Power Caching Adventures
Most people don’t start off as power cachers, or at least I didn’t. I was more or less forced into it. After all, when all the caches in the area were already found, what was I supposed to do? Leave town, of course! Unfortunately, the nearest cache heavy town is approximately 120 miles away. It wasn’t worth a trip to just grab a few caches, so the only option was to power cache and get the best bang for the buck!
I can’t EVEN begin to stress how important planning is, especially on longer trips. Good numbers and happy cachers depend on it. If you’re not all on the same page, there will definitely be confusion, and pandemonium! This can get ugly. During this planning stage, it is important to be sure that all members of the group are in attendance. Here are some things to discuss:
Destination - Of course you know where you’re going!
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| Me first! |
Routing - There is almost always more than one way to get from point A to point B, and unless you’re in a hurry to get there, you may as well grab a few along the way.
Terrain, difficulty, and other filters - Keep in mind that you’re in a hurry on this adventure. Filter out any puzzles or unknown caches, (unless you’ve already solved them), multis, events, and anything else you don’t want to spend time on.
Snacks - Be sure to have plenty of good snacks, and water of course, to keep you going. This will also help avoid those “moments”. Let’s face it, and most anyone who has been on a serious trip can attest to this: People get crabby. It’s a combination of tension, and a lack of food and sleep. I like to take along things that don’t require refrigeration. Jerky, dried fruit, and a bagel or granola bar is almost a balanced meal! :o) The most important part is that you actually eat them. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, er…hour, uh…day, and forget to eat. Coffee or something with caffeine can be a big plus too, especially when caching at night, which leads me to…
Sleep - What sleep? We don’t need no stinking sleep! Which leads to hobo caching, and that’s another story entirely! Seriously though, you may consider planning ahead what time to stop; you do have to go back to work sometime.
Positions - There are at least three positions on any power caching adventure: Driver, navigator, and professional geocacher. All kidding aside, the driver should NOT be navigating. Usually they are having a hard enough time just driving in unfamiliar territory. The navigator usually sits in the back. This may seem odd, but you can build a little table for a laptop that hooks to the headrest of the front seat. Using navigational software along with GSAK makes the navigator the king, and truly a backseat driver. By now we should all know that the shortest way is not always the best, and the same goes for routing on an adventure; the closest cache is not always the best for the route. NEVER ARGUE WITH THE NAVIGATOR! If he/she screws up, you can always kill them later, but trust them for now.
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| Shootie, IDTimberwolf, and a caching couple named dzzyones at a hide. |
Putting it all together. Everyone should load off the same pocket query. This should help with everyone being on the same page. Look for heavier “pockets” of caches, to yield higher numbers. Try different things to cut your time, what works for one group might not work for another. I make stickers with all participating cachers’ names on them to speed thing up a little bit. Aside from actually finding the cache, you may find that what really takes the most time is getting the logbook back into the bag!
Don’t forget to keep track of your finds by writing notes. At the end of a long day, they all sort of melt into one, and to avoid the generic TNLN TFTC, make notes to remind yourself of something about the hide. I know it can be very time consuming, but the cache owner deserves to hear something about your adventure in your log. Work as a team, and finally, but most importantly, have fun!!
Cache On!