Geocaching - Treasure Hunting For the Modern World
By Penfencer
@Penfencer (297)
United States
March 12, 2007 10:05pm CST
So, I'm shocked. There's not a single topic about geocaching on myLot. Thus, I figure it's time to educate some folks. :)
Geocaching is this really fun game you play using a handheld GPS navigator and a website (http://geocaching.com). Using the website, you can find the GPS coordinates to hundreds of thousands of "caches," small containers hidden throughout the world. Punch the coordinates into your GPS, follow it to the destination, then search around until you find the cache. Sign the log and become part of one of today's fastest growing sports.
Caches are everywhere! In local parks, hidden near lakes and hiking trails, behind Wal-marts and CVS pharmacies, even inside malls and libraries. Most of them are hidden so well, you'll never even know they were there. Caches range in size from tiny film-cannisters containing a logsheet to large boxes hidden in the woods, full of various small tradable trinkets. Take something, leave something. You never know what you'll find. People have even left things like cash prizes or gift cards in caches.
It really is a lot of fun, and very addictive. Not to mention, it's great exercise; while most caches are fairly easy to access, some require hiking a mile or more through the wilderness. Plus, it can be a lot of fun trying to explain to random passersby why you're wandering around in circles staring at a little plastic thing. :)
What about you? Interested? Ever heard of Geocaching, or maybe been 'caching yourself? Have you ever hid a cache or have any fun stories to tell about your caching experiences?
3 people like this
9 responses
@whywiki (6066)
• Canada
30 Apr 07
I am a geocacher. I love the sport and the exercise. Some of my friends think that we are nuts traipsing through the woods in search of Tupperware. It is addictive. I love hiding them too. I go into stores and buy things just for the container! I have been dying for the weather to improve so I can get back at it. I love the fact that you don't have to join a group or pay anything you can just go out and do it. I love travel bugs too, I find it so great that you can send a bug free and it will travel the world and you can watch the progress. I am an addict!
@Penfencer (297)
• United States
30 Apr 07
I know the feeling. I love travel bugs, too. I'm thinking of setting a few free later this year sometime. Possibly this summer.
@transient (12)
• Canada
21 May 07
That's why I don't let most of my $9 geocoins out of my sights. I'm such a protective person that way =P.
As for most creative cache.. There was a cache up in a bird's nest, about 50 feet in the air held up by a rope. On the ground, there was a big hunk of wood that kept the nest from falling down. I moved the wood accidentally, the nest made a loud whirring noise as it fell down beside me, and scared the crap out of me. That was an experience =P.
@ocularium (61)
• United States
13 Mar 07
My husband and I first heard about geocaching a few months ago and decided to give it a try. I got him a gps for Christmas (a Garmin Venture Cx) and we are having a blast! We've only found about 30 caches so far, but I don't think that's a bad start! He is somewhat of a computer geek and geocaching has actually gotten him away from his monitor and out into the fresh air. We have been living in our area for a few years, but never really 'explored' to see what was around. Geocaching has put us in parks and preserves that we never knew existed and would have never found out about otherwise. One weekend we focused on 'urban' caching and basically drove through town searching for what are known as 'park and grabs'. These are tricky as you are in public and people are watching you and wondering what the heck you are doing. In one parking lot I was bent over looking in the bushes and a lady gets out of her car and asks if I lost something. I had to think quick and tell her I was watching a gecko. I think she bought it! It is really cool to see how creative people get in hiding caches. There is a geocacher in our town who is amazing!! He has come up with some fantastic hiding spots! We haven't hid any of our own yet, but we are working on it!
1 person likes this
@Penfencer (297)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Sounds great. 30 caches isn't a bad start at all; I've only logged about 12 so far, though there's about 7 or 8 more that I've been meaning to grab soon. Maybe this weekend.
I haven't done any park-and-grabs yet; most of the caches I've found have involved pretty hefty hikes, actually.
@ocularium (61)
• United States
14 Mar 07
We haven't had a chance to make a day of hiking--we plan to soon, though. The park and grabs are definitely interesting -- they require stealth and you have to not get easily embarrassed or daunted. My husband is not so good at those. He draws more attention to himself while trying not to draw attention to himself! We have found some in fence posts, sprinkler heads, camoflouged to look like they are part of bridges, gazebos and all kinds of things! Though I like the urban ones for their creativity, I think I enjoy the ones in the woods more for the chance to be out in nature.
1 person likes this
@VAgeocacher (3)
• United States
8 Jul 07
I found a cache up in a pine tree the other day, it was strung up there by a small rope, then at my level it was wrapped around the tree several times and affixed to a lower limb. One had to undo the rope, unwind it from the tree, and slowly lower the cache by letting the rope loosen and go up (like a pully). I filled out the log, traded a couple of travel bugs, and hoisted it up on its way. Cache is named "Tigger's Treehouse" and is in Maryland near Germantown.
@freefall2023 (2)
• United States
4 Apr 07
I love geocaching. i have the most fun when i am introducing a new pereson to this awsome activity. Hey, Penfencer, what's the most creative thing that you've ever found or put in a cache?
1 person likes this
@Penfencer (297)
• United States
13 Apr 07
Found or put in a cache...hmm. Tough one. I suppose that depends on your perspective on such things, but I found a shark's tooth in a cache once. The most interesting thing I've ever placed was a bracelet I made out of some wire and some old coins I'd drilled holes through.
@hollie1974 (119)
• United States
15 Apr 07
Geocaching is awesome! Not only is it fun but it is a great tool that we use to teach our son about nature and to respect the land. He really gets into it!
The only thing I don't like about Geocaching is when the hider (ok is that even a word? lol) places the cache inside a hole in a tree. I always make my husband stick his hand in the tree to get the cache out! lol
I have seen some really cool cache since we first started. We have been geocaching for about 2 years. I think that the coolest one (and one of the hardest) was a microcache that was in a fake pinecone hanging from a pine tree! That wasn't a cache that we found, I saw that on their message board.
Have you ever placed a cache?
1 person likes this
@Penfencer (297)
• United States
16 Apr 07
I've not yet placed one myself, though I have a few ideas for some. I remember seeing the picture of the pinecone cache you were talking about on the Groundspeak forums. One of the best hidden caches I've ever found was a small tree-stump; the top of the stump was removable, and the cache was a small test tube set into a drilled out cavity inside the stump itself. I never would have noticed it, except it had rained recently and the damp made the cut around the edge of the stump visible.
@quiethorse (337)
• United States
11 Oct 07
I've wanted to try it but never took the plunge. Do you really find good things in them?
@boondyke69 (2)
• United States
14 Mar 10
It's more about the hunt/search...I have a display case on my wall (kind of like a printer tray) in it I display my "treasures"... mostly silly things.
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
22 Oct 15
I am new to MyLot. The geocaching article was the first one recommended to me. I have been geocaching for a year and just recently passed my 500 cache found milestone.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112770)
• El Paso, Texas
19 Dec 19
Wow, I've never heard of this game before. It sounds a little risky to me
@chuckt9881 (469)
• Canada
15 Aug 07
I work for Environment Canada, and our office purchased 30 GPSr units to hand out to local high schools to get kids interested in nature -- watersheds and wetlands in particular. The units don't get handed out until the school year begins in September, so I've been able to play with one all summer long.
So, without owning a GPSr of my own, I've been able to log about 50 caches in two months :D
I plan to place one before this weekend. Then I have to hand in my borrowed unit :(
@roberteilers (4)
• United States
31 Aug 07
I had known about geocaching for about seven years before getting a gps. But it's been fun since then. I've found 46 and have hidden 7. The neat ones that I've found we two that were in birdhouses.
Micro caches tend to be my favorite. At first when I started was wanted to see all the stuff people would leave but since I've been in it I like the challenge of the micro. One we found recently was in the middle of a very busy entertainment complex. A lost of stealth was needed for that one but we pulled it off.
The travel bugs are really cool. I haven't yet released one ( though I have one in the works ) but have helped some along. One cool I did was part of a set. There were four different bugs but they as all in a race to be the first to Irvine, California. Thing is they was leaving from Kentucky. The bug I helped came in second.
We have a big day tomorrow planned for geocaching. We are going to Frankfort, KY which is our state capital with a list of 14 caches to find in one day. Even though the boys will be going with us I'm confident that we will accomplish our goal.
@luiscpatag (355)
• Philippines
8 Sep 08
i love geocaching.. right now i put it on hold due to my work load, but as soon as i get extra time i will resume.. it's so much fun & relaxing for me..
