GeoWimps?

Posted on November 29, 2004 in Geocaching

I entered the world of geocaching believing that I would find many fellow outdoors enthusiasts who enjoyed getting out into the wilderness. Among my peers would be men and women who loved challenges like a long hike to reach a splendid view. Little did I know that seventy five percent of the geocachers who perform the sport in Southern California are, well, wimps. Some of them have thousands of caches to their name, but when you take a close look, the overwhelming majority of these are “park and grabs” — caches which are planted overlooking parking lots, bus stops, fire hydrants, or picnic tables.

Consequently, I find myself unimpressed by cachers who have stacked up huge numbers. These “power-cachers” typically earn their laurels by picking the easiest caches. Or, if they do a trail, they follow “power caching routes” where there is a cache to be found every tenth of a mile. Or they form large groups so that there are several people looking for the cache at the same time. When it is found, all claim the find. In other words, they’ve stacked the deck to maximize the thrill they get from seeing the number next to their name increase.

Mind you, I don’t question their right to exist. I merely distinguish these from myself and certain cachers who I respect deeply. My cacher heroes veer from the power trails. They set out to grab the difficult objective, to put their name in a place where few cachers go. If a cache is set upon a peak, they go for it because it presents more of a challenge than the prescription bottle crammed in some cranny of a bus stop. These people not only know how to use a GPS, but they pay attention to what is happening around them.

I call these “Cardio Cachers” to distinguish them from “Power Cachers”. Cardio Cachers seek adventure. There is overlap with the Power Cachers, of course: some will do the power trails AND seek out the harder to achieve cache. But what you don’t find among these are whiners who freak at the news that getting to a cache involves a quarter of a mile walk with a hundred and fifty foot climb. (I got email from one of these just tonight.) There almost needs to be another category with a suitably derogatory name — Tailgater Cachers? — to describe the mediocrity of this bunch.

I do geocaching for the adventure and for the sharing of experience. Not everyone will be able to make the places that I reach. And there are caches that I doubt I shall ever visit (such as Spooky in Afton Canyon) because they go beyond my physical limits. I’m not calling for those caches to be taken down. But anyone looking at my caches should remember that they were laid out by a diabetic with a congenital heart condition and asthma. If he can make it to them without complaint, you’d better be worse off. Otherwise, either try some of the tougher ones or keep your mouth shut, MacDuff.