+Team_Searchgeo Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 I am a bit overwhelmed because i consider myself fairly tech savy and have been on the internet many years and i love hiking, camping and many outdoor activities but I had never heard of this. I was basically looking for a hand held GPS for hiking after our families spring break because we had some trails that we wanted to do but really had no clue as to how long they were or any info whatsoever on them. Figured with a GPS we would not get lost at least. As I searched I noticed that all had a listing for geocaching and I am like what is geocaching, so I google it and to my amazement there is like this huge online community of people who do this. I guess it's kind of like "where have I been" type deal. Anyway this really cool and I can't wait to get out and find my first cache. This will be really awesome on future camping/hiking trips and even vacations when there is some down time. We do a bunch of hiking so this will maybe give my teenagers some motivation to get off the xbox and go outside!!! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Welcome to the addiction! Quote Link to comment
hoosier guy Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Have fun and let us know how your first hunt goes. Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 (edited) Well here you are now! Just goes to show you that you get to learn something new every day. Welcome. We hope you enjoy the addiction. You can still quit, before the hook is set, ya know! EDIT: typos galore. Edited April 27, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee Quote Link to comment
+AuntieWeasel Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Oh, man. You are so going to LOVE this. The teenagers? If you're lucky. But YOU have just found your hobby. Don't wait for vacation -- do a search right now on your area code. You'll be amazed how close the closest cache to your house is. Quote Link to comment
+cache_r_joe Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 I found geocaching the same way. I got a gps (one of the old Garmin yellow ones) years ago and was searching online to see if there were other things I could do with it, and here I am. Welcome to the addiction. Search out a group or association near you, you'll get a wealth of information that way also. Quote Link to comment
+jsdad Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I started the same way. Was researching purchasing a automotive GPS and a handheld unit for hiking and canoing and kept reading about people geocaching? Did some more web reading about geocaching and just for kicks tried to find a cache with my automotive Garmin. Found it, and I was hooked! Quote Link to comment
+Team_Searchgeo Posted April 28, 2010 Author Share Posted April 28, 2010 Well went out today at lunch and found two. After a couple failed attempts at some other ones i was determined to get my first find. Did that today!! Man just what i need is another hobby!! Oh well it's all good!! Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Well went out today at lunch and found two. After a couple failed attempts at some other ones i was determined to get my first find. Did that today!! Man just what i need is another hobby!! Oh well it's all good!! Congrats!!! Welcome Aboard. 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!! Quote Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Did you tell your family and friends goodbye? Quote Link to comment
+roziecakes Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Welcome to this fabulous obsession! We were lucky that a friend got us into this. My husband and I work for a small GIS (Geographic Information Systems) company, and a friend of ours thought we'd be into this for sure since we're geeky computer folks who are into maps. Well, he was right!! This is definitely our kind of thing, and is our favorite hobby. Quote Link to comment
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