My bf and I have recently joked that we must have missed the memo that FTF's aren't cool anymore... but in all seriousness do people just not cache this time of year? Over the summer and fall we would attempt to get FTF's and would end up third when it had been posted less than an hour previously! But this spring FTF's seem to be easy to get. We went for one last week right after it had been posted and the owner had forgotten to actually place the cache! We went back the next day and managed to get the FTF, but there is still less than 5 people to find it and its a quick PNG on a busy road. And over the weekend we placed our first hide (a very exciting process for us) and NO ONE has even looked for it yet! It just blows my mind!! FTF's are exciting and a thrill for us, and always seemed to be that many cachers felt the same way... Is this a common thing in the winter/spring?! or is the excitement for the game in the local area going down hill?!?!

Welcome to the site!

FTFs are cool if you want them to be. I've gotten a few and several may be worth bragging about. But I'll take the original reason for hiding a cache any day over an FTF, and that is to take you to somewhere you would not have gone otherwise.

I'd be more apt to go for an FTF on a more interesting or tougher cache. If it's just a PNG, that's like bragging about finding a grain of sand at the beach. :)

Maine has a good number of caches available for FTF that were placed over 100 days ago, six of which were placed over a year ago, two of those six are over two years old - now those are some FTFs worth bragging about!

My husband and I go after an FTF when we can on the days he has off from work. Loads of fun to find that empty log!!! Especially when I find out I beat out my brother or his best friend to the cache!! THAT is what makes if wicked fun! I am SUCH a little sister!! LOL

FTFs for me are fun but my personal family commitments and prior commitments come first. I am not one who gets notice by phone so I must read about the publication first.

My filter is set for a certain radius of my home. The further from home, the less likely I will run for an FTF. It used to be folks put little things in caches for FTF (a certificate, path tag, tinkle, cash) but I think that tread has certainly wained (perhaps based on the majority of container sizes being hidden).

Thank you for placing your cache. I am sure when/if I get to your area I will search for it (if I am able - terrain sometimes hinders me) and regardless - thanks for contributing to the game.

PS - I, too, remember my first hide.........it was a blast and I waited for logs with anticipation. It was how I made friends with Mainiac1957~;)

My bf and I have recently joked that we must have missed the memo that FTF's aren't cool anymore... but in all seriousness do people just not cache this time of year? Over the summer and fall we would attempt to get FTF's and would end up third when it had been posted less than an hour previously! But this spring FTF's seem to be easy to get. We went for one last week right after it had been posted and the owner had forgotten to actually place the cache! We went back the next day and managed to get the FTF, but there is still less than 5 people to find it and its a quick PNG on a busy road. And over the weekend we placed our first hide (a very exciting process for us) and NO ONE has even looked for it yet! It just blows my mind!! FTF's are exciting and a thrill for us, and always seemed to be that many cachers felt the same way... Is this a common thing in the winter/spring?! or is the excitement for the game in the local area going down hill?!?!

In my little corner of the world FTF's are still cool. The blast for me is to beat Tandemstoker,finsup or anyone else who dares try and take it away. However, life does get in the way sometimes and all you can do is sit back and cry over spilled milk.

Welcome to the site!

FTFs are cool if you want them to be. I've gotten a few and several may be worth bragging about. But I'll take the original reason for hiding a cache any day over an FTF, and that is to take you to somewhere you would not have gone otherwise.

I'd be more apt to go for an FTF on a more interesting or tougher cache. If it's just a PNG, that's like bragging about finding a grain of sand at the beach. :)

Maine has a good number of caches available for FTF that were placed over 100 days ago, six of which were placed over a year ago, two of those six are over two years old - now those are some FTFs worth bragging about!

Brdad, as someone who has a progressive neurological illness that will eventally require the use of a wheelchair, I have to say that any find is worth bragging about, including park and grabs. I know you were being light hearted here, but let's not forget that you do not know the circumstances of all who visit this site. Lets make it welcoming for everyone, disabled included. My first, and only hide so far, is a PNG and I have received thank yous from disabled folks who have visited. There is room for everyone to play the game and there is no shame in not being able to hike into the woods to get a find.

Back on topic! I think FTF's are very cool! I am kind of a night owl, so I wish some would come out around 11-1AM. Usually by the time I am alert and oriented in the 'morning';), they've already been discovered!

Brdad, as someone who has a progressive neurological illness that will eventally require the use of a wheelchair, I gave to say that any find is worth bragging about including park and grabs. I know you were being light hearted here, but lets not forget that you do not know the circumstances of all who visit this site. Lets make it welcoming for everyone, disabled included.

Point taken. I often stress similar reasoning when people try to compare numbers, and FTFs are no different in that regard.

"I am kind of a night owl, so I wish some would come out around 11-1AM. Usually by the time I am alert and oriented in the 'morning';), they've already been discovered"

YIKES!! if they came out at 11pm I would NEVER get one LOL

It's good to hear that so many people are still wanting to get FTF's. I know we want to go out and find them when we can if they are not far away when they come in on the phone. We have some local people that we always tried to beat last year (*cough* Team TFTC *cough*) who always seem to give us a run for our money, until this spring when they seem to have fallen off the radar.
Also thanks for all the welcomes to the site, you have all made me feel very welcome.

I enjoy chasing the FTFs but that darn place I have to go every day that gives me the paycheck that lets me do this crazy hobby keeps getting in the way:) I still try to beat SRS, Tandemstoker, Dubord and BAMM when I can but it does seem to be a little less often lately.

I enjoy chasing the FTFs but that darn place I have to go every day that gives me the paycheck that lets me do this crazy hobby keeps getting in the way:)

I completely understand that, definitely seems to get in the way. I always sigh a little when new alerts pop on to my phone at like 9am.... because i know that the retired population will beat me to it.... oh well... they had there time to work too...
I am up in the china area quite often (born and raised there) so maybe i'll beat you to an ftf some weekend if it happens to get posted when i'm here! I know my parents (n1tck) keep an eye out for them and have nabbed a few in the area.

With 120 FTF's it's fair to say I've chased a few and some of these finds were very memorable. When gob-ler was in Maine and living in the Lewiston area, he still occassionally beat some of us to caches right here in our neighborhood. I remember one FTF I grabbed in the Vaughn Woods in Hallowell that I searched for about a half hour and nearly panicked when I saw gob-ler headed up the trail. I made the find moments before he would have grabbed it and we shared a few laughs. One night, five new ones came out in the Waterville area around 8:30 PM. We loaded up our caching gear, dinner, dogs and dashed out. One of the caches was down a road/path barely wide enough for one vehicle, let alone two and as we neared GZ I saw headlights coming out! Yeah, it was "great FTF hound" gob-ler proudly announcing that we were too late as our mirrors hit as we passed! I still like the occassional run but haven't figured out how to get the phone alerts on my new Mesmerize phone. When I do, let the chase begin!

I am still known to chase after a FTF or two or maybe three. Still cool if you ask me!

I may have slowed down a bit, but I still remember how to get it done!

Sometimes FTAs (First To Attempts) and DNFs are cool, especially when that first attempt is made over 6 years after the cache was placed!
Dan should be proud, it took 3 logs to log a DNF...
Where was Tom? This trek looks right up his alley!
For anyone that doesn't know, CJ heads the nat'l chat.


The Green Lantern HydroCache #2 (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=252eb3ec-b609-418e-9b39-8cd06b8478f1)(Unknown/Mystery)(Micro) (GCKBCY) by Buck8Point, LaAnthropology, and BigC (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=23268) (4/5)

Just read the logs...wow, tough hide! 13 mile paddle? This is why I'm learning to fly helicopters!

I think FTF's are REALLY cool. However, I have moved to Down East Maine, I am currently disabled with incredibly limited resources. So, with the nearest FTF's about 20 miles away, it gets cost prohibitive for 1 cache. Oh, and with the new disability, it can't be a very high terrain or long hike. This from someone who liked the challenge of a solo hike for a FTF on Tumbledown Mountain and the Moat Mountain Progressive Challenge. Our lives, health, priorities, finances and desires change. Bing in my current situation, I am very happy and proud to be the FTF of a GRC. it makes my day and I feel like I am still a geocacher.
I still feel the jitters and excitement of the crisp empty logs, and likewise wait for posts on my new hides. for me, it never goes away...
MARTES

Here's a FTF from yesterday, and a very impressive one at that. Check out mainiac1957's cache, GC2V1FT. The requirement is simple, just have a find for 365 consecutive days. Anybody reading this have that? gob-ler has and he notched the FTF yesterday after a "short" drive over to Maine from PA! Well done Dick!

Here's a FTF from yesterday, and a very impressive one at that. Check out mainiac1957's cache, GC2V1FT. The requirement is simple, just have a find for 365 consecutive days. Anybody reading this have that? gob-ler has and he notched the FTF yesterday after a "short" drive over to Maine from PA! Well done Dick!

And all he said in the log was " :) " just to get on Dan's good side.

Actually, he wrote a really excellent log.

Here's a FTF from yesterday, and a very impressive one at that. Check out mainiac1957's cache, GC2V1FT. The requirement is simple, just have a find for 365 consecutive days. Anybody reading this have that? gob-ler has and he notched the FTF yesterday after a "short" drive over to Maine from PA! Well done Dick!

That is a really impressive FTF!! :)

Here's a FTF from yesterday, and a very impressive one at that. Check out mainiac1957's cache, GC2V1FT. The requirement is simple, just have a find for 365 consecutive days. Anybody reading this have that? gob-ler has and he notched the FTF yesterday after a "short" drive over to Maine from PA! Well done Dick!

I think you sorta forgot the part about how he was in Lewiston for a family function.:rolleyes::rolleyes: Now just running from there to here is still a lot for a FTF, BUT the man has over 1100 of them. And hew didn't get that many by holding back.:D

Someone posted how folks used to put an incentive in the cache for FTF. Well "I" for one shall put some token of value in any cache I set.. It only seems a reasonable "give back" for the enjoyment I've had... cut, bruised, chewed, tired, confused.... In fact there's a silver quarter in Kathys first cache as a FTF prize.
Just my 2¢
JW

When it comes to FTF today I did my first Earthcache, and it was a FTF to boot. left home at 0300 in the morning getting back at 1915 ( 7:15 PM ), drove 481.6 miles, bushwacked 1.67 miles roundtrip from the Jeep. All to say I did something 2cd ( Northwoods Explorer had to beet me to list it ) My geo-pooch may runn and hide next time I say lets go geocaching though. Oh brdad, you can remove Harrow Mountain Fault from you list of never found in almost 3 years. I would recomend this trip to any GROUP, I did it solo with cooch my geo-pooch and do not recomend it as a solo trip, but I am home and wtching to bruins in the finals so all turned out well. That is all I would do for a FTF to remember.

Very cool trip! Congrats!

It will be automatically removed next time I run my macro, maybe I'll do it after i get this week's PQs...