MacFett Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Just started geocacheing. It is something I've wanted to do for years, but just never got around to doing any. I would love to find some other cachers in the area. I've gone looking for the 3 caches right around Carroll Creek, but have has 0 luck with any of them. I currently am using the geocache app on my iphone (but it is burning through my data plan, as I don't have unlimited) and a tomtom one. Hoping to get a dedicated GPS I can use for caching soon. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Welcome aboard!! You might try attending a local Geocaching Event or hosting one to learn from some veterans. 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
+mithrril Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I'm new to caching as well. I don't live in Frederick, nearer to Baltimore actually, but my brother-in-law lives in Frederick and we're planning on going up there this weekend or next to cache with him. Frederick is close enough that we will probably go up there every once in awhile. I haven't gone yet so I can't recommend any favorite caches, but maybe we'll run into each other some time. Quote Link to comment
HormanClan Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Just started geocacheing. It is something I've wanted to do for years, but just never got around to doing any. I would love to find some other cachers in the area. I've gone looking for the 3 caches right around Carroll Creek, but have has 0 luck with any of them. I currently am using the geocache app on my iphone (but it is burning through my data plan, as I don't have unlimited) and a tomtom one. Hoping to get a dedicated GPS I can use for caching soon. Hi MacFett, I'm new too, and went looking for those Carroll creek ones. Didn't find them either I suspect they are very small and very well hidden as that is a Very high-traffic area. I read in the logs that one of them required sliding a credit card somewhere to extract it - that can give you a sense of how hard it might be to find. We've taken the new approach of, for now, just going after easy ones in the woods. And we're really digging it. I suspect the graveyard behind the Key's baseball field might also have some semi-easier finds. But in downtown Frederick we struck out on 3 or 4 finds. We chalked it up to getting a better sense of what/how to look, and eventually we'll be back and find them. We've been using a iPhone, which isn't the most precise instrument. But that's not the real issue, the issue is that those Carroll Creek hides are meant to stay hidden from MOST everybody - except seasoned (and maybe Lucky) geocachers! And that's cool - the ones in the woods are usually really easy to find and make the game much more enjoyable. Good luck and maybe we'll catch you on the trail! Quote Link to comment
HormanClan Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I'm new to caching as well. I don't live in Frederick, nearer to Baltimore actually, but my brother-in-law lives in Frederick and we're planning on going up there this weekend or next to cache with him. Frederick is close enough that we will probably go up there every once in awhile. I haven't gone yet so I can't recommend any favorite caches, but maybe we'll run into each other some time. My little bit of experience has been around Rockville and Gaithersburg - our next nice day will probably be around Sugarloaf Mountain, or maybe the cemetary behind the Key's ballfield. I suspect at least some of those should be very findable. I would not recommend newbies heading to Carroll creek, for as you can see, two us went "oh-fer" on the caches around there! Quote Link to comment
+SharpShin' Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I would suggest joining the Maryland Geocaching Society and visiting their Forum. The MGS schecules numerous events all year long. Very friendly group of geocachers, with loads of expertise. The Cemetary mentioned is Mt. Olivet, and has some very good classic geocaches located in it. John Quote Link to comment
+cycleangela Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Welcome to the addiction! I hope to meet you on the trails some time. cycleangela (Severn, MD) Quote Link to comment
+Geo Ba Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Howdy - I live about 10 to 15 minutes from Frederick. I am always looking for a Geo Buddy to run with. Let me know. Quote Link to comment
MacFett Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hit 7 caches with Geo Ba today, found 6 of them. Great time, kids are exhausted (as is Dad). Quote Link to comment
+Geo Ba Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Daughter and I had a great time out with MacFett and his kids. Quote Link to comment
HormanClan Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hey! What a great ending to a post that started with discouragement after an 0 for 3 start. Where did you guys go? Mt Olivet? Elsewhere? Would like to take my kids up on a nice day sometime soon and have a good chance of finding some Quote Link to comment
MacFett Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 We started at the Home Depot on 355, got the one there and the one behind it. Then we headed to Carroll Creek and went after the two on the creek (still couldn't find Fergus' mural cache) then moved on to the Courthouse cache and the bridge in Baker Park cache. We also hit Fish out of state. 7 total we went after, found 6. All of the kids had a great time. I think we walked about 3 miles (and 6 flights of stairs) and there was very little complaining. In fact there was more complaining when we stopped than when we were walking. Hoping to get a couple tomorrow after school, I think we're going to hit the Ballenger Creek park caches. Quote Link to comment
MacFett Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 My first true find was the Fish Out of State cache. I did find two others, but they were ones Geo Ba had found previously and he was giving hints even if inadvertently. But the Fish Out of State was all mine, it felt really good. Quote Link to comment
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