Well, it was bound to happen. This is the first issue without a cacher profile. Even waiting a month to do the newsletter did not get any submitted. So I move the begging to the first paragraph and ask for cacher profiles to be submitted. Send them to “newsletter at Iowageocachers.org”

Events are going strong and there are lots of events over the next couple months. Put a couple on your schedule. You may just find out that you are not the strangest person in your area geocaching (or maybe you are?). Remember the Hike N Seek is September 22nd and there are prizes.

Also, IGO is having a Travel Bug Challenge. It is all explained here with examples being shown right now. The race will kick off at the Hike N Seek, but you do not have to attend to participate. Just place a new Travel Bug in a cache between September 22nd and October 5th. It must start in Iowa but after that it can move anywhere. It should be a lot of fun watching them move and there are prizes for the most miles and most unique caches visited. Join and have some fun.

I am sure I had something else for this issue, but I can’t remember it. So happy caching and I hope to see you all at the Hike N Seek.

It’s the time of year when warm, sunny days are perfect for caching! And, if you’re like me, you’re thinking, man will it be nice when some of this vegetation dies back in fall! Nevertheless, both summer and fall really allow for some high-speed, high-density geocaching experiences.

Now, I know that many of my fellow cachers have opinions on a statement like that. Strong opinions. One of my fellow Team 4WD partners, Larry, would say that geocaching means different things to different people, and that all of them can pick what’s right for them. Not being sure whether that is an opinion on his part or the avoidance of an opinion, I just write it off to his brain-freeze from consuming too many slushees on a long, hot day.

There are varieties of the caching experience. This past weekend, we “harvested,” with 70 cache finds one day and 31 the next. We did a lot of 1/1.5 caches, but we also did some “gourmet” hides, complete with homework, courtesy of Iowa Tom. There’s nothing like seeing the joy on Joel’s face at the conclusion of days like that, kind of like when a kid opens his or her presents on Christmas morning. Then, three days later, tonight after work, I drive a couple of miles to do just one quick cache, drive about 10 miles of unfamiliar country roads looking for places to do some hides and found nothing that was appealing. In both cases, I enjoyed myself – the intense 7:30am to 7:30pm all-out experience where everyone aboard has an assigned task with enough electronics for a small military aircraft is great, and the leisurely, taking-my-time experience is great.

The point is that we don’t all have to be the same all the time. I don’t eat the same food every day and don’t do the same activities every day, so I don’t have to be the same kind of geocacher every time, either. And, that’s okay for me, and it should be okay for you, too.

So, back to this “numbers” thing. I don’t think I have ever met anyone for whom the sport is strictly “all about the numbers.” If anything it is “all about the buzz,” that is that spurt of joy in finding the cache or being the first in your group to find the cache. One helpful hint, especially where children are involved, is to yell, “Huckle, buckle beanstalk!” when you spot the hide and then move to another spot. That indicates that you found it, but still lets others keep going until they make their own find. (That “huckle, buckle” stuff goes back to an 18th Century English game I believe, but we will save that for another day, maybe for an article on related games like that one and the more modern variants like competitive mounted orienteering.)

Some people can get their fill of “the buzz” from one cache way back in the woods, some can get it from finding 10 caches, and others enjoy pushing the envelope to go to that next level, for a new “Personal Best” of 40, 50, 60 or whatever that number is. When you look at it as seeking joy, rather than seeking numbers, it doesn’t seem so bad, does it? And, some might say I am rationalizing, and, as Lar might say, they’re entitled to their view.

Is there any summary or conclusion to wrap up this discussion? I fear not. Just have fun, which means do what is fun for you! Make it a quality experience by your own definition, and if that definition of quality includes a definition of quantity as well, so be it. Good caching in 2007!