Logging A Cache Without Finding It

[+JohnnyVegas]

one thing that is raelly tough for me is getting out of the house to go geocaching before 12 noon, once in a while I might get started by 11 AM. I guess if I put more hours in I might be a power cacher. A real good day for me is anything over ten which is not very often, yesterday we did 12 and that included doing christmass shopping-some times you gotted like those caches in mall parking lots

 

Most of the power cachers in my area get up at or "Before" sunrise- that is just sick

Then they get home way after dark when there is nothing left to watch on TV

A lot of them are retired with lots of time for caching.

And I do not see a lot of the local power cachers posting in the forums, forums are very bad for cache numbers

Some of them use mountain bikes which is what I have done while caching in San Francisco, or in areas with lots of bike trails that include geocaches

 

It is a big help to live in a cache rich area, I have over 4,000 withing 100 miles of my zip code which is about 20 miles north of San Francisco. Also running pocket quaries and using a pocket PC is a big help. last year Bought a lap top for caching while out of town, you can find hotels with internet hook ups, I have found one hotel with that includes free internet access.

[+Mudfrog]

We usually have to do some traveling to find caches as there arent that many in our area. At first we thought like some of you and made sure to pick out the easier ones so that our trip was worthwhile and we got some numbers. I believe our best in a day was 22 caches around the Houston area. That was definitely a longgggg day and at the time, i didnt want to see another cache again in my life. Now its usually about the challenge. Finding a truly unique cache, solving a puzzle, making that swim, or hiking 10 miles for a cache is what makes it worth it for us now. We still try for the easy ones of course but power caching isnt our thing!

 

On topic, personally i dont see how anyone could find 200+ caches in a day. Just a little figuring here: 200 caches at say 5 minutes a piece comes out to 16.6666666 hours. To me, 5 minutes is definitely a low number. Just finding the cache takes longer than that alot of time, then you have to sign the logbook, stuff it back in the cache, and rehide everything. Walking or driving between caches, taking a breather, getting a bite to eat, looking at maps, replacing batteries, etc,,, all add to the time. All i can say is that you gotta be a very hungry cacher to want to even attempt something like that!

[+wimseyguy]

That's why we named the power caching team Team CHB (Cache Hungry Bastards). Trust me, in some cache dense zones you can find 5 in 5 minutes if you move fast and don't waste time trading and just use initials on the logs.

PS remember the 200+ finds were during 24 hour runs. OUr best day was 104 in about 15 hours, but we stopped and had a sit down lunch waiting out a heavy downpour.

[+WalruZ]

Take a look at the amount of caches in places like Nashville, Jacksonville, Seattle, or San Fransisco. 50-100 a day is easy with a little planning.

 

Assuming you are a premium member, go to the main geocaching.com page, put '94536' in the zip code search field, choose the first cache, choose the "geocaching.com maps" link from it's page, and then zoom out. That's my zip code. I've pushed my boundaries out to a little over 10 miles, cleaned out San Francisco and some of the area south, and done smatterings in surrounding area, mostly for scenery rather than numbers.

 

It is very possible to rack up huge numbers in this sort of environment. One of our top finders also has over 230 hides! I regularly cache with someone who is closing in on 6000 finds - he caches every day, and not just one or two, and he'll climb any hill you put in front of him. There's another fellow I know who hit 1000 finds in his first 6 months of geocaching. I was recently on an excursion and our party's combined find total was around 15,000. Competition on our leaderboard is fierce.

 

And it isn't just "micro runs". Much of the terrain underlying that map rises from sea level to 2500 feet or more. When the difficult caches get posted it's the numbers people who are out there first. All these people climb the hills, do the 4 star terrain, solve the puzzles, run out for FTFs, organize events and hide cool caches to boot. It's a great place to live.

[+fly46]

 

On topic, personally i dont see how anyone could find 200+ caches in a day. Just a little figuring here: 200 caches at say 5 minutes a piece comes out to 16.6666666 hours. To me, 5 minutes is definitely a low number. Just finding the cache takes longer than that alot of time, then you have to sign the logbook, stuff it back in the cache, and rehide everything. Walking or driving between caches, taking a breather, getting a bite to eat, looking at maps, replacing batteries, etc,,, all add to the time. All i can say is that you gotta be a very hungry cacher to want to even attempt something like that!

During the GeoWoodstock2 runs, a couple of the cache teams had team names... Team RWB... Team NAB...etc... So one grabbed the container, opened it, held the scroll out, someone wrote team nab rwb really quick... move on.. total time 30 seconds.

 

In my group we didn't do that, but two of the cachers had stickers so they just popped one on and then someone wrote any names left to write... (It helps to have a short caching name like fly for something like that)

 

Generally on a numbers run you won't find long notes in the log book, just a quickly scribbled name. A lot of times the people don't bother to look for trade items, either.

[+The Leprechauns]

On topic, personally i dont see how anyone could find 200+ caches in a day.

Are you saying that I did not do what I did (find 240 caches in 24 hours), or that you do not understand the methods I used to do what I did? They are two very different questions. I want to be clear which one you are asking, before I respond.

[+Team Neos]

That's what I was wondering about.  His find comments are very short and it doesn't sound lie he's been there.

..... you CAN check the cache log to see if they were there, however. but if he's "cheating", what difference does it make in the grand scheme of things?

This probably doesn't really need to be done, since I think it is obvious to the OP by now that a person can log that many finds every week and be completely on the up and up---but...My husband and I were pleased to note that JPlus14 had logged our caches recently---he is a local cacher with a pretty big count, so we appreciated him coming out to check out the newbies caches. We were at these caches doing maintenance anyway, so we checked the physical logs, and yep, he signed the physical log on both of these caches:

 

GCKDYR

 

GCKDKP

[+R-100-GS]

When you have a GPSr with auto routing and Mapsourse software and a dense urban area it's easy to do a bunch of caches in a day. (Garmin V)

Vacation trips are great ways to bag a bunch too. I've done 9 in a day in the boonies with long drives leading to each cache,and I didn't start until late in the day.(4x4 all the way)

I've also seen cachers who are retired who have more time on their hands to cache (hunt) and place caches and you know what? Thank god there are are people like that who have the time to make this sport what it is. (these are some of the guys with hugh stats)

I'm not a cache machine, but I can understand what drives so many of us.

Ive logged some caches with hardly anything more then TNLNSL TFTC.

Sometimes the the cache, or the location is lame ,or I'm tired when I sit at the computer that i can't think of any thing to say.

Sometime I cache for just the stats, and somtimes the hunt takes me to a new place Iv'e never been to before.(the ohhhs and haass)

A lot of the time the swag is so lame I do'nt feel like bothering to trade for McToys, golfballs,or packs of playing cards, or Mardi Gra beads.

 

just my two cents worth.

Edited December 29, 2004 by R-100-GS

[+AtlantaGal]

My caching partner and I will power cache when we can. Tho we won't just hit micros because after doing 8 or so of those in a row, it can get kind of boring for me. I like ammocans It's to the point now, where we usually have to drive 40 minutes to an hour away to start a route. So we don't get as many a day anymore unless we're travelling out of state. The only caches we avoid if on a numbers run are long hikes of several miles or multi-virtuals. Some of those can take most of the day, and with gas being as pricey as it is, it's just not worth it. We use multiple PQs, delorme when planning a route and routing software on a 60cs to travel that route.

 

The way I remember some caches is that I carry a notebook with me and write down stuff at each cache. I look at those notes when logging my finds online. Once I get over 10 caches, it's too hard to remember what I took/left/saw at each location. And when possible, I like to try to have longer online cache logs.

 

If you're looking for false cache logs, the place I see it the most is with virtuals. I have seen some area cachers log several virtuals out of state when I know they're sitting right here at home and have not made any recent trips.

 

Getting 50-100 caches in a day isn't very hard in places like Atlanta, Louisville, Chatanooga and Nashville. I think our personal best is something like 28 in a day. We don't do alot of night caching.

Edited December 29, 2004 by AtlantaGal

[+Ambrosia]

Okay, so I am truly humbled. I just logged my 100th find and thought I was really cool stuff. My goal was to get my 100 before X-mas, and it wasn't exactly easy to pull off. Guess I'm not as "driven" as some others and I'm not located in a cache dense area.

 

Thanks for a glimse into the real world of caching!

There are so many things to take into account when looking at how many caches a person has logged, as so many have pointed out:

 

How long a person has been geocaching

How much time they have (retired, single, unusual jobs, or no jobs)

If they can travel a lot

How many caches in their area

How motivated they are

 

And I'm sure there are many other reasons.

 

I have been caching for 2 1/2 years in a rather non-dense area (especially until recently). I personally don't even have a GPS. I either have to go with my mother-in-law, or my husband who isn't into the sport at all, or I have to borrow from either one, which can be very tough to make them part with it. I have 472 finds.

 

Yet on the other hand, we have friends who have been caching for 2 years, and they live almost 2 hours away in a literal caching no-mans land, but are retired and have racked up 1109 finds.

 

We also have a couple in our area that have been caching for 3 years, and they have only 40 finds. They set up some of the first caches in our area, and are still active.

 

It's a unique and interesting sport, with each person and situation different and unique. That's part of what makes it so fun.

[+clan_Barron]

The important thing is we had fun        doing all of it together.

 

PS I forgot to mention that sometimes we stay out reaaaalllly late and cache with lots of high powered flashlights, sugary sweet caffeinated beverages, and a few dozen Krispy Kremes.  

I hope this answers your questions.

I gotta chime in here and agree with wimseyguy (who I had the pleasure of caching with for 12+ hours after Geowoodstock II). I enjoy the heck out of spending a Saturday going out and finding 10-30 caches with the Mrs. I also enjoy spending a Saturday with the Mrs. going out and hiking 10 miles to find 2 caches. I also enjoyed the heck out of the insanity of 12+ hours of dashing around Nashville in the middle of the night eating a diet of donuts, chips & Code Red while in the company of a couple old caching friends and a couple new caching friends. It wasn't about the numbers (I don't even remember how many we found). What I do remember is the comraderie and the fun (and getting stopped by the Nashville Police "You ain't done nothing wrong, we just want to know what you're doing walking all over downtown at night" ).

 

When me & the Mrs. hunt 30 caches in a day besides finding the caches, part of the fun for me is in the planning. Reseaching the caches, planning the route, etc.. it's all good.

[+wimseyguy]

CB forgot to mention (or perhaps chose not to) that we were also asked to leave Franklin, as we were violating curfew, and the cruising laws, and I was asked by the Vanderbilt U PD to be a little less aggressive in my um.. parking.

Yup, three LOE agenices in one night. We didn't find more caches than Lep, carleep etc. that night, but I think that we set a different record.

[+brodiebunch]

Perhaps those who find so many in one day are retired, self employed, independently wealthy or unemployed and have the time to find so many? If so, they are very fortunate and I aspire to be more like them.

 

I have noticed that the amount of postings in the log book doesnt match the online postings on several of our of caches. Even subtracting the notes, TB drop offs, etc; that there is a discrepancy. All of the rants I have read about, finding them virtually without finding them in reality would be cheating in the purest sense of the game.

 

However I don't consider geocaching a game because there is no end point. Its an activity/hobby done at one's leisure.

 

My three cents (was two cents but with inflation........)

[+Gimmeneertiekie]

You have my vote to give a cache a number just like the travelbugs !!!

Great id..

[+fly46]

Perhaps those who find so many in one day are retired, self employed, independently wealthy or unemployed and have the time to find so many? If so, they are very fortunate and I aspire to be more like them.

That's not always the case.

Yeah, in some instances it is.

 

The current 24 hr record was set by cahers who just traveled for the weekend to set the record.

 

You don't have to have 24/7/365 to go out and cache to get big numbers - go every saturday to a different area, start early, end late, don't stop unless you have to pee, and see how fast your numbers grow.

[+fly46]

You have my vote to give a cache a number just like the travelbugs !!!

Great id..

That's not even remotely a good idea..

Aside from the fact that it'd be annoying to go back and fix them all.. You also have the issue of virts and locationess caches... Not to mention that now cachers would have to carry something to write on/in/with or make sure they had something around like a pda for the numbers.

 

How many cachers do you think will get messages saying "I found your cache on vacation/during lunch/last weekend and can't find that number could you tell me what it is"

[+Kit Fox]

I posted this reply earlier, but it didn't show up. I apologize if this turns out to be a duplicate.

 

I'm interested in learning more about these power cachers. I've never heard of this and am curious about it. Is this a group of cachers, or just 1 cacher? If it's a group, are the people in the group the same every time? Do they log their finds under 1 name? Is it a very expensive and accurate GPS that's used to find the caches so quickly? Since they are interested in quantity, does that mean they TNLNSL and are not interested in moving TBs? Your responses have showed that it's obviously possible for someone to find this many caches depending on the area. I know it's not possible for us to find that many caches in a day due to where we live, so I'm just trying to understand how this power caching works.

Plan ahead, map out an area with lots of caches, and learn how to cache paperless .

 

Some power cachers have jobs that have odd hours or lot's of down time for caching.

 

The only thing preventing me from caching more often is time, and honey dos. When you have a family, and home projects that need finishing, you can't cache all of the time. I have pretty much found all the caches in my area, so I have to wait for new caches to be placed before I can find more, nearby.

[+WCNUT & TATER]

Just wanted to hum in on JPLUS14... We are glad we have the privilege to call him friend. We have cached with this fine cacher MANY times. and he is very legit. We have went out of town with him and have found as many as 57 with him in a days time. He is ate-up with caching, he spends every free moment he has caching or planning on caching. He calls, and him & WCNUT go out usually once or twice a week, after work, on Saturday's, Sundays, vacation days. middle of the night when ever he can sign a log.

 

WCNUT & TATER

[+JPlus14]

Hi, I usually do not read the forums. I would rather spend my time out geocaching. I received several calls today about this thread so I decided to read it and reply. Yes, my finds are legit and I go out most weekends. My wife, Twssl, said she can verify that.

 

To answer some of the questions about power caching, I will out line how I approach geocaching. There are three things that I try to follow when power caching. 1. Planning. 2. Navigation. 3. Execution. I will break these down and go into more detail.

 

1. Planning. I generally plan my trips at least a week in advance. First, I decide what kind of caching do I want to do. I tend to think of caching in two areas, long hikes or quick finds. I enjoy both. Since this thread is about power caching, I will focus on the quick finds/power caching. These guidelines are effective for the hikes too but are more noticeable when power caching. Decide what you are doing and stick to it. Do not change plans in the middle of a trip. I look for areas that have a large number of caches that meets the criteria of what I want to do. The area needs to have enough caches to keep me busy for two or three days. If not, I will skip that area until more caches have been placed in that area.

 

Once I decide on an area, I will load all the caches into Streets and Trips on my laptop. I add the caches I want to do to a route and optimize the routing. Then, I go through all the caches in the route and delete caches that I think I may not want to do, several no finds, does not meet the criteria of what I want to do, long multi's, etc. Then, I will reoptimize the routing. Now, I know exactly what caches I am going to attempt and in what order. All this is planned a week ahead of time.

 

2. Navigation. I have my laptop mounted in my truck with a GPS connected. S&T will show me exactly where I am at all times on the route. The screen on the laptop is much bigger than the screen of a GPS. It is easy to see what is coming up and where I need to turn. I follow the planned route religiously. Sometimes it looks like it might be easy to jump over there and grab another cache. I don't do it. The only time I vary from the planned route is when something physically, such as a road closed, prevents me from following the planned route.

 

Caches in city parks can be tricky. Many times, the park roads are not on my maps. People tend to hide caches towards the back of parks. If there are not roads or obvious entrance to the park on the map, I will go to the side of the park that is farthest away from the caches. Chances are, I will find the entrance.

 

3. Execution. Before heading to the next cache, I read the cache page and hint so I know what I am looking for before I get there. Many times, I can spot the cache location before I stop my truck. If all goes well, I am at a location less than 2 minutes. And, yes, I always make sure the cache is put back as good or better than I found it, even if it takes a lot longer to put it back than it did to retrieve and sign it.

 

The most important thing is to know when to quit looking for a cache. I think BruceS said in an interview once that if he does not find a cache with in 10 minutes, chances are he is not going to find it. Ten minutes is about the maximum time I spend looking for one cache when I am out power caching. If the description and hint is good, one where you pretty well can pinpoint the location right off, and I do not see the cache, I will leave within 5 minutes. I do not log no finds on these because I did not give it a full search. It could be there and I overlooked it. Not walking away from a cache can eat up huge chunks of time. If I walk away, I might find 2, 3, or more caches instead of none.

 

If I skip a cache or do not find it, then I delete the cache out of the route on my laptop. When I get home, then I can look at the route and know exactly which caches I found. My logs are brief. Unless there is something that really stands out about a cache, it is difficult to remember a lot of details when you do 40+ caches a day.

 

Not many people will cache at the pace that I do. I am a fast walker. If I am doing a cache that is out a fairly good trail, I try to walk 3.5 - 4 miles an hour. I don't spend time deciding what cache to do next. That is already planned. If a cache does not feel right, I may decide to skip it. I make a quick decision and move on. Also, I don't stop to eat. I have Coke, Gatorade, Snickers, and Twinkies in my truck. I will grab a quick bite and drink between caches. I will cache up to 20 hours a day. I have left home at 5:00 AM on a Friday and returned at midnight Sunday with less than 8 hours sleep. This is not a pace that most people can do. But I enjoy it. It lets me get away from everything else. I don't think about anything else except geocaching. OK, it may not be the healthiest thing to do to go at that pace and live on Gatorade and Twinkies, but I enjoy it.

 

For the record, my best day was in Nashville, TN with 121 finds. About the same time, a group did 238 finds in one day in Nashville. Almost twice the number I found. Outside of Nashville, my best day was 58 finds. This was my first trip to Oxford, OH, a cache rich area and new territory for me. I am averaging just under 3 finds a day. I have been told that a Los Angles geocacher is averaging 7 finds a day, more than twice my rate. My numbers are not out of line with other top geocachers. Actually, there are others doing a lot more than me.

 

As someone in this thread stated, with as many finds as I have, there are few caches left close to home. Therefore I have to travel to find more than a hand full. When I travel, I want to get the most out of my time.

 

Several people have asked about the equipment and software that I use. I have 3 GPS’s. My primary GPS is an eTrex Vista. I like the size of the eTrex GPS’s. They fit my hand. I use the topo maps on the Vista when hiking out trails. I have a yellow eTrex attached to my laptop in my truck. And I have a backup GPS just in case one fails. It is my first GPS, an eTrex Summit. As far as software, I use GSAK to manage my gpx files and Microsoft Streets and Trips for my routing. If I am going to be in some rough terrain, I will use ExpertGPS to view excellent topo maps before heading out and I will load topo maps into my Vista from Garmin Map Send. A PDA is handy if I am doing caches that require some hiking, or if I am doing several caches from one stop.

 

I am fortunate to live in a cache rich area. There are 500 caches within 20 miles of my house. Other cache rich areas such as Nashville are an easy drive. This makes it easy to get a lot of numbers.

 

After all the talk about power caching and the numbers, I will tell you that the most memorable caches that I found was on a weekend trip in northern British Columbia and Alberta. We drove over 900 miles and found 10 caches in 2 days. My friends in Canada are envious of the numbers we have around here. And I miss the quality of the remote caches in the Canadian Rockies.

 

Geocaching is a sport that you do as you see fit. Some people prefer only hikes and rough terrain, others like historical caches, some like micros, others like full size ammo boxes, some like power caching. I like a mix. When someone looks at my logs they see power caching over the other styles just because of the volume. I want to encourage everyone to cache the style that best fits them. Geocaching may be the most adaptable sport to fit your personal desires.

 

I hope this answers some of the questions about power caching.

 

JPlus14

Floyds Knobs, IN

[+Team Perks]

Echoing what JPlus14 said, power-caching is entirely doable given the right planning and mindset.

 

My personal best in a day is 130 as part of a group. Everything was done legit. It was a pace I don't want to do for a long time. But, it is possible--and we could have actually done more had we not stopped for a nice meal, and again later to recharge for our last hike of the night. It all came as a result of planning, wasting no time on the trail, and just plain-old "keepin' on." In that case, numbers were our goal--and even though we saw all kinds of awesome stuff and had a blast, we made sure we didn't dawdle.

 

I've cached with the people who are currently #3 (Ventura Kids), #7 (EMC of Northridge, CA), and #13 (Team Dakiba) in the world. There are no magic tricks that they use--it just takes time, dedication, and meticulous planning. High numbers don't come from 150-cache days. They come from repeatedly hitting the densest areas, 30 or 40 at a time. In Southern California, for instance, there are literally dozens upon dozens of dense areas where this can be accomplished even at a moderate pace.

[+mitzydog]

I count JPlus14 as a good caching buddy and have enjoyed his company driving all over this neck of the woods looking under rocks and turning bolts here and there. Sorry but you could not have chosen a more honest person to question his logs. And yup, I am the envious Canuck. Keep them logs a coming JPlus 14 and do let me know next time your in the neighborhood...........