Geocaching has experienced incredible growth since its conception in 2000. Each geocacher has his/her favorite way to enjoy the hobby/sport and those who like the same things usually can be found geocaching in groups. The forums on various listing sites however are a spawning ground for what’s the best way to geocache, which listing service is better, or even worse… which listing site is bad. I can’t help but wonder what new people coming into geocaching will think about it? What would it take to get cachers back to the roots of geocaching and… do they know what it is?
Geocaching in it’s most basic form is an Easter egg hunt. Somebody hides something and another person finds it. The players use coordinates to indicate its location, but it’s basically a game of hide and seek. That is geocaching plain and simple. Anything and everything added to geocache listing sites is what their concept of enhancing the experience is. It doesn’t have any bearing, no pun intended, on the outcome of hide and seek. You either find the hidden object or you don’t .
I think back to a great geocaching adventure I had the opportunity to go on with a local group. I remember the hike, the climb, the water crossings, the waterfall, the view from the bottom, the people, and the cache. What I don’t remember is discussing which site the cache was listed on. I don’t remember having to download 500 gpx files for this singular adventure. I don’t remember anybody upset because the listing site wasn’t open source. I don’t remember anyone complaining about search filters. I remember a couple of geocachers falling in the frigid water in January and some starting a fire to dry them out, but I didn’t hear any complaints. I think that is because those things just don’t matter when you are out on the trail having fun with friends.
If all the listing services are complaining about the others and how bad they are, they all look bad at the end of the day.
Let’s get back to basics. Go hide something, find something, or better yet… do both.
Happy Trails,
Ron
