Geocaching

[jabumbo]

Anyone here do it? tried it? know stuff about it?


I am planning on "borrowing" the GPS unit from my office when I go on vacation next week and loading it up with a whole bunch of caches to try and find.

If that proves to be exciting, maybe I will hold on to the thing and do more around home.


Either way, I hope it proves to be a nice adventure!

[ericlee]

Fact: anyone who is driving a Geo Tracker is a drug dealer.

[Helvete]

Briefly looked into it but it appears that you need to pay to access all the sites with the locations on. So I didn't bother.

[Yeti]

I did it when my family and 2 brother's families met for a 4 day weekend in the mountains. You can buy a GPS at a Target or Best Buy and the caches are free. We hiked for an hour using the clues and we found a metal military style box full of trinkets, photos, letters and a diary of people that have found the box. The kids all added stuff to the box and some took one item. Things like rubber lizards, whistles, plastic figures, etc were in the box. Our hike was several miles and it was fun. The kids got tired and were getting grouchy so it was nice to find the box.
There are caches in parks all over my area. We might buy a GPS when my son gets a little older. We rented a GPS from a lodge where we were staying.

It would be cool if there were hippie caches. They could leave bongs, pipes, ganja, Phish cassettes, hemp slippers, etc.

[jabumbo]

maybe i will get out some of my phish casettes to put in other caches and start a revolution!


right on, yeti!



oh, and helvete: i went to geocaching.com and signed up for free. i don't know if there is a paying option with more info, but it looks like you can get what you need by just signing up

[synch]

Most phones have a GPS in it nowadays... Or are those not accurate enough to do this caching thing with?

[jabumbo]

c'mon synch, you really think i have one of those phones?



apparently one of my cousins has tried it using his iphone. i guess it does a good enough job. don't know if there is some sort of app for it or if he just looked up coordinates and went from there.

[checkyourprez]

Most phones have a GPS in it nowadays... Or are those not accurate enough to do this caching thing with?

c'mon synch, you really think i have one of those phones?



apparently one of my cousins has tried it using his iphone. i guess it does a good enough job. don't know if there is some sort of app for it or if he just looked up coordinates and went from there.

i would think it would be something like this. the gps's you buy aren't normal ones. they only have like trails and places the booty is at. but there are millions of them around the world i guess.

i dont do it, but one of my co-workers does it with his son a decent amount and enjoys it. there are probably some in everyones favorite park on this board.

[Yeti]

i would think it would be something like this. the gps's you buy aren't normal ones. they only have like trails and places the booty is at. but there are millions of them around the world i guess.

i dont do it, but one of my co-workers does it with his son a decent amount and enjoys it. there are probably some in everyones favorite park on this board.

This is correct and if you are a geocacher you can look forward to the fact that there are way more chances to contract West Nile Virus, or Lyme Disease, than the average person.

[silence7]

Originally Posted by checkyourprez
i would think it would be something like this. the gps's you buy aren't normal ones. they only have like trails and places the booty is at. but there are millions of them around the world i guess.

i dont do it, but one of my co-workers does it with his son a decent amount and enjoys it. there are probably some in everyones favorite park on this board.

The GPS's ARE normal GPS's depending on what maps you load on them, Topographical, or Street. They are usually hand held as opposed to the dash mount ones you normally see. They are ruggedized and waterproof normally so they don't get damaged while out hiking. and they are accurate to about 10 feet.

The Geocaching.com website doesn't cost anything to join, there are a FEW "member's only" caches, but 99% of them are for anyone to find. I've found 77 of them so far and haven't paid a cent. Been doing it off and on for about 5 years. Create an account and check my profile HERE (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=e358dc94-703a-4a16-a5bc-9b820ae1dc53)

Wen't to look for a cache without my GPSr, relying on my Sister's cell phone GPS, couldn't find it.. A month later I brought my GPSr. and found it.

I've got the Garmin GPSMap 60csx (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=310&ra=true).

Geocaching is a fun way to get yourself out from in front of the computer and out to see the real world, whether it be around your neighborhood, or out in the middle of nowhere, it's a lot of fun.

I thought it was kinda weird when I started, but after a few, you end up hooked looking for little treasures wherever you go..

[QueenAdrock]

I did it for the first time last week with my friend who was in town. She's got 700 caches clocked and is looking for more. It really does make you look at the world a different way, because there's probably secret caches hidden all around you at any given location.

I'm thinking of investing in a GPS to do it myself, too. She says there's caches in northern Canada that require 2-3 days of hiking to get to...that shit's nuts. I'll probably just stick to the parks around Edmonton...


It would be cool if there were hippie caches. They could leave bongs, pipes, ganja, Phish cassettes, hemp slippers, etc.

I asked my friend if people ever did that sort of thing, and she said probably not because most geocaching is done by families and old retired men. I still have hope to find an illicit cache, though.

[mikizee]

c'mon synch, you really think i have one of those phones?



apparently one of my cousins has tried it using his iphone. i guess it does a good enough job. don't know if there is some sort of app for it or if he just looked up coordinates and went from there.

There are a few geocaching apps for the iphone. I just downloaded the free trial one and saw that there are three caches within 1km of my house!