+The Hokesters Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 (edited) OK you big numbers guys tell us - when out on a big stint do you just go for the easy listed caches or do you take any cache regardless of its difficulty rating? The Hokesters EDIT - Dodgy keyboard (bad workman and all that...) Edited May 6, 2004 by The Hokesters Quote Link to comment
Leoness Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 I try to do a minimum of 3 caches each trip and will choose to do a group in a specific area regardless of type/difficulty/length of walk etc., as my goal is to find every cache in N Yorks, so they all have to be done in the end!!! I am heading south this weekend (to shoot in a competition at Bisley in Surrey) so will try to take the opportunity to do some caches in new counties to up my stats in the "number of counties" in which I have found caches! Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Personally, much like a Rain-Forest lumberjack, I like to clear an area of all caches and move on. That's what a 16mpg Jag will do for you. When I drive out to an area I like to get value for my money! So that's the good, the bad and the ugly caches in any spot until I run out of time/energy/patience. However, My idea of a 'Big Numbers Day' is anything over 10 (12 in Oxford today - Yip!) so perhaps I'm not the best person to report his own caching activities. If I was aiming at 30+ in a day (and I have plans afoot...) I'd be very careful in my selection, and avoid all but the most simple of multis/pussles. SP Quote Link to comment
+Sue and Bernie Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Sue & I are exactly the opposite! Living in Norfolk where the caches are quite some distance apart, we usually do them one at a time - by bike. If we are away visiting relatives, we do load up a few caches for a bimble round the area, dragging the whole family, across the age divide, out into the fresh air and away from the one-eyed monster. We also find that caches are ususally a brilliant way to find out stuff on your doorstep (or the relatives doorstep) of which you were oblivous and it enables us all to enjoy each others company while having a joint objective. The younger one enjoy the trip with the incentive of the "treasure hunt". We really relish our caching trips into the countryside and, if we do see two cache sites near each other, we will deliberately "save" one for a future trip. The mad dashing about, visiting umpteen sites, all within spitting distance of each other just for the sake of it does not appeal. What is the point of "doing" a hundred caches if they are all in your back garden? Still... keep a sense of proportion! Whatever cranks your generator! The whole concept of looking around for a tupperware box is pretty daft - albeit we find it does give a purpose to getting out into the world and it keeps the body moving, heart beating and... dammit, it is good fun! Enjoy it all - whichever, whatever way you go... have fun! Quote Link to comment
Sparticus Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 I'm not usually a numbers man, however, when I am planning a trip I do scrutinise very carefully the caches I plan on doing. If doing a lot you really don't want to be tied up doing a long multi which can take several hours, and at the end of it only have one cache. Saying that, if I find one worth doing enroute, I will give it a try. I really enjoy my geocaching. Even when I go to get some fresh air in my lungs, I plan about 4 or 5 and try to take in a multi if they are near where I am going. All geocaches have there place, from locationless to multi's, I enjoy them all. Quote Link to comment
+shunra Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 I define my target area either by one or two particularly worthwhile 'destination' caches, or by a non-caching-related errand which I need to do somewhere. Once I have defined the area I will go to, I'll hunt for whatever else is in that area as well. Quote Link to comment
+Deltree Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 out into the fresh air and away from the one-eyed monster. When I first read this, I thought surely they can't be talking about that. Then I picked my mind out the gutter and realised it was just my dirty mind. Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 (edited) If I'm going out for a days caching on my own, then I'll generally pick a specific destination cache and then make sure that there are 10 or a dozen caches between that cache and home. It doen't particularly matter what sort of caches they are though as I'm not 'a numbers man'. I do tend to ignore webcam caches as they usually need the help of someone else. Having done the first cache, I'll take the others in turn, gradually getting closer to home. I'll keep going until I get too hungry/wet/miserable or fed up with not finding them . Then I stop and head for Chez Pharisee. Edited May 7, 2004 by Pharisee Quote Link to comment
+The Hokesters Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Having done the first cache, I'll take the others in turn, gradually getting closer to home. I'll keep going until I get too hungry/wet/miserable or fed up with not finding them . I really like this idea. We have been a bit slapdash with our planning stage in the past (three weeks and counting ) and have missed caches which were really close. Getting home and doing some major D'oh.ing! We will try this approach on our next trip. Thanks Pharisee The Hokesters Quote Link to comment
Sparticus Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 (edited) NO I'M SPARTICUS!!!! No, I'm Sparticus. And don't you forget it. Edited May 9, 2004 by Sparticus Quote Link to comment
+OzGuff Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 I'm Sparticus and so's my wife! (Sorry--wrong movie!) When I am out for a day (and/or night) of caching I will go for anything with the possible exception of a complicated multi-cache/puzzle cache. On these days it IS about the find but it is also about the numbers. On my day in Hertfordshire a month or so ago (with Neil of SmudgyPixels) we did a variety of different caches, from drive-by caches to mile-plus strolls to multis, and had a great time with them all! I did omit a few caches that were along our route -- those with several DNFs, for instance -- but did most of the rest. When I am caching for numbers it isn't actually how big the number is but trying to get as many as I can in the allotted time. I had researched 45 caches along the route but was ecstatic to find 25 that day! (Of course we could have found more had Neil driven a ittle faster...) The nice thing about numbers is that there are days with 1 find that are way more rewarding than the 43-find days! To each their own!! Quote Link to comment
+Cave Troll and Eeyore Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 We must be the saddest geocachers, we pick two or three with a couple of spares and set off for a day out, enjoying the wonderful places that we find, which we would probably never have found on a normal (or not geocaching) day out. Hence we have not even reached our half century yet, but be assured we will eventually. Joan [] Quote Link to comment
Deego Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 We must be the saddest geocachers, we pick two or three with a couple of spares and set off for a day out, enjoying the wonderful places that we find, which we would probably never have found on a normal (or not geocaching) day out. Hence we have not even reached our half century yet, but be assured we will eventually. Joan [] Thats the best thing about Geocaching its up to you how you play :D I plan using Mapsource, and normaly select around the twenty mark (trigs and caches) but normaly get to 12-14 then I have had enough. But somedays its nice to do one or two Brian Quote Link to comment
+Seasider Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 I am not a numbers man! But if I was.... then the answer would be... yes if on tour... no if day caching!! Cheers! Seasider Quote Link to comment
+klaus23 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I go about it with my own methodology - I print off all the cache pages, then mark the approximate locations on the OS map, and then figure out how difficult they are going to be. I like to start with a mountain cache, and then do a few others before finishing with a 'get out of the car and there it is' cache on the way home. And then head for my reward pint! Quote Link to comment
+Inukshuk and Arwen Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Its rare for us to do more than one a day! We have been known to reach the dizzy heights of four in a day once but that felt like a race and we could easily have spent much more time in each of the beautiful places on Anglesey that we visited. If we get a kid free day we tend to pack a picnic and head off around mid day to a cache within about 20 miles of home. Have salmon sarnies and clotted cream scones and then go find ! Lifes a bitch! My fave rock group is Rush - i had a concert t shirt with the groups name emblazoned across the front that i used to wear at college. A teacher once said to me "Rogers - i've never known you to RUSH yet!" Not for me this numbers rat race ! "What kind of life if full of care we dont have time to stop and stare"! Happy Caching Inukshuk Quote Link to comment
+OzGuff Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I just want to reiterate that one of the great things about geocaching is that it can be many different things for many different people. Cave Troll & Joan like to go for 2-3 (with a couple in reserve) and enjoy the hunt, the walk, the vista. klaus23 starts with a harder cache and works down to a drive-by on the way home. Inukshuk gets to eat clotted cream scones while caching -- please invite me next time I am in the UK!!! Next weekend (or the one after next) I hope to take the entire family on a 5 mile trek through an absolutely pristine area of western North Carolina. We have hiked it many times before, but since starting geocaching 8.5 months ago have discovered that there is a 3-stage multi-cache there (YOSEMITE OF THE EAST-ACT 1: PANTHERTOWN PILGRIMAGE). I plan on taking my time and watching the kids (and I) have fun re-visiting places we haven't been in some time, and also searching for the waypoints and cache. It will be a one smiley day for us -- I hope -- and I am sure it will be a great day! When Seasider says that he is not a numbers man I believe him! But some days going for the numbers is the thing to do! Other days I just want to eat clotted cream scones! (Please remember that invitation...) Quote Link to comment
+klaus23 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I like to take my time though - I don't really see it as a race... I've been known to go for a hard cache and end up rambling without focusing on the next cache. That's the great thing - if a cache brings you to a great spot then the place probably means a lot to the owner. And why not spend some time exploring a location instead of racing off? I agree with the post from OzGuff - each to their own. "We're all individuals" "Ah, I'm not" "Shhh" Quote Link to comment
+Volvo Man Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 NO, HE'S SPARTICUS, HIM OVER THERE IN THE FUNNY HELMET!! I'll admit to skipping a lot of multis just recently, this is not so much the distance as the probability of messing it up when in a hurry. This also applies when Tired. One particular day, I had planned to go for a two stage multi to start the evening's caching. I got to the first clue, which was also the parking, and proceeded to work out the co-ords. As I was concentrating on the cache page on cache mate, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up 30 minute later, still holding the Palm, but I had messed up the co-ord clue on the palm, and had to guess where the clue numbers went. I had a look for the cache, but I was quite a long way from it, as I found out when I got home. I decided that going home at that point and getting some sleep would be a good idea. Distance and difficulty of a traditional cache don't usually bother me too much. Due to the roads down here, not many of the caches are more than .5 mile from a road, but some of the toughest caches I've done have been less than a quarter mile from the parking place. One of the toughest so far has been GeoGnome Cache, which startes with a hike up a very steep hill to a trigpoint (2 for the price of one) there's also a cache on the way. when you get to the top of the hill, the instructions tell you to head north to the tree line. very quickly, you realise that it's straight down an incline even steeper than the one you've just climbed, and that to get back to the car, you're going to have to climb it afterwards. I tend to map 40+ for every trip, with a rough route in mind. then when I get there, I adapt it according to what seems to make sense. I also upload all the waypoints for 200+ caches in the area, and ensure cache mate is up to date. On the day, I adapt the plan according to the going. If I'm struggling with the total, due to a slow morning, then I'll skip some of the longer ones later. If I've had a good start and got a sizable total by lunchtime, I'll do everything as it comes until sunset. Unless that is, I can see a record total in the offing, in which case, I'll start skipping a couple to get moving. Can't skip too many though or theres a danger of not having enough mapped caches to go for. Quote Link to comment
+Volvo Man Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Oh, one more thing to add, I usually don't even look at the difficulty rating, until I'm having trouble finding the cache (then it usually turns out to be a 1-2) High Difficulty are usually easier to find for me, due to the fact I assume that caches are hidden in ingenious places, and expect the unexpected. One of Seasider's I found recently was listed as a 3, I spotted it 20+ feet out, without even searching, but only because I was prepared for an unusual hide due to location and hider. Quote Link to comment
Sparticus Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 (edited) NO, HE'S SPARTICUS, HIM OVER THERE IN THE FUNNY HELMET!! One particular day, I had planned to go for a two stage multi to start the evening's caching. I got to the first clue, which was also the parking, and proceeded to work out the co-ords. I had messed up the co-ord clue on the palm, and had to guess where the clue numbers went. Who says Iv'e got a funny looking helmet. Theres only one real sparticus. Ditto Volvo man. Iv'e learnt my lesson now. I always print of details for multi's just in case I change things on my ipaq and then forget where the numbers go. Edited May 12, 2004 by Sparticus Quote Link to comment
+klaus23 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 See - that's part of the 'game' - You can chose to chase numbers and try to find multiple caches in a day, and chose to drive on roads you don't know and do u-turns and get caught behind tractors and end up miles from home... - Or you can pick a well-designed multi that takes all day and brings you back to your car after a six hour hike? Again, it's subjective. But I always leave the multi's till last too! Quote Link to comment
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