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New Cacher with some Qs!


TheLoneGrangers

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I started geocaching with my wife last weekend, learned about it from a friend at work, borrowed a coworkers gps unit from 1999 and went out and started finding ones near my house, after the 6th one (only found 2 of 6) we went to best buy and bought a new garmin nuvo 1300, its awesome! The wife and I are up to 12 finds, and the ones that were the most fun to us were in a wildlife refuge area for a local university. Talk about AWESOME...I am hooked to this...35 years old and never heard of geocaching lol

 

I can tell which ones I will like the best, the ones that require hikes/backpacking away from people...some of the ones i've seen with people canoeing to get to the location, the very adventurous kind. I haven't been camping since I was 15, I've never been in a canoe either lol, but I've always wanted too.

 

I would love to go on a hike that takes a day to get to a cach, stay over night and hike out, I guess i should build up to those, and get my wife used to being in the "woods"

 

Do you experianced hikers carry weapons with you? Is it even necassary? for bears, rattlesnakes, drug runners, etc? lol

 

Would it be irresponsible to go on a weekend hiking trip without ever doing it before with just my wife? I've read what you need to have, I'm in the military, shelter, water, and staying dry are the most important items.

 

I was thinking more on the lines of going to camp grounds and hiking out of there to find caches first, get my wife used to "roughing it" and I need to be reaquainted with it.

 

thoughts/opinions?

 

Sorry for the long post, but I am obsessed with geocaching right now.

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Your questions aren't really geocaching questions. They're really questions about taking care of yourself in the backcountry. So my advice is to ignore the geocaching aspect of it for a moment, and consider what you would need to do to prepare you and your wife for a weekend backpacking trip.

 

What outdoor experience does your wife have? When I introduce people to camping, I take it slowly. First a group car-camping trip, where experienced campers are taking care of meals, planning activities, etc. Later, a group car-camping trip where the no-longer-newbies are helping with meals, planning activities, etc. Later, maybe canoe camping or backpacking trips, starting easy and working up to something more ambitious.

 

And while you're camping/backpacking, grab the GPS receiver and find a geocache or two...

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If you jump in with both feet, she may never go camping again. If you give her just a little taste, it might whet her appetite for more.

 

Many campgrounds have on-site facilities ranging from a roof over your head, to a fully equipped cabin with a fireplace (really), to luxury trailers. The prices vary accordingly. You might want to consider this option at first.

 

I love camping, and have even taken several day solo kayak trips, yet I've never backpacked and don't find it appealing. To each his/her own. Don't assume too much on her part.

 

A case in point:

 

One night my wife went with me on an overnight kayak trip. We camped on a nice little island in a scenic waterway. When a bear came into camp that night, I told her to just ignore it and go back to sleep. But she went absolutely spastic and forced me to get her out of there or she was going to leave without me. We abandoned camp and paddled in pitch blackness until we found some drunk campers sitting around a fire on shore. They were kind enough to drive us back to our van and we slept that night in a motel 30 miles away. My wife has never asked to go along on another overnight kayak trip; but she loves telling everyone how her husband took her camping where she almost was eaten by a bear.

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I have hidden a cache and have filled out the form to have it posted, but I got an email wanting to know all about the location and then they say don't replay directly to the email. Is there anyone I can talk to on the phone who might be willing to help. I have had fun with my son finding a couple of caches but would love to know more about how to post. This is all a foreign language to me. I may just forget about it, but I guess I am just not that smart when it comes to stuff like this...any help would be appreciated. My name is Mike and my email address, is: michael7687@gmail.com

 

Thanks again.

Mike

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The first time I went camping my husband took me to Asateague Island, Virginia to see the wild ponies. We camped out in our new tent in a campground, brought our dog with us, it was fun. I didn't sleep all night cause I kept feeling bugs crawling all over me. Ticks. The dog kept a steady supply coming into the tent! I like sleep, I decided I don't like camping. P.S. We both got Lyme disease and I have never gone camping again!!

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I have hidden a cache and have filled out the form to have it posted, but I got an email wanting to know all about the location and then they say don't replay directly to the email. Is there anyone I can talk to on the phone who might be willing to help. I have had fun with my son finding a couple of caches but would love to know more about how to post. This is all a foreign language to me. I may just forget about it, but I guess I am just not that smart when it comes to stuff like this...any help would be appreciated. My name is Mike and my email address, is:

 

Thanks again.

Mike

You may need to fill in a bit more on your cache description or note to the reviewer. Someone with more experience than I will give you the proper info, I am sure. One other thing.....you may want to remove your email address, and have someone private message you instead. The members here are fine, but I am always wary about giving my email address out in a public forum.

Read and reread the guidelines on hiding a cache....they are very helpful. Click on "hide and seek a cache" and on the page that takes you to, you'll find a link to those guidelines. There are no silly questions - and there are a lot of great folk who know much more than I do. They can explain it better also!

Welcome to geocaching and to the forums!

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Back to the OP - break her in very gently to camping. I know a long hike with backpack, overnight camp in a tent (especially if damp/wet) would probably put me off....but I am a wuss! Like you said - baby steps......if it turns out it isn't her cup of tea, you can do what my friend's hubby does. He goes on the long hikes with one, two or more nights under canvas with his military buddies. My friend stays home to look after their horses, dogs and teenager. (And probably has a girls' night out too!)

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It sounds like you might already know there is a forum thread dedicated to hiking and backpacking, but in case not, look under Geocaching Adventures or click this link.

 

You've gotten great advice. As the wife half of a caching team, I agree with those who say it's best to work up to the overnight stay. I know from my own experience that I love to be outside all day - hiking through woods, desert or swamps; kayaking; etc. But part of the reason I can really get into a day like that is looking forward to a warm shower and nice place to sleep at night. That's just me, but if you don't know for sure that your wife would love to camp overnight, it seems like working up to it gradually would be the best way.

 

Good luck and enjoy those great caches!

 

Bean

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I've been backpacking since the early 80's and have never carried a weapon, or found myself in a situation where I wished I had one. Not to say it will never happen, but I simply don't see carrying one as worth the extra weight. Besides unless it's at my side it probably would be useless stored in my pack if I needed it quickly.

 

A hand gun is just going to annoy a grizzly and make him madder, unless you get really lucky with your shot. You generally wouldn't need one for black bear. I've run into dozens and they run away as soon as the sense my presence. If you're in situation you need a gun for an encounter with a rattlesnake, it's already too late. Usually you can just walk around them.

 

I think the idea of starting at a campground to break your wife in is a good one. If she takes to it then consider backpacking. Early in our relationship I took my now wife backpacking. She really enjoyed it, which is one of the reasons she is now my wife.

 

However many other women (and lots of men) have no desire to backpack. It seems that using the woods as a bathroom is a show stopper for many women who otherwise might enjoy it. At least that's how I hear it from my wife. She'll tell her female friends and co-workers about a backpacking or canoe camping trip and they'll think it sounds fascinating, then the inevitable question is asked, "where do you go to the bathroom?". When my wife describes digging a hole, that's where their interest ends.

 

Seems you like the idea of canoeing. Consider getting yourself a GOOD used canoe and you can use it for paddle caches, and maybe even wilderness paddle/geocaching trips. Paddle camping is fun and you can bring a lot of luxuries along that you wouldn't be able to take backpacking.

 

I've done a good number of overnight caching trips on foot or via canoe. Here are a few vids to whet your appetite.

 

 

Edited by briansnat
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thanks briansnat, i was actually thinking bout a two person kayak. I never have been in a canoe lol

 

I think you'd find a canoe to be more versatile. It's very tough to paddle a tandem kayak solo, but most tandem canoes work find as solo boats. And you can really load up a canoe if you're going camping. And you're not stuck in one position all day. Easier to get in and out of a canoe.

 

Actually the ideal situation is to be able to afford both, but if you can only afford one I think a canoe is the way to go because you can do more with it.

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I have a kayak I use all the time, atleast 3-4 times a week and in all honesty, I am looking for a good 2 person canoe cause ive larned throughout the years of kayaking its a lonely mans sport and most people dont hav or want to buy kayaks or canoes, so its best to have a kayak for yourself and a canoe for when you want to bring others along, once that is established you will always be able to find people to go with you, if its just a kayak only day good luck finding anone with a kayak, unless you belong to a club for example ie. i belong to the CCA a kayak and canoe fishing and wildlife conservation group so I know all kinds of kayakers, but amongst my friends, only 2 of them have kayaks but thats also what I like about the kayak, I know if I want to be alone when i go fishing Isay im taking the Kayak and no one is interested, but if i say i am taking the canoe then i have too many people asking (myfriends and I share a canoe that was a great idea/option we came up with cause it is only needed sometimes so why do all of us need oe, but now its gotten to the point whre we need anothe one and i want one for myself)

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Just to show how little I know, I've always thought it was very easy to tip in a canoe, and it was alot of work to maintain your balance in it.
A lot depends on your position in the canoe. Sitting high on the seats, they're pretty tippy. (And if you grab the gunwales when you start to tip, you'll capsize amazingly quickly.) Kneeling, with your center of mass low in the canoe, they're much more stable.
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Just to show how little I know, I've always thought it was very easy to tip in a canoe, and it was alot of work to maintain your balance in it.

 

It all depends on the canoe and kayak. Some canoes are very tippy and so are some kayaks and some canoes are very stable and so are some kayaks.

 

And there is something called primary and secondary stability. Primary stability is how tippy the canoe or kayak feels. Secondary stability is how hard it is to actually tip over. Some canoes or kayaks have a low primary stability, which means they feel like they will tip easily, but a high secondary stability which means it will actually take a lot of work to tip it.

 

I paddled my brother in law's kayak once and it was so tippy that keeping it upright was a ton of work, almost like trying to stay on a bicycle that is standing still. Another kayak that I once owned you had to try very hard to get it to tip over.

Edited by briansnat
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Well, my wife and I had a blast this weekend, we went to a local state park to find all the caches in the park, 13 in total, we DNF'd two of them and didn't even get to hunt down 4 of them, we started later in the afternoon, so we ran out of daylight.

 

We also learned that the garmin nuvi 1300 isn't going to hack it on anything longer than 4 hours, Im just glad I printed a topographic map of the park, because our GPS died in the middle of the woods lol.

The park also has a small lake, and they rent canoes for like 12 bucks for the entire day, we are going to go back to give them a try.

 

Other then the "swarm" of yellow jackets that scared my wife to death (swarm = 4 when we decided to eat lunch) it was alot of fun, and she really enjoyed being out in the woods.

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I have hidden a cache and have filled out the form to have it posted, but I got an email wanting to know all about the location and then they say don't replay directly to the email. Is there anyone I can talk to on the phone who might be willing to help. I have had fun with my son finding a couple of caches but would love to know more about how to post. This is all a foreign language to me. I may just forget about it, but I guess I am just not that smart when it comes to stuff like this...any help would be appreciated. My name is Mike and my email address, is: michael7687@gmail.com

 

Thanks again.

Mike

I'll say what others are thinking...

 

Don't be afraid to pick up a few more caches before placing your first cache (I see you've found four, so far). There are a lot of containers, locations, etc. that just don't work very well. Giving yourself some exposure to the variety of issues caches encounter in the wild isn't a bad idea before you start placing caches.

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I feel for you, I've made several trips of seven and more nights living out of a backpack. Many nights canoe camping, and hundreds of overnighters under a tarp or in a tent (or not). Camping and hiking is a wonderful sport and hobby, but you have to learn how to do it. Go with other people the first few times and learn from them.

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I'm thinking of carrying a gun.

 

I own a 38 special but do not have a CCW. Never had the need for one.

 

Lately, I've been getting very nervous hearing barking dogs in the distance. I'm always wondering if they are a wild pack. Add to this the fact that I've been geocaching in areas where people have been attacked by wild dogs, and one elderly man died in such an attack.

 

I know my little pea shooter would only aggrivate a bear, and that druggies would love the opportunity to add to their arms collection. But a wild dog attack is another thing.

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