Earthcaches: Find ’em / Hide ’em / Skip ’em
I was out and about last night doing some geocaching while on the road for work. I snagged a webcam cache and a virtual and then spotted a nearby Earthcache. I don’t do a lot of them but thought it might be nice to go check it out.
GC4TH4C
Turns out the cache itself was not too terribly difficult to do but at first glance, I opted to skip it and go for supper. It got me to thinking.
How many times have you spotted an EC and snagged it? Do you always go for them? Or do you find them worth the while?
I’ve had EC’s as part of my stock pocket queries for a long time but by far and large I stopped doing them once they removed the ability to claim them with a photo to show you were there. Some of the EC’s are relatively easy to get answers for, but many of them require a lot of work.
One of the nice things about caches that have no physical container is that they typically bring you to a pretty interesting location. The virtual just up the street from there was quite a sight to be seen.
It seems that they real point behind EC’s is to promote geology and to make you learn something unique and interesting about that particular spot. It makes me wonder why this specific subject was chosen to be worthy of it’s own cache type.
I’ve also never “hide” an EC. I’ve heard the submission process can be quite heavy with a lot of information being required in order to have it approved. I’d love to add one to my list of hides but it seems the presence of possible new EC’s in my area is few and far between.
What is your experience with Earthcaches? Do you like them? Do you skip them? What do you think if them?
If I have the chance to find an earth cache, I will do it every time. I do find them a good deal of work for the most part, but the more I do of them the easier they become. I found one just yesterday in Halifax. I did skip a bunch as they were not winter friendly. I have placed four Earth caches and find that an exercise in itself. One must submit, rewrite, resubmit, rewrite, correct, resubmit, adjust and resubmit before they get accepted. Or, at least, I did. I think it worth it, I never have to maintain them and the log never gets wet.
We try to get to a few Earthcaches whenever we travel because, as you said, they usually take you to some interesting places. On our vacation in New Hampshire last fall we found several and they were the best ones of all that we found. We saw some beautiful rushing rivers, waterfalls and trails we would have missed had we passed on them. I’m always worried we won’t get the correct answers so we take pictures of all signage and informative plaques we see.
We tend not to do the ones that are educational but not at a beautiful or interest site or landmark. We mainly do them for what we’ll see, not for what we’ll learn.I hated school when I was a kid, like it even less as an adult!
We have found 38 Earthcaches but have hidden none. I doubt we ever will but still enjoy finding them.
I totally enjoy them. I have an interest in geology so I look for them. I like the educational aspect, and the EC locations are usually cool.
Here is my EC GC4D0N9. Having this one published is one the geocaching achievements that I’m most proud of. My experience with the submission process was a positive one. I made sure I did my homework about what the Earthcache reviewers look for. I submitted the cache, making sure that I had the educational slant that they look for. Also, I made the EC explanation as brief as I could, as I don’t like those that have a thesis on the listing page.
The reviewer only guided me on the types of questions they expect, it was one email, and presto, it was published. I think that it’s one of the cooler ECs in the area.
I love earthcaches for much the same reason as a virtual: it takes me to an interesting location or feature where a regular container wouldn’t be adequate or appropriate. For me, it is another aspect of the game, an enjoyable extra. If there is an earthcache on the way or during my regular run, I will attempt it; if there is a unique one that is a little out of the way, much like a virtual, I may make plans to go for it (I did this for a few earthcaches on my move out west. Check out: GC1GDHG and GC31G74).
My beef with earthcaching is twofold: 1. The amount of oxbow lakes and erratic glacial boulders (although I did find the largest erratic in the world just south of Calgary last summer: GCP7ZG) which show no creativity and offer nothing new to learn, and 2. as K57 mentioned, the rather difficult publishing process. I have one simple, unique earthcache out there; I might make another, depending on whether I can find a unique feature to bring people to.