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Geocaching?
jeepinryan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So hopefully this one is pretty quick and easy. After reading a few threads in the last couple days discussing birthday presents and leaving hidden things for loved ones, I saw geocaching mentioned in the threads.
I've done some initial google-fu about geocaching and found www.geocaching.com which seems like a good place to start. It sounds like an interesting hobby to take up for some weekend adventures, especially since I'm conveniently located in Colorado with access to as many four-wheeling, hiking, and biking trails as I could ever want.
If I were to start this new hobby, what recommendations or tips do you have for me?
I have no GPS device and don't know much about them, so are there any specific features or types I should look at?
Thanks in advance to everyone!
I've done some initial google-fu about geocaching and found www.geocaching.com which seems like a good place to start. It sounds like an interesting hobby to take up for some weekend adventures, especially since I'm conveniently located in Colorado with access to as many four-wheeling, hiking, and biking trails as I could ever want.
If I were to start this new hobby, what recommendations or tips do you have for me?
I have no GPS device and don't know much about them, so are there any specific features or types I should look at?
Thanks in advance to everyone!
jeepinryan on
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My girlfriend likes her "Garmin" unit that she got for $100 but says you can apparently find cheaper ones on sale.
Edit with linku: http://www.geocaching.com/about/
Oh, another random tip—be inconspicuous. I believe geocaching is kinda-sorta illegal.
I've been geocaching before, it's actually pretty damn fun, and it gets you to some crazy off-the-path places.
Varies by location, but yes, some may be in places that are technically private property. I know the Ontario Provincial Parks people used to not allow them, but they've relented recently.
geocaching.com is a great place to get your geocaching waypoints and hints. That's where I get mine. I highly recommend spending the money to become a premium member. It lets you set up queries to download a bunch of geocache waypoints at once. If you're not a premium member you have to download them one at a time which is a bit of a pain.
The forums there are also fantastic. There are tons of knowledgable people on there.
As for recommendations, I have a few. When you get out looking for them you can start to find that bushes will be bent back and broken smallish limbs that will show you the small barely used trails that a lot of geocachers tend to hide things on. Most of them will also be VERY sneaky when they hide things. I've found a few that were disguised as tree stumps or moths or hidden underneath rocks. Also on some of the larger ones, I'd bring something that you can swap into the cache. Most of the bigger ones will have little trinkets and the idea is to take something and leave something. Some of them even have "travel bugs" in them which you can go on the web and mark that you found it and where you left it.
As for GPS devices, I can't really recommend the Garmin units enough. I've used the Magellan ones and the DeLorme ones and none of those has been as good as the Garmin ones I've used. Currently I have a GPSMap 60CSx. It works really well for geocaching and hiking, but not so well for driving. What you'll want to look for is one that supports Geocaching and if at all possible you'll want to find one that supports "Paperless" Geocaching. The paperless ones will also include all the hints and such with it whereas the normal ones will generally only give you the name and the location. I messed with the Colorado and Oregon models they have now and found that the Colorado worked a lot like the one I have. I was a bit disappointed with the touch screen on the Oregon model. It seemed like you had to press really hard on it to get it to work.
Hope this helps!
Don't need much, other than some bug spray and a <$100 GPS. And a computer, and maybe a printer...
For the unit, really any cheap model will work fine, I'm a big Garmin fan as well. The eTrex series is their low-end handheld units that work great for geocaching. Even a B&W screen is fine.
As wmelon said, most of the caches will have a trinket exchange (usually erasers, toys, etc.) and logbook. Some are placed really well.
I don't know how I missed the forums section on geocaching.com, so I will definitely read up on it there. I'll also check out some of the GPS models mentioned and pick one that should meet my needs without breaking the bank :-)