How do you like your cache? Tough terrain or tough to find?? Would like some opinions!!

[give-n-takes]

Greetings fellow cachers! How about a survey type of question? What is your opinion on the following: Would you prefer tough terrain (as in up steep hills, over banks, etc-not quite mountain climbing, but sweaty!) OR would you prefer a cache that is tough to find once you get to the location? Maybe a average distance, say about 2-4/10ths of a mile and relatively easy terrain, but the container is very well hidden, or creatively stashed. You know something you have to walk around and really look for even if you are within twenty feet of it. Which do you prefer, or do you like the combo of the two? I have heard some diappointing sounding logs that the caches were too apparant, and was wondering what everyone thinks. I think this might be interesting to see how cachers feel about this topic. Thanks!!

[The Artful Dodger]

A combo of the two.

 

But if I had to choose one, I prefer a tough terrain. I prefer the journey and not the destination in the adventure.

[+Renegade Knight]

Tough Terrain = a Short but satifying search. I don't leave skunked. Odds are I won't be back.

 

Tough Hide = Easy terrain, preferably urban. If it's close I can come back with fresh inspiration as to where it's at.

[Dinoprophet]

Either way, but I prefer caches that are either/or. As a rule of thumb, my favorites are caches with a *total* star count of 5 or 6.

 

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

[+briansnat]

I like a good hike over tough terrain, but I don't want to spend 3 hours searching when I get there.

 

I prefer a 3 to 4 star terrain rating with a 1 to 2 star difficulty.

 

If it's a short walk, say to an urban cache, I don't mind putting in a little extra time to look for it, since urban caches, by their very nature, should be hidden very well.

 

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

[+DapperDanMan]

I prefer a high terrain level and then a easy find. After hiking up a mountain for a few hours that last thing I want to do is look for an hour or two for a cache.

[+WildcatRegi]

Tough terrain is ok (I don't mean mountain climbing) but once I fight my way to where I want to be, I don't want the find to be outrageous (5/3)!

 

I too find the 3/3 to be just about right, I'd hate to look for a 5/3 - a 5/1 is ok because you know it's a mind breaker, a 1/5 is ok because you know it's the physical attempt, but 3/3 seems to be just right for the overall challenge.

 

JMHO

 

"The hardest thing to find is something that's not there!"

[BassoonPilot]

I like caches that make me feel that my time and effort were well spent.

 

Usually, that means I prefer the longer, more scenic hikes and/or more challenging terrain, but I've also enjoyed some short hikes to imaginative and challenging hides.

 

If the adventure was satisfying, I really don't care if I found the cache or not.

[Fakk 2]

I have to agrree with what is posted, If I get stumped at a spot to finding the cahce, I may not return to change the DNF (yeah right I will be back the next day). Perhaps a multi, where part of it is to a easy find in rough terrain, that leads to a wp that is easy terrain but a tough find. this way if I get stumped on the tough find, I dont have to redo the tough terrain.

 

I bought a GPS. Now I get lost with style.

[+hmarq]

I just like 'good caches' ... ones that bring me someplace worth being.

 

I like a good hike, but I also enjoyed a couple that had historic perspective (Al Capone's grave for example)

 

Otherwise I'd just echo RK's comments ... Tough hike, easy find -- easy terrain, tougher find; and I also enjoy the 3/3s that combine a bit of both ... but really, really, really, bring me someplace of note, not just a tupperware container in a field thatlooks like any other field, or a film canister in a hollow tree in a park like you find anywhere ....

[enfanta]

Always contrary... I prefer a good hide to a good hike. BUT! I don't mind a good hide at the end of a long hike as long as I know ahead of time and can plan accordingly. Nothing like hiking for three hours only to find I don't have enough daylight left to both find the cache and hike back.

 

And if/when I hide a cache at the end of a long hike, the clue is going to tell you exactly where to find the cache. Reading "You don't need a hint for this one!" after battling mountain laurel, rattlesnakes and charlie horses can make one slightly murderous.

 

Ode to a Pigeon: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, You Lookin' at Me? YOU LOOKIN' AT ME?! (b. katt, 7/14/03)

[geoTerton]

Well, I'm a newbie so my opinion may change with time. To me, there are two kinds that I like. The first kind has lots of simple riddles and things of interest to my 12 yr old. The second is one that takes me someplace new and interesting (for me). For both, I prefer scenic terrain. Tough or easy to get there is fine. But I don't want to spend hours looking once I get there. And I don't want to leave after a tough climb without finding it. MOST IMPORTANT is not to make the terrain annoying (avoid places like mosquito infested swamps). Sea side, moutain top, river side, in the woods, in the desert, all of these are good.

[+RJFerret]

When this question previously came up (Markwell anyone?), the consensus was 1/5's and 5/1's were FAR better than 5/5's. The split on terrain vs. find was relatively even.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Randy

[+Searching_ut]

I like both. In the summer spring and fall, my preference is for a great journey in the outdoors, preferably many miles of great scenery, wildlife etc. In the winter months however, something in the low elevations that might keep me thinking and looking for awhile works out just great.

[+sept1c_tank]

quote:

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Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

Tough Terrain = a Short but satifying search. I don't leave skunked. Odds are I won't be back.

 

Tough Hide = Easy terrain, preferably urban. If it's close I can come back with fresh inspiration as to where it's at.

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PERFECT!

 

==============="If it feels good...do it"================

 

**(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")**

 

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[+carleenp]

Tough terrain! I love a good hike. I just bushwacked up the side of a mountain for one recently and it was my favorite cache ever.

 

Difficult hide is good too, but I want to know it will be hard ahead of time. I also recently had a decent hike (but the terrain was not all that difficult) to a hard to find cache. That was OK because I knew it was going to be a tough find. What would annoy me would be a really hard hike and then unexpectedly have to spend hours looking for a needle in a haystack. Basically, I want the difficulty rating to be acurate so I know what to expect!

 

[+TMAN264]

I like a good hike into the cache, especially an area I have not seen yet, over a mile, but less than 5 miles round trip. Once I get there, I don't mind searching for awhile ( a half hour or so), but after that, I get frustrated. A good 3 or 4 stage multi is what I like.

 

Make a sanity check.

[+chubby forest monkey]

A long challenging hike, climb or bushwack that takes several hours and brings me to a beatuiful, remote location.

Likethis one, or this one, my two favorites