I have checked “Active Caches” before, but the list is meaningless. All it does is represent which caches had how many logs posted on it recently. That not only includes finds, but also DNFs, attended/will attends, enabled/disabled, needs maintenance and performed maintenance, coords changed, and all sorts of notes, such as those for TB drops/visits, banter back and forth, FTP “party” arrangements, comments on the caches, etc., etc., etc.
Right now I could go to any cache page (including those of my own) and write 50 logs on it, and that cache would be #1 on this list. The top of that list page even says: “The table below shows the 50 Wisconsin geocaches that have been most active (most number of logs) over the past week.” It has nothing to do with how good a cache is or how many people find it (numbers will usually be higher for caches in populated areas and near recent events) or how much people liked a cache. Stop looking at stats, and take the time to read cache pages and cache logs to find out if the cache is one that you would like to attempt.
Same thing goes for the Active Cachers page. It has nothing to do with who finds the most caches or even who has found a lot of caches recently. The note there says this: “The table below shows the 50 geocachers (geocaching.com users) who have most recently made a Wisconsin related log entry.” It’s based on one recent log entry, not even a “found it” log. Even if you find 100 caches in one day, it will only record the most recent time you wrote a log. I could go write one note for a log on a cache right now, and I would show up as an “active cacher”. I would also be at the top of the list until the next log was harvested.
Both are interesting lists to look at, and I look at them and use them in my own way, but just remember what is really represented in those lists.
