GeoStars

How close *IS* too close? I've thought of placing a cache in a park that already has one. I like the park and it's close enough that I could check on it regularly. The place I'm thinking of would be several miles from the first if one is following the trails. I'm not sure of the crow-miles distance but I'm sure it wouldn't be measured in feet. I'm new to this sport and didn't know if placing a second cache in a park already containing one would be rude. Should I contact the original cache-owner first? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this. Hoosiermom - team leader of GeoStars

A new twist on an old tradition I guess. We'll only be about 350 miles from home (also visiting family) but found a cache reasonably close. Funny, but our idea of *reasonably* close seems to keep extending further and further away... Hoosiermom - team leader of Geostars

We've only been on one cache hunt so far but definitely plan to make it a family thing. We'll probably make the hunts part of another outing and limit it to one a day or two if they happen to be fairly close. The kids are young (7, 5, and 2) so we'll keep the difficulty levels down for now. The oldest would enjoy the more difficult hikes but our 5yo is a rather reluctant hiker. He's good for about a mile or so and then he's ready to quit. We have to remember that when we're not doing a loop trail as we've been in the miserable situation of being a mile or better out on a trail and had a kid refusing to walk another step! He's coming along though and our 2yo will hike just as far as her little legs will allow. We've always tried to plan hikes with some sort of goal (waterfall, highpoint, nice overlook, etc.) as an incentive to keep going. Geocaching definitely makes the incentive part easier and much more tangible for the kids! Lastly, we always make sure we take water and snacks and stop to rest frequently. The kids like having their own backpacks or fanny packs to carry their snacks.

We've only been on one cache hunt so far but definitely plan to make it a family thing. We'll probably make the hunts part of another outing and limit it to one a day or two if they happen to be fairly close. The kids are young (7, 5, and 2) so we'll keep the difficulty levels down for now. The oldest would enjoy the more difficult hikes but our 5yo is a rather reluctant hiker. He's good for about a mile or so and then he's ready to quit. We have to remember that when we're not doing a loop trail as we've been in the miserable situation of being a mile or better out on a trail and had a kid refusing to walk another step! He's coming along though and our 2yo will hike just as far as her little legs will allow. We've always tried to plan hikes with some sort of goal (waterfall, highpoint, nice overlook, etc.) as an incentive to keep going. Geocaching definitely makes the incentive part easier and much more tangible for the kids! Lastly, we always make sure we take water and snacks and stop to rest frequently. The kids like having their own backpacks or fanny packs to carry their snacks.

Geek or non-geek? Definitely put me in the latter category! I bought my GPS for the sole purpose of geocaching and got the simplest model available. Reading the manual was a chore (I could do and understand it, just didn't like it). Computers frustrate me to no end and I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I flunked computer programming in high school. I can turn the stupid thing on (computer and GPS) and make it do what I want it to. Just don't ask me to understand it or even worse, fix it... I guess I'm one of those outdoor loving people that has found a new hobby that just happens to involve a high-tech gadget. Hoosiermom - team leader of GeoStars

I'm glad to see this addressed, although it appears to be a recycled topic. I've thought of placing a cache in a park that already has one. The place I'm thinking of would be a couple of miles from the other if one were following the trails. I'm not sure what the *crow-miles* would be. I wondered if placing another in a park that already has one would be considered rude. Should I contact the other cache-owner first? I'm new to this sport but would like to see it grow in this area. Hoosiermom - team leader of GeoStars

Well, we've only been on one geo-cache so this is a pretty easy question to answer. I took my trade item and made sure all the kids had something to trade but my dear-hubby didn't think this geocaching stuff was terribly exciting. We love to hike though so he went along for the sake of being outdoors. We had 3 families with us with a total of 7 kids and they were all excited to be on a *treasure hunt*. Found the cache fairly easily and everyone was falling over each other looking though the stash. DH (dear hubby) finds a coffee cup that he just *has* to have. But he doesn't have a trade item... Being the great wife that I am, I let him trade my item for the coffee cup. What did I get out of the deal? A husband that is now looking forward to the next geocache hunt. I couldn't have asked for a better trade!

Well, we've only been on one geo-cache so this is a pretty easy question to answer. I took my trade item and made sure all the kids had something to trade but my dear-hubby didn't think this geocaching stuff was terribly exciting. We love to hike though so he went along for the sake of being outdoors. We had 3 families with us with a total of 7 kids and they were all excited to be on a *treasure hunt*. Found the cache fairly easily and everyone was falling over each other looking though the stash. DH (dear hubby) finds a coffee cup that he just *has* to have. But he doesn't have a trade item... Being the great wife that I am, I let him trade my item for the coffee cup. What did I get out of the deal? A husband that is now looking forward to the next geocache hunt. I couldn't have asked for a better trade!

Wow, quite a few opinions and here and I agree with several, both pro and con. My first thought was that I've never paid for anything internet-related other than my ISP so why should I start now... My second thought was that if a user fee of $30/yr would keep those awful pop-up ads away, it'd be worth it. I'm still ambivalent, but I'm leaning towards coughing up the $$$. We've only found one cache (just *discovered* the game about a month ago) but had a great time and also introduced two other families to the sport. My sister (one of the families that went with us) is now planning on purchasing her own GPS for the sole purpose of geocaching. One of the main reasons I'd be willing to pay for membership would be the mocaches (I think a new geoterm has been created here). Even though we've only been on one cache hunt (successful BTW), we've already been thinking of hiding our own. Like most, we'd certainly be willing to hide caches that would be accessible to all. But we've also had several interesting cache ideas that we've decided against because of the risk of plunder. I'd love to be able to have complete faith in my fellow man but unfortunately, I've been let down too many times in the past. I'd never hide what I would consider a *junk* cache. But if I'm going to put a considerable amount of time, effort, and yes, $$$ into a cache, I'd like to have a reasonable expectation that it's not going to be stolen or vandalized. I know that the vast majority of geocachers are legit but it only takes one bad apple to ruin a cache not only for the cache-owner, but also for those looking for it after it has vanished or been ruined. All-in-all $30/yr doesn't seem like an outrageous investment. I've certainly paid more for less. Hoosiermom - team leader of GeoStars