NandL51008

My wife and I recently got 2 for 12.88 a piece at wal-mart. Any sporting goods store will have a good variety of styles and a range of prices to work with. Target and K-mart should have them in stock. On-line, check amazon.com or e-bay for good discounts. Keep in mind what sort of hiker you are, and that will help you choose what sort of pole you buy. Poles can be pricy. If you're a casual hiker, a pole that could stand up against a samari sword may not be what you need. Whatever works best you and your budget.

L freaking O L That is hilarious! Good one

My wife and I started geocaching last February. Our first cache was pretty urban, but it was not an LPC. It was more suburban, because of the growth near the baseball field and the proximity to some wooded trails. We hunted it while snow still covered the ground, but didn't find it until it melted away. Until we got a hand-held GPS, our caching was kept to the urban sites, because they seemed to be easier to find and really didn't require an off-road GPS. We had our TomTom, but we couldn't figure out how to enter the coordinates. Anyway, the more urban caching we did, the more we felt like we were retrieving a drug dealers stash. We felt awkward and very conspicuous. We loved going with others in our family who picked up the hobby, because their phone had a geocaching app, and so we were given the opportunity to go out onto the forest preserve trails and hunt some caches in the woods. That's really where the fun began for us, and so we did less urban caching. Now we have a hand-held and have gone out on several occasions to the wooded areas. We've hiked some long hikes, climbed trees, and bushwacked through the thick of it all. My wife and I don't really consider urban caching anymore, but I have developed some mixed feelings about it. I like the thrill of the possibility of being caught. But, I don't like feeling like I'm breaking the law. So, I decided to seek out others' points of view on this. What drives you? Are you an urban cacher? Are you strictly a forest cacher? Are you both? Tell all and don't hold back, but please be respectful of each others' preferences. It's all a game, and we're out there to have fun. With that, I open the floor.

Hey there, My family used to live in Missoula, MT for a while. I was too young to really remember, but that's besides the point. I would just like to say welcome to the awesome sport! My wife and I are new too. We only have about 78 finds so far. We started in February, but really didn't get out until the snow melted away. It was only recently that we got our first off road GPS. So, we still feel like we're fresh. We haven't joined a local group, but we have had the pleasure of meeting some veteran cachers who have been nice enough to take us under their wing. I asked one of them if they would like to join my wife and I for a day of caching. He loves to hike and so gladly took us up on the offer. Unfortunately my wife got sick the morning of the planned trip, and so I went out alone--- with her blessing. I met the fellow cacher over at a nearby forest preserve and another cacher rolled in unexpectedly. He was someone that cacher #1 knew, and so we invited cacher #2 along for the hike. We had a blast hitting up 27 caches that day. Most of which belonged to the orginal fellow that I met up with. Still, he really enjoyed the hike. I even hid my first cache that day. What fun that was. It was pretty clever too if I don't say so myself. Point being, if you can't find a local group, start chatting up other local users. It's really made the game a lot more fun. Again, welcome and happy caching.