Two Million and Counting
Published on February 26th, the two millionth geocache was released and a new era was born. Ok, maybe not a new era, but definitely something to ponder.
It seems that not all that long ago we were celebrating the release of the first million geocaches and now here we are again a million later and it seems not much has changed save for one fact: a lot more geocachers.
The days of this hobby being something that only a few are aware of are long gone. With the release of apps for smartphones, geocaching has really taken off and become a lot more visible and public. This is both good and bad for our beloved hobby.
Let’s start with the good. The more individuals involved with this hobby means that a wider variety of geocaches out there can be found. Odds are that aside from the stock film canisters and key holders we see so often, newer cachers bring newer ideas and thusly make the sport more interesting. Plus, let’s face it, it’s always nice meeting new folks who are interested and can go out on a hike with you, or help you to hide a new cache somewhere. It’s nice seeing that this once secretive hobby is becoming more visible.
The downside to this is that with so many people participating, we do see less and less of the traditional style geocaches many of us like. It seems that micros have really taken over the world of geocaching and that by far and large, that’s pretty much what you find today. Cableguy noted in the Scribbles recently about how he couldn’t find a cache to drop some bugs in because everything was a micro. Since it seems that micros are so easy to obtain, easy to hide, and easily archived when they go missing, it makes it far easier for the new cacher to hide them.
Not that I am anti-micro as I have found and hidden many of them myself, but the proliferation of geocaching has tended to lean towards the spread of more micro caches and less full sized containers because of the ease in which they can be obtained and hidden.
Either way, the hobby continues to grow and change as the years go by and it’s interesting to wonder how it will change between now and the 3 millionth geocache hide. Personally, I would love to see Groundspeak do some real innovation on the geocaching front and bring us something new. Personally, I’d like to see a new geocache type introduced. No idea what it could be, but I think the introduction of a new REAL geocache type, something that folks can jump on, would help to keep the sport fresh.
Here’s to hoping that within the next few years, we see some new and exciting things come out of geocaching, as opposed to more of the same.
I find that sometimes there are too many, other times not enough. I haven’t been here since the beginning but in the 6 years I have it has really grown. I started just before the boom, there were a couple thousand in NB and maybe a hundred in PEI. Micros were new and yogurt and margarine containers were the norm. As it grew in popularity so did the types of containers but not always for the better. I myself don’t think I will ever use a 35mm container again, if I do hide more that is. I have about 40 small to regular sized containers ready to go and have been for a while but not really interested in hiding them as I have hidden enough around my area and reused spots so many times I doesn’t have that sparkle anymore. I am going to archive just about everything this spring to allow others to hide in those areas if they wish. If we ever get to 3 million I think it will be kinda crazy with caches everywhere, to me it takes away from the mystique of finding something only a few people know about because it will mean that everyone is doing it. I guess CacheupNB is partly to blame with promoting it to so many new people…lol I also would like to see something new but it has to be interesting and count, otherwise people won’t do it, numbers matter for things like this.
At one time it was the place that the cache took you to that was the driver and I think that it still a great idea, but many people don’t have the time or want to hike that far. Too bad really !
I think that the new and creative hides are becoming what more and more people are enjoying rather than the park and grabs (those have their place too). Be it a puzzle that drives you crazy and at the end you go climb a tree to find the cache (GC3E6VC) or the cache (or series) where you have to try and put yourself in the twisted mind of the cache owner to sign the log (GC3057X), or that cache that is in plain sight that keeps you coming back time and time again before you finally find it (GC3JQHE)
There are alot of positive changes to the game and hope that it continues to grow and push the boundaries of possible hides.
Let’s face it, it still is all about the smiley at the end of the day and if it gets us out of the house with our family and friends to find “tupperware in the woods” then I am all for it !