The Maryland Geocaching Society

I don't know if anyone else has kept track (didn't find a thread about it), but I noticed on my older geocache webpage (which I just moved over to the new site), I marked the following:

in early 2002, there was about 100 caches in the state of Maryland
At the start of 2010 there was about 3600 caches
By mid 2011 (July) there was 5700 caches
The latest check in early 2013 (February) there was 6800 caches.

now, the jump to 3600 from 2002 wasn't steady but that is a 430 per year or 36 cache per month increase.

now, the jump from 2010 we'll say March to July saw a jump of 2100 caches or almost 1700 per year or 140 per month increase.

finally, jump to today (March 1, 2013) and a jump of 1100 caches or back down to 730 per year or 61 per month.

Is this a sign that Geocaching (at least in Maryland) may be reaching its peak. That in the next few years we will see an actual decline in the number of caches.



Just throwing that out there as an observation, and perhaps to see if anyone else has tracked or knows of a way to track the total number of caches other than the way I do it (find all Maryland caches, count the caches per page, then multiply the pages. Remove the top event caches as they will always be archived (and may account for probably less than 1% of the total anyways).

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TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

I am not sure if Maryland Geocaching has reached its peak. I do appreciate your stats, and have the following ideas for consideration:
- There are peak and slow times of the year when caches are placed/published. The warmer months tend to see higher placement counts than the colder
- How many locations have held multiple caches (I.e. Cache is archived and new cache is placed in the same general area)
- More and more parkland is being opened every year which will lead to more placements
- The MGS is working more and more with the National Park Service (NPS). So as we see new parks opening their doors like Greenbelt did last year, you will have more opportunities to find quality caches
- Geocaching as a whole is growing worldwide. More people means more hides

So the numbers may be lower for now, but I like to see it as a "saddle" between peaks.

Is the number active or new?

The numbers span over a years time in each case, so they'd account for seasonal variations. However they are not "aligned" so yeah, these aren't exactly "apples to apples" in terms of comparison. However, the numbers are rather significant for the change from four years ago to the past two years. I wish I had more data to play with though. The numbers where always of "active" caches. Archived caches didn't get factored in (as they don't show up in the Maryland searches).

I don't think we have peaked now by the numbers, but may have peaked in terms of pace of growth. I just wonder if we reach the 10,000 caches mark (continuously active) before the numbers drop.

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TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

It's march... most people have been building caches during the winter waiting for warmer weather to deploy. I'm guessing with the impending furloughs in the government, you'll have some bored GS's putting out caches.

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During the furlough Feds might have caches to place and the time to do it but no gas money to get to GZ.

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Driddy beat me to it. I'm already seeing $3.99 a gallon near me (that's why I fill up at work!) With 20% less pay, and more for gas, I may not be hunting caches as much as I'd like to be.

Maybe we can start a federal employee cache hunting carpool!

If it is anything like typical government work....nothing will get done anyways. There will be too many meetings, proposals, feasibility studies, etc. than actual work getting done.

_________________
TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

That's quite a generalization.

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Jokes are always based on generalizations. Granted good jokes do have some truth to them.

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TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

As the quote goes in Mary Poppins:

Bert: I always say there's nothing like a good joke.
Uncle Albert: [sobbing] No, and that was nothing like a good joke.

Come on...I joke around like that all the time...with government workers. Heck, I picked up the idea from them. Ya'll need to loosen up.

_________________
TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

I have always been struck by just how respectfully MGS members of all walks of life get along and set aside barriers that might otherwise impede friendships. In honor of that spirit I will bite my tongue and make no further contributions to this thread.

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You can always PM me if you have an issue with what I'm saying. But I can't believe this is soooo offending that you have to take some passive-aggressive stance. But if you want to leave, I'm fine with that too.

_________________
TheWeatherWarrior<---geocaching since March 2002
mdgps member since August 1, 2003. Member #246 of the 2900+
http://www.weatherwarrior.net (where my geocaching pages are)
New Blog: http://igeowarrior.wordpress.com/

Can the admins please lock this thread? What started as a good topic has turned into a big argument.

The pending sequester will seriously cause a problem for many people thanks to 20% pay cuts for certain employees. If you believe in "trickle down" economics this will hurt more than just a few government employees.

A lot of people are scared about their upcoming well being to where a childish "joke" is too much. I do not blame them either. If you made the joke in Florida it would go over differently because the percentage of government employees changes.

The thread is closed.

As a reminder, the forums are meant for MGS members to come together and discuss ideas, etc., whether geocaching-related or not (in the appropriate sections of course). You should remain (or start being) respectful of each other and their opinions.

Thanks!