Biographies

Show Me the Cache

by: Tater

Caching Name:

     Show Me the Cache

Real name:

     Darrell Smith

Date started caching:

     June 8, 2001

How many finds:

     5,000

First find & who hid it:

     HERE IS THE LOG:

June 8, 2001 by Show Me the Cache (5005 found)

hidden by Shannon Family

Friday afternoon, June 8, 2001

Marcia and Darrell

We just got a Magellan Map 330 last Sunday, so we were anxious to learn a little and do our first geocaching. Today we downloaded the WAAS technology, a map from MapSend, visited www.geocaching.com, jumped on our bikes, and rode from Iroquois Park to the site. We approached it from the end of Lyons Road , leaving our bikes chained to the No Trespassing sign. Being rookies, we fumbled with the GPS for 10 minutes, walked around for 10 minutes, and had it in our hands two minutes later. We took a picture and one candle and left a toy kaleidoscope. Our GPS had us within 20 feet under heavy tree coverage, but I think it would have done better if we had been patient.

     Bought my GPS for backpacking in May of 2001.  My brother-in-law in California asked if I had heard of geocaching.  I went to the website and have not been backpacking since.

What has been your favorite cache:

     Bridges to the Past is my favorite cache that I have hidden.  It defines what geocaching was like my first year.  My favorite find changes frequently.  Right now it is Hook, Line, and Sinker in Jacksonville .

What is your most memorable cache:

     My #1000 event which brought four of the top six finders in the country to Louisville and brought most of the local cachers together for the first time.

What is the farthest you have traveled for a cache:

     California

What is the longest hike you have taken for a cache:

     Ten miles…but not on purpose.

Do you usually cache alone or with others:

     Over half of my finds have been completely alone.  Many others were shared with my wife, Marcia.  I occasionally go on camping trips to cache with JEEPSTAFF and/or Quiddler. 

What is your occupation, besides caching:

     Retired from the music business and from pharmacy.

About how many first finds do you have:

     I rarely make a special effort to be first, but I probably have 300 or so.

How much time do you spend caching:

     Most weeks I cache very little.  However, when I am out of town, I probably average 8 hours a day.

What are your OTHER hobbies: 

     Biking, computing (still struggling), volunteering, investing...all of which have suffered to make time for geocaching.  I have not been backpacking since I got a GPS.  Having no idea that National parks would not allow geocaching, I envisioned multi-day hikes with caches scattered along the way.  Obviously, that never materialized. 

What is the most interesting thing you have seen or found while caching:

     I cached for 3400 miles all over California alone for 21 days, and saw some very interesting places.

Do you like to night cache:

     I am terrible as a night cacher and really do not enjoy it.  Less than 100 of my finds have been at night.  Usually, night caching means I set my goals too high for that particular day and was too stubborn to spot at dusk.

What is your favorite season cache:

     I enjoy caching in all seasons except the hottest and most humid parts of summer.

What type of GPS do you use:

     I still use a Magellan Map 330 just like the one I started with 4 years ago.  Magellan has been very good to me, but there may be a Garmin in my future.

What equipment do you use to cache:

     I use an old Palm Pilot IIIxe along with Cachemate and GSAK.

Do you high tech cache:

     No.  I do not have a laptop and I do not carry a cell phone.

Do you cache for numbers or just for fun:

     I cache for many different reasons.  Sometimes for fun, sometimes for exercise, and frequently just to add adventure to trips.  Admittedly, I have also done some caches just for the numbers. 

What are your thoughts on power caching:

     I admire the type of power caching where an individual uses extreme planning and pushes for maximum efficiency to find huge numbers.  However, as groups get involved, there is so much potential for abuse that it can cheapen the sport.  There are so many different ways to cache and so few rules, that numbers rarely tell the whole story.

Do you prefer to find or hide caches:

     I go through periods of enjoying hiding more than finding, but I generally like hunting more.  I have found 5000 caches and I have hidden 100 caches.  If the caches I have hidden have generated 5000 logs, that would be the correct balance.  Hopefully, I am close to that.

What is your favorite type of caches & why:

     My favorite caches take me to a place I would like to return someday when I am not caching.  Generally that would require a pleasant hike in the woods. 

Who was the first cacher you met on the trail:

Southpaw from Nashville was the first cacher I ever met in action.  That was somewhere around 300 finds and we were at Land Between the Lakes climbing a tree to do a terrible cache.  Locally, I met Quiddler first while doing maintenance on The Ultimate Optimist.

What type of container do you prefer to hunt:

     To me, any container that is appropriate for the territory is fine.  I like them all.  Micro caches in the woods with poor reception and useless clues are a pet peeve of mine, though I admit I have hidden a few.

Have you ever had to miss work due to caching:

     I can definitely say “No”.  I finished work before I started caching.

Have you ever been injured while caching:

     Too many times to even mention.  Compared to my wife Marcia, who had a trip to the emergency room and plastic surgery while helping me hide a cache, I have been fortunate.

Any comments:

     When I think of finding 5000 caches, I think about an amazing amount of time and effort, gas, and driving that went into it these past 4 years. Then I think about all the great places I have seen and the fun I have had and the fantastic people I have met, and it is definitely worth it.

Thanks.

Peace,

Show Me The Cache

 InKy

Merchandise

Order Decoder Shirt