A few years ago if one of us tried to publish consecutive caches every 165 m we would have been shut down and informed that we were building a "power trail". Such trails were discouraged because the "quality" of the hides were diminished.
With the advent of the "ET Highway" and others, power trails are popping up everywhere.
Now power trails are not for everyone and I have done some smaller ones here on the island but I personally don't see the draw in spending 24 hours or more grabbing a film canister every 165 m. Don't get me wrong. Power trails have their own attraction for a lot of cachers. For me I want to be brought somewhere, to maybe find a new special place, a view, or just explore new areas...I want to "stop and smell the roses" without thinking about the next cache ahead.
I will continue to get the power trails here but probably not all at once. When I am in the area of one then I will make a point of pursuing some of them. I mean, if I am going to drive by them then I see no reason not to find them. Or if there is a chance at some FTF's? Well I think you all know that I am there...
Caches set up on trail systems such as the Trans Canada Trail or the Cowichan Valley that have caches with a mixed bag of hides and sizes make for a pleasurable caching experience...For those that like to "park and grab" a cache then they are accessible from multiple access points along the trail.. For others they can bike or walk the trail and enjoy all that the trail system has to offer. The Iron Horse Power Trail
looks interesting because it is not a driveable power trail. That is,
it is not on a highway. You can use Quads, bicycle, horse, or
snowmobile.Walk it or x-country ski. Sounds like a lot of fun to
me..
We all have our preferences. I know that there are those cachers that are going to slam me for stating my opinion on this but we all play the game differently. Just because I don't play it the way some do does not make it wrong.
Kathleen, I thought you would know better than to state your opinion! Don't you realize by now that if people don't agree with you, some are incapable of agreeing to disagree and leaving it at that? Some will have to comment on how wrong you are, and of course others will slam the power trail cache owners, and a whole debate will be caused by it. Now people from all over are going to start slamming each other and before you know it out come the cameo gear, and the caching police, and there is a riot going on. See what you started?
ReplyDeleteI have blogged about this subject before, and you agreed with me on the idea, I am just returning the favor. Power trails when all the caches are the exact same thing by the exact same user are boring as hell!! I refuse to do them. I see them as being a "numbers padder" for the numbers addicts. So if people want to disagree with you, they can, just remember The Bitchy Cacher is on YOUR side!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://thebitchycacher.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/the-tenth-rant-the-power-trail-13/
"Me" I took that as a bit of "fun" against me since you know me and am giving me a bad time about it. Yes Heaven forbid I should state my opinion
ReplyDelete"thebitchycacher" In my area it does not much matter what I say or do because there are some out there that will use it and twist it to their own satisfaction and even make barely disguised comments on cache pages and cache logs about me.
I believe that most cachers are mature and understand that I am not slamming their hides but merely pointing out that not everyone is going to rave about the "power trail" they have developed. Most cachers have their own way of caching and it may or may not agree with mine.
I merely see no satisfaction on spending $ and vacation time getting the same cache for hours and hours, replacing someone else's container and/or logbook (I do carry replacement items with me for those caches that require maintenance), or leap frogging cache containers because the cache page says so.
Now I realize that there are some areas that this has increased their tourism $. I have no problem with that. Geotourism has become a viable recreation alternative.
But I like to mix up my caching experience. So if I hit a power trail I will look at alternative caches to get at the same time and try to do them in stages...
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ReplyDeleteAs noted above " I know that there are those cachers that are going to slam me for stating my opinion on this but we all play the game differently. Just because I don't play it the way some do does not make it wrong.
ReplyDelete" someone just had to make a comment about my not liking a local power trail...since I didn't even mention the trail by name I cannot imagine how they came to that conclusion. As for not liking them in general..I don't believe that is what I stated...In fact if one took the time to read the blog they might actually realize that I prefer to do them in sections mixed with other caches. No, I don't see the draw in doing them all at once. Been there done that...got it out of my system...