sassydil

I've only placed 2 so far and they were hidden first. I've been out the door right when a new one has been published several times and would be really annoyed to go looking for a cache that I later find out hadn't even been placed yet. Many of the caches I go after involve long drives and long hikes up in the Colorado mountains. I'm in Tahosa and Sons neck of the woods. Haven't looked for any of their's yet and with the comment that some are submitted before hiding, I'm probably not going to bother looking for any of their new ones until someone else logs a find. There are enough caches out there to find - why waste time and gas going for one that isn't there? If it's active, it should be there. Period.

Signed up August 8th before I even got my GPSr. Found my first cache on the 14th and became a Premium Member on the 16th.

I have the GPSMAP 76CS and love it. I had never even used a GPSr before or been caching and have been able to figure out most everything without the manual. ITA agree about the Invisibleshield. I also use the Gilsson neoprene case. I have it on one of those stretchy telephone cord-like key rings which I attach to my belt or pack so I don't leave it behind. The unit is frequently sticking out of the top of my pant pocket while hiking and I get great reception except under heavy tree cover. No problem at all with the keypad in or out of the case.

Somewhere along the line I read an article about geocaching but didn't own a GSPr. Last spring, the guy who services my swamp cooler was talking about how he uses his unit to find clients' homes in the boonies. He said he'd cached a few times with his kids and since I hike a lot, he thought I would enjoy it. Finally broke down and spent the $$ for a nice unit and a PDA so I could go paperless. Started in August and have 88 finds so far. Haven't been inspired (or creative!) to hide one yet, but I'm working on it.

I'm alone most of the time. I do 80-100 hikes a year, mostly by myself, so caching alone isn't any different. Took my sister to look for a few when I was visiting her and she acted bored and kept saying things like "I'll bet its been stolen" and "It's probably not here anymore" when we didn't find them right away. Although after we got back I overheard her talking to my niece on the phone about how her kids would probably like to do it. My next door neighbor was with me for 4 of them right when I first got the GPS and was trying to figure out how to use it. She seemed to like the process okay but we haven't had the opportunity to go out again. A friend went on a 4 mile hike with me. I looked for 2 caches, found 1 easy and the other was missing the 2nd waypoint and it was threatening rain so we had to head back to the car. She thinks I'm crazy and would rather just hike.

Thank you so much for the instructions! I was having the same problem.

With gas prices what they are, I'm delighted to be able to search for more than one cache in the same area!