GeoFamilyCharles Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Sunday proved to be a good day in the Charles household this weekend! Normally we watch our oldest Son play football in the morning then settle down for the afternoon in preparation for Monday morning's return to the grind however, this Sunday was quite different, for this Sunday we set out on our first Geocaching adventure! Having researched the basic principles and downloaded the required technology from Android Market the night before, we were all set and ready to go. Today we were on an adventure in Calderwood Country Park near Mid Calder, West Lothian. Our starting point was to be 'Under Bridge' for cache number 1. We arrived at the Almondell and Calderwood Country Park car park at around 1pm with mobile phone in hand, complete with the brilliant C:geo Geocache application. We switched the phone on, selected 'nearby' from the app menu which presented us with a list of the closest caches to be found around us. Under Bridge was to be the destination where we hoped to find a our first cache which had been cunningly concealed by Squirrel and Nut back in June 2010. The application's built in radar and compass directed us to within 10 metres of the stash. The remaining distance was to be covered using a combination of a Hint and posts left by previous successful Geocachers, which were also handily located in the description part of this cache in our mobile app. I discvered the evening before that the Hint uses ROT13 encryption which in itself sounded quite complicated. It's not - basically you're presented with a sentence of apparent nonsense, that is until you take each letter in turn and find out what it's equivalent is 13 letters further on in the alphabet, put these new letters together and hey presto – you have a perfectly obvious clue! My method to decipher was to write down the alphabet then directly underneath write the alphabet again, this time starting at N (under A) then the following 25 letters. I thought this was very clever just before my youngest tapped the sentance in the application screen twice and the text magically transformed! Back to the hunt. It was a frustrating start as we spent a good 25 minutes scouring the undergrowth in an attempt to locate the mystery item. Our anticipation quickly waned though as we discovered this could be harder than we initially thought! Quotes like “spotted quickly” and “cache is quite visible” were taunting us from our previously wonderful phone by this stage! Not wanting to be perturbed by our early Geocaching experience we decided to move on to the next cache, Calderwood. The radar took us over the bridge and through a small copse of trees before we headed up a muddy path toward the summit of a small hill. Why had we never been here before? It was a brilliant open space, distant from the busy traffic we had left just minutes before. Having just discovered the real reason for Geocaching, the discovery of what's really just on your doorstep, we decided to press on. A fair bit of scrabbling around tree stumps and hollows in the ground provided it's reward. Our first ever Geocache! Remembering the wise words on Muggles (non Geocachers who may happen upon the strange actions of a Geocacher in full flow), my research the evening before told me that we should hurry away from the exact spot of the find before exploring the caches contents. We quickly explored the collection of Geocoins, trinkets and oddments before signing the log book and stealthily returning the cache to it's exact rightful location. Onto cache three and hopefully find number two on a south easterly heading, about 300 or so metres. The path took us through a thicket before heading steeply downwards towards the river banks. It was slippery underfoot and we could see our youngest was enjoying the difficulty that the mildly treacherous terrain brought. The mobile app's GPS was telling us that we weren't far away, but where was it, the title was Near the Riverside? As Mrs Charles headed along the riverbank with Master Charles in tow I decided to cross the river in order to capture a picture of small but picturesque waterfall on the far side of the river. . Shortly after we assembled back at the point that we had gone our separate ways. We had a picture of a waterfall but the cache had remained undiscovered. We were that caught up in the hunt, the success of the last find and the description of "under a fallen snapped tree" that we completely forgot about the GPS! Had we remembered our secret weapon we would have quickly discovered we were indeed on the wrong side of the riverbank. Moments later the cache was found, a skull coin was removed and replaced with Sixsix, whom our son reliably informs us is a Ben10 character, his second Ben10 character of the day having dropped Vilgax off in return for a puzzle toy involving a spring during the Calderwood find. We were getting good at this, so where would we be led next? We were conscious that our son had not actually uncovered a find at this stage but, were were hopeful he would find the next treasure trove - Life Stump! We had decided to miss out a cache that lay between our latest discovery and the next plus one, On the Beach appeared to be on the opposite side of the river, far down a very steep bank. One for another day we thought. We navigated through sparse woodland into slightly thicker woodland until we were near the spot. How many upturned tree stumps do you suppose there are in your average woodland area!? Again we reverted to the GPS which directed us to a spot 10 feet from where a couple of none to obvious stumps presented our delighted son with his first cache. He didn't want to put his hand into the stump's void but he knew that aside from what he couldn't see, there could be rewards to be found. What a brave lad - true Indiana Jones stuff! Having secured the cache he removed a blue notepad and gave 'Stinkfly' before some massive mouldy growths demanded his immediate attention (from a safe distance). Cache returned, by this time it was starting to get quite dull. The light was fading as the dark started to creep in. Where next? Where else but back to Under Bridge. We had experienced the highs of Calderwood, Near the Riverside and Life Stump so we didn't want to go without a final search, now that we knew what we were looking for! The walk back towards Mid Calder proved quite enjoyable as we discussed our findings so far and our tactics for the next hunt. Arriving at the bridge for the second time the hunt began. Peering into the bushes in this kind of light was not ideal Geocache finding conditions we debated! Another good twenty minutes of searching, clue deciphering, reasoning and muggle observations resulted only in enjoyable frustrations. Mind you Squirrel and Nut - we will return as the cache is there to be found! All in all it has been a brilliant day out and this won't be our last adventure! Lived in west Lothian for 25 years and I never knew this was in Calderglen!! Quote Link to comment
+KI4HLW Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) Great story, and I don't mean to discourage you, but this honestly sounds more like a commercial for C:geo then anything. You take time to expand on trivial parts of the story involving the application, and use words like "brilliant", secret weapon", and "trusty" to describe it. Also you take the time to describe what terms like "muggle" mean when any new cacher would assume a forum of other cachers would not need a definition. Don't mean to discourage you, but we want to hear about THE HUNT, not the tool you used during it. Oh I forgot, Calderwood had no geocoins in it at the time of your visit so not sure what you saw. Moments later the cache was found, a skull coin was removed and replaced with Sixsix. Make sure this is not a trackable coin, and if it is you log this coin and move it to another cache, Geocoins are to be moved along not traded for. Many new geocachers don't notice the wording on the coins when they first see them and keep it by mistake. Of course there are some coins you are welcome to keep, just wanted to make sure you knew the difference. Edited February 3, 2011 by KI4HLW Quote Link to comment
GeoFamilyCharles Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Yep agreed, on re reading it does sound a bit like a commercial! I guess I wrote it from the point of view that when I first heard of Geocaching I didn't understand any of it, I wanted anyone who read this and was in that same 'newB' position to get a good understanding of the technology involved as well as the experience. Next story will be all about the hunt Thanks for reading and for the pointer on the coins, I didn't know that. The coin doesn't have any writing on it (Skull on one side, treasure chest on the other), I think this isn't a trackable one? Quote Link to comment
+KI4HLW Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Thanks for reading and for the pointer on the coins, I didn't know that. The coin doesn't have any writing on it (Skull on one side, treasure chest on the other), I think this isn't a trackable one? Nope that would be safe, a Geocoin would have say something like "trackable at geocaching.com" and have a special code etched into it. I just personally know of cases where new cachers grabbed a trackable (usually one of the kids) and parents didn't get a good look at it. One friend even found a Travel Bug tag around a stuffed animals neck a week after her daughter traded for it. Quote Link to comment
+KI4HLW Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Forgot to mention.... Welcome to the addiction, keep the stories coming. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Sounds like you had fun. Welcome to geocaching! Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Welcome aboard!! Quote Link to comment
+snowfreak37 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 It sounds like your family had a great time on this first outing. I like finding special spots that have been under our noses for the longest time. I love your photo, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment
+popokiiti Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Welcome aboard - and thanks for the laugh! I would have been decrypting the clue the same way as you - trust a youngster to show us the way to use these devices. Glad you enjoyed your first geocaching venture....carry on! Quote Link to comment
hoosier guy Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 "Having just discovered the real reason for Geocaching, the discovery of what's really just on your doorstep, we decided to press on." Sounds like you have dicovered the true spirit of geocaching! Plus time spent with our children and families is never wasted. I offer a hearty Hoosier welcome! Cheers Dwayne Quote Link to comment
+Stargazer22 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Welcome to the game. It sounds like you had a classic great first day of caching. Congratulations for already discovering what I consider to be the very best aspect of the game, the finding of new places in your area that you did not know about and the wonderful quality time you spent with your family finding them. For us, there is always something a little magical about the first time we visit a new place that we like and didn't know about. It's an adventure experience that is hard to duplicate. As you have already seen, the greatest enjoyment is in the rainbow, not necessarily the "pot of gold" at the end. Don't be discouraged if there are some caches that are difficult for you to find, especially as a beginner. Sometimes when you encounter a hide that is different in nature than what you have seen before, it seems hard until you know what to look for. Then if you encounter another hide like that in the future, you will be one of those folks logging that it was a "quick find" for you. Also remember that there are people who have been playing this game for several years and some hides may be more difficult, being geared towards providing some difficulty level for experienced finders, which may be very difficult for a beginner. As long as you are enjoying yourself and having fun you can't go wrong. Nice photo of the waterfall. Occasionally we go back and look at the photos we have taken. It's amazing to think of all the new places we have been in the last few years due to caching! Good luck on your return to the bridge cache! Quote Link to comment
GeoFamilyCharles Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for all the warm welcomes! We're off out again over the weekend (to a few different places if possible). We will report our findings! This is great @GeoFamCharles Quote Link to comment
sdarken Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I enjoyed the story very much. It reminds me of the excitement I felt when I was new at the game. These days finding the actual cache is not as exciting but I still enjoy the locations and the adventure that's often involved in getting there. Hope your family continues to enjoy the game too. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Welcome! UK cachers can be found over in the UK and Ireland side of these forums HERE link We (UK cachers) have a monthly photo competition thread, for photos taken whilst caching. Take a look! Quote Link to comment
+tony1959 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 We to are new to the game last weekend was our first outing. We are looking forward to getting out in a park that has a few cach's not a bunch of park n grabs. Great photo! Welcome to GC Quote Link to comment
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