Am I an idiot?!

[astringer35]

My daughter and I were out all afternoon looking for 4 different caches (we're complete newbies). We did not find even one --all were 1-2's in difficulty and terrain. We WERE using a Garmin nuvi 255W which is generally for the car. We could put in the coordinates but we could never seem to get closer to the area in question than 200 feet. In only one case were we able to get within 5 feet and despite searching under bushes, under rocks for at least a 50 foot circle, we never found a thing. My hope is that our GPSr is to blame...and not that we're completely blind! Is there hope for us yet?!

[+kunarion]

We could put in the coordinates but we could never seem to get closer to the area in question than 200 feet.

My Nuvi will not guide me off-road (yours may be similar). Even in “Pedestrian Mode”, it continued to route me to the streets. Does yours have a setting to shut off “street routing”? If not, it points to the middle of the closest street on its internal map, not to the cache.

 

When I was without my Garmin Oregon, I tried to cache with my Nuvi 1250. The only thing that worked was reading the Coords directly, watching the numbers change. And that was very hard work. Well, it WOULD have guided me if I FIRST followed its expected route, several miles around the back of the park. I hope yours has a “hiking mode” with heading & distance info.

 

From the cache page, you can get a “satellite view” (sorry, they’re tough to print). Use that to see where the cache is in relation to trees, roads, and structures. Be sure to hunt caches that have great hints and descriptions, so you know what to look for when you arrive.

Edited January 3, 2010 by kunarion

[+jeffbouldin]

First rule of geocaching! It is always the GPSrs fault!

 

Seriously it usually isn't, however in your case it probably has a hand. Car GPSrs are made to get you from point A to point B by routing you across the best roads. Hand held GPSrs get you from point A to point B in a straight line. Now the Nuvi can be put in a mode to simulate that.

 

On my 205w

Tools/Settings/System/Usage Mode/Pedestrian

Tools/Settings/Navigation/Route Preference/Off Road

 

These might help. Also someone posted that on the W modal the was a satellite screen that could be used, but I haven't found it.

 

In any case once you get 20-50 feet quit looking at the screen and start hunting.

[+rambrush]

Welcome to the obsession! Do not feel bad not being able to locate right off the bat. We all started like you and were a rookie. You will gain confidence and learn about geo piles and where to look for caches. Do a search for geocaching containers so that you will be able to identify what some look like. from fake rocks to pinecones to nano's with magnets up under a light pole bottom cover you will start locating.

Edited January 3, 2010 by rambrush

[+Scubasonic]

I have several Nuvi's even the 500 which is suppose to lead you to the cache but nothing works as well as a good handheld invest in one it will save you a lot of frustration. Use the NUVI to get you there by roads, then use the handheld to find the cache.

 

Scubasonic

[+BlueDeuce]

My daughter and I were out all afternoon looking for 4 different caches (we're complete newbies). We did not find even one --all were 1-2's in difficulty and terrain. We WERE using a Garmin nuvi 255W which is generally for the car. We could put in the coordinates but we could never seem to get closer to the area in question than 200 feet. In only one case were we able to get within 5 feet and despite searching under bushes, under rocks for at least a 50 foot circle, we never found a thing. My hope is that our GPSr is to blame...and not that we're completely blind! Is there hope for us yet?!

 

Of course there is hope for you. You could have the most high tech gps available and you'll still find that searching for a cache can be a bit tricky. Give it time, keep searching, talk to your locals and maybe bring one along for a little coaching.

 

You'll start to develop your geo-sense.

[+Jeep4two]

I have a 255W as well. I use it primarily as an in car navigation unit (as intended) but also use GSAK and the Nuvi Macro to load caches to it. I like to see caches when driving and know when one is close by in case I want to hop out and go get one real quick.

 

I do have a handheld as well (Oregon 400t) and use that when I do decide to make a quick pickup.

 

That said, even with my Oregon in hand I sometimes still have trouble finding a cache.

 

Your Nuvi will work fine for caching but it will always be a little harder once you start to get close since the unit lacks a 'pointer' to help guide you once you get close (you can only zoom in on the map so far you know).

 

If you are really wanting to get into caching a handheld will go a long way in helping reduce GPSr frustration. Nice Garmin unit can be had off eBay used (or here in the Garage Sale forum) for less than a hundred bucks.

 

You could also consider the little yellow Geomate Jr. as a starter unit (around $69 plus the update kit at an additional $25). Many casual cachers like the Geomate Jr. as it provides a simple but accurate handheld solution. It would work well if you use the Nuvi 255W to load your caches using GSAK and the Nuvi macro since you would have full descriptions, last 5 logs and hints on the Nuvi.

 

Best of luck, welcome to the obsession, and don't get discouraged. Nothings better than going back to that cache that you just couldn't find the 2nd time and striking gold.

[+hukilaulau]

A lot of us are idiots but we still manage to find some caches!

I also have a Nuvi 255 which is great for car travel but I wouldn't use it for the close work. Consider Geomate Jr. as a starter. Then if when you get completely hooked you can keep the jr. for unplanned trips and get into a whole new world of obsessing about the individual qualities of a couple of dozen different handhelds! My current "field" units are the jr. and a trusty ol' explorist 500. My current choice for an upgrade is the delorme PN-40. I still have my origianl explorist 200 in a drawer and I would pull it out and start punching in coords by hand like a true addict if I lost all my other gps's.

Edited January 3, 2010 by hukilaulau

[+Lions Fan]

My daughter and I were out all afternoon looking for 4 different caches (we're complete newbies). We did not find even one --all were 1-2's in difficulty and terrain. We WERE using a Garmin nuvi 255W which is generally for the car. We could put in the coordinates but we could never seem to get closer to the area in question than 200 feet. In only one case were we able to get within 5 feet and despite searching under bushes, under rocks for at least a 50 foot circle, we never found a thing. My hope is that our GPSr is to blame...and not that we're completely blind! Is there hope for us yet?!

I found my first 80 caches using a NUVI 205 and a compass. It wasn't pretty, but I would let it get me close with driving directions then access the Satellite Page (press and hold the icon in the upper left). I would estimate what direction I needed to go and keep watching the numbers.

[tigersden1980]

My daughter and I were out all afternoon looking for 4 different caches (we're complete newbies). We did not find even one --all were 1-2's in difficulty and terrain. We WERE using a Garmin nuvi 255W which is generally for the car.

Hey there! My wife and I went out for the first time this afternoon with that exact unit. We searched for 8 caches and found 4. The Nuvi 255W seems to really just like to route on the roads, so popping the cache's coords in and saving as a favorite to get us near enough was our first priority. Then when we were close enough I cancelled the auto-routing and put it pedestrian mode. Then I went to view the map and zoomed in as far as I could. This got me close enough that I could work out where the pinpoint was on the map relative to where I was. Some manual labor was required to find the caches we did, but it was fun

 

Make sure you have the latest firmware on the device - this seemed to help me when playing around with it last week for its main intended purpose.

 

BTW, I'm sure the reason we only found 4 of the 8 we searched for was down to noob errors :grins: All I can say in my very VERY limited experience is be patient. That first one is very much worth the frustration of the misses before!

[+JaneKathleen]

My daughter and I were out all afternoon looking for 4 different caches (we're complete newbies). We did not find even one --all were 1-2's in difficulty and terrain. We WERE using a Garmin nuvi 255W which is generally for the car. We could put in the coordinates but we could never seem to get closer to the area in question than 200 feet. In only one case were we able to get within 5 feet and despite searching under bushes, under rocks for at least a 50 foot circle, we never found a thing. My hope is that our GPSr is to blame...and not that we're completely blind! Is there hope for us yet?!

 

I don't know anything about your GPSr, so I can't comment on whether that has anything to do with your success rate (I'm using an iPhone). But I can tell you that I have been caching for only a couple weeks, and my success rate has pretty consistently wavered somewhere between 50% and 25% in that time. It seems a lot of people (especially newbies) make at least two or three (or maybe even four or five) visits to a cache location before making the find. For me so far, I only get the super-easy ones on my first visit. More often that not, I need two or even three visits to a location before I can spot the hide (and that includes for hides marked at 1 or 1.5 stars).

 

The little bit of experience I have has taught me that cache hiders can be very clever with their camouflage, and at least in urban areas there are lots of hollow places in our world that we never realize are hollow until we become geocachers.

[+StarBrand]

Here are some general hints:

 

Look for caches with a difficulty of 2 or less for your fist few caches. Stick with regular sized caches for your first few. Micros can be quite hard to find sometimes. Stick to areas you are familiar with. Look for anything out of place or unusual. Look for unusual piles of sticks, grass, leaves, rocks, sand, etc. Feel where you cannot look. Think vertical, not all caches are on the ground. Look up or at eye level. Look for traces of previous searches to zero in on the spot. Think like the hider - where would you put a container in this location? Look for things too new, too old, too perfect, not like the others, too many, too few. Change your perspective - a shift in lighting can sometimes reveal a cache. Keep in mind that many micros are magnetic or attached to something (via string, wire etc). Slowly expand your search area to about 40 feet from where your GPS says ground zero is. Bring garden gloves and a flashlight - they help! Be prepared to not find the cache more often then you think.

 

Most of all - have fun!!