I like geocaching!

[+Sioneva]

I like caching. I've been doing it over roughly two and a half years now. I've fallen into creeks, gotten stuck on the side of a very steep hill, been stung by nettles and bees, been muggled, found myself on the wrong side of a "Danger: Police shooting range" sign, been geo-napped at GPS-point.

 

I've found caches I loved, incredible views, hidden gems of neighborhood parks I never knew existed. I've cached in Vegas in the summer time, and Massaschusetts in the winter. I've solved puzzles, lifted lamp skirts, found a ammo can cache by stepping on it, biked my heart out for 'that one last cache today'. Cached in abandoned mines, at the top of mountains, along neighborhood walking trails, 'cross the ice in winter.

 

I've met cachers I'd give my right arm for, gotten to know cachers I'd give my right arm to meet in person, and developed an infamous reputation around my neck of the woods. I've dragged two sisters, a brother, my father, a niece and a nephew with me to cache at various points.

 

Will I go after micros? Yep! Do I love hard climbs and long walks in the woods? Yep! Like everyone else, I have my personal preferences, but they're personal, I try not to inflict them on everyone else.

 

What else do I like about geocaching? I like being able to point down a random road and tell my sister exactly what lies down it. ("That's the way to the Base lake. And a trailhead for the Bellevue Loop Trail.") I like showing my father a beautiful hidden waterfall in the town he's lived for 12 years, that he never knew existed. I like stepping on the scale - there's about 50 pounds less of me then there was when I first started, and I don't miss it. I like having a reason to take that bike trail to find a nano, or that half-overgrown path into who knows where, knowing I'll have to climb a tree at the end.

 

Okay, I'm done. But this is what caching is for me.

 

I like it.

[+parker313]

I am a happy cacher today too. I had a GREAT day caching today - with just the 3yr old while the 5yr old was at soccer camp.

 

Jaconson Springs Cache was my favorite of the 5 I found. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera!! It was just a micro about 50 feet from my car, if that. It was one of those "simple pleasure" caches.

 

The fun I have when caching seems at such odds with the angst so prevalent in the forums, but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles! I like reading the forums b/c I like reading about caching in other parts of the country and about cachers in other parts of the country.

[+DeRock & The Psychic Cacher]

Yes Sioneva. I like your attitude!

 

Kind of like me asking if the glass is half empty or half full. Sounds like you would say half full.

 

You are the kind of geocacher I would like to meet at an event or on the trail. If I was coming to your neck of the woods you would be a good cacher to ask for suggestions on which caches to hunt.

 

Bravo!!

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

[+Sioneva]

Yes Sioneva. I like your attitude!

 

Kind of like me asking if the glass is half empty or half full. Sounds like you would say half full.

 

You are the kind of geocacher I would like to meet at an event or on the trail. If I was coming to your neck of the woods you would be a good cacher to ask for suggestions on which caches to hunt.

 

Bravo!!

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

 

I'll leave the lamppost on for you!

[knowschad]

Awwww, geeze! ANOTHER angsty "I'm having so much fun" thread!

[+DaFunkyFrogs]

Yay! A happy thread!

I like geocaching too!

And I have enjoyed every single hunt I have been on, no matter what the results were at the end. It hasn't mattered if I found it or not, there has been at least ONE enjoyable aspect to all of them.

I have met some great people I would never have crossed paths with otherwise, and made good friends.

I have seen some extraordinary sights.

I have been outside in the fresh air and sunshine.

I have walked more miles than ever before.

I have learned a lot of new things, about people, places, gadgets and myself.

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on a fun hobby WITH my husband, who enjoys it just as much as I do.

I have collected some beautiful coins.

I have sent travelers out and watched all the fun they have.

 

Yep, it's a BLAST!!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I like geocaching, even when I'm not geocaching.

 

Recently there was a really wonderful series of caches published not too far from where I live. It's a wonderful wooded area and one of the stages in the series was one of the prettiest spots I've seen for a cache. I actually own two of the closest caches to this area but it's otherwise rarely visited.

 

I went up there after work today to scope out a spot for another cache. I spent an hour or so wandering around trails, bushwacking to interesting looking spots off the trail, and basically just walking around in the woods. I am hoping to place another cache in the area partially to bring other geocachers that like geocaching to do the other series of caches. I never did find an exact hiding spot but it didn't matter. I had a real nice walk in an area that I probably would not have visited had it not been for geocaching.

[+TMDMom]

I'm having a blast geocaching. Saturday I drug a friend along who I knew would enjoy it, and she did, but along the trail I heard a yelp. I hollered back "are you okay????", she calls up to me, "Yes, I just lost my wig to a brier bush!" And me without my camera...

 

I've bounded down a hill toward a snake that I was convinced was the cache until my 7 year old said, "uh, mom?" and I thought, oh, yeah, that could be real. It was.

 

I talked my friend into hopping up on my back to reach a cache, and as she reached for a cord to steady herself, discovered it wasn't tethered to anything and it whipped around and flung her down a hill. We are still laughing about that. I did ask if she was okay before I burst out laughing.

 

We've now started "Girls Night Out Caching"about once a month. We laugh ourselves silly and dig through swag like it all came from Tiffanys.

 

I am constantly amazed at the creativity of people who carve numbers into rocks, saw railroad spikes in half and drill out enough room for a log, cover film canisters with camouflage well enough to make me walk right past it, and all sorts of other things.

 

I have ALWAYS loved a quest. I have all of my adult life been on the quest for the perfect pair of earrings, which have a mystical criteria only I will know when I see them, but they will be in an antique store or a garage sale, or maybe now in a cache. I just love searching for things. Always have. This hobby meets some sort of need that only rabid cachers have in our core. My husband doesn't get it at all. He loves that I do it. He gets a big kick out of the stories and how excited I get, and even went with me today at lunch to make sure a coin got dropped off because it was in a race...but he has no interest in walking around in circles in the woods poking at pine straw with a stick. Go figure.

 

Now I need to go clean my kitchen so I can spend my evening making more greeting cards for swag.

[+ddr1711]

I like geocaching - my partner (who got me started and does it with me) thinks I have an obsession... I like the terms keen and enthusiastic! In the 6 months that we've been caching we're both fitter, have visited some fantastic places - some almost on our doorstep, and we've had an entirely new experience in an annual holiday spot. I've also got my cousin's family and a relative of theirs hooked on caching - and discovered a common ground that I share with my boss (to the amusement of her admin staff when we start going off about caching).

 

I will openly admit I have an addiction to geocaching. I believe the appropriate treatment for this addiction is to continue caching!

 

Thanks for the positive note

[+Mule Ears]

I like geocaching, even when I'm not geocaching.

 

Me too. Spare moments spent pleasurably poring over the topos scheming a route, researching the condition of old mining roads, squinting at Google Earth looking for a brush-free ridgeline, reading old logs for clues--the planning can be as much fun as the doing. And it really is true that Geocaching redraws your personal map; caches become landmarks, landmarks become physical memories of just how dang far it is between those two bumps on the horizon.

[+TMDMom]

I like geocaching - my partner (who got me started and does it with me) thinks I have an obsession... I like the terms keen and enthusiastic! In the 6 months that we've been caching we're both fitter, have visited some fantastic places - some almost on our doorstep, and we've had an entirely new experience in an annual holiday spot. I've also got my cousin's family and a relative of theirs hooked on caching - and discovered a common ground that I share with my boss (to the amusement of her admin staff when we start going off about caching).

 

I will openly admit I have an addiction to geocaching. I believe the appropriate treatment for this addiction is to continue caching!

Thanks for the positive note

 

I do too! And if there is a twelve step program, I'm sure it leads right to the cache!

Edited June 23, 2008 by TMDMom

[+NOV8TR]

I think "12 step" in geospeak is puzzle cache, right?

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

AAARRRGGGHHH!

 

Grrrr... I HATE "feel-good" happy threads! They make me sick to my stomach! I want angst! I want fear! I want drama! I want whining! Now!

 

 

I think..

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

Actually, I enjoy geocaching, although I am not obsessed with it. I can take it or leave it, and when I do delve into geocaching, I have a very good time. And, I love reading long happy online find (or DNF) logs from folks who've hunted my Psycho Urban Caches... I posted one of those great logs to another thread in this section of the forum today.

[+Sioneva]

AAARRRGGGHHH!

 

Grrrr... I HATE "feel-good" happy threads! They make me sick to my stomach!

 

<snip>

 

 

My work is done here.

[+tozainamboku]

I like geocaching. But I really like reading about geocaching in the forums. It makes me feel good to read how the game has passed by old timers who remember a simpler era when all caches were above average and how any recipes to select the caches that are most fun for them are just too much trouble to use. I like to read how some people object to other people telling other people how to play the game or explaining why they have less fun because someone is logging a cache that they personally would not have logged. I like to read how people can't get caches published because the guidelines and the reviewers are arbitrary. I like to read how geocachers should let property owners or land managers know that we don't agree with them having a policy against geocaches being placed in their lands or at their businesses. I like to read why caches that are too small for trading aren't caches and why virtuals should be brought back so we can find those instead of all the nano caches. Thanks Sioneva for wasting precious forum space that could have been used for an interesting thread.

[+DrgnTrappr]

Addiction, dont you think that word is just a little strong, I mean just because I plan my work day around a cahe I can get my truck to, doe'snt mean I'm addicted.

Yes I have been known to cache alone, without my family knowing thats what i was out doing. But that still does not mean I'm addicted.

Yes I have told my wife on the cell phone that I was not caching, as I was signing the log book of some rest area cache.

Maybe I am in denial, but addicted, no way.

[+mtn-man]

Man am I lucky.

 

I've been caching for years and the wife just never got it. She went to Geowoodstock this year and we did some caching as we did our tour around wine country and Yosemite. She found some of them before me and somewhere along the way she got bit by the bug. She logged all of her finds and we have been going back and have been capturing some of the old finds when she did a few caches with me over the past years. This weekend, she was asking me if I wanted to go caching! Saturday we did a short numbers run of some caches close to home, many I had not found but some I had. I let her find those and she did pretty good. Sunday we replaced a cache of mine that was a nice little hike and did a couple of other non-drive-by finds. She has been wanting to go out after I get home and grab some of the local caches too. She wants her own GPS too.

 

[Geo Quest]

Well I certainly have fewer finds than just about anybody but conversely, I've been caching since Clinton lifted the GPS built-in error so I think I have the right to chime in on Geocaching. When Geocaching.com first came out I was absolutely ecstatic! You know, once upon a time there was no such thing as a "premium member". We were ALL premium members! Anyway, like you I've had my share of adventures. I've discovered an abandoned mine, a cathedral-like waterall, a sweet tomb/cave, and a bunch of awesome, out of the way places I NEVER would have found without Geocaching and for that I am eternally greatful. I have descended a steep canyon only to find myself stuck and unable to either cross the river or climb back up (that was a fun one!) I have actually sat on a stump pondering the location of a cache only to discover the stump I was sitting on WAS the cache! I've climbed fire lookout towers and sat overlooking a draw waiting for enough light to drain out of the sky before a timed light illuminated the cache I was after. I have solved a puzzle that took watching a movie, assembling a 3-D "decoder", and re-learning binary to figure out. I've had most of these adventure with my family and we have all gotten closer to nature in the process. I've had a land manger contact me and tell me to remove my cache due to the damage that finders were causing. I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes so I can thank Geocaching for opening my eyes to humanity's impact on nature. I even went geocaching with my mother-in-law once and came to the forums to complain about how miserable it was. Little did I know those memories would come back to me in a fond way. She died of cancer earlier this year. So despite the little niggles I have here and there Geocaching has impacted me and my family in a far more positive way than not. Thank you for starting this thread!

[+Crid]

I love the puzzled looks I get when I try to explain geocaching to a non-cacher. (Not a muggle out in the field - just trying to explain it to friends when I say that I'm going geocaching at the weekend).

[+Snoogans]

I like cachin' too. Been doin' it awhile....

 

Man am I lucky.

 

I've been caching for years and the wife just never got it. She went to Geowoodstock this year and we did some caching as we did our tour around wine country and Yosemite. She found some of them before me and somewhere along the way she got bit by the bug. She logged all of her finds and we have been going back and have been capturing some of the old finds when she did a few caches with me over the past years. This weekend, she was asking me if I wanted to go caching! Saturday we did a short numbers run of some caches close to home, many I had not found but some I had. I let her find those and she did pretty good. Sunday we replaced a cache of mine that was a nice little hike and did a couple of other non-drive-by finds. She has been wanting to go out after I get home and grab some of the local caches too. She wants her own GPS too.

 

WTG! I'm happy for you.

 

I'm still in that boat even though me 'n the little woman met BECAUSE of geocaching and I even proposed to her at GW4....

 

She tried to help me find one cache just as we left Yosemite on the way to GW6. Wouldn't ya know it...DNF.

 

I keep hoping she'll get bit. At least she likes going to the events!

 

I'm thinkin' when The Snooglet starts getting excited to hunt "treasure" she just might get sucked in. That'll be at least a couple years off though..... Fingers crossed.

[+Snoogans]

I love the puzzled looks I get when I try to explain geocaching to a non-cacher. (Not a muggle out in the field - just trying to explain it to friends when I say that I'm going geocaching at the weekend).

 

I call that the "Hey! You been eatin' donuts, cuz yer eyes sure are glazed" look.

[+tands]

I Like...

 

DNFs - They let me go on and on about the evilness of my fellow cachers and my theories about what possible techniques are in play.

 

Second To Finds - Getting beat out in a serious race to a newly published cache means that another cacher is worse off than us.

 

Micros - These caches always kick our butts. Then we kick back with our own micros.

 

Event Caches - We've made some of our very best friends at Geocaching Meetings including 'just food' ones as well as CITOs and such.

 

Puzzle Caches - I get to see the serious ciphering genius that is S.

 

- T of TandS

Edited June 24, 2008 by tands

[+SgtSue]

I like geocaching. I like spending the day driving down roads I would never have traveled except for a piece of Tupperware being hid there. I like finding those “tucked away” spots in the State and National Parks that I visited. I like learning those little know bits of history that someone bothered to say “hey look what’s here next to the Tupperware”. I like spending time with my friends repelling down a cliff side, walking through a swamp, rock hopping across a river, hiking down a trail, or just sitting at a bench in the local park (remember to bring a mirror for those). I like the new friends through caching. I love reading cache descriptions and other’s logs to decide where to go to next. I love planning a trip that includes geocaching with the time to experience the other things that caching has led me to.

[+tands]

Also, we like goecachig because of Sgt Sue.

 

- T of TandS

[+butrflybec]

Aww, I like this cheerful thread! I like geocaching too, because....

 

- It gives me a reason to get outside and enjoy nature.

- It challenges me physically...giving me motivation to get healthier...

- Gives me a sense of accomplishment when I find a difficult one

- Introduces me to some wonderful people, which leads to some awesome fellowship and friendships.

- Takes me places and shows me sites that I would have never seen otherwise

- Has opened my eyes to what feels like a whole new world...

- Has helped me discover a little bit of who I am, and what I really enjoy...

 

Yeah, it pretty much rocks!

[Clan Riffster]

I want fear! I want drama!

Vinny, the aliens have figured out how to defeat aluminum foil deflector beanies.

[+hockeychik.com]

Man am I lucky.

 

I've been caching for years and the wife just never got it. She went to Geowoodstock this year and we did some caching as we did our tour around wine country and Yosemite. She found some of them before me and somewhere along the way she got bit by the bug. She logged all of her finds and we have been going back and have been capturing some of the old finds when she did a few caches with me over the past years. This weekend, she was asking me if I wanted to go caching! Saturday we did a short numbers run of some caches close to home, many I had not found but some I had. I let her find those and she did pretty good. Sunday we replaced a cache of mine that was a nice little hike and did a couple of other non-drive-by finds. She has been wanting to go out after I get home and grab some of the local caches too. She wants her own GPS too.

 

 

There you are talking about me again!

At least you have something good to talk about!

 

Yes I got bitten by the geocaching bug, and bunch of mosquitoes and maybe a spider or two!

 

I like geocaching, the feeling of accomplishment you get when you find one is awesome.

Edited June 25, 2008 by hockeychik.com

[+Save The Murlocs]

I'm LOVING geocaching. Even the "easy" ones, even the micros and parking lot ones. Because, sometimes they're not as easy as they may seem. (Though I'm still mostly a beginner granted lol.) Because several micros I've found have been hidden at awesome locations. Because even parking lot caches may give you a sense of accomplishment at your find. I have found SO many cool locations while caching, and I've never done one in the mountains or in the woods yet (due to using a phone GPS which doesn't work in those locations.) So I do have to stand up for urban caches, so many people whine and hate and ignore them, you just may be missing out on some great stuff!

 

I'm sure I will love the more "woodsy" ones when I get to do those too. I love how geocaching gets me seeing places I've never seen before, that I never knew existed. I love that there's these mysterious hidden "treasures" that "ordinary" folk don't even know are there. It's just plain great fun.

[CacheNCarryMA]

Geocaching makes me warm and tingly inside.

[+infiniteMPG]

I like geocaching because of the inspirational things it does for my (and seemingly everyone's) life. For weeks it's been raining every afternoon and I sit at home and stare at the clouds knowing a paddle only cache of mine about 2 miles away needs replacing. Yesterday I once again stared at the weather radar, calculated the direction of the storms, and at the last second decided to go for it! Loaded the yak, hit the water and made it to the cache between the lightning and rain. Got the cache replaced, the storms passed and I got to place a couple new paddle only caches in beautiful areas, got to visit a bird island and take some neat pictures, helped out some folks with engine problems with a small boat, had a fun conversation with a co-worker who happened to be pedalling past the launch area (and he's now interested in geocaching and kayaking) and got some good exercise, too. Now if I was just looking to paddle I'd of stayed home and done chores. I can make up on the chores but geocaching got my butt off the couch and on the water and gave me one heck of a fun way to end a rather stressful workday!

 

Yeah... inspirational!

Edited June 25, 2008 by infiniteMPG

[+dw]

My signature pin seemed appropriate for this topic!

 

[+ArcherDragoon]

I like caching. I've been doing it over roughly two and a half years now. I've fallen into creeks, gotten stuck on the side of a very steep hill, been stung by nettles and bees, been muggled, found myself on the wrong side of a "Danger: Police shooting range" sign, been geo-napped at GPS-point.

 

I've found caches I loved, incredible views, hidden gems of neighborhood parks I never knew existed. I've cached in Vegas in the summer time, and Massaschusetts in the winter. I've solved puzzles, lifted lamp skirts, found a ammo can cache by stepping on it, biked my heart out for 'that one last cache today'. Cached in abandoned mines, at the top of mountains, along neighborhood walking trails, 'cross the ice in winter.

 

I've met cachers I'd give my right arm for, gotten to know cachers I'd give my right arm to meet in person, and developed an infamous reputation around my neck of the woods. I've dragged two sisters, a brother, my father, a niece and a nephew with me to cache at various points.

 

Will I go after micros? Yep! Do I love hard climbs and long walks in the woods? Yep! Like everyone else, I have my personal preferences, but they're personal, I try not to inflict them on everyone else.

 

What else do I like about geocaching? I like being able to point down a random road and tell my sister exactly what lies down it. ("That's the way to the Base lake. And a trailhead for the Bellevue Loop Trail.") I like showing my father a beautiful hidden waterfall in the town he's lived for 12 years, that he never knew existed. I like stepping on the scale - there's about 50 pounds less of me then there was when I first started, and I don't miss it. I like having a reason to take that bike trail to find a nano, or that half-overgrown path into who knows where, knowing I'll have to climb a tree at the end.

 

Okay, I'm done. But this is what caching is for me.

 

I like it.

Don't forget about those you would send all your Archers into battle for

.

.

.

Anywho...Caching has been great...never have i had so much fun working my butt off for a cache. Tredmill...yeah...not for me...but put a cache on top of the highest, steepest hill and and watch me work all day to get it!!! I just wish I had the funds to be able to go more often...

[Skippermark]

I've been caching for years and the wife just never got it. She went to Geowoodstock this year and we did some caching as we did our tour around wine country and Yosemite. She found some of them before me and somewhere along the way she got bit by the bug.

You're lucky. My wife started off loving, but then I burnt her out because I'd want to look for caches wherever we'd go.

 

Got a wedding in an area we don't go to much? Excellent! There are probably some caches there. Who cares that we're in a suit and dress shoes.

 

Taking her mom out for Mother's Day dinner? Sounds like a good time to stop for a cache.

 

She's deep in labor and about to give birth? Yeh, but there's a quick park and grab we need to get just around the corner.

 

Now I'm not allowed to talk caching in the house.

 

Regarding the OP, I like caching too. Have gotten PI, stinging nettles and have fallen a few times.

 

Sliced my hand open and have had to go to the hospital for stitches a couple times.

 

Have gotten to see some great places that I wouldn't have had it not been for caching, but most importantly, we have meet some great people and made true friendships that now go way beyond caching.

[+9Key]

I love geocaching, no matter what I've posted recently. As much as my wife would like me to stop I'll probably always do it on some level. I've seen so many cool things that I never would have found if it weren't for caching!

 

mtn-man - how did you get the geocaching bug to bite your wife? Send that bug to Texas!