Challenging Math Or Challenging Hiding Spot?

February 23, 2004

So, do you like to think or do you like to seek?

When it comes to caching, which do you like better. Do you like having to do a bunch of math (and by math I mean algerbra or higher thinking skills) or just being given the way points and having a tricky cache to find.

Myself, I lean towrds the latter of the 2. For me, math was my worse subject in school and to have to break out some algerba or geometry to figure out the coords is a little more than I like to do. I would rather have the coords given to me and have the cache almost being a needle in the haystack to find.

So, what do the rest of you like?

February 23, 2004

I would rather have to look harder. Sometimes I think its silly when I see math problems that are soooo in depth just to get wps, when you could have gotten us to the same results with A-2=the number you want.

38.2k · February 23, 2004

Neither. I prefer a challenging hike. I don't care for math puzzles (I was a D math student throughout school), or caches that are hidden with the intent to fool the hunter.

Edited February 23, 2004 by briansnat

2k · February 23, 2004

Challenging hide.

I have a Masters Degree in math, but I'm not doing geocaching to prove I can still do math.

I skipped one cache that required the solution of an Archimedes spiral to find the actual location.

4.8k · February 23, 2004

I don't do math puzzles. :smile:

February 23, 2004

Its about the hunt for me but there has to be a point to it. I managed to put a few hours together Saturday and planned on doing 6-8 geocaches. Ended up doing ten. Although fun running around the city, it was oddly unsatisfying to walk 500 feet from the car and find a rusty tin with a smudged piece of paper in it attached to the only ferrous metal within 100 feet, or a film canister wrapped with duct tape buried under leaves. I appreciate the placement, and am truly thankful to the hider, but it was missing something. I had to end the day with a traditional box and quarter mile walk to make it feel like I went geocaching.

Rather than poking around in leaves and mud for 30 minutes, it would have alot more enjoyable to log as DNF and then come back search another hour to discover a fake drain pipe.

If the math puzzle takes me somplace interesting - vista, artwork, architecture, history - then I see that as part of the hunt. If the math is posed cleverly -

rhyme or riddle - then that is good to. If it's simple enough , I let the kids do it.

Math for the sake of math, just like a cache just for the sake of a cache, isn't fun. Let's just go for a walk in the woods at the end of the road.

1.2k · February 23, 2004

I can take or leave the math puzzles. I usually go for good hides and good hikes.

3.1k · February 23, 2004

I have no higher thinking skills. I skip the math caches.

February 23, 2004

If the cache involves any math other than simple addition forget it. It would be too much like work. Give me a good hike any day. :smile:

5.9k · February 23, 2004

Mentally challenging caches are fun, as are physically challenging ones. As above, I skip it even if it's easy math. Math is not my idea of fun.

Math: Skip

Tedious Web research: Skip

Virts, locationless: Skip

Cache page has thousands of words: Skip

EDIT: Add

Micromanaged find (The owner threatens to delete your find if you don’t do it exactly to his/her specifications): Skip

Edited February 23, 2004 by Criminal

2k · February 23, 2004

And another I skipped:

Your post has to rhyme (or be warned, I will strike it!)

1.6k · February 23, 2004

Don't do math caches for a practical reason. The reception on a GPS is not uniform. Yours will vary a little and the variation between Garmins and Magellans can be quite a bit. If you come onto a multi that depends on you solving some detailed math equation, errors in this combined with errors in your GPS combined with errors in the owner's GPS combined with Garmin error could result in a long disappointing DNF.

4k · February 23, 2004

I've always been very good at math, but won't do a math problem to find a cache...give me a good hike and a clever hide anytime.....(few and far between around here :smile: )

2k · February 23, 2004

Unfortunately I am mathematically challenged. :smile: I let Renegade Knight deal with that sort of thing when we go caching. I am getting pretty good and the searching part so thats where the fun is for me. Beside I use caching as a way to let me see some of the interesting places where I am visiting. :mad:

February 23, 2004

After 15 years of bookkeeping, the last thing I want to do for fun is math. Just doesn't seem like fun. I'm still pretty new so haven't tried the higher level hunts yet, but I am looking forward to the more challenging ones.

20.7k · February 23, 2004

If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose 'math'. Lately, I've searched for way too many impossible micros for it to be much fun. I'd much rather have a nice hike ending with a traditional cache that I didn't have to search out for two hours.

February 23, 2004

This is the CACHE I was referring to. If the owner wouldn't have listed the answer in the hints, I don't think I could do it.

2.2k · February 23, 2004

no math, please.

5.3k · February 23, 2004

I do not do any caches the require for a simple reason, I am not good at math, I can not even do algebra, I have even gotten algebra CD's to teach myself and I still have not been able learn it.

February 23, 2004

This is the CACHE I was referring to.

I'm not a big fan of the puzzle caches, but a cache like this in my area would be found pretty quickly by at least 4 people. There is a sub-group of puzzle fanatics who prefer them over all others. check out the puzzles hidden by fizzy - i couldn't find the listing for one where he encoded the coordinates inside the unused portion of a .jpeg file.

That said, I'll try them if they've bumped up to the top of my nearest list. I did this one only because there were mild hints in the logs.

But, like a previous poster, I would prefer a nice hike. Light-pole/seat-post micros are not what got me interested in GeoCaching. The views from Flag Hill yesterday was great. That's what makes me get up and ask "where can I geocache today?"

Oh, I have tried to get revenge though. My son and I hid LeChuck's Frenchmans treasure recently. It is at a nice overlook.

Edited February 23, 2004 by WalruZ

February 23, 2004

I like math problems IF I can do the solution before setting out, and IF the objective is a cache I'd be interested in afterwards (i.e., not an urban micro).

Recently I've done three caches that I solved by geometry/trig that the cacher expected to be solved graphically using maps or mapping programs. I found that the GPS errors were inconsequential in all cases. One of these was the Archimedes Spiral cache here in Georgia, which I quite liked.

I wouldn't probably do the 'Hot Crossed Lines' cache someone posted as an example, because I'd have to make one or two trips to find the missing endpoints.

In any case, I prefer regular caches in parks to any other kind, regardless of the clues.

1.5k · February 23, 2004

Math?

No thanks... I will hunt all day, but don't ask me to start crunching numbers!!!!

February 23, 2004

I'll tolerate math in a cache if it's integral to the theme of the cache, but I hate doing math or arithmetic just for it's own sake on a cache. If I do such a cache, then I certainly bitch, bitch, bitch about it in the log!

Especially tedious math-intensive caches get a special treatment - I mathematically encode my log with a non-geocaching code. That way, the cache placer has to work as hard to read my log as I did to find his cache. REVENGE IS SWEET!

See this busy-work math cache, and my log for it.

- Genius Loci

1.8k · February 23, 2004

I'll tolerate math in a cache if it's integral to the theme of the cache, but I hate doing math or arithmetic just for it's own sake on a cache. If I do such a cache, then I certainly bitch, bitch, bitch about it in the log!

Especially tedious math-intensive caches get a special treatment - I mathematically encode my log with a non-geocaching code. That way, the cache placer has to work as hard to read my log as I did to find his cache. REVENGE IS SWEET!

See this busy-work math cache, and my log for it.

- Genius Loci

Thank goodness you didn't do that for "Gee, I'm a Tree"...

My eyes would still be crossed... :smile:

5.7k · February 23, 2004

Oh, I have tried to get revenge though. My son and I hid LeChuck's Frenchmans treasure recently. It is at a nice overlook.

Gee, I thought your revenge was when you hid Hermit's Treasure in poison oak! :smile:

--Marky

Edited February 23, 2004 by Marky

February 23, 2004

Thank goodness you didn't do that for "Gee, I'm a Tree"...

- Cheesehead Dave

Yes, "Gee, I'm a Tree" requires math, but it's not the sort of trivial "busy-work" you'll find at some caches. "Gee, I'm a Tree" involves the hunter in (what is for most of us) a whole new methodology for finding the cache. That's such a refreshing change of pace from the usual, it makes the math seem secondary.

Now, if every Cheesehead cache used that method, 10 - 21,5,25,11,18 - 19,10,22,14,3 - 6,19,5,25,22 - 10,22

- GL

February 23, 2004

I guess I have to buck the trend here and say that I like puzzle caches, mathematical or otherwise. Some of my favorite caches have involved solving clues encoded using steganography or some other, more obvious, forms of encryption. I like them because it gives me something cache-related to do when I'm sitting at home unable to go caching. Secret of the Hidden Dunes is probably one of my favorite puzzle caches to date. There is a real sense of satisfaction when you solve these puzzles.

______________

Gorak

February 23, 2004

I don't care for puzzles either. Give me the coordinates and let me go find the cache!

5.7k · February 23, 2004

I like all varieties of caches. It is the variety that keeps things interesting.

February 23, 2004

i like a good hide! no math the last time i did a math cache had to take my son so he could do the math for me :smile:

24.7k · February 23, 2004

I will spend 5 times the effort solving a math cache by non math means than it would take to do it right. Math is a tool to solve other problems and puzzles. It's not the puzzle itself and if it is...ACK!

2k · February 23, 2004

I don't know why doesn't sombody palce a few math puzzle caches around my home base so I can do a comparision. :smile:

7.2k · February 23, 2004

If you have to make it mental why not make it so you have to intuit the solution? I don't care for math for math's sake. Don't care for simple fill-in-the-blank types either.

3.1k · February 23, 2004

I like puzzle caches, but that doesn't necessarily mean math. Math puzzles are my least favorite. If the cache itself is the puzzle, so much the better. One of my favorite hides, which has been mentioned in the forums several times lately, was a birdhouse suspended via a series of pulleys and about 200 feet of wire that you had to track. It seems obvious when its described, yet many people including myself arrived at the cache and were stumped as to how to get to it. That's what I like.

February 24, 2004

I'd have to skip any math caches until every other cache in my area was completed. Fortunatly for me that will be a very long time.

3.8k · February 24, 2004

Check this sucker out.

Buddy of mine was FTF on it. I haven't tried it yet, may be easier than it looks.

3k · February 24, 2004

When it comes to caching, which do you like better. Do you like having to do a bunch of math or just being given the way points and having a tricky cache to find.

Well, as others have stated, I like a good, challenging hike best of all ... I think many of us use geocaching as an escape from the overload of mental activity and/or pressures we endure daily.

But I like both math puzzles and challenging hiding spots, and I've done my share of both. I learned, however, that all too often people who put a great deal of effort into creating a challenging math puzzle put far too little thought and effort into the actual 'cache adventure.' All too often, one would spend a significant amount of time solving a puzzle for a cache that would be found 'hidden in plain view' at the end of a .18 mile walk over flat terrain through a totally uninteresting, non-descript location. (Like behind the local 7-11.)

But that is probably no more frustrating than looking for 'the needle in the haystack'-type of cache after a challenging hike when the cache is tiny, there is a limitless number of hiding places, and the coordinates prove to be unusually 'soft.'

February 24, 2004

Check this sucker out.

Buddy of mine was FTF on it. I haven't tried it yet, may be easier than it looks.

wow

February 24, 2004

When it comes to caching, which do you like better. Do you like having to do a bunch of math or just being given the way points and having a tricky cache to find.

Well, as others have stated, I like a good, challenging hike best of all ... I think many of us use geocaching as an escape from the overload of mental activity and/or pressures we endure daily.

But I like both math puzzles and challenging hiding spots, and I've done my share of both. I learned, however, that all too often people who put a great deal of effort into creating a challenging math puzzle put far too little thought and effort into the actual 'cache adventure.' All too often, one would spend a significant amount of time solving a puzzle for a cache that would be found 'hidden in plain view' at the end of a .18 mile walk over flat terrain through a totally uninteresting, non-descript location. (Like behind the local 7-11.)

But that is probably no more frustrating than looking for 'the needle in the haystack'-type of cache after a challenging hike when the cache is tiny, there is a limitless number of hiding places, and the coordinates prove to be unusually 'soft.'

I agree here, except that I enjoy the math MUCH more than the search. I love the hike most. But I find the math to be a fun way to conceal the caches true location. I like to have an easy find as confirmation that I have done the puzzle correctly. The most undesirable thing to me is to have a puzzle cache with a difficult find at the end.

February 24, 2004

Gorak wrote:

I guess I have to buck the trend here

and say that I like puzzle caches,

mathematical or otherwise. Some of my

favorite caches have involved solving

clues encoded using steganography or

some other, more obvious, forms of

encryption.

Hey man, I am with you. I don't think any of us is going to say "boy I hate the hiking" or "jeez, I hate those amazing views", but some of us are going to dig on the mental challenges and some are not.

It's a hackneyed phrase, but the thought is so darn applicable: can't we all just get along? If you're not into the math stuff and you see a math cache, keep browsin'! I don't think there's a rule stating that you have to do a cache just because it's in your area.

WalruZ wrote:

My son and I hid LeChuck's Frenchmans

treasure recently. It is at a nice overlook.

I live in Washington DC, but I took a look at the hide you mentioned. I must say - I got a real kick out of it! I would never have figured it out without your clue (having never heard of the language in question).

I do however have an observation - shouldn't it be "·-····--···--··" instead of "·-····--···-···"? The area of Stockton referenced in your code is amazingly flat and offers no "nice overlook"!

OK - I'm a geek! I am at peace with my geekdom!

February 25, 2004

I like math caches - I'm currently upgrading my math skills to version 2.0 so that I can complete Geometry's caches. So far I've relied on solving them on topo. Amazing how quickly you forget math.

I get a kick out of trying to get FTF on math related ones - recently (though no real math was involved) I got FTF on Superbowl XXXVIII. I am stumped on Versica Piscis - just don't see how to start on this one, though I created a great picture on Topo! trying some things out.

We have a lot of math related ones here because of the cacher Geometry.

February 25, 2004

Math you say? You should see what we have to deal with around the West Palm Beach area -- caches that give clues in Morse Code, caches that require you to 'hack' into a web site to discover a password.....and today this:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...7e-02c0fc01478f

This one is called "Fishin Fool"

If only we just had simple math!

I'm with you -- give me a nice long hike and tough find any day.

February 25, 2004

I will attempt a math puzzle cache if it is near home. I have found that many times a simple google search will reveal the answer to the puzzle. If my brain + google doesnt get it, I just move on to a cache requiring a nice hike. Those are much more enjoyable anyway.

February 25, 2004

I am stumped on Versica Piscis - just don't see how to start on this one, though I created a great picture on Topo! trying some things out.

Yes, it appears that our local math puzzler (Geometry) has not even attempted Vesica Piscis yet.

I like seeing tough math puzzles near me. They slow down some of the hard-core FTF'ers.

-WR

February 25, 2004

Now the consensus on hide versus hike difficulty was either, but not both. Most liked 1/5's or 5/1's over 5/5's or 1/1's. (Bummer to hike for hours and then search for hours too!)

I figured the same here when I made my math puzzle caches, making the hides easier since so much effort went into figuring out the coords.

I also made the first one take advantage of your GPS or map reading skills with minimal math. The second one however is on the moon, and we all know how much math and measuring goes into space travel!

Enjoy,

Randy

PS: I also figure there are enough 'normal' caches already out there!

Edited February 25, 2004 by RJFerret

5.3k · February 25, 2004

The second, however is on the moon, and we all know how much math and measuring goes into space travel!

I like the moon cache, but it looks as if you are using a spherical approximation to the Earth, not the WGS84 ellipsoid. And you also don't include the geoid or the elevation of the cache.

The difference from including those things turns out to be surprisingly large!

I like the practical use of the math there. It's good to make math-based caches have some connection to reality.

3.9k · February 25, 2004

I prefer the tough find any day.

1.9k · February 25, 2004

I prefer a puzzeling hiding method that may involve math

February 25, 2004

I despise the super math wiz caches. I'd rather take a few hours looking for a really deceptive hide than spend that time accumulating numbers and trying to rack the old brain and wake up the spirtit of high school algebra class. There are a few like that in the Chicago area and I probably will never get to them. There are so many caches in this area I can skip those and not feel bad about it. I may be a geek, but not a math geek.

Challenging Math Or Challenging Hiding Spot?

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