I was talking with a friend a while back and the topic turned to geocaching. He rolled his eyes and called it “organized littering.” I was initially defensive about it and said it’s a pretty harmless activity. I cited summit registers as an example of people leaving items in the wilderness that don’t really impact the environment. I also argued that the people who cache items typically hide them pretty well.
He wasn’t convinced, and his point of view got me to thinking. And then I noticed some trends in geocaching that gave me pause. While preparing for my hike to Dry Lakes Ridge, I decided to check and see if there were any geocaches along the trail. What I found astounded me.
Do we need this many geocaches?
When I was hiking regularly in San Diego, I found a geocache here and there. It was a fun addition to hiking when I got a chance. I’ve only found a handful overall and it’s something adventurous to do with my daughter. After seeing the map above, I decided to check the route along Nordhoff Ridge to Nordhoff Peak and Chief Peak.
Seriously?
In simple economics, scarcity adds value, and I originally saw geocaching as a sort of treasure hunt. But if in a 2-mile hike, you can find 20 geocaches, then it just becomes overkill. In addition, many of these geocaches are off-trail, causing seekers of these caches to stumble through the brush, looking for a camouflaged container, and create new use trails.
I see this activity be more suited for urban and suburban environments, where the impact on vegetation would be minimal, but the sheer quantity of caches as seen in the above images are ridiculous. How can you enjoy a hike when you are constantly looking at your GPS and trudging off-trail while looking for a cache?
I believe almost any incentive to get people outside is a good thing, but there is such thing as too much of a good thing.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE Jan 01, 2013:
To be clear, I never called it organized littering. I actually enjoy geocaching from time to time. But perhaps the discussion could be around an acceptable distance between two geocaches, at least in the wilderness.
When I see a list of many caches along a trail, I think to myself, “Which ones do I choose to find?” If I wanted to do just one, then which one? I have to pogo stick through them all to find what I feel is the right one. If there were just two, or three, one near the trailhead, one about midway and one near the peak, it would be a no-brainer.
OMG….your friend is correct! Organized littering it is!
Brings a tear to my eye…..
Makes one long for the pristine trails of the high Sierra’s…..
Oh man, that’s messed up!
I’m an intermittent geocacher, and I love it for taking me to places I might otherwise never have seen. Geocaching.com does have guidelines for hiding geocaches, and “reviewers” check cache hiding applications before allowing them to be published, but still…’super trails’ like you show above get approved, and I agree that it does seem like a lot. Anyone can report caches that are resulting in damage to the environment.
http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx
Just because there is a cache, does not mean that you have to go find it. If you don’t want to stop and search for an innocuous little hidden pill bottle (it is likely that most of those power trail hides are micros) every 528 feet, then by all means, don’t. Go enjoy your hike if it is the hike you are looking for. You won’t even know the geocaches are there and they will not detract from your experience. For those who are out for the joy of geocaching, they will cherish the cache rich environment in their own way (and no doubt still enjoy the hike in the process).
Your friend is wrong and I am offended at his elitist “disapproval” of another person’s outdoor hobby. Ironic that the drive behind geocaching is to get more people off the couch and out into the woods to enjoy the outdoors, see new places, and hopefully lead them towards better health. Geocachers are the ones who are accepting of all the other user groups out there. And then you run into these nose-in-the-air elitist types who want all the other user groups shut out of “their” areas. No dogs. No bikes. No hunters. No motorized vehicles. No geocachers. You sound like the Central Authority in Agenda 21. It is laughable that the thought of geocachers causes someone to “cry”.
Litter is garbage discarded by the careless. A geocache is a container with purpose that is intentionally placed and frequently used. There is no comparison between the two. Every geocache is marked and tracked. There is a mechanism in place for both pre-approval of geocaches as well as the removal of inappropriate geocaches. It is not an activity that you should fear. If you should happen to see that a particular cache is placed where it is causing a real problem, simply report it on the cache listing and it will be taken care of.
I’m an occasional geocacher and have been since the fairly early days. I love going to places that I normally wouldn’t go for the thrill of the find. But frankly, I think what you show above is very irresponsible on behalf of geocachers. If cacher’s want to get locked out of public spaces, the above is exactly how to do it. A small number of caches on or near the peaks, and maybe the occasional one at other strategic locations would be ample in my opinion. Go overboard, like the above, and other land users will start complaining, land managers will start to see environmental damage, and next thing you know geocaching is completely banned from the area.
Organized littering? What about all the CITO geocahers do?
I’m rather surprised by the negative feedback here in regards to geocaching. Like many hobbies geocaching is what you make of it. Cache hides range from obvious hides to evil hides and from wheelchair accessible to needing advanced climbing or scuba skills to retrieve. Some cachers prefer lots of easy caches where some prefer a few rewarding caches. The geocaching community at large works with state government, land managers and park stewards to ensure that caches are placed responsibly and with permission. Many states now have permitting processes in place for hiding caches on public land. States and communities have also begun promoting geocaching as a viable form of geotourism. Schools and youth organizations have adopted it as a team building and outdoor experience tool. Earth caches educate geocachers on geology. Groundspeak and Geocaching.com even promotes trail clean up through their CITO program, Cache In Trash Out, where events are hosted throughout the world to help clean, maintain and create trails and parks. Geocaching is the latest BoyScout Merit badge. I think those posting with little or no geocaching experience really have a misunderstanding of the hobby and seem a bit quick to criticize it. The hobby continues to grow and get exposure. I highly recommend looking at some of the recent articles on geocaching in the press: http://www.geocaching.com/press/
If you weren’t a cacher you wouldn’t have known those were there. There are a lot of cachers who follow the rules and cito (cache in trash out aka clean up litter) at the surroundings at a cache site. If you don’t like where a cache is placed, then do not go looking for it. I think it’s pretty simple.
I totally agree with Jack and couldn’t have said it better, scoffer hates to hike, however, when there are caches to find he will go out of his way to hit the trails. I prefer the hike and to grab a container or two or three along the way is a plus. I would bet that most of those who disapprove of the number of containers are NOT cachers and probably have never geocached.
I’ve said it is organized littering for years. And the amount of caches being placed puts the organized littering into another realm. Every 528 ft. is just pure stupidity. Especially when its in a nice area to take a hike and enjoy nature. When it comes to geocaching my caches are the minority for they are far off the beaten path, and that is the way I like it. But for urban caches who cares that they are so close. I just ignore them and once in awhile I will go look for one. I have a photo of a regional park before they put in a power trail and it look like it was a big piece of dessert. Now it has dots to dots to dots all up and down the trail, uck.
What really irks me is the placement of summit registers where caches are not allowed. So in one sense cachers are a wee bit more on the green side than one thinks they are. But that is just a rare sense.
I’m a moderately active geocacher and find some of these sorts of power-trails pretty ridiculous. And, as Graham above, worry that the overkill will probably lead to local bans of geocaching. That said, I’m a strong defender of geocaching. I started when my kids were 4.5 and 1 and now, at 8.5 and 5, both are not only active geoachers but — and this was the whole point from the beginning — kids who enjoy taking a hike. Sure, at first, they liked the idea of finding buried treasure and wanted to find a cache at every possible moment. Now, however, even the little one is perfectly happy to walk several miles. The occasional geocache is a terrific way to distract their attention when their getting fussy.
While their are excesses to be sure, folks that disdain the activity for its own sake really bother me. I don’t particularly care for mountain biking or the occasional single tracks that get build up by the irresponsible ones — I don’t think it’s the “right” way to enjoy the outdoors. But they seem to enjoy it and their use of the outdoors just helps make sure my use of the outdoors is still out there. I don’t care for a lot of the irresponsible dog owners I meet out on the trail who let their dogs run right up to my kids even in the most explicitly on-leash areas — but I take that as a small price to pay for the use of the outdoors. Geocaching is a growth area for the use of the outdoors and I’d like to hope that all other users would appreciate that.
Ugh. I used “their” in place of both “they’re” and “there” in that previous post. Dragging a little bit from Christmas dinner, I’m afraid.
One last thought: a quick review of some of those caches (at least on the ridge line) are getting fewer than 10 finds per year and mostly from folks caching in groups. So, generously, we’re talking about one additional group on the trail every other month. This is not a big impact. There are certainly places where it gets absurd, but I just don’t think this is really one of them.
Power trails are just that, Power trails. Although they do have their place, power trails are the reason behind geocaches not being allowed in national parks. Soon after the national parks stopped allowing geocaches to be hidden in their parks, Geocaching.com started a nation wide effort to host C.I.T.O. (Cache In, Trash Out) events in national and state parks. Many of the larger power trails, such as the et highway, actually hold events to pick up litter along the trail. Where some see organized littering, I see a group of people that have done great things in the form of many cache in trash out events over the past 10 years. As we go into a new age of technology, and planet cleaning and recycling, efforts such as geocaching CITO events are a good way to get out and clean up the trails.
Everyone has a view on this. If it is causing damage to the environment then it should go away. ON the other hand I have seen many trails that add to the environment. There is a trail in Oregon of about 200 caches in the area on various roads/trails that has helped the environment. They forest service and locals have commented on how the trash as gone down since the trail was put in as they see many cachers practicing cache in trash out (CITO). Law enforcement has also said it has decreased the illegal hunting there as they are getting reports of illegal shooting and hunting from geocachers. Mind you this trail was placed with the environment in mind by contacting the forest service and others to help make sure that the caches didn’t hurt the environment. It is all about how it is done. They also go out multiple times a year to make sure nothing is placed in the caches that shouldn’t be etc. Everyone has an opinion. I have gone on many hikes and picked up trash behind “hikers” so it can go both ways.
Perhaps but at least the caching community make an effort to practice CITO and responsible caching. I would say however, that I have been disgusted more than once over the chalk, bloody fingerprints and anchors that rock climbers leave behind. Hmmmm….
Leave your GPS at home and enjoy your hike and you wont even know they are there.
While I do enjoy doing the odd power trail now and then (I own one too on a forestry road above Kelowna, BC), I do agree that they have become a little ridiculous. We did one last summer that was 238 long and it was fun for about the first 50 when the hides were becoming WAY too repetitive. I like the hiking power trails if there’s somewhere interesting at the end. It makes me forget that my body is protesting (not exactly the fittest person).
I’ve been geocaching since 2003 (userID Bluelamb03) and I’ve seen the sport evolve as more people join in the fun. Back in the beginning the trail pictured in the article would have had one or two geocaches on it, usually at the very top, or well off the trail. Now, with more people participating there has developed an ‘extreme geocaching’ style that challenges individuals to achieve extraordinary feats. Perhaps the challenge is to solve an incredible puzzle to get the cache co-ordinates, or accomplish a particular achievement like the ‘Fizzy 81′ challenge, or perhaps the challenge is to find not just one cache on a trail, but every cache of 100 or more on the trail.
Regardless of whether there’s one cache or 100 caches on that trail they are essentially transparent to the person hiking past. They are hidden out of casual sight so they cannot constitute ‘litter’, and a “powertrail” by definition must have the caches close to the trail so they don’t contribute to the creation of new ‘social trails’. Unless you looked at a geocaching map, as pictured above, you wouldn’t know if you were hiking past two caches or two hundred.
Regardless of whether there’s one cache or 100 caches on that trail there will be people who will want them ‘banned’ or removed. If the usage of the trail doesn’t comply with their narrow idea of what is proper then they are against it. After all if 100 caches on that trail are too many, how many is just enough? Ten? Just one? If the current proximity guideline of 161 meters (528 ft) is too close, how far apart is far enough? Twice that distance? Ten times?
The number of people who want to hike that trail is pretty small, as A Lloyd pointed out in his comment “… a quick review of some of those caches (at least on the ridge line) are getting fewer than 10 finds per year …” which suggests to me that the claims that geocaching is destroying the pristine wilderness are exaggerations at best. After all the agency that maintains that trail is probably working hard to attract more people to their properties, advertising the wonders of nature, handing out maps of the trails and establishing trailhead facilities. They probably appreciate the extra traffic that geocaching delivers to their trails. If they don’t there are simple mechanisms for having the geocaches removed, aren’t there?
I’ve never understood why geocaching appeals to people. I use my GPS for an activity that’s the exact opposite of geocaching: I study topo maps and satellite views to find interesting off-trail areas where no one ever goes. Then I use my GPS to navigate into and explore those areas – and I never tell anyone where I’ve been.