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Bumping into other Geocachers while looking.


RadioWayne

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I'm a noob, and this may have been answered before but I wonder if it would make for some good stories.

 

Have you bumped into another Geocacher while searching for a cache? If you notice that someone is looking, what do you do? Do you walk up and join them or do you hang back and let them finish?

 

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I look forward to it.

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I'm a noob, and this may have been answered before but I wonder if it would make for some good stories.

Have you bumped into another Geocacher while searching for a cache? If you notice that someone is looking, what do you do? Do you walk up and join them or do you hang back and let them finish?

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I look forward to it.

I love meeting other cachers, and most that I've met have felt the same way. I remember feeling somewhat awkward about that myself when I first started caching, but now I just walk on in and say hello and have never had anything but a good reaction.
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As knowschad said.

 

My first encounter was somebody extending a hand as soon as he saw me rounding a bend in the trail. Seems we both went after a "fresh" series of placements (FTF in mind, ya know), and he was probably about 15 - 30 minutes behind me for the first four! We chatted and 'bulled' nearly forever. I then told him which ones I had not been to yet and suggested he grab up those FTFs. 'Twas fun.

 

Met three more sets of cachers (again, also hunting the same series) later, grabbing the STF honor along with them!

 

Good folks, all of them. :lol:

 

EDIT: context.

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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Only ran into other cachers once so far, but it was kinda funny...almost like a cacher flash mob. There were 4 of us and about 8 of them all converged on the same cache at the same time. Prtty hard to be covert with a dozen cachers all stomping around a tree trying to find a micro.

 

They seemed pleasant enough and I hope my group did as well.

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It will happen especially if you are looking for new caches

Walk up to them tell them, this is private property and you are calling the cops.

Then pull out your gps and pretend to dial

Especially funny if you're geocaching with a smartphone of some sort :lol: ...or maybe not :lol:

 

In fact I have met other geocachers twice: Once on the hunt of a ftf, me and my loved one had just found the cache when a fellow geocacher came with a headlight stearing into his Colorado. I just said: "Good afternoon" to the guy, it showed up that he was a member on a hi-fi forum I am running, so it turned up to be a very pleasant meeting.

 

The other time was when I was looking for a new cache in the Netherlands, three dutch geocachers showed up, and we teamed together in the search. A very pleasant and funny experience, that too.

Edited by trondkj
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In 8 years and a bit over 1000 caches - I've run into another cacher at ground zero no more than 10 times. So it is rare.

 

I usually just shout out something like "found it yet?" and then ask if they mind whether I join them or should I back off - everybody lets me join in and we have a good conversation.

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On my VERY FIRST cache I walked to another cacher...as he saw me

walking toward him " he " did try to hide but was to late...I shout something like " Hey Muggle " lol and the guy was kind lost for few seconds....but I got closer and told him that I also was searching for

the same thing....and he understood my joke...

so we spoke a little bit about gps and other caches in the area and this

guy asked if I had few minutes to go with him get another cache...so

we went...But that second one was DNF...But was fun to meet another

crazy person trying to find a cache in the snow and cold day....

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With only 49 finds under my belt this has already happened to me 3 times. The first time was on my 4th day of caching. We had taken my parents out and noticed a group of 3 people sitting at the bottom of the hill staring at us. It made our hunt kindof uncomfortable. The second time we nocticed 2 guys looking where we were going for a cache. As we approached they both got on their bikes and started to leave. We sat down, figured where the cache was and grabbed it. One of the guys on bikes rode up to us and asked if we had found it. I felt bad, kinda like I had stole the hunt from them. We ended up chatting for about 15 minutes and we all signed the log. Most recently, we were out hunting for a multi-cache in the middle of the desert in the dark when we noticed the lights of several ATV's. We had already found the final stage and where headed back to the car 2 miles away. As we passed the ATV's stopped at one of the waypoints, I heard them mention the cache name. I approached and said hello, we talked about the cache and how much fun it had been, and they headed off towards the final stage. On the way back, they stopped and offered us a much needed ride back to the car. Saved us about 45 minutes of walking in the dark.

 

The point of my rambling is this: Not saying hi can lead to some awkward moments.

This is a great community. Make some friends.

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It's happened to us a few times, on each occasion I was able to work the name of the cache into my greeting, the first one was around a library and was named after a book, I just kind of looked up and said I'd lost my copy of X, he told me he was looking too, we searched together, still wound up with a DNF and that cache is still on my to do list. As with any encounter with possible muggles, look like you belong and make pleasant conversation and you may learn that they are into caching or are about to start getting that way... :lol:

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We've run into fellow cachers quite often. While in Sedona, AZ we were searching for a cache just below a turnout when another car pulled up. As they got out, I could see they had a GPS in hand and were getting their bearings. When they saw me, I merely raised my GPS in greeting - they did the same! As it turned out, they were from Sweden and doing some caching on the way to the Grand Canyon. After talking awhile and some photo taking, we headed for another cache together. We've exchanged emails a few times since then!

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Ahhh, young cachers.

 

Those of us who have been around the block once or twice remember an honored tradition that seems to have gone the way of great views and good hikes in exchange for quick park and grabs in the local shopping center parking lot.

 

For those of you who don't remember "the good old days"

 

(credit to Briansnat)

 

 

This started in NJ, but has taken the nation by storm. I've encountered cachers throughtout the US doing it. It goes like this:

 

When meeting somone you think might be a geocacher you yell "Ho, are ye a geocacher?" and the correct response is "Yay I a geocacher am I".

 

Upon the confirmation, the two then approach each other, put their left hand on the other person's right shoulder, standing arm's length and dance around in a circle while skipping and singing (very loudly) "Geocachers are we! Runy muny mee! Yaba daba baba. He, he, he!". This should continue for no less than 3 minutes.

 

I believe this went out of favor because it continued for no less than 3 minutes and in the case of the truly magnificent cacher sometimes went on long into the night over a cold brew.

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Ahhh, young cachers.

 

Those of us who have been around the block once or twice remember an honored tradition that seems to have gone the way of great views and good hikes in exchange for quick park and grabs in the local shopping center parking lot.

 

For those of you who don't remember "the good old days"

 

(credit to Briansnat)

 

 

This started in NJ, but has taken the nation by storm. I've encountered cachers throughtout the US doing it. It goes like this:

 

When meeting somone you think might be a geocacher you yell "Ho, are ye a geocacher?" and the correct response is "Yay I a geocacher am I".

 

Upon the confirmation, the two then approach each other, put their left hand on the other person's right shoulder, standing arm's length and dance around in a circle while skipping and singing (very loudly) "Geocachers are we! Runy muny mee! Yaba daba baba. He, he, he!". This should continue for no less than 3 minutes.

 

I believe this went out of favor because it continued for no less than 3 minutes and in the case of the truly magnificent cacher sometimes went on long into the night over a cold brew.

 

ROFL. Definitely impressive to chug back cold brews while skipping around in a circle. Sounds a bit nauseating B) Is that what your avatar is doing?

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In 8 years and a bit over 1000 caches - I've run into another cacher at ground zero no more than 10 times. So it is rare.
One word: Nebraska.

 

:P

 

(just teasing, of course. I know that you get up into the well populated state of South Dakota every now and again)

You are cruel, knowschad. :):smile:B)

We liked E. SD and N. Neb., until those two blizzards hit us. They do seem to get off on micros in the middle of nowhere though!

 

EDIT: Is nice though, to be back where there are trees!

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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I've only had one encounter with other cachers - and that was just because they were still looking for a 'muggled' cache - so had hung around longer than normal. We talked for a few mins and then parted ways. When I logged a DNF for later on that day to a cache they had been to earlier in the day, they emailed me to give me an idea of where they had hid the cache again, as previous logs had suggested the cache wasn't in its proper hiding place.

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Ahhh, young cachers.

 

Those of us who have been around the block once or twice remember an honored tradition that seems to have gone the way of great views and good hikes in exchange for quick park and grabs in the local shopping center parking lot.

 

For those of you who don't remember "the good old days"

 

(credit to Briansnat)

 

 

This started in NJ, but has taken the nation by storm. I've encountered cachers throughtout the US doing it. It goes like this:

 

When meeting somone you think might be a geocacher you yell "Ho, are ye a geocacher?" and the correct response is "Yay I a geocacher am I".

 

Upon the confirmation, the two then approach each other, put their left hand on the other person's right shoulder, standing arm's length and dance around in a circle while skipping and singing (very loudly) "Geocachers are we! Runy muny mee! Yaba daba baba. He, he, he!". This should continue for no less than 3 minutes.

 

I believe this went out of favor because it continued for no less than 3 minutes and in the case of the truly magnificent cacher sometimes went on long into the night over a cold brew.

 

Maybe it's out of favor where you live. It is still going strong in NJ and is catching on like wildfire in New England

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I learned out a valuable lesson the other day. If you run across someone you think is looking for the cache, *don't* call out "Hey! Are you looking for the cache?" because if they aren't cachers, what they will hear is: "Hey! Are you looking for the CASH!$$!!?"

 

Thaaat is not a mistake I intend to repeat.

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In 8 years and a bit over 1000 caches - I've run into another cacher at ground zero no more than 10 times. So it is rare.
One word: Nebraska.

 

B)

 

(just teasing, of course. I know that you get up into the well populated state of South Dakota every now and again)

i lived in Scottsbluff Nebraska for a short time along time ago and this just made me laugh.

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I'm a noob, and this may have been answered before but I wonder if it would make for some good stories.

 

Have you bumped into another Geocacher while searching for a cache? If you notice that someone is looking, what do you do? Do you walk up and join them or do you hang back and let them finish?

 

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I look forward to it.

 

There is no "protocol". We have bumped into other cachers while searching for geocaches on many occasions.

 

It is really no big deal. If they want you to hold back, they'll let you know. In most cases cachers are very pleased to meet other cachers on the hunt and we are always greeted warmly. In almost every instance, the cachers that we have encountered will ask us to join them on the current search and we will discuss other caches that we have been hunting on that day. If either of us have had difficulties on a cache we will give each other hints so as to help each other find the prize.

 

This is often accompanied by tales of caches past and sharing remembrances of especially difficult or clever hides, particularly caches belonging to well known hiders in the area.

 

We have never felt burdened by some as yet undefined "protocol". We will never worry over such things.

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This is my log from my first find look at the date

 

February 17, 2001 by vagabond (3740 found)

Started out from black mtn parking lot, hoped the cache was still there after all the rain, crossed the creek at a real nice and slippery spot and found out the creek was about knee deep in that spot, luckly it wasn't very wide just 1 leg in.

Found the site fairly easy it was right where my gps said it was( beginners luck )

while I was going through the cache I heard a commotion accross the creek and saw 5 people coming accross, I just sat back and watched fo awhile as they tramped all around the cache site, I hollered to them that if they were looking for the cache I had it I went over to them and showed them where it was and they said they would put it back, so I headed out for the toy box confident I would find it with no problem

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within my first couple of weeks caching i was goin to a certain cache that i had been looking for 3 times. i pulled up and saw a woman stooping over by the flagpole. as i got closer, she got in their car and took off. i saw the gps on their dash and the man writing in a notebook. i would have loved to talk to a fellow cacher, but was a little nervous. the only negative about it....i knew where the cache was. kinda of like a live spoiler. oh well.

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within my first couple of weeks caching i was goin to a certain cache that i had been looking for 3 times. i pulled up and saw a woman stooping over by the flagpole. as i got closer, she got in their car and took off. i saw the gps on their dash and the man writing in a notebook. i would have loved to talk to a fellow cacher, but was a little nervous. the only negative about it....i knew where the cache was. kinda of like a live spoiler. oh well.

 

I would have stayed back 10-15 feet saying 'warmer' 'colder' etc.

 

Yes, I probably would have. It's just the way I am.

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We are from the Ft. Wayne Indiana area and there is this veteran cacher well know in the area called Mr. Incredible. He did this series where he put caches at air machines (like you use to fill up you tires) and placed pathtags in every one. We pulled up and saw this guy looking around. We could tell he was caching because he did the geocachers dance and had a gps in his hand. So we just sat there. I guess he kinda got nervous and left. So we got out and looked for the cache and found it and ventured on to the cache down the road. (Another in the series). And there he was again. So we got out and the guy kinda looked at us like "are you guys following me?" We told him we were doing the same thing he was doing and ended up having like a 45 minute convo. We quickly learned he was a known cacher for getting almost all the FTF's in the area. Great guy.

 

We were also doing a night cache and while we were standing in the middle of the woods we kept seeing these flashlights. Alot of them. So we thought it was a bunch of cops. So we ventured on a little bit and they were gaining on us. So we kinda slowed down and they eventually caught up with us. They weren't very talkative. Maybe talking to a bunch of people in the dark in the middle of nowhere is kinda wierd? Who knows. Didn't have but a 2 sentence convo.

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I've bumped into a number of cachers out on the trails. I came over a rise one time, and there's a guy standing with a GPS. He looks up & sees me, and says "You must be Too Tall John!" How'd he know? It couldn't have been my height. . . :)

Maybe it's out of favor where you live. It is still going strong in NJ and is catching on like wildfire in New England
Not in Rhode Island it ain't! :smile:
Well, everyone knows that RI isn't really part of New England. B)
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I haven't bumped into anyone in a long time. I think two or three times, the first being only my first time out and a Project Ape cache too. I suspect with the thousands and thousands of caches out there now it is going to be rare to bump into cachers while hunting. Back when I started there were only EIGHT caches in my entire county (I think it's over 3000 now), so everyone was after the same caches all the time.

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I typically cache in the middle of the night so I usually have LEO's bump in to me while searching instead of me bumping in to other cachers. I have bumped in to other cachers before though and when I do I usually get all excited and run up yelling "HI GEOCACHERS!!!! I'M SIMPJKEE!!!!!! NICE TO MEET YOU!!!!"

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I was suprised at GZ by the CO - hiding the cache! He had submitted the listing the previous night, and figured he had a day or two until it was published. I had been to the site twice already, logged a DNF for it, but was just too stubborn to let it go. While I was making my 3rd attempt, he came around the corner with the cache in hand, about to hide it. He didn't know it had already been published. Scared the <expletive> out of me! Had a good laugh, about a half hour talk and parted ways. One of the most memorable finds and definitely a unique FTF.

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This happened to me for the first time a few days ago. It was my second trip to the area, so I knew what the searcher was up to. I simply announced "may we come join your search?" and the second cacher replied yes. We made a new friend and had fun searching for the cache.

 

I have had two instances where a variation of "mind of I join you in the search" was used. Once was when I was on the other side of the country (in California) and the other time was when I was in Rome and met a couple of cachers from Germany. Meeting other local cachers is always fun (though I've met most of them at events) because you'll often recognize their handle, but meeting other geocachers a long way from home is fun too. Geocaching is an insteresting activity in that there can be an instant common bond when you discover someone else participating in the game.

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I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow cacher yesterday, and not for the usual reason.

 

While out caching, I got a call from one of my phone a friends, who asked if I had my wallet with me, of cause I.....oh no, no I don't! Well Team Canary does, he found it at a cache you just visited, and he would like to give it back!

 

Seems he had picked it up and recognised my name, and knew my pafs number....so...I rang him, and we met at a nearby cache, he returned the wallet, and we spent most of the rest of the day caching together!

 

Cachers are really the best people.......

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Several times, but the first two times were the strangest.

 

The first one was at the end of a dead end gravel road in western Kansas. This is a pretty sparsely populated area. A truck pulled up and two people got out with GPS's in hand. I was from about 20 miles away, them about 100.

 

The second time was in a small town in northeast Kansas. I went into the city park after dark in the middle of the week to grab a quick virtual. There's a replica Dutch windmill there. I walked up to it when I saw a guy walking up the stairs and shone a flashlight on the sign I knew that I needed to get the info off of. Knew right away that there would be only reason why someone would be there. I was from 40 miles away, him 100.

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Have you bumped into another Geocacher while searching for a cache?

 

In roughly 700 finds, I have met about 25 other cachers on the hunt. I actually list all of them on my profile page, and mention them in my logs. It's a big part of the fun for me, and one of the reasons I like running for FTFs, as you often encounter others that way.

 

 

If you notice that someone is looking, what do you do? Do you walk up and join them or do you hang back and let them finish?

 

 

If I have allready found it and they walk up on me, I throw the cache out in the woods or drop it down a storm sewer drain and say "adios sucka!" LOL. Actually, there's no "guidelines" for many things in life. Just say hello, tell them your GC nickname, and if they want to be left alone for a bit, it is incumbent upon them to tell you.

 

 

On FTF runs... If you arrive while another is looking, I have found that some prefer to join forces and look together for a co-FTF, while others like the competition, and the "urgency" of another finder breathing down their neck. Recently I arrived first and, after another cacher joined, I found it. He hesitently asked "can we co-FTF it?" I was fine with that, there is no score, no winners... So now I just ask... "Wanna team up or wanna race?" and most experienced FTF hunters know just what you mean.

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I typically cache in the middle of the night so I usually have LEO's bump in to me while searching instead of me bumping in to other cachers.

 

Me too. I have had literally 3 or 4 LE interactions in the same week of caching, and total maybe 15 or 20. I am usually not some place illegal, they just want to know what I am doing or if I am OK. Never once had any problem. About half have heard of it, half haven't. I now carry a little tri-fold "Law Enforcement Briefing" I did in MS Word that explains caching, has some pics of various container types, and my contact info. It sometimes leads to presentations to departments, which is a good thing. We need more outreach into LE, bomb squads, and hazmat.

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I'm kind of surprised we don't run into fellow cachers more often, since there are so many geocachers around here! If the cache is a new one, it's more likely that we'll see another cacher in the vicinity.

 

We always say "Hi" if we see they are carrying a GPS and looking all around. If we just finished re-hiding the cache, we may ask if they need a hint if it was a very hard one to find; most people want to find it for themselves, of course! It's great to talk with fellow cachers, since regular friends don't always understand this obsession!

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Two in one day.

 

My son and I decided to try for and FTF before breakfast, and before we were 1/2 mile from the cache I knew the little black car I was following was a fellow cacher. When we both pulled into a parking lot I was all excited to meet another local cacher, but he tried to dart out of his car before us but I still managed to catch him long enough to say, "well, should we find it together?" He replied abruptly, "it's already been found" and then literally sprinted off. Since my son is only 5, we had no choice but to let him go on ahead and beat us to being STF.

 

So later that day, we decided to go for an afternoon FTF, and low and behold, we run into our local FTF champ (who was FTF to the earlier one we tried for, incidentally) so I finally got to meet him. While signing STF on that one another cacher who is a friend and fellow member of our church came up. We all stood around and chewed the fat awhile, and it turns out that the other folks have also had less-than-cordial run-ins with the competitive couple in the little black car.

 

I was kind of bummed to find out that a fairly active caching team in my area is... well... less than cordial. Isn't this supposed to be fun?

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Two in one day.

 

My son and I decided to try for and FTF before breakfast, and before we were 1/2 mile from the cache I knew the little black car I was following was a fellow cacher. When we both pulled into a parking lot I was all excited to meet another local cacher, but he tried to dart out of his car before us but I still managed to catch him long enough to say, "well, should we find it together?" He replied abruptly, "it's already been found" and then literally sprinted off. Since my son is only 5, we had no choice but to let him go on ahead and beat us to being STF.

 

So later that day, we decided to go for an afternoon FTF, and low and behold, we run into our local FTF champ (who was FTF to the earlier one we tried for, incidentally) so I finally got to meet him. While signing STF on that one another cacher who is a friend and fellow member of our church came up. We all stood around and chewed the fat awhile, and it turns out that the other folks have also had less-than-cordial run-ins with the competitive couple in the little black car.

 

I was kind of bummed to find out that a fairly active caching team in my area is... well... less than cordial. Isn't this supposed to be fun?

 

When it gets to that lever of competetion, I won't compete.

 

I don't know who the couple in the little black car are but I hope the don't chase FTFs on the East side. ~LOL~

As far as I can tell, on the East side we are all in great company of chasers. None have been anything other than friendly

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Its happened to me 3 times

 

Twice on attemps to get an FTF. On those occasions it was obvious what the deal was and I was done looking. Just said hi and wished them luck and walked away.

 

the thrird time was alittle different. A person asked us if we were geocaching and we said yes - are you? He was - but WITHOUT a gps. He was going by what he saw on google maps/earth. We had a brief discussion about his methods and then parted ways..........

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We've ran into people a few times. There's always the awkward are they cachers or not? First time the other group simply said "it's OK we're not muggles!" Got a good chuckle out of that. Next time my daughter and I were going for FTF on a few new caches and saw another car drive up, I thought we could either have an akward silent walk or work together. So I said, " I think we're both here for the same thing" They were more than happy to walk along with us for an hour to do all these caches. It's nice to hear other peoples experiences and see faces to the names in your area. On the other hand, I have a cache nearby my house so I often glance as I drive by. One day I saw a couple obviously looking for the cache, so I thought I'd have a little fun. I drove up, parked right beside them, walked up to them and sternly said, " what are you guys doing" implying they were on my property> They looked up and didn't say anything, I don't think they knew what to say, then I laughed and said who I was and that it was my cache. Everyone had a good laugh.

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Good gracious. I've lost count of how many other geocachers I've met on the hunt. 50? Maybe more.

What's disconcerting is when you're far from home (Okay. Prospect Park, Brooklyn is only forty miles from here. But with the tolls and eleven million people living between here and there, I've only been there twice...) Down the trail comes a geocacher who calls out: Hey! It's Harry Dolphin! He's from the Bronx. We'd met at an event in Central Park. Ten miles for him, and $12 in tolls.

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We usually bump into others on FTF runs only.

All the "regulars" turn out, so formalities are gone and it's every man for himself ! :P

If you're a newer cacher and see such a sight, you'd know to just join in.

 

Some reason, we've met few cachers on hikes longer than three miles. Probably ten tops. And none at GZ.

Met another cacher couple once on a twelve mile mtn. bike run that was fun, people we looked forward to meeting sometime. But they were coming from, as we were going to. They were the only folks we saw all day.

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