Easy?... Pah!

[+Lodainn an Ear]

Hi,

 

I have attempted 6 caches now and succeeded at 3.

 

All of them had numerous comments stating 'easy find' yet i could not find three of them despite knowing i was in the right area - certainly within 10 yards of the cache.

 

i'm wondering if i picked the wrong time of year to begin geocaching as there are leaves covering the ground everywhere that would not be there in the summer. But then, the leaves aren't on the trees and that can make other clues easy to see!

 

What makes you put the word 'easy' in you cache logs?

[Neos2]

What makes you put the word 'easy' in you cache logs?

In a word, experience.

 

The first couple of dozen caches you find may seem challenging. You are getting used to using the gps to locate hidden things. You are getting used to looking for things hidden in fairly obvious places that don't seem all that obvious to you yet---but they will, with time. A hundred caches from now you will look back and be amazed that it seemed so difficult, but right now give yourself a break.

 

Some tips:

Stick with caches that have a 1 or 2 difficulty rating, have been found recently, and are in places that you will feel comfortable really searching around for things.

 

Edited to add: Welcome to geocaching and hey, finding half the caches your first time out is really pretty good!

Edited December 31, 2008 by Neos2

[+buttaskotch]

I concur with Neos2.

You develop a Geo-Sense to where the finds are. You may want to start with checking out the hints, its kinda "cheating" but it sure helps later on. You start seeing how different cacher owners hide the stashes. I went about 6 months without a find, got a little frustrated with it, but came back and am completely addicted.

When the clue offers no assistance, send a note to the CO and ask for further hints,

[+Lodainn an Ear]

thanks for the encouragement.

 

I have been sticking to 1* caches. My GPS is pretty rubbish so it looses signal as soon as i'm moving slowly. (HTC Kaiser) I thought it was doing really well under trees when i approached one cache, but after finding nothing i apporached from the other side and it send me anohter 20 metres down the trail. A thrid approach had me 5 metres from the first place! So i am thinking about getting a HOlux M1200 bluetooth reciver. see if that improves things.

 

its frustrating to know that the wee plastic box is probably within your reach and theres every chance it touched your foot, only you never saw it!

 

i'll keep at it!

Edited December 31, 2008 by Mascarra Snake

[+TexasGringo]

The very first cache I did was an Ammo Box in a little bunch of trees. It took me about 1/2 hour to find it because I didn't know what to look for.

 

Not to worry, I don't find everything the first time either...or 2nd, 3rd...etc. Some, I have Never found...even though others have found them before me and after me.

[+rstefano52]

Don't give up! I don't know much about your GPS but my son actually started by using Google Maps WITHOUT a GPS and he found 6 by that method! As in the previous logs, it does take some experience to know what you are looking for - I'm sure you'll get the hang of it and then you'll be "hooked"! Happy Caching and a Happy New Year.

[Luckless]

There is always that one cache that everyone logs as an "easy find" that has me tearing out my hair trying to find. Usually takes numerous tries and then when I find it, "DOH!" it was a pretty obvious place. There's always one.

[+Mredria]

When my brother and I started not long ago we had quite frusterating hunts. Then we went back after we had a few finds under our belt and were like, "There's no way it was there all along! We crawled all over!"

They all feel easy to find once you found them.

[+mfamilee]

After 500 finds for us there are still lots of caches that elude us. Some that are 'labeled' easy, have us searching for a long time with the cache right in front of our face all along. Others that are 'lableled' difficult, sometimes we just get lucky finding it quick almost by accident. With each cache you find you will learn more of what to look for. There's no shame in logging a DNF. You can always go back and try another time. Good luck to you and most of all have fun!

[Neos2]

I'm anxiously peering toward cache #1000...and there is this one 1/1 cache I have been looking for since the first year we cached. We've been there on at least different 6 days now and I still can't find it.

 

One day we hunted for it for an hour, couldn't find it, went and had lunch and came back refreshed, looked for another hour, got disgusted and went and did some other caches and then came back and looked for yet another hour later in the day and still no sign of it, only to have someone else say they found it the next day.

 

The owner is known for her evil hides but this is not one of them. The owner even told me exactly where it is, with very very specific directions--the same ones she uses to remember how to find it when she does maintenance on it. She thinks it's funny.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Okay. One I logged as 'Easy" was a fencepost cap. Only place to hide it! If I'd never seen a fencepost cache, I might not have found it. But, once you realize that some fencepost caps lift off, it is one place that you look.

[+stagunner]

Soon you will get your "Geo-Sense" and then you will feel the tingling sensation as you near the hiding place

 

We all understand that, and have even felt the same way,, once you gain confidence in the GPSr and the hunt then you will get them faster,, in most cases

 

We even get Geo-Stunned when we can't find one.

 

And Everyone will say that as soon as you get to within 10 meters or 25 feet, it is time to start poking around to see if you can find the cache. You will never get to within 1 meter or 3 feet (to many variable in the GPS solution for the location)

 

Happy New Year and lots of Caching

[+Star*Hopper]

I concur with Neos2.

Yup - couldn'a said it better.

 

You develop a Geo-Sense to where the finds are.

Yup. We other addicts refer to it as "The Force". For reasons that'll all-too-soon become more obvious.

 

You may want to start with checking out the hints, its kinda "cheating" but it sure helps later on.

Is it kinda "cheating" when everybody does it anyway?

 

You start seeing how different cacher owners hide the stashes.

"Get a read on them." Same goes for a particular area or region....many seem to develop/follow a certain style/trend. I think of it as 'flavor'. Makes you appreciate inovativeness when someone breaks the trend....shows you something new.

 

When the clue offers no assistance, send a note to the CO and ask for further hints

And 'CO' is 'Cache Owner', in case you haven't yet learned that. Many clues, cache descriptions, even their titles, won't become apparent or make sense until you're on the scene....so give it an honest shot or two before you go buggin' the CO. I think protocol (IMO anyway) calls for that. And do him the service of dutifully logging your DNFs -- no shame in it, & it serves several useful purposes....it's 'there' for reasons.

 

Anyway, welcome to the game....and always remember that's all it is. If I can offer one other thing, it's the best piece of advice anyone ever gave me - & I got it from a real "pro". That is, once your GPSr shows you're within about 15' of the cache, put it (the GPSr) away & go with "The Force". That'll be, basically, your eyes & brain. The GPSr ain't been made where you just walk forward staring at the arrow on its screen with your other hand outstretched. Even if it were, trust me, the CO didn't have one!

 

~*