Geocaching

Are there any fellow geocachers out there? I started a couple weeks ago and I'm loving this hobby/sport/activity! Just wanted to know if anyone else did it here on the forum.

Reply 1 : Geocaching

Yes, I do. I started doing it about 10 years ago and my daughter loved it! She and I used to maintain two caches locally, but now I maintain just one called the Mojave Gold Mine located near Barstow.



What kind of GPS do you use?

Reply 2 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust Yes, I do. I started doing it about 10 years ago and my daughter loved it! She and I used to maintain two caches locally, but now I maintain just one called the Mojave Gold Mine located near Barstow. What kind of GPS do you use?

Wow!!! That's just when geocaching started coming out! Well, right now I don't have the GPS that I will use, and I've found 8 so far without it. I started in my vacation house which is about four hours away from my home. I have a boat that I have a Garmin GPS for and that's what I'll be using now that I really want to start doing it. I am trying to publish my own, but it needs to be reviewed by an administrator before it goes online.

Reply 3 : Geocaching

Yep, I read about it in Scientific American magazine right when it came out and just before geocaching.com became a web site. Pretty dang good if you ask me that you found so many without a GPS unit! Funny thing is my newer GPS is so accurate (typically a two meter error) that locating the caches were too easy, so I went back to an old dinosaur unit I had with a 15-meter error and that made the finds more difficult and more fun for the kids. I've only ever found one myself by accident, and that was when I hiked to the top of Toro Peak in the Santa Rosa Mountains and sat down, looked between my legs while sitting on a pile of rocks, and spied a bright orange box. Turned out it had been placed two days before and some schmuck had already found it first! It's fun, especially if you get kids involved.



Right now I have a Magellan 600 GPS, but I'm eyeballing a Bushnell Onix 200 for Christmas. Cool!

Reply 4 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust Yep, I read about it in Scientific American magazine right when it came out and just before geocaching.com became a web site. Pretty dang good if you ask me that you found so many without a GPS unit! Funny thing is my newer GPS is so accurate (typically a two meter error) that locating the caches were too easy, so I went back to an old dinosaur unit I had with a 15-meter error and that made the finds more difficult and more fun for the kids. I've only ever found one myself by accident, and that was when I hiked to the top of Toro Peak in the Santa Rosa Mountains and sat down, looked between my legs while sitting on a pile of rocks, and spied a bright orange box. Turned out it had been placed two days before and some schmuck had already found it first! It's fun, especially if you get kids involved. Right now I have a Magellan 600 GPS, but I'm eyeballing a Bushnell Onix 200 for Christmas. Cool!

So I got my GPS from off the boat, it's a Garmin III Plus, from 1999, so it's a dinosaur as well. I don't follow GPS's very much but I've heard of the Magellen name making quality products. Right now I'm in the process of making it work for land use, it takes at least five minutes for it to warm up and find satelittes, I'm not a big fan of it right now, but I did find the owners manual online so that should help!

Reply 5 : Geocaching

Hey Guys,



My daughter is in to Geocaching and is using an older handheld that is about as accurate as determing west by watching the setting sun...at high noon And if the maps were any older Columbus could have drawn them...



So for Christmas this year I am considering getting her a Garmin Rino 530HCx with the built in FRS/GMRS/Weather radio. Would this be a good unit for geocaching? And would something like this do double duty reasonably well as a unit for her car as well?



My only recent experience with purchasing a GPS is with my Magellan 4250 that I use in the Highlander... I'm quite happy with it but Magellan doesn't offer anything with the safety and convenience of a built in radio...

Reply 6 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tydog07 So I got my GPS from off the boat, it's a Garmin III Plus, from 1999, so it's a dinosaur as well. I don't follow GPS's very much but I've heard of the Magellen name making quality products. Right now I'm in the process of making it work for land use, it takes at least five minutes for it to warm up and find satelittes, I'm not a big fan of it right now, but I did find the owners manual online so that should help!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedLdr1 So for Christmas this year I am considering getting her a Garmin Rino 530HCx with the built in FRS/GMRS/Weather radio. Would this be a good unit for geocaching? And would something like this do double duty reasonably well as a unit for her car as well? My only recent experience with purchasing a GPS is with my Magellan 4250 that I use in the Highlander... I'm quite happy with it but Magellan doesn't offer anything with the safety and convenience of a built in radio...

In regard to both you guys mentioning Magellan, as a fellow avid geocacher and GPS user let me give you a head's up about Magellan. I only have my Magellan unit now as it was part of an out of court settlement with Magellan to avoid a lawsuit. Long story short is their customer service/product support is horrendous. My case was typical of what you'll find on the internet if you do Google searches about Magellan: they typically accept your first inquiry for support and, literally, if it is something they can't fix over the phone they will ignore you after that first inquiry. That is what happened to me. I was stuck with a $250 unit that didn't work due to a flaw in their software, and they refused to help me. In the end I contacted not only my State Attorney General's office, but the FCC, BBB, and threatened to file a lawsuit. Next thing I know I was contacted by one of their corporate lawyers who said the Attorney General's office inquiry and lawsuit (which our state office helps with) was not something they wanted to mess with. For me to back off a deal was struck, which included a brand new $350 GPS to replace my defunct unit. That's the whole miserable story.



After doing all my research I think I'd place my most desirable GPS units/manufacturers as Bushnell, DeLorme, and then Garmin. I'm eyeing that Bushnell for Christmas, and can't wait to get good topo maps to display on my GPS.



BTW, here's some TrailDust trivia for you. See my signature picture below? My geocache is located in the rocky outcropping in the background. I camp in that location overnight every time I check on the status of my geocache.

Reply 7 : Geocaching

I hunt in a very secluded area and was out a few years ago deer hunting.........while walking through the woods I saw a rope tied around a tree and the other end was going up. I looked up and to my amazement I saw an old army ammo box dangling from the tree. My first instinct was to look around thinking I had stumbled upon some criminals stash of some sort, thinking he might be watching me.



Anyway, I untied the rope and dropped the box down (Hey, I had a Browning .338 at my side!). I walked over catiously and opened it up, slowly that is.....to my amazement I found a hot wheel, a Disney Goofy doll, a camera, an inkpen, a keychain....and on and on. I thought, WTF is this????? I then found a notebook with stories about people's adventures out to the "site" and what a challenge it was to get there........I then read about it being a Geocache site and then realized it was a game being played by other people. I was pissed!!!!!



This land is designated state land for deer hunting and deer hunting only. I was surprised that people actually were brave enough to venture out into the woods at this place knowing it is a deer hunting area.......I probably shouldn't have but I removed the box and took it with me. I left a note at the tree informing the next site seeker what I had done with my contact info. Anyway, long story short, the owner of the box called me and I mailed it back to him and warned him of the dangers of where he had placed the box....he understood and said he would relocate it. It sounded like a cool game but I never did anything else with Geocaching after this........just a story I thought I would share in case another fellow hunter wonders up on an item dangling from a tree with a rope!

Reply 8 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by deancass2000 I hunt in a very secluded area and was out a few years ago deer hunting.........while walking through the woods I saw a rope tied around a tree and the other end was going up. I looked up and to my amazement I saw an old army ammo box dangling from the tree. My first instinct was to look around thinking I had stumbled upon some criminals stash of some sort, thinking he might be watching me. Anyway, I untied the rope and dropped the box down (Hey, I had a Browning .338 at my side!). I walked over catiously and opened it up, slowly that is.....to my amazement I found a hot wheel, a Disney Goofy doll, a camera, an inkpen, a keychain....and on and on. I thought, WTF is this????? I then found a notebook with stories about people's adventures out to the "site" and what a challenge it was to get there........I then read about it being a Geocache site and then realized it was a game being played by other people. I was pissed!!!!! This land is designated state land for deer hunting and deer hunting only. I was surprised that people actually were brave enough to venture out into the woods at this place knowing it is a deer hunting area.......I probably shouldn't have but I removed the box and took it with me. I left a note at the tree informing the next site seeker what I had done with my contact info. Anyway, long story short, the owner of the box called me and I mailed it back to him and warned him of the dangers of where he had placed the box....he understood and said he would relocate it. It sounded like a cool game but I never did anything else with Geocaching after this........just a story I thought I would share in case another fellow hunter wonders up on an item dangling from a tree with a rope!

I was getting a little heated with your story before I read the part about you leaving contact info, and I'm glad you mailed it back. I understand your concern completely and now a days, they do pretty good checks of these things before the administrators publish the caches online.





Trail Dust: You say your an avid geocacher, but you only have logged 3 hides and 3 finds, do you use another source?

Reply 9 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tydog07 Trail Dust: You say your an avid geocacher, but you only have logged 3 hides and 3 finds, do you use another source?

At first I never logged at all, then started when my daughter got interested in geocaching. But then after the those first three finds I thought, "I don't care who knows how many caches I've found..." so I stopped logging them. I do, though, log my name into the log books every time I find a cache, I just don't do it online. BTW, do you have any plans to hide a cache?



And to deancass, interesting story. People who place a cache are supposed to check with any owners or other authorities who own or control the land the cache is to be placed on. I have my present cache on BLM land as that is "open" land and no authorization to place a cache is necessary. Also, cache owners are supposed to copy off a page from the geocaching site, preferably laminate it, and place it in the cache. It tells anyone who finds the cache what it is all about. Sounds like the person who placed the cache you found wasn't thinking clearly about the hunting going on in that area. Good thing you found it and he moved it.

Reply 10 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust At first I never logged at all, then started when my daughter got interested in geocaching. But then after the those first three finds I thought, "I don't care who knows how many caches I've found..." so I stopped logging them. I do, though, log my name into the log books every time I find a cache, I just don't do it online. BTW, do you have any plans to hide a cache? And to deancass, interesting story. People who place a cache are supposed to check with any owners or other authorities who own or control the land the cache is to be placed on. I have my present cache on BLM land as that is "open" land and no authorization to place a cache is necessary. Also, cache owners are supposed to copy off a page from the geocaching site, preferably laminate it, and place it in the cache. It tells anyone who finds the cache what it is all about. Sounds like the person who placed the cache you found wasn't thinking clearly about the hunting going on in that area. Good thing you found it and he moved it.

I understand your viewpoint about people not caring how many finds you have, but for the owner, valuable information can be given when you log online. If anything is wet, did you take anything, leave anything, was anything (container) falling apart and the like. I think I know you better than to come across anything that may cause harm to a cache and not say anything to the owner.





I have hid a cache, it's called lonely woods, I have a vacation home at a resort up north, and I also have a lot (that sounds weird) there, which is where I hid the cache. It's certainly not to the caliber of your Gold Mine cache but rather a small cache (pill container) tied to a tree that has some balloons and jacks.

Reply 11 : Geocaching

That's correct, but instead of logging my cache I've always sent a private message to the cache owner instead to let them know something is wrong with it. Just one of those things I guess where someone does something in a different way than a lot of others do it, if you see what I mean?



Thanks for the info about your cache. I'll have to look it up today and Google Earth it to check it out. Very cool! BTW, have you ever had your cache pilfered or otherwise destroyed or removed?



Short story. My daughter and I once tried to find a cache some brain surgeon placed in a river wash . I sent him a message telling him it had washed away, so he placed it in the wash again. After it washed away again and several people on the web site tore him a new one for being so dumb....then he finally changed it's location to the river bank. It takes all kinds, right?

Reply 12 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust That's correct, but instead of logging my cache I've always sent a private message to the cache owner instead to let them know something is wrong with it. Just one of those things I guess where someone does something in a different way than a lot of others do it, if you see what I mean? Thanks for the info about your cache. I'll have to look it up today and Google Earth it to check it out. Very cool! BTW, have you ever had your cache pilfered or otherwise destroyed or removed? Short story. My daughter and I once tried to find a cache some brain surgeon placed in a river wash . I sent him a message telling him it had washed away, so he placed it in the wash again. After it washed away again and several people on the web site tore him a new one for being so dumb....then he finally changed it's location to the river bank. It takes all kinds, right?

No I haven't had one removed/lost/stolen or anything like that, but maybe it's because of the fact it's only been up less than a week!



But I hope no one takes it, they really don't have a reason to.

Reply 13 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tydog07 No I haven't had one removed/lost/stolen or anything like that, but maybe it's because of the fact it's only been up less than a week! But I hope no one takes it, they really don't have a reason to.

That's cool. Has anyone found your cache yet?



I only had one cache pilfered after it was discovered by a bunch of local kids. We hid the cache a bit farther up a hillside in some bushes and it never got touched again. The cache I have now is so remote geocaching.com at first denied listing it because they were worried I wouldn't be able to tend it regularly. Once I related how often I am out in that area they were okay with it. Besides, it's so remote it's rarely ever visited and there's no way in hell anyone is likely to accidentally discover it.

Reply 14 : Geocaching

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust That's cool. Has anyone found your cache yet? I only had one cache pilfered after it was discovered by a bunch of local kids. We hid the cache a bit farther up a hillside in some bushes and it never got touched again. The cache I have now is so remote geocaching.com at first denied listing it because they were worried I wouldn't be able to tend it regularly. Once I related how often I am out in that area they were okay with it. Besides, it's so remote it's rarely ever visited and there's no way in hell anyone is likely to accidentally discover it.

Yea, it got published on 7/27 and someone found it within a couple hours! Since then, two more people have found it!