ll JK ll

I've never seen a bear while hiking but I think about it all the time. I live in Central VA and black bears are pretty common in the mountainous areas. On one hand I think it would be awesome to see such a magnificent animal but at the same time thinking about a potential confrontation is unsettling. I know they try to avoid humans and will typically move along but you can never predict what a wild animal will do, especially if you happen to surprise it.

D - 1.92 T - 2.13 I'm definitely a "hike a long trail for an ammo can in the woods" kinda guy but all the urban caches and easy finds have brought my average down. It doesn't really matter to me but I think it's cool the site keeps up with stats like this. Like Mike & Jess said, I think it'll be more fulfilling for me to fill out the D/T grid.

As someone relatively new to the game and very new to hiding caches I would suggest abandoning the area you're in until you solve the puzzle caches nearby. I ran into a similar issue. I had planned to hide a cache in a local trail system but there are a lot of puzzle caches in the area, some that I've solved, some that are extremely above my head. So, I had to give up that location for the time being and I found a new spot to place my cache. Overall I would suggest you not give up so easily. This is a great game and with a little patience can be very rewarding.

I'm about to reach 100 finds. My plan at around 80 was to make my hundredth find a mountain top cache near my house (GC2GX67) but I've decided to hold off on that one until near Fall when the leaves start to change color. So, 100 will probably be just another ammo can in the forest

I can relate to the beginner frustration. One of the very first caches I went after was highlighted as a beginner cache. It was placed in the woods right beside a shopping center, around 15 feet from the paved area. I searched for it on two separate occasions and didn't find it until the third. I felt like an idiot because every log spoke to how easy the find was and yet I was struggling. I searched everywhere in the bushes, in piles of pine needles, everywhere....on the ground. My mind was in the mode of it being stashed on the ground somewhere and didn't consider any other possibility. The whole time I was scrounging on the ground the decon container was hanging from a branch of a pine tree. It was just out of sight until I got close and pulled the branches apart. It's easy to over-complicate things. In this case hiding it on the ground wouldn't make any sense because it would be easy to be muggled. Now I try to search with the mindset of being a hider, looking for a good spot that wouldn't be stumbled upon by a passerby.

Probably the coolest thing I've found was a beaded snake keychain that's about 9" long. I rescued it from a terrible container that was a water hazard. The keychain was mildewed and took several cleanings to get the smell out. I didn't trade up for it so I'm going to be passing it along to another cache that has a proper container. Other than that my favorite item to find is foreign currency.

I started out with my iPhone 4 and quickly upgraded to a Delorme PN-60. I still use my iPhone for urban caching on my lunch break and for taking pics on my hikes but it can't compare to the reliability of my dedicated GPSr.

I used to carry a lot of stuff in a hiking backpack but after long hikes it's uncomfortable so I switched out the backpack for a UTG messenger bag, kinda like the Versipacks in the Groundspeak shop. I carry: - iPhone for pics - GPSr (PN-60) - extra batteries - a minor first-aid kit - emergency ponchos - spare socks - freezer bag full of general swag - small container with primo trade items - geocaching info cards - two spare micro containers - spare log sheets - ink pens Also on my keychain I have a Leatherman Micra and a Streamlight nano flashlight

haha, very cool concept! I was a huge TMNT fan as a wee lad. Kudos for being creative with your containers

Cool thread, I've enjoyed reading how everyone plays the game. For me geocaching is all about exploring, walking trails and enjoying the scenery. I don't want to come off as dramatic but geocaching has really changed my life. I'm 31, started caching in April. For the past 5-6 years I was heavy into video games and spent waaay too much time glued to the tube. Now I'm caching nearly every weekend and it's great. The best part is enjoying nature. Whether it's an awesome view from an outcrop like the one at GCNWJJ or a tiny insect going about its day, caching has helped me have more of an appreciation for the natural world. I can't wait for my daughter (who's nearly 2) to get a little older so I can share the same appreciation with her. As for the game itself, I'm mostly a finder at this point. I prefer caches that are along wooded trails but I don't discriminate if the cache is a pill bottle in the landscaping of a McDonald's. Sometimes micros are irritating because they can be so tough to find but once you do it's rewarding. Puzzle caches are cool as well, but I'm still a little wet behind the ears in my solving methods. There are a few very active cachers in my area that have created some really tough puzzle caches so I've got my work cut out for me. I had one in particular taunting me so I got help from someone on the forums. I was excited to have the coords but once I got to the hide it felt cheap because I didn't figure it out myself. From now on I'm going solo and if I don't get it oh well. I have only one hide, which was adopted from a local who has too many to properly take care of. I was stoked because it's in a nature reserve / rest stop on a major highway in my area. The previous owner let me have the full log which dates back nearly 10 years! It's cool to me to have a piece of history like that, as insignificant as it may be to some. After nearly 100 finds I'm starting to enter hiding phase. I wanted to get some experience under my belt and see what others have done before I jump into the ring. I'm actually placing my first true hide this weekend. I just did a basic camo paint job on it last night and it's nearly ready to go. I'm going to release my Spidey TB and cross my fingers that it can reach its goal. Speaking of Travel Bugs and Geocoins, they're an awesome concept. Giving us the ability to create custom trackables adds so many unique items to the game. I've seen quite a few creative bugs in my travels. I've bought several geocoins, released none, because I can't seem to get them off my desk as personal eye candy Next month I'm participating in a CITO event to clean up a pond that's been abused by simpletons who can't hold that empty bottle until reaching a trash can. It'll be nice to meet some fellow cachers and put faces with usernames but more importantly it's going to be great to actually do something positive for that community. I could ramble on another few hundred words or so but I think this pretty much sums it up

If I lived nearby I would go for your caches. Having a nice geographic feature like a lake is almost as much motivation as the cache itself! At least for me it is. Just yesterday I drove for nearly 30 minutes to find a single cache on an awesome outcrop overlooking a major river in my area. I wouldn't lose hope, people will find them soon enough. Tell ya what, send me $ for air fare from VA and I'll be your huckleberry

@Cezanne - I understand there are different platforms for publishing caches besides Groundspeak. I see your point but in this scenario it seems unlikely that the cache owner's children happened to be registered with another publishing site and found out about the cache that way. I'm led to believe they were there when the cache was placed, giving them an "unfair" advantage in regard to FTF. Just to be clear - I'm not bothered by this, but if I were a FTF hound and that part of Geocaching blew my skirt up this scenario would be frustrating.

They may have signed the log first but if they were there when the cache was originally placed they didn't make a true find in my book. I understand that some people don't care about the journey and are only after a smiley but to me the journey is the best part of this game. If I were you OP I would consider myself the true FTF. Speaking of FTF, I just made my first a few days ago, a day after my birthday. I saw the email Monday night and when I noticed the virtual log was empty the next morning I ran out to see if I could make the find. I came up short, but returned later in the day and found it. I was very surprised no one else found it because there are a handful of cachers in my area that seem to be FTF hounds. I don't take FTF that seriously but I must admit it's pretty cool to find a cache with an empty log sheet.

Cool patch, I would definitely trade something for one of those.

Like Brian I also keep a handful of emergency ponchos for trade. They're dirt cheap and can be very useful if you're a couple miles from your car and get caught in a sudden downpour Ross department store is a good place to check out for trade stuff as well. They always have discounted tool sets, flashlights, etc. I saw a Leatherman micra there in the original package for $10 once. Recently I bought a three pack of Columbia LED flashlights for $8.

I've bought several of Groundspeak's compass zipper pulls and use them for trading. They're only $2 a piece and for the money they're a nice trade item. I have one attached to my GPS and when signal is weak it gets the job done.

I did one like that in Albuquerque. It took me an hour to find it and the coords were accurate to within a foot. I call that mental camo. It was lots of fun. I'm with you man, mental camo for sure. The crazy thing about it was I searched a hollow spot in the log twice, and all the while the cache was inches below on the ground!! I had a great laugh, luckily no one was around to witness On a side note, have you ever posted on the xbox.com forums? I've been off and on there for years and a guy named Snoogans was a regular.

haha, mine was the same. I must admit that finding that insignificant key holder was a great victory in a sense because I had failed on my first few searches.

I won't say it was the worst but one that gave me some trouble was the final cache of a three stage multi. The third stage's coordinates required getting an average of the first two stages, which was basically dead center between the first two. No big deal. The clue for finding the third was to search among downed, rotting trees and limbs...which there were plenty of in that forest. I searched several downed trees with no luck. I gave up and decided to try again another day. Second time around I still had trouble, and just as I was about to leave I saw a white container peeking out of the brush and pine needles.....no downed trees within 20 feet or so. I was annoyed but the ambiguity of the clue added to the search. Even with the trouble I had I really enjoyed this cache because it required a lot of effort to find. My main frustration was that the final container was terrible. The first and second stage had laminated cards that were meant to stand up to the elements and it only seemed fitting to have a lock n lock or ammo can as the final. A former food container with no seal was not a good choice for an otherwise well done series.

Mine is very simple....my initials and my birth year. I have a screen name for other web services like Xbox Live and such but it's long and besides, after seeing a micro log sheet I knew it would be best to keep it short.

I follow a guy on Instagram (photo sharing app for mobiles) and from time to time he would post pics of his caching adventures. I became curious, so I downloaded the free GC app and set off after work to find one near my house. It's a good thing I'm not easily discouraged because I failed at my first few attempts. After I finally found my first cache I knew this game is for me.

One of my favorites was a mystery cache that was very easy to get the coordinates to (they were in white text) but the catch was the search. The description stated it was an ammo can and the coords took me to a large felled tree. Typical right? I thought it was going to be extremely easy but after searching and searching I came up empty. After taking a third stab at it I finally found the ammo can......it was a mini! I thought it was a very nice touch on what seemed like just another ammo can tucked beside a tree.

I would expect to pay around $10-15 for one of those, it doesn't seem that unreasonable. To save money I would do as others have said and see if you can score a second-hand bucket.

My local surplus store had a load of 30 cal cans Memorial Day, I bought two at the time for $6 a piece. My wife just went by there this past week to buy me another one as part of my Father's Day Geocache and he only had one. When I talked to him he complained of shipping costs and that usually his best bet is to find a seller within reasonable driving distance, otherwise he has to wait and hope the current inventory lasts.

In my area I would have to say crafting a unique container would be easier since many of the primo spots have been claimed. I expected as much since I'm relatively new. It sucks because I have several caches ready to go but I don't want to place them in a lame location. I like the idea of a geocache being bait to bring you to a cool spot, and have the finder more interested in the location than whatever is found in the cache.