[Az-Geocaching] Just skip the time-consuming ones

[listserv@azgeocaching.com]

Darren wrote:

"But then again, there are some of us out there that really do get our kicks by being somewhat stumped and then finally overcoming the creative barrier and finding the cache.  It's all a matter of personal taste."

I'd have to agree, I enjoy the challenging caches. Ya Skala, the first two 'Mission' caches by Larry, Tres Hombres' '19th Hole'... all good mental challenges. I wish that I had the time to set up more like them. I know that they wouldn't appeal to every cacher out there, but they lend a different dimension to the typical.

In fact, 'Mission: Almost Impossible' and '19th Hole' were my introduction to cryptology. I'd never seen anything like this, so it was a learning experience.

I haven't had a chance to seek out the elusive required elements of  'Ultimate Puzzle Cache' yet, but I have a feeling of what needs to be done once I do. Granted, I'm not sure that I'll run all over town looking for them if they don't turn up locally; sooner of later, I suppose, I'll run across them. It does make the game more difficult in a way that's not exactly related to the actual challenge - that is, an enterprising cacher *might* be able to figure out the answers, if only the required elements were available - so I suppose it would be prudent to base the puzzle on commonly obtained material. Perhaps the hunt for such esoteric items is a bit of a 'cache hunt' in itself.

I understand the feeling; I've never found 'Mission: R.I.P' for the same reason (Larry, I see you smiling out there!). I'm pretty darned sure that I know what to do now, but the 'object' necessary to do so comes in a few different 'forms', so to speak, and there appears to be a bit of chance involved in finding the right one needed to do the job. As such, I've put it aside, and might not ever reach it. Probably just as well, though - my poor ol' truck would probably *not* survive the journey to the actual cache anyway!

But that doesn't stop me from eyeballing that description every time I page thru the listings, though... ;)

-Mike-  (n4/c)