Maine caching is....

[pm28570]

I have to say, if nothing at all, this forum is entertaining. At best, for me, it's been informative, educating and a source of relaxation as well as an escape from the daily grind. And, I've "electronically" met a lot of nice people. Like Tracy, I probably spend far too much time here.
We all have our favorite type of caching, we all have our various reasons for having chosen this activity. But at the end of the day, there are two points that, to my eyes, are glaringly large. First, at the risk of being redundant, this activity is what you want it to be. A day of paddling or hiking for one or two caches. Perhaps it's racing from cache to cache to jam as much as possible into the day.
Secondly, this recreation is still in it's infancy. It's growing and Maine is experiencing it's growing pains. I'm not sure there is any way to avoid that. Nor should we because we learn from it.
Has Maine become a mecca for centrum runs because it is easy? I don't think so. Are we known for it? I don't think so, not in the overall scheme of things.

I think I have the solution.......just go caching!

[WhereRWe?]

Secondly, this recreation is still in it's infancy. It's growing and Maine is experiencing it's growing pains. I'm not sure there is any way to avoid that. Nor should we because we learn from it.

Sheesh!

Infancy? After 9 years???

If so, I really dread to see what it's like when it's "mature".

[hide_from_the_kids]

Sheesh!

Infancy? After 9 years???

If so, I really dread to see what it's like when it's "mature".

just wait for the teen years

[brdad]

I guess if you compare caching to letterboxing, caching is in it's infancy. It also could be that it is suffering from progeria (No offense to anyone connected to this horrible disease).

Personally I think it is far from it's infancy stage. A lot has happened, both positive and negative, as is the case with many activities. As geocaching becomes more and more popular and as many more are placed, it gets more and more important to leave a positive impression with those who don't participate but do watch us and/or lend us the use of their land to hide and search for caches.

[brdad]

Why not harp on the unmaintained caches and wet logs for a while?

One could argue that there is a connection between our concerns in many cases. In the push to hide and find as many caches as we can, we often put maintenance on the back burner. I know I have seen many people log finds on multiple caches when one or more of their own caches need to be replaced or repaired. I've been guilty of that myself. I have seen caches hidden in haste which were not fully thought out, placing containers in areas which are prone to dampness or muggles, and the use of containers that is not favorable to the weather.

It is however not always the case. There are cachers out there with many hides who maintain their caches as there are cachers with one hide who don't. But it's obviously harder to maintain 50 caches when you are on a mission to find 30 caches a day every day.

Either way, I would not want Maine to be viewed as the land of unmaintained caches, either.


Best maintained cache ever: appletree cache (GCHDT8) by Grammie B (1/1). One and only hide by someone with no finds. I think this lady checks her cache every day, of course it's 20 feet from her house! Lots of goodies inside, all clean, nice tins for everything.

[hide_from_the_kids]

It is however not always the case. There are cachers out there with many hides who maintain there caches as there are cachers with one hide who don't.

don't forget the cachers who maintain other cachers' caches

[Ekidokai]

I can't tell you how much this kills me inside.

I really hate it when people start fighting and arguing especially about me or something I have done.

This has been going on for a long time and to me it is a little like the OJ trial. I would watch that trial and one day think for sure he did it and the next day think he was being framed because of the way the authorities handled things. I only wanted to give people a kudos and a couple of days of fun with the SMR caches. Some days I wish I had not done it when I see how people go after each other on here. Brdad has valid points that I agree with. So do the rest of you. Then I read all the logs about the story's of how people met the tributees and stories about things that would happen with the tributees out on the trails and I'm glad that I did the SMR caches because I would never have known these things.

Would I have done this if I had known the outcome. I leaning to the no side only because of the turmoil it has caused. But I would really miss the stories.

My opinion is that I love the interesting places and hides. I'm not a numbers guy at all. I only did about twenty caches on my trip out to Ohio and I was out there for two weeks. I want everyone to know that I don't take any of this personally. I respect and admire Brdad and all he does. I'm also in awe of all the things that everyone else does and come up with. I don't see any of the comments as negative, but more like constructive criticism. The negative comes in when the comments start getting personnel.

Please, please please! Go out there and have fun. That's all I can hope for.

[squirrelcache]

A bit of play on words here Caching in Maine.....the slow lane

[pm28570]

Mike, the most important thing are the details and why you did it....and the only one to listen to is yourself. If you enjoyed placing them, get a kick out of the logs and the emails and have brought Maine to the attention of other cacher's, then my opinion would be "ya done good".

I think some of the negative or personal comments about the SMR series are more about the individual(s) making them and certainly not about you. We all have our view on it, and quite frankly I enjoy reading both the negative and positive sides. Certainly helps me to understand just a tad better. Don't be bullyed......start planning your next series

I can't tell you how much this kills me inside.

I really hate it when people start fighting and arguing especially about me or something I have done.

This has been going on for a long time and to me it is a little like the OJ trial. I would watch that trial and one day think for sure he did it and the next day think he was being framed because of the way the authorities handled things. I only wanted to give people a kudos and a couple of days of fun with the SMR caches. Some days I wish I had not done it when I see how people go after each other on here. Brdad has valid points that I agree with. So do the rest of you. Then I read all the logs about the story's of how people met the tributees and stories about things that would happen with the tributees out on the trails and I'm glad that I did the SMR caches because I would never have known these things.

Would I have done this if I had known the outcome. I leaning to the no side only because of the turmoil it has caused. But I would really miss the stories.

My opinion is that I love the interesting places and hides. I'm not a numbers guy at all. I only did about twenty caches on my trip out to Ohio and I was out there for two weeks. I want everyone to know that I don't take any of this personally. I respect and admire Brdad and all he does. I'm also in awe of all the things that everyone else does and come up with. I don't see any of the comments as negative, but more like constructive criticism. The negative comes in when the comments start getting personnel.

Please, please please! Go out there and have fun. That's all I can hope for.

[Sudonim]

I can't tell you how much this kills me inside.

I really hate it when people start fighting and arguing especially about me or something I have done.

This has been going on for a long time and to me it is a little like the OJ trial. I would watch that trial and one day think for sure he did it and the next day think he was being framed because of the way the authorities handled things. I only wanted to give people a kudos and a couple of days of fun with the SMR caches. Some days I wish I had not done it when I see how people go after each other on here. Brdad has valid points that I agree with. So do the rest of you. Then I read all the logs about the story's of how people met the tributees and stories about things that would happen with the tributees out on the trails and I'm glad that I did the SMR caches because I would never have known these things.

Would I have done this if I had known the outcome. I leaning to the no side only because of the turmoil it has caused. But I would really miss the stories.

My opinion is that I love the interesting places and hides. I'm not a numbers guy at all. I only did about twenty caches on my trip out to Ohio and I was out there for two weeks. I want everyone to know that I don't take any of this personally. I respect and admire Brdad and all he does. I'm also in awe of all the things that everyone else does and come up with. I don't see any of the comments as negative, but more like constructive criticism. The negative comes in when the comments start getting personnel.

Please, please please! Go out there and have fun. That's all I can hope for.

Mike, this argument didn't start with SMR, it has been going on for years. I don't often chime in, mainly because I see valid points on both sides. I think my best analogy for caching is golf. You are only playing against yourself. If a "gimme" is acceptable to you, go ahead and take it. If you count every stroke, play it that way.
I understand brdad's point of view. The caches he has placed (and prefers to find) are wilderness or challenging caches (see old 470). This type of cache takes some time investment to hike out to a mountaintop or solve a puzzle, you relish the moment when you finally finish the cache. That builds a good memory of that one cache find.
I also understand the rush of driving all over creation to log 100+ caches in 1 day (I did it twice in two months this summer). I'd be hard pressed to describe more than 10 of those caches, they all blur together, but what a great day, meeting the challenge.
I think that 1 complaint of the SMR initially was that it makes the centum challenge easier. I've done the challenge running town to town to get 100, and I've done the SMR. I think it was a little easier due to the caches all lined up instead of running all around, but it's still a lot of work!
Mike, you just got in the middle of a debate/argument that has gone on since (at least) around 2005. Enjoy the kudos from your caches, everyone has different viewpoints on caching, and lots of them like your caches.