Originally Posted by
kayaking loon
I would like to encourage more of you to cache in our area, especially in the fall when the weather is cool and the bugs are gone! We get a lot of geocachers from the campground but not too many of you venture up this way, and when you do, you often grab just one cache and ignore the others.
Starting north of Kingfield, there are currently 13 active caches and two others that are temporarily disabled. Just above Kingfield, start with Geocache GC19AC. Next comes Narrow Gauge Trail CG14AZD; Fallen Arch GC4E52; A View of the Lake GC149W5; Bigelow Preserve GC14JRJ; Mooselook GCPC9P; Eustis Ridge II GCWEW5; OnRoadToMyersBeach GCWCFJ; Milwaukee Brewers GC14HEG; In Memory of Georgia GC131KY; By A Dam Site GCYC11; Chain of Ponds GCGP12; and Mainiac1957's Map38 Cache GCWT94. I have plans to put out some more. So other than distance and the price of gas, what keeps you away? Would you like more caches to make it worth a trip?
I can always sprinkle the route with micros if need be. And if you need advice on how to find, where to stay, where to camp, where to kayak, just e-mail me, I'd be glad to help!
Arrgh . . . no "sprinkling of micros" please, I'm begging you . . . they are the bane of my existence.
I mean that's not to say I don't enjoy a micro now and then (and in fact I won't often pass on one if I'm going by) and I do enjoy the fiendishly cleverly hid ones, but it seems as though in the past few months we've been bombarded with "seed" themed-micro caches . . . which aren't bad in themselves, but they just seem to spawn more and more of these types of caches and so very often you end up visiting lots and lots of guardrails when in fact some of these places could utilize regular cache containers which are infinitely more exciting to find and hide for kids (the chance to swap out swag) and for adults (I for one often try to jot down a few notes about the view, the search, etc.)
I also cannot fathom why some folks enjoy hiding micros in middle of the woods -- for me (a Magellan user) it's hard enough finding a regular sized cache much less a micro . . . although I must confess I have seen some micros in the woods which were appropriate. To me micros definitely seem better suited for placement in urban areas or in areas where placing a larger cache container might not be appropriate or practical (i.e. I have a micro that I placed in Dixmont since I only had permission to use a small section of land for my cache, I have done GRCs that offered a great view -- but there was no other place for a regular-sized cache.) Just my opinion. OK, enough of a rant on micros. . . .
When you're off the beaten path it may be hard to get a ton of folks to your area to cache, but one thing that definitely helps is cache saturation. I know for example that when I decide to go out on a day-long trip or an overnight caching trip finding an area that has lots of caches -- good caches -- ones that intrigue me (and for me that means a place with history, a scenic view, etc.) is the main draw. Numbers aren't everything, but it helps. If Location A and Location B both involve the same distance in traveling and both have interesting sounding caches (again, this is subjective), but Location B has a few more caches than Location A I'll often go to that location just because it offers me more caches to search out.
Distance is definitely a factor these days with the price of gas . . . and for me, more importantly, the cost of time. In fact the other day I finally had some free hours so I thought about going caching . . . I had three general locations in mind -- the Augusta area, Thomaston area and Greenville area. To be truthful I really wanted to head up into Greenville as there are a lot of caches I haven't done there and there's one in particular -- Pontiac Silver Streak -- that intrigues me just based on the name alone. My second choice was to grab some in the Thomaston area, but in the end I only had a few hours so I choose the cache location closest to me in Augusta.
Another aspect is the location of the caches in relation to main routes of travel. Caches close to or along main routes of travel will usually get more hits than caches that involve a little more travel off the "beaten path." In other words if I'm just passing through and notice a cache a mile off a main road I may be more apt to grab that cache versus a cache located 10 or even 5 miles off the main road. I've noticed this with caches in my area -- caches that are relatively close to the main drag so to speak get found a lot more frequently than some of my more isolated caches -- not that it's a bad thing . . . just a fact.
It also seems that many cachers will filter out (either manually or through software) caches that do not appeal to them based on the challenge level (terrain and difficulty.) For example, if I'm in the area and hoping to grab a bunch of caches I might pass on a cache that has a high terrain or difficultly level . . . especially if it involves a major hike and I have limited time (that's not to say I don't enjoy a good hike and trust me after doing a bunch of grab-and-go caches I really look forward to a short to moderate hike on many caches) or don't feel like hiking a mountain. Again, this is just me. I also generally steer away from water-based caches and the wickedly steep mountain caches . . . just not my thing.
Finally, one way to help boost finds is to host an event in the area. It seems as though events tend to bring more folks out to an area and the area caches. In addition, it seems as though some folks will put out new caches right before or on the day of the event as a way to lure even more cachers into the area -- especially those die-hard FTFers!
OK, this all said . . . I promise you here today . . . I will get up to your area . . . it just may be later than sooner . . . but someday. . . .
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."
"Death is only one of many ways to die."