Getting Back on the Horse

[Guest Chris Juricich]

hour's hike uphill to Wildcat Cyn Peak, managed to find a second. So I recovered my pride, but when a series of 'failures' occur-- how do you feel? What do you do?

 

I don't think 'failure' is the appropriate term-- you've gotten out and gotten some good hiking in. That's a plus, and I enjoy the walks, but coming home? No found caches?

 

Boo hoo!!

[Guest Markwell]

I had one really bad cache that I thought would be a cake walk. There was a cache hitchhiker I wanted to move along in a cache about 60 miles away. Long interstate drive, fairly short hike. Got to the spot and ventured into the brush. 45 minutes later complete with severe arm scratches my son and I left dejected.

 

I logged it as unfound and questioned whether the cache was indeed there or not. According to the breadcrumb map on the GPS, literally walked all over the cache, and several times the readings zeroed out on an old fallen log. Not having found the cache, I could only assume it was plundered, and stated such in my log.

 

Someone found it the next day.

 

Seriously, though - if they were all just a walk in the park and stumbling over a box, would it have as big of a draw? I think not. That's why there are level 5 caches. And, as we all know not everyone is using the new Geocaching Rating System's guidelines to rate their difficulty and terrain.

 

I enjoy my hits all the more since I have a few misses under my belt. Ying and Yang. If there wer no evil in the world, how would we know what was good?

[Guest ClayJar]

I've only had one non-find so far, and there's aproximately zero chance of it having been plundered (but I think there has been serious overgrowth since the plant). I'm planning on braving the roads and rains tomorrow to drive three hours to the spot (and possibly spend several hours looking, if that's what it takes).

 

I've been told I'm persistent.

[Guest ClayJar]

I've only had one non-find so far, and there's aproximately zero chance of it having been plundered (but I think there has been serious overgrowth since the plant). I'm planning on braving the roads and rains tomorrow to drive three hours to the spot (and possibly spend several hours looking, if that's what it takes).

 

I've been told I'm persistent.

[Guest Ttepee]

quote:

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Originally posted by ClayJar:

I've been told I'm persistent.

---

 

Go figure!

[Guest Ttepee]

quote:

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Originally posted by ClayJar:

I've been told I'm persistent.

---

 

Go figure!

[Guest Chris Juricich]

I've determined that one of the hallmarks of a successful geocacher is, indeed... persistence.

 

Absolutely the greatest prerequisite for succeeding in this activity. And I've surprised myself with my own tenacity on my own hikes. The farther I've travelled (or the harder), the more persistent I become.

 

Persistence. It's the key. It's not the money you spend on your GPS or the clothes you wear. Not the length of your walking stick. It's all about determination.

 

[This message has been edited by Chris Juricich (edited 02 September 2001).]

[Guest Paul Lamble]

I have been bummed for the last two months. I went out for several caches that I just couldn't find. (Turned out one had been removed, but the rest were there because everyone else was logging in finds.) I got really downhearted. Plus it's gotten really hot here in the Midwest USA. And buggy. The sport has really taken off around here, but the newbies are setting out really lame caches. (Not worth the effort. Not well thought out. Not creative. Even bad coordinates.) And I was working on a magazine article about geocaching that really wore me out. (Try to explain this sport in 600 words!) So for a bunch of reasons, I lost interest.

 

I'm really hoping to get back to it as the season turns. I may be more selective about my picks. I used to be one of the top three finders in the area. Now I'm way down the list and I find I don't really care.

 

However, I have also made a good friend of a local cacher, and we find we have interests besides geocaching. So there's a silver lining.

 

Paul Lamble

[Guest Chris Juricich]

The last hobby I got into was comic book reading and collecting-- about 1966. The reading interest continues, but the collecting aspect only lasted...about 30 years.

 

And geocaching? Who knows? I have my good days of seeking and my bad. Sometimes I go for what I perceive are 'easy' caches and get lost in searching and failing. And the hard ones? They wear me out such that I decide to go for an 'easy' one-- heh! Sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't.

 

Paul, you might try placing some geocaches to get you back into it, if finding them is either too easy or too hard!

[Guest ClayJar]

I just logged a find on the one cache I had searched for but not found. It's a great feeling. The cache (the second oldest in Louisiana) had never been found, but now, one week before it turns six months old, Pearl (GC449) has been found.