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| A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... |
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 I first registered on geocaching.com on Monday, December 30, 2002. I had just gotten a GPSr for Christmas, and done an internet search looking for software. On January 1, 2003, I went on my first cache hunt. (Don't ask...) On January 22, 2003, I made my first find--four years ago today. At that time, when you logged in to geocaching.com there was a bar at the top of the page that told you how many geocaches were located with 250 miles of your listed coordianates. I was amazed when that number topped 2000! If I recall correctly, there were about 10,000 geocaches and about 2,000 geocachers when I started, and a search for the caches near my home coordinates returned on 94 pages. Most geocaches were tupperware, and were generally found in out-of-the-way areas where stealth was not too important. The idea of finding more than a dozen a day was considered extreme! And a thousand finds--by one person! Quite exceptional, indeed! Travel bugs were relatively new, and geocoins not yet invented. The idea of signature items was just forming. In 2003, when you went on vacation to another city the question "Are there any geocaches there?" did not bring an automatic positive response. Urban caches, especially outside the LA/Orange County area were somewhat rare, as were micros and, of course, the "small" catagory didn't exist yet. Arizona and Nevada had less than 1000 caches each--mostly hidden by California geoachers on vacation before the guideline against vacation caches was implemented. There were three more geocaches in Riverside than in Utah! Kilo-club cachers? Not so many then--in fact the Ventura Kids were really kids! At least when I met them at the Southern California Geocachers Pizza Bash, GCGBWH, they were well under 1000 finds. And I seem to remember another newcomer at that first SoCalGeocachers event who caches as EMC of Northridge, who had been caching about two months and wasn\'t sure how much time she would have for this new hobby! She was well on her way to 200 finds by then... So, how are things different today?
Well, there are a lot more caches and cachers around. The rate of new folks starting has gone up in proportion also. With the emphasis on number and higher cache densities, getting to the 100 and 1000 find milestones seem to take no time... The average quality of caches has changed a bit. The total numbers have increased, but the percentage of identical hides has gone up faster. The average size of cache containers appears to be getting smaller all the time, and the percentage of new rural and sub-urban hides going down. The majority of hides appear to be urban micros--lamp-posts, fence posts, guard rail, etc. Is this good or bad? It depends on who you ask and how you like to cache. One unfortunate trend I have noticed growing faster lately is the angst and anger in the online forums and cache logs. Everyone has their own way of approaching geocaching-but there seem to be more conflicts between the "numbers are everything" and "quality and value" crowds. Probably because they are both getting a lot bigger, so the vocal minorities in each are getting bigger. How will it turn out? Ask me in another four years (and yes, I plan ot be around...). Equipment specifically for geocaching is now getting more common. Even beyond the GPSr manufacturers, there are companies selling products aimed at the growing geocaching market. Probably none so common as geocoins. These started off quickly, and seem to be exploding now, with the matching volume of forums posts, angst, and anger. I am still wondering where this trend is headed? Again, it will be interesting to look back in a few more years. So, which way is geocaching headed? Are we growing and improving because of the new talent and enthusiasm, or going to hell in a handbasket? Do I have to pick one? My observation is that we are getting a lot of very bright and enthusiastic folks starting to geocache. We are also getting some who seem to be as clueless as I was when I started, and a fair share of those who just like to stir things up and watch the fray. Good and bad, Yin and yang, just like everything else in life. Half of the geocachers around seem to be below average, and bout 10% of the mob is made up of twits and jerks. Again, just like every other hobby, occupation, or pursuit. What should we do to keep geocaching an enjoyable and stress-free activity? How should I know? Let's all just play nice and try to get along. If some of us are still caching after four or five years, how bad can it be? And if you read my next retorspective in a few years, how bad could it have gotten. How about if we all take a deep breath, go hide a geocache, and then try to find a couple of dozen...
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Posted on Tuesday, January 23 @ 10:56:35 EST by Dave_W6DPS |
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Average Score: 4.83
Votes: 12
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Re: A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... (Score: 1)
by chimbisimo on Tuesday, January 23 @ 11:23:25 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://chimbisimo.googlepages.com/home | Being a newcomer to the sport myself - my first find was 11 days ago - I appreciate your comments. It helps me learn some of the history of the sport, which in turn helps me appreciate it more This in turn instills in me a desire to maintain/build integrity within the sport. Thanks.
Nick
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Re: A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... (Score: 1)
by Moag_Ohana on Tuesday, January 23 @ 11:52:18 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | Dave,
Very well put!!! I whole heartedly agree with your comments. Like most other activities in the world things DO CHANGE, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse. Take a look at how different most professional athletes act today compared to athletes from 20 years ago. Like the Terrel Owens' of the world say "Their is no "I" in TEAM, but there is "ME". Life is good if you can accept things for what they are, again I am talking about the good and the bad.
I haven't meet as many cachers in person as most of the folks who visit this site but I can say all the ones I have met in person are stand up individuals. I am also thankful I have the freedom to cache as I deem appropriate. I too am interested to see which direction, not just geocaching but the geocaching community is going in the next few years. I hope our local geocaching community continues to harbor good will and camrmderie. Every village has an idiot, lets just hope ours doesn't make any friends!LOL! |
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Re: A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... (Score: 1)
by Dave_W6DPS (Dave_W6DPS@yahoo.com) on Tuesday, January 23 @ 12:48:45 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.geocities.com/dave_w6dps | Just a Clarification. When I said there were about 10,000 caches and about 2,000 cachers I meant in Southern California at the end of 2002 (LA, Orange, SB, Riverside, SD and Imperial counties).
Over all, my account is number 92704; and there are now over 880,000.
Dave_W6DPS |
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Re: A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... (Score: 1)
by tozainamboku on Tuesday, January 23 @ 21:23:48 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | I started a month or two after Dave. I remember there being plenty of urban caches - certainly in Thousand Oaks and a few in the east San Fernando Valley, Burbank and Santa Monica. Not as many parking lot hides but there were a few. Most were hidden in parks but some of the ones I did were in right front of businesses. Lots of what we would now call small caches - small tupperware containers. And plenty of altoids tins. When I began hiding cache I decided that all my caches would be hiking caches because it was already clear that most new hides were going to be urban. I don't recall when I found my first bison tube, those caches came later but not much later. The hiking caches that I did were either hidden in a bush or under a pile of rocks. The urban caches were much more interesting. Many were magnetic but I would find them in different places and sometimes they would be camouflaged to look like they belonged there. I don't think a higher percentage of caches are identical. I think its just that once you've found so many there aren't that many new ways to hide a cache. At the start the few people who were really active cachers would find all types of caches - urban caches, hikes, puzzles, multis, virtuals. As the numbers have gotten higher you can now concentrate on just what you like - except virtuals which you have to go to waymarking to do. The disputes in the online forums regarding numbers go way back too. They really haven't changed that much. Sometimes now people complain that there are too many of some kind of cache they don't like to do (micros, parking lot hides, etc.) Perhaps the fact that there are more of every kind of cache makes it harder to pick and choose. I think the new tools on geocaching.com - pocket queries, attributes, bookmark lists, Google maps - more than make up for the difficultly of having to look through more caches to pick the ones you want to do.
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