Yea! My First Hide!

[+Bluejaytoo]

Like a proud father, I've just had my first hide approved, and I'm excited. Being given the opportunity to guide people to a place that is very special to me is a cool thing. This place is one that I've been visiting for over 30 years now, and it also has an interesting historical background. One question I have is, of those of you who've hidden caches, how many of you do research on your location and share what you've learned with your visitors? How many of you hide caches specifically to tell a story? Also, how many hidden caches can one person manage within reason?

[+Fritz_Monroe]

Congrats. So far, I've only hidden some urban micros. I've see a lot of cache pages that explain in great detail why that particular place was chosen and a history of the place. Might relate a story to it. Do what you want with it.

 

I feel that if the place holds a special place in your heart, you should share it with the cachers that find your hide. Just adds to the game. Gives an insight into the hider.

 

Before someone else asks, here's the link to The Brickyard

 

I'm impressed, started out hiding a multi.

 

F_M

 

Edit: Might want to close out those other 2 topics. That submit button sometimes gets away from you, huh?

Edited February 4, 2004 by Fritz_Monroe

[+The Cheeseheads]

Congrats! You've got the "proud father" thing right! Now you can sit back and enjoy reading the logs of the people who come and visit the place you hid your cache. Hopefully they'll find it just as nice as you seemingly have for the past 30 years.

 

As for how many you can handle? That depends on a number of factors.

 

* How much free time to you have to maintain caches?

* How widespread are the caches? If they're 50 miles apart, they'll be a lot tougher to maintain than a few that are close to your home.

* Are they in areas where they are likely to me found by non-cachers? You may be making a lot more trips out to check on them than ones that no geomeggle would ever find.

 

Again, congrats on your first hide!

[+KiltCacher]

I only have five caches myself, and the locations I chose were based on availilbe space. I have a few caches planned for when I return home (in MN now, from SD) in specific locations that have special meaning to me. As far as managability, there is a cacher here in MN that has over 800 caches (he's the #1 cache placer in the world) and somehow he does fine. He did just recently disable a large number of them for the winter, though. He managed to hide about 40 new caches in the past week. I have no idea how he does it. Now that's dedication for you.

[+Bluejaytoo]

Hey, thanks for the words of encouragement! I had to make it a multi so that people would approach it from the direction I wanted; both to give them the proper view of the site, and to keep them away from an annoying dog. A multi was the only way I could figure out to do that. Also, I decided to keep the historical aspect of the place a secret until people actually find the cache, because knowing what the place is might make it easier than I wanted.

 

800 hides? Geez, that guy has to be retired! (Or tired...) That has to be like a full-time job.

 

Sorry about the multiple posts; everytime I tried to post I wound up with an error page, so I figured it wasn't working.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

I have about 50 or so active caches. Many are urbans so it's very easy to get to them to check on them. Others are very rural and only get hit a couple of times a year.

[+quills]

bluejaytoo congrats on your first hide. you will get a rush when the first cacher finds it. i've got this one marked and i hope to find it this spring. you'll probably have many finders by then. i have 5 caches out there now with more to come i'm working on a series of micros with a bonus cache after you find the micros. and i'm always looking for a good place for a regular ammo box. i hope this helps.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Cool cache. Just one thing. The missing number is very easily guessed. Should have used one of the lesser digits.

 

The possible points are just 610' apart. I'm guessing it is where the two stream beds come together.

 

People will have fun with it.

 

I'd go get the FTF myself if you would be willing to relocate it about 300 miles southwest.

 

My biggest concern would be flooding, judging from the terrain.

 

Good luck and may you place many more.

[+Fritz_Monroe]

Good idea bringing them in just how you want them there. Sounds like it's probably the best way to make sure that people see just what you intended them to see.

 

Even with my couple micros, I enjoy reading what people have to say.

 

Can't imagine how someone has 800 hides, lots of work. Also can't imagine having 4460 finds, but that's what the CCCooperAgency has.

 

Some people are just amazing.

 

F_M

[+Bluejaytoo]

Yeah, Dave, it isn't too hard to figure out the coords, but I didn't feel like working too hard to come up with a clue. The house numbers worked out best for that digit. It was sort of an afterthought, when I realized, "Hmm... if someone chooses a shortcut, they may miss what I really wanted them to see..." So if they do try to cheat and find a shorter route, they'll just miss out on the coolest part.

 

Flooding isn't a problem; trust me.

[+OneOfEm]

You can expect frequent to infrequent emails detailing the finders' exploits. Even if it's only one out of five logs, when someone writes how they enjoyed the find, it makes the hide worthwhile. I'm sure you'll get your share of those. []

 

Concerning maintenance, from what I've seen with my limited number of hides and a greater number of finds, a bunch of 1/1's would require more maintenance than 3's or 4's; the "easy" caches are visited by EVERYONE. On average, ammo boxes require less maintenance than rubbermaid clones or even most created containers (PVC, etc) since they do a more consistant job of keeping out the weather.

 

That said, you'd get far more "hits" at a lower $ investment with a bunch of 1/1 plastic containers than with the same number of 3/3 ammo boxes.

 

It's really all about what you want to give the finder and what you want to get out of it as the hider.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Yeah, Dave, it isn't too hard to figure out the coords, but I didn't feel like working too hard to come up with a clue. The house numbers worked out best for that digit. It was sort of an afterthought, when I realized, "Hmm... if someone chooses a shortcut, they may miss what I really wanted them to see..." So if they do try to cheat and find a shorter route, they'll just miss out on the coolest part.

 

Flooding isn't a problem; trust me.

i applaud your effort to ensure that people come in "your" way. Most will.

 

When I first saw the title, I was getting ready to jump in the explorer and go get the FTF tonight (Brickyard=Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

 

If I'm ever up that way, I'll be sure to log it. (I'll use the "front door"- this time)

[+Bluejaytoo]

Ha! My girlfriend was against me using the name "Brickyard" because she said too many people would think of racing. I said, "C'mon, the world doesn't revolve around racing!" Guess I need to quit taking her to all those vintage grand prix events...