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Thread: Maine caching is....

  1. #1
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    Default Maine caching is....

    This is a reply to a post in this thread. I take no issue with the original poster of this quote, I realize I am in the minority, but I have to very strongly but respectfully disagree.

    Just think about how awesome it would be to achieve 100 caches in a day on the Kennebec river!! We have people talking/travelling to Maine to do the SMR. A Real challenge would be doing it on the water! :P Now That would get the geocaching world noticing Maine!!
    I really don't think it's great for our image to have Maine recognized as the state you can do 100 caches in a day 10 different ways. And what kind of a challenge is it when we keep making it easier and easier? I think Maine has much more to offer than numbers.

    Why not just put a 100 stage multi on the Kennebec and let cachers find it in as little or as much time as they desired? It would certainly separate those that wanted to do it for the enjoyment from those doing it for enjoyment of the numbers.

    So how does everyone else think Maine should be viewed by the geocaching world??
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  2. #2
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    I agree with you 100%. Just like our logo says "The way caching should be". I believe when Geocaching started it was not intended as a numbers game. It more intended as a fun spot as a take off from hide and seek. A game that would take you places that you would not normally go. It has seemed to evolve into a number game over the last few years. I don't believe that was its intention. This is jsut my opinion.
    Blazing Troll

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    So how does everyone else think Maine should be viewed by the geocaching world??
    Remember when there was a "Nashville style" of geocaching? I doubt if most of the newcomers know why it was a specific style, but it's now the standard everywhere - including Maine.

    I prefer to think of Maine geocaching as being "the way it should be", "not the way it is everyplace else - only worse".

    Sheesh!

  4. #4
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    First, let me say that I love this site and jump on it way too much, I also feel like I have buried my opinions for way too long. (The following is the opinion of Tracey Frost a.k.a. Fins2right only, This does not represent the opinion of the entire Frost family or it's representitives. ) I use humor a lot and try hard to ignore the politics, but I cannot. A few weeks/months back a poster wrote "we use the title "The way Geocaching should be but it's really not anymore". Really? I almost folded up my tent and went away after reading that, but I didn't comment or complain. To use a title from an old drinking game "I'm calling Bull$*%@"

    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    I really don't think it's great for our image to have Maine recognized as the state you can do 100 caches in a day 10 different ways. And what kind of a challenge is it when we keep making it easier and easier? I think Maine has much more to offer than numbers.
    Why the heck not? Maine has a huge area to cache in and a variety of caches. Have we become so set in our way of thinking that we dismiss any other approach to Geocaching. Have we come to a point where we assume that people will only go after 100+ runs and ignore the rest? For shame.

    When the SMR series came out I posted a thread "How busy could one man be?" It has received 203 replies to this date. I put it up to get more information and to express my appreciation. I cannot express how shocked I was that it turned negative on the first page. What Why? Read the logs, look at the joy that this series has brought to people. Why tear it down. If you do not like it, don't go. If you do not like that manner of caching, plant some new caches that require a long walk, drive, kayak, hike and advertise that. I did the SMR for 111 caches and loved it. I kayaked 5 miles round trip last night for 2 caches and woke up with blisters, loved it. Both are representitive of our state.

    (p.s. when the views expressed on that thread went contrary to my intent, I did not close the thread. That's what conversation is all about)

    A single "cookie cutter' approach to geocaching will only lead to it's demise. These aren't even two different things! People will pick thier manner of caching. They are not so silly that they need to be led around by thier noses.

    Quote Originally Posted by attroll View Post
    I agree with you 100%. Just like our logo says "The way caching should be". I believe when Geocaching started it was not intended as a numbers game. It more intended as a fun spot as a take off from hide and seek. A game that would take you places that you would not normally go. It has seemed to evolve into a number game over the last few years. I don't believe that was its intention. This is jsut my opinion.
    I grew up in Hampden, I was educated at the University of Maine. I had never, ever gone to the SMR until these caches came out, despite the fact that I was within rock throwing range. This game routinely takes me to places I have never gone, And I have a huge amount of fun going there no matter how many caches I grab along the way.

    Everything about geocaching is good for the state of Maine. Look around, we have so little in the way of good jobs and have devolved into a tourist state. If caches like the SMR or the number of caches around say, Lewiston attracts people from away that is awesome! They buy gas, eat, shop, and get to see parts of the state that do not include the southern coast. I would be willing to bet that a store owner in Costigan would be thrilled to know that he is selling more gas due to geocaching.

    So, why be critical? Is this geocaching? Darned right it is! Is caching in Maine better than most areas? I truly think so. Heck, I love Maine, but would move in a heartbeat if it were not for family. Lets face it, the climate isn't great. We get at best 8 weeks of summer. Businesses are leaving left and right. What do we have? Nature. Area's that are breathtaking to view and we need to sell that.

    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    So how does everyone else think Maine should be viewed by the geocaching world??

    I think that Maine should be known for things like GC149W5 ( A view of the lake) or GCGZ6M (One for the Loafers) Caches that take you on a journey for enjoyment and one smiley and for things like the SMR and the Eustis area. Eustis has 87 caches in the area doing a quick search. 87. Should we complain about that? I went back up for a week of camping and grabbed about 6 each day. Am I wrong in that? Should I stop?

    OK, I've blown into a full rant and I'm sure that I will be excoriated for it. But I am so tired of listening to complaining. It's a big state. We do not have poison snakes and spiders to worry about, we do not have cockroaches living in ammo cans. We have so much to offer the outside world and if some cachers in Utah or Ohio want to come up and land 100+ caches in a day, why should we stop them. Better yet, why should we think less of them?

    Don't like it? Again, come up with new caches that are the style that you champion and get them out there. I'll go find them and enjoy myself doing it. Or, advertise the ones out there that you find to be the "model" caches. Quit tearing down others for some percieved notion of "The way it was". Now let the bloodletting begin.
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  5. #5
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    No bloodletting by me, I have no problem with your opinion. I was just asking a question. I may not agree with you or you with me, but that doesn't necessarily make either of us right. Gc.com has no rules against placing caches in this manner, nor does it have any rules against anyone finding them.
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  6. #6
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    "The way caching should be." is very subjective at best. Obviously, any cache that is "found" represents a cacher that wanted to find it. No one was forced to find it nor is anyone required to find it. I think the variety is what attracts more cachers not some enigmatic phrase, "The way caching should be."

    I also noticed that when a "full time" caching team came through Maine, they managed to find many of my park and grab caches and not one puzzle or "hiker." So what do you suppose, "The way caching should be." means to them? LOL

    It may not be about the numbers to some but it surely is to others and I would like to think there are many of us that it is about both; can't keep finding them without the numbers going up.

    As far as the "challenges" Making them to easy or to hard? hahahahaha What does it matter? The individual gets to choose how they wish to do a challenge if at all. I could have chosen for the Centum challenge to not log any caches with a terrain rating less than 3. Would that have lessened someone elses experience if they chose to do all rated 1 terrain caches. I'm not vain enough to think that my accomplishments in doing a challenge could diminish or undermine the efforts of another cacher nor will their effort reduce/diminish or embarrass my efforts. That is ludicrous. I'd be willing to bet that very few people even knew or remembered that I finished the Centum Challenge but I remember how much fun I had and to me, that is all that matters.

    There is no final score. There are NOT going to be any losers. Taking into consideration the last two statements why are there such critical statements being made about the caches being placed?
    There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.~~Albert Einstein
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    No bloodletting by me, I have no problem with your opinion. I was just asking a question. I may not agree with you or you with me, but that doesn't necessarily make either of us right. Gc.com has no rules against placing caches in this manner, nor does it have any rules against anyone finding them.

    I know. Brdad your use of tech is amazing and you are classy. I'm just upset with the overall, not the specific
    Geocaching Parrotheads

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  8. #8
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    I think one place I am being misinterpreted on is that I am not speaking out about any individual cache. When I do that and if I disapprove, it will have to be after I find that individual cache and will most likely be in a TNLN only log. If I think it's unsafe or otherwise bad for the sport, I might elaborate a bit or report it to gc.com. It's hard to judge any individual cache without being there or without otherwise knowing exactly what it is about.

    However, I am against certain caching practices. I'd like to think many of us are, as in the case of moving caches, stealing TBs, taking something without leaving something, etc. It just so happens I am also against practices which promote organized competition and haste in caching.
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by fins2right View Post
    Don't like it? Again, come up with new caches that are the style that you champion and get them out there. I'll go find them and enjoy myself doing it. Or, advertise the ones out there that you find to be the "model" caches. Quit tearing down others for some percieved notion of "The way it was".
    I recently did place a cache in my style accessible from the SMR or Rt 9. I have had a few finders who all loved it as an individual cache, not because there were 30 more along the trail. I also got one email saying I was stupid for hiding another dumb puzzle cache. Go figure.

    You'll also find I try and promote (in my opinion) quality caches, as is indicated in my Anatomy of a great cache hide article (which my opinions in there still hold true), and I will give praise in many of my cache logs when I come across a unique or otherwise good quality cache.

    I started this thread because it is a subject that concerns me and I wanted to know what others thought. Some people think the loss of TBs or too many puzzle caches are an issue, this is my issue.
    Last edited by brdad; 08-16-2009 at 02:35 PM.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    I think one place I am being misinterpreted on is that I am not speaking out about any individual cache. When I do that and if I disapprove, it will have to be after I find that individual cache and will most likely be in a TNLN only log. If I think it's unsafe or otherwise bad for the sport, I might elaborate a bit or report it to gc.com. It's hard to judge any individual cache without being there or without otherwise knowing exactly what it is about.

    However, I am against certain caching practices. I'd like to think many of us are, as in the case of moving caches, stealing TBs, taking something without leaving something, etc. It just so happens I am also against practices which promote organized competition and haste in caching.
    Fair enough. You are definately entitled to like or not like. Why, though, would you advocate against what others obviously do like? If it has no impact on the way you "play" then why try to deter other from playing the way they want to play? You may like chess and I may like checkers, no matter how much you try to convince me that I'm wrong, impure and a detriment to board games in reality what does it matter, to you or me, if I play checkers.

    When my checker playing does interfer with your chess game then I think you may gain more validity with me.

    As far as the TB stealing or not swapping swag that has very little to do with caches that are being placed but more of an etiquette issue. The "moving caches" or the "geo-rallies" are all ways other cachers enjoy the sport and have no effect on me or other cachers that I can see.
    There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.~~Albert Einstein
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest. - Sam Levenson (1911 - 1980)

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