Frustrated Newbie

[+kklblue]

So there is a cache right outside my office. My coordinates are right on, but it says micro. I even had a fellow geocacher coworker go with me and we searched high an low and can't find it. How small are the micros.

 

What is even more frustrating is other's logged that they drove up and picked it up. Or found after dark. What

 

Then I searched another micro by my work, the space is pretty open flat and not much there. I don't see anything.

 

Can anybody PLEASE help. On a brighter side I did find a relatively larger one on the way home. I stopped in somewhere and was getting the geomate going and a lady said Oh are you geocaching its over that way. So i picked up. At least I can say I sort of found one today.

 

Oh another question, do your arms and legs look like you got stuck in a sticker bush?

Edited June 23, 2010 by kklblue

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Micros can be as small or smaller than your little fingernail (a nano). Both are classified as a micro. Though not always, they can be extremely tough to find, especially for a beginner that has not yet learned to think "outside of the box".

 

Have you looked up, instead of just on the ground? Being tiny, they can be high and almost unnoticeable. Too, in the case of a nano, it could be something that looks like a rock or pebble (until you turn it over).

 

Finding/hiding micros boil down to utilizing a form of camouflage, not like a typical hidden in a bush; covered by sticks; or other "outdoorsy"-types of camouflage. You can look right at it and not recognize it as a cache! Don't forget though, being a film-can sized container or smaller, it can be hidden in some very unique placesor settings.

 

Good luck.

 

EDIT: My arms DO NOT look like I got stuck in a sticker bush. Too many scars!

Edited June 23, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+kklblue]

So is there a class to learn how to think outside the box. I think I missed that day in school!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

So is there a class to learn how to think outside the box. I think I missed that day in school!

About the only class I know of is 'on the streets' and 'in da woods'.

Practice...practice... and above all practice some more.

 

Attend an Event Cache at your earliest opportunity. That is probably the best way to learn some of the tips and tricks w/o all the stumbling/bumbling (but that too, is fun -- of sorts).

[BlueRajah]

They can really torment you. Think of how you would hide something.

It could be a hollow bolt in a fence, or under a fence cap, it signs, or a nano in some horrible spot, I have seen magnetic ones on the metal storm drains.

[DannyCaffeine]

It's about the hunt, not the find. Relax and enjoy. When I am tense or rushed I tend not to think clearly and end up DNFing. If you fail, try again, it's no biggie. Sometimes I have had to make 3+ tries on some caches before I finally find the darn thing that others can find in 5 minutes.

 

Once you get used to your GPS and how people hide geocaches you will get better at it. Know what you are looking for in terms of the container and use hints on the page. Think like the hider and look for unnatural shapes.

 

I get sliced by thorns so much that it does not bother me anymore. I got a pretty good slice doing a BlackBerry theme cache the other day

[sdarken]

So there is a cache right outside my office. My coordinates are right on, but it says micro. I even had a fellow geocacher coworker go with me and we searched high an low and can't find it. How small are the micros.

 

What is even more frustrating is other's logged that they drove up and picked it up. Or found after dark. What

 

Then I searched another micro by my work, the space is pretty open flat and not much there. I don't see anything.

 

Do the coordinates put you in a parking lot for either of the caches that you couldn't find? Are there any lightpoles nearby? If so, you might want to investigate them further. There's a very common kind of hide that stumps everyone the first time they come across it. You wont need to climb the lightpole and you wont need any screwdrivers or wrenches.

 

Any if it's helpful to know, even experience geocaches have trouble sometimes. I've got nearly 3000 finds and I still fail to find probably a quarter of the caches I look for on the first attempt.

[+kklblue]

yes all 3 micros that i can't find all have light poles and are in parking lots. Will have to look again.

[+Stargazer22]

Don't feel bad. Some micros can be extremely difficult to find, even for experienced cachers.

We found one that took us 3 trips out to the area and a combined 12 to 15 hours of searching for it before we located it. It was in plain sight the whole time.

 

We looked for one back when we had about 300 finds and I was able to spot it fairly quickly. I cache with my wife SwampyGirl and was letting her continue to look for it. After about 5 more minutes searching, I started giving her "hot" and "cold" clues. This finally got her to the right spot. The micro was imbedded in an old palm tree root, lying in a bunch of pine trees. She figured out that the palm root didn't belong and picked it up to examine it. She took a good long look at it, turning it over and over in her hands. She was looking right at it. She put the root down and started to look elsewhere, so I gave her a "very cold". She looked at me as if I had lobsters coming out of my ears. She finally picked it back up and started looking at it again, turning it over in her hands again. As the cache would come into sight, I would say "you can see it now". She continued to turn it over so I said "you can't see it now".

Even after all these detailed clues I was giving her, putting it right in her hands, and even having her look right at it, she just did not see it. I finally had to point it out to her. Once she saw it she said she didn't understandy why she didn't see it before.

 

Sometimes we can look directly at something and not see it for what it is. Micros are often camoflaged directly to that effect. After you have seen more of them and know what to expect, it can make it easier. Many times the ones that are the hardest to find give you the greatest reward once you have found them.

 

Have fun!

Edited June 23, 2010 by Stargazer22

[+velrahnkoon]

yes all 3 micros that i can't find all have light poles and are in parking lots. Will have to look again.

 

Here's a few hints that should help:

 

1) 99 times out of 100, caches with GZ near light poles or storm drains are MAGNETIC, like a hide-a-key holder that people use to keep spare keys on the outside of their cars.

 

2) For the light pole-type hides, these will sometimes be referred to as LPCs (Lamp Post Caches) or, more creatively and a HUGE giveaway...

 

Hidden Text, Highlight to read => "Skirt Lifters"

 

See if that helps out. If it's what I'm thinking of, this is the first type of cache that I ever tried to find. Wow, what a nightmare. I went back to that cache 3 times before seeing someone talk about a similar hide, and then a lightbulb just went off. Ran back to the cache and there it was! I had parked not 2 feet from it all 3 times.

 

Don't be afraid to not make a find. As has been said, even people with thousands of finds still only have about a 75-80% hit rate. And the more experience you get the easier it will be. This is what people refer to as developing your "Geosense".

 

Good luck, and let us know if you manage to find it!!

[+crharnack]

yes all 3 micros that i can't find all have light poles and are in parking lots. Will have to look again.

 

I also had troubles with light posts at one time.... try moving things like bases

[g_o_caching]

Sometimes you can get a clue by going back and reading all the logs for that cache. The light poles sometimes have a "skirt" on the base, they are movable sometimes.

[+Markwell]

Might first light pole was vexing and fun. Then...

[+Team_Searchgeo]

Don't let it get to you!! I have found several micros and nanos but none where real easy. I have one right now that I have been to 4 times but have yet to find it. Others have logged after i have looked but i still do not seem to be able to locate it. It's probably right in front of me but it is becoming my nemesis. I am going to give it a break and hopefully down the road go and find this one.

[+kklblue]

What does GZ, beacon and stealth mean. Maybe that will give me an idea too.

 

I never thought of the magentic key thingy. Cool.

[+JL_HSTRE]

What does GZ, beacon and stealth mean. Maybe that will give me an idea too.

 

GZ = Ground Zero. Where your GPS device tells you your location matches the published location of the cache.

 

Stealth = not being obvious that you are retrieving a hidden container, which may require retrieving the cache when nobody is looking. People who do not know what caching is may be suspicious of or malicous toward cache containers, leading to the loss of the cache.

 

Don't recall beacon being used as a term before. I suspect it's a hint toward it being on/in a light pole.

 

I never thought of the magentic key thingy. Cool.

 

You will soon learn to be suspicious of the undersides of park benches and metal picnic tables.

[+nessker]

What does GZ, beacon and stealth mean. Maybe that will give me an idea too.

 

I never thought of the magentic key thingy. Cool.

 

GZ= Ground Zero

Beacon I'm guessing they are referring to the light

Stealth = don't get caught. Lots of muggles in this area and you will look obvious finding this which could cause non cachers to find it and possibly steal it.

 

Hang in there. I recently upped in the ranks to starting to get there. At 100 I was still a newbie, 250 I was a newb, 500 I was new. Just hit 750 and could never have done it without the help of others and the hints on the logs and cache pages.

 

Happy Caching!

[+jhssearcher]

Got to ebay, search geocaching look at all the different types of containers that can be used, will give you ideas on how tough some could be.

[+kklblue]

Got to ebay, search geocaching look at all the different types of containers that can be used, will give you ideas on how tough some could be.

 

I just looked at ebay and WOW. I had no idea. I guess I have more looking to do. The one with the screw and nut that come apart. Dang.....

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Got to ebay, search geocaching look at all the different types of containers that can be used, will give you ideas on how tough some could be.

 

I just looked at ebay and WOW. I had no idea. I guess I have more looking to do. The one with the screw and nut that come apart. Dang.....

NOW you're getting the picture.

I guess it takes a photo hint to get "outside of the box", eh?

[+d+n.s]

when all else fails, remember that the coordinates are often a bit off. don't focus on your GPS too much. If you see a good spot near GZ check it out. both your GPS AND their GPS are probably a bit off and this makes most coordinates less than perfect in my experience.

especially when trees and power lines are involoved

[+Brooklyn51]

A beacon is the object, structure or thing that the cache is hidden in, on, under or on top of, like trees, rocks, lampposts or just about anything else. I've always imagined it 's called a beacon (also called a geo-beacon) because it seems like the signal your GPSr is following is coming from it. It isn't really, that's coming from the satellites but it can sure seem that way. Anyway the important thing is have fun. If you get too frustrated with a find, leave it and come back another time. Often a fresh perspective and a fresh view makes all the difference.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Might first light pole was vexing and fun. Then...

 

Light pole caches were never vexing and fun. I first heard about them in these forums so the first time I encountered one (they're actually relatively uncommon around here) I knew exactly where to look.

[+kklblue]

Thanks for the Ebay tip and the help here. I found 7 today.

 

YIIPPPPEEEEE.

[+Team Cotati]

So is there a class to learn how to think outside the box. I think I missed that day in school!

 

In this instance, yes there is and I just happen to have the complete text of the study guide. Here it is:

 

Do not hunt for micro size geocaches.

Edited June 27, 2010 by Team Cotati

[+kwcahart]

I know I'll get hollered at for this, but in my humble opinion all the micros and nanos should be rounded up and burned in one great big fire. I have found a few but I sure don't like them.

[dementedtribe]

To make things even more fun... a cache could be listed as a micro, but with the camo, could actually be bigger! One cache near us was catagorized as a micro and the listing stated it was a pill bottle. The pill bottle was inside a beer can reinforced with PVC pipe. Another micro was a film cannister placed in a hole bored into the bottom of an old piece of wood. Yet another was a small metal tube with a beer bottle top glued to the lid and stuck in the ground. We have some very clever CO's in our area that have helped us expand our "geosense"!

We are still noobs, but are learning to look at an object or area with the focus on "what isn't quite right" or "what is out of the ordinary". There are two micros on our list of DNF's that are kicking our butt, but others have logged them as "easy" or "quick" finds! And the opposite is true. We have found a micro that a seasoned cacher in the area has yet to find (which has us tickled). As with anything in life (like from riding a bike to changing diapers), the more you do it, the better you get!