alone don't do it for me), but I have friends who have done 24-hour runs (how many can the team get with lots of coffee, a driver, a grabber and a signer?) and they have a ball and make memories together.

I don't really care how other people play, but THAT they play. Now...as a HIDER...I take issue with power cachers who claim they've found a 5/5 as an "easy park and grab" in their travels. Clearly, they didn't go to the cache. I've removed a handful of fake finds in my years, but they have to be pretty blatant. I don't just eliminate those who don't sign logs (how many caches have I been to where my pen has dried up or my pencil disappeared?), but these fake claims combined with no sig? Yah....play the game however you want, but don't make suckers out of others.

[+MNTA]

5 hours ago, JoLTeam said:

This guy is the champion of fast:

https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=746fa799-4d3f-4826-8110-ee62141fd2dc&wid=2fb850f6-fb8d-4708-a89a-99ba02d67665&ds=2

 

But he seems to be banned now. Does anyone know what happened?

No clue but he did find one of my remote caches that is close to GC194 back in 2022. Unfortunately the cache went missing and had to be replaced so never verified if it was signed or not.

 

The only way I have come up with to actually prove a find is to take a picture of the log with the signature on it, Though that is not popular with many. 

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, MNTA said:

The only way I have come up with to actually prove a find is to take a picture of the log with the signature on it, Though that is not popular with many.

 

I sometimes include a photo of the log with my online log, particularly if it's a FTF or if I've abbreviated my name to BFJ to save space on a narrow page, but not because I expect my find to be challenged. I'm not even sure why I do it, it's just a part of my caching history I suppose and perhaps the CO might find it useful to save them a visit if they're curious about the names ahead of mine or the condition of their log. The other occasions I've done it have been when the log is such a wet lump of paper mache that none of my assorted pens or pencils will leave a legible mark on it, but that's pretty rare.

 

I hope I'm never in a situation where I'm asked to prove a find because to me the game should be played on trust and honour. As a CO, most of the times when I've seen a mismatch between my logbook and an online log have turned out to be an honest mistake, particularly with app-only players who can't delete or edit a log if they accidently tap on the wrong cache or select the wrong log type. It's only when I've had no reply at all to multiple attempts at contacting them that I've resorted to deleting the log. If in such circumstances someone provides a reasonable reply, I'll take them at their word and let the log stand. Some things aren't worth arguing over, particularly in a small community where the player whose log you're questioning might be hosting the next event you attend.

 

But I've probably been lucky, no doubt there are places, personality clashes or outright cheats where the honour system breaks down, and maybe then posting log photos as a matter of course is a good way to avoid trouble. I hope it never comes to that here as it would take a lot of the fun out of the game.

Edited January 3 by barefootjeff

[+Goldenwattle]

Some COs support non finds, which is unfortunate. They don't replace their caches and don't care when people log a cache they couldn't find. Then some reviewers are very slow to react and archive those caches which are NEVER being maintained. Not talking about remote caches here, but city ones. I'm not naming and shaming, but the situation I am thinking of (not in Australia) the reviewer by not archiving these caches while some people continue to log what doesn't exist. This is unfair on those who do log DNFs, as I did. This is going on for almost a year. The CO says they replaced the cache (they obviously are lying and checking their latest cache finds they no long live anywhere near these caches), people still can't find the caches, however a few log finds (and get away with it), saying they couldn't find it but hope the CO will accept a photo. - this is how some people get lots of finds - cheat). Someone does a NM , the reviewer might come in and do a warning. The CO does another lying 'replaced cache' and so it continues. The DNFs and cheating lying finds continue. And the cache, which doesn't exist, isn't archived. They way this is playing out, this will go on for years.

Edited January 3 by Goldenwattle

[+Goldenwattle]

5 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

I hope I'm never in a situation where I'm asked to prove a find

Several years ago I was asked once for proof. I was not offended and thought highly of the CO for doing their job. I was able to describe the cache, where it was hidden, the paved surface where I parked my car (because it was not the more usual bitumen or gravel), etc. The cache was a motley bunch of rolled up paper, so no wonder they couldn't find my signature in that mess. I never heard back, so my answer must have been accepted. Because of that, I still can picture all this😀 about that cache. Otherwise after all these years it's doubtful I would have retained a picture in my head of this.

 

[+baer2006]

17 hours ago, JoLTeam said:

This guy is the champion of fast:

https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=746fa799-4d3f-4826-8110-ee62141fd2dc&wid=2fb850f6-fb8d-4708-a89a-99ba02d67665&ds=2

 

But he seems to be banned now. Does anyone know what happened?

Maybe just slightly too many obvious mass fake logs?

 

I know the user name - my home area is not too far away from his home country, and every now and then he "rampaged" through the area logging really a lot of caches. At one time, he hit several of mine, and while wondering if the finds were legitimate (turned out later they were not, and I deleted them), I checked what else he found on that day. Turned out that his alleged cache tour went through 3 countries in 3 days, included 100+ high-T caches in the mountains, and had a total length which is physically impossible to cover within 72 hours. Let's just say that afterwards I was a lot less impressed by his (then) ~100K finds .

[+JL_HSTRE]

10 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Some COs support non finds, which is unfortunate. They don't replace their caches and don't care when people log a cache they couldn't find. Then some reviewers are very slow to react and archive those caches which are NEVER being maintained. Not talking about remote caches here, but city ones. I'm not naming and shaming, but the situation I am thinking of (not in Australia) the reviewer by not archiving these caches while some people continue to log what doesn't exist. 

 

There was a foreign geocacher who "visited" Florida a few years ago who suspiciously seemed to target caches with inactive COs (who couldn't check the logs) plus Earthcaches and Virtuals (answers might be shared online or otherwise figured out through online searching). As the kids would say: it was very sus.

[+baer2006]

10 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I hope I'm never in a situation where I'm asked to prove a find because to me the game should be played on trust and honour.

Unless you cache in an area, where nobody has ever heard of you, I really doubt that anyone would ask you for a find proof .

 

Anyway, I personally could almost never "prove" my find (with a photo), but after 25K+ finds only once had my find log deleted, because the CO suspected I hadn't found the cache{*}. That was because of a peculiar log sequence: When I started searching, the last 2 or 3 logs were DNFs. I searched anyway, and found it, but not where the hint said. I replaced it to match the hint, but there were many possible spots (and I got it wrong). Before I got home to log my find, the CO had disabled the cache, because he checked on the DNFs and couldn't find the cache. Of course I logged my find anyway, explaining that I might have misplaced it. A short time later, my log was deleted by the CO, saying something like "There are too many people fake-logging disabled caches". I didn't care so much (it was just another 1.5/1.5 trad), but explained to the CO exactly where I placed the cache. And indeed, a few days later I got a message from him, that he found the container and my name on the logsheet, and that I could reinstate my find. I wasn't really annoyed at all by all this, because it was an interesting contrast to the many other COs, who don't care at all if their caches are missing, and people post "Didn't find it, but log a find anyway" logs.

 

 

{*} I had a handful of logs deleted by disgruntled COs, because they didn't like my constructive criticism in the log .

[+JL_HSTRE]

Fun facts:

 

2010 was the first time any cachers logged 10,000+ Finds in a year. Not coincidentally this was the year Power Trails were allowed.

 

in 2011, the first cacher hit 50,000 lifetime Finds.

 

As of the end of 2024, there are at least 50 accounts with 100,000+ lifetime Finds, including 2 with over 200,000. Some of these cachers have over 25,000 Finds in a single year.

[+Goldenwattle]

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

 

There was a foreign geocacher who "visited" Florida a few years ago who suspiciously seemed to target caches with inactive COs (who couldn't check the logs) plus Earthcaches and Virtuals (answers might be shared online or otherwise figured out through online searching). As the kids would say: it was very sus.

I hadn't thought of that. It's possible some might be doing that, but others supplied pictures of them there. I also supplied a photograph to prove I was there for some of them, but still logged a DNF, as there was  no log to sign. I wasn't the only one who logged a DNF to be annoyed at these cheats. Others made comment too about them.

[+CAVinoGal]

On 1/3/2025 at 5:22 AM, JL_HSTRE said:

As of the end of 2024, there are at least 50 accounts with 100,000+ lifetime Finds, including 2 with over 200,000.

 

I personally know ONE of the 100,000+ cachers, and he is legitimate.  We've met at several events over the years; I've found his (and his wife's) hidden caches, he's found mine.  He and his wife are good people, and he HAS found all of those 100,000+ caches!  In fact, my son has a challenge cache out there to make the cache find one of your milestones, and he made it his #100,000 find, and I felt honored for my son that he would do that.  He's just a genuinely NICE guy, and honest, and just loves to geocache!  He must be late 70's, early 80's, but fit, and healthy, and out there finding caches!

 

One of the two 200,000+ cachers is fairly "local" to me; I've never met him but I know several cachers who have (my son included in that) and who have gone on cache trips with him.  He's logged several of my hidden caches...let's say I have my doubts about some of those logs, but I can't prove anything - his signature is on the log, whether it was actually him that signed it or not.  Let it go...

 

[+JoLTeam]

On 1/3/2025 at 1:55 PM, baer2006 said:

Maybe just slightly too many obvious mass fake logs?

 

I know the user name - my home area is not too far away from his home country, and every now and then he "rampaged" through the area logging really a lot of caches. At one time, he hit several of mine, and while wondering if the finds were legitimate (turned out later they were not, and I deleted them), I checked what else he found on that day. Turned out that his alleged cache tour went through 3 countries in 3 days, included 100+ high-T caches in the mountains, and had a total length which is physically impossible to cover within 72 hours. Let's just say that afterwards I was a lot less impressed by his (then) ~100K finds .

Fact is, he tried to log my virtual as well, without submitting the answers and without log photo. Of course I deleted his log, but I must say I've seen his name in a few log books as well. So at least some of the finds are legitimate (if it was really him who signed, of course).

[+Goldenwattle]

On 1/3/2025 at 11:55 PM, baer2006 said:

Turned out that his alleged cache tour went through 3 countries in 3 days, included 100+ high-T caches in the mountains, and had a total length which is physically impossible to cover within 72 hours.

If anyone does that I wouldn't even bother to contact them, as I normally do. I wouldn't even bother going out to check the log. Just delete. If they can do armchair logging, I can do armchair deleting.

[+ecanderson]

Our local top dog is also 100% legit - over 250,000 now.

What amazes me is that he's got so many PLACED and maintains them so quickly when something goes amiss with one of them.

https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=8e034f35-2afc-4995-a84d-f19389fa5281

 

Bill had his first 10,000+ year in 2011.

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

Are any of the number hounds vloggers? That would give some sense of what their day-to-day caching experience is like. But I'm guessing probably not as the video editing would take too much time away from geocaching. 

[+GeoElmo6000]

High number cachers come with controversy, as some high number cachers believe it's okay to splitting teams up and then claim team finds.  Sort of like when teams do leapfrogging on power trails and then claim all caches as found as a team.

 

It's best not to worry about other people's numbers.