New and WAY confused :)

[sugarkookies2369]

Hello!

 

My family is so excited to join in on the Geocaching fun however we don't have a GPS and our cell phones navigate with an address only. Needless to say, we are looking to buy an inexpensive handheld GPS BUT I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english? Sorry to sound ignorant but I need to make sure that I understand this in order to buy a GPS that is equipt to use these directions. Thank you SO much for any help given!!!

[+nittanycopa]

Hello!

 

My family is so excited to join in on the Geocaching fun however we don't have a GPS and our cell phones navigate with an address only. Needless to say, we are looking to buy an inexpensive handheld GPS BUT I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english? Sorry to sound ignorant but I need to make sure that I understand this in order to buy a GPS that is equipt to use these directions. Thank you SO much for any help given!!!

 

What type of cell phones do you own?

 

If you're trying to use the Google maps app on most phones it's not the first choice for navigation. You'll need to download a Geocaching app for functionality.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

In a nutshell...

 

Think of a sheet of graph paper... the earth covered with those little squares... where each line intersects is a coordinate with both a N/S number and a E/W number assigned to it (the decimals are just to make tinier squares). Cover the earth with that graph paper pattern and that gives you those coordinates on a given spot in any particular location on the earth.

 

Degrees (°) are used as they fit upon a spherical object, true linear lines will not. Don't worry to much about degrees. The example you gave is North of the Equator and West of the Prime Meridian (a N/S line that passes through Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England).

 

Just a simple, very basic understanding of coords is all that you need. The GPSr will do all the rest. Expect to pay anywhere from $120.00 - $400.00 USC, for a decent one to a very good one w/lots of bells and whistles.

 

Good luck.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+randco]

Hello!

 

My family is so excited to join in on the Geocaching fun however we don't have a GPS and our cell phones navigate with an address only. Needless to say, we are looking to buy an inexpensive handheld GPS BUT I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english? Sorry to sound ignorant but I need to make sure that I understand this in order to buy a GPS that is equipt to use these directions. Thank you SO much for any help given!!!

 

The meaning of coordinates in plain English was explained really good in the previous post. But programming the GPS'r with the coordinates is only part of the equation. You GPS'r needs some type of base map. A map that you can assimilate to your area. A GPS'r with a detailed street map is much better and easier to use for navigation, number 1 to navigate to basic area of the cache and number 2 being able to switch to "off road" for more accuracy in finding Ground Zero on your handheld device's map. The follow road map will give you directions to get near the cache site but in most cases it isn't accurate enough to get you to the cache site. Even with a good GPS'r don't expect to get any closer than about 10 feet from the cache location. In some cases you may be up to 30 feet from a cache because of all the variables involved, like how good of a reading did the cache owner get when the cache was hidden or what type of device was used, etc.

 

At any rate, welcome to the fun of geocaching. It is a great way to spend some leisure time.

Edited April 5, 2011 by randco

[+kunarion]

I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english?

The N/W coordinates are an exact spot (within roughly 30 feet). A car GPS or handheld GPS understands that number format. The handheld (and some car GPSrs) will have an arrow that points to that spot and shows distance.

 

To get near a cache, use the map on one of the cache pages on Geocaching.com, to see the general location. That's how you'll decide where you'll park once you arrive. You can zoom in and use "satellite view", to see what the coordinates mean. Online maps aren't always perfect, but maybe that will work for you.

[+JoesBar]

Gitchee-Gummee stated it pretty well.

I'm going to try to expand.

The numbers you see are the coordinates of the cache. I'm speaking of straight forward caches, not multi-caches, or mystery caches. If you are beginning, look for straight caches. These are identified by a single container. Look at the star rating too. Just below the title and above the coordinates, you will see a 'difficulty' and 'terrain' rating. a single star is the easiest. five stars are the toughest. Also, look at the size of the container. It's marked to the right of the 'difficulty' 'terrain.' A tiny square means a "micro" size container, film can or smaller. These can be tough. Try larger sizes at first.

 

So, what are the coordinates?

Look at a globe. See the lines that run vertical and horizontal? The vertical ones are longitude lines and the horizontal ones are latitude. They are reference lines to determine where on the planet anything is located. They are marked in degrees. N: North of the equator. the equator is 0 degrees. W: is west of the 'prime meridian,' also 0 degrees. That line runs through Greenwich, England. (It's a long story.)

Think of it as a north/south equator. Anyway, any point on the planet can be marked by degrees and small parts of degrees. In geocaching we use degrees, minutes, and decimal minutes. It's like measuring you kids, feet, inches, fractions of inches.

 

A GPS receiver will tell you within about 10ft of the exact spot. If you have a great signal. But it's close enough to start looking.

around. There is info on this site about various makes and models of receivers. On the geocaching home page, look on the left. There is a line marked, "gps reviews." I don't use my cell phone to cache, so I cannot offer anything there.

[+dfx]

Here's a simple nice diagram that demonstrates how longitude and latitude coordinats work:

 

 

Here, lambda (λ) is the longitude and phi (φ) is the latitude. As you can see, both are angles measured from the center of the globe and that's why they're given in degrees. It's not a very intuitive way of describing a location on the earth, but it's a standard system that's been used for at least hundreds of years.

 

As you may remember from school, one degree can be divided into 60 minutes (minutes of arc, or minutes of angle) just like you can do with an hour. So, instead of saying 4.25 degrees or 4 ¼ degrees, you can also say 4 degrees and 15 minutes, and you would write that as 4° 15'. This is what you see on cache pages. So when you have N 42° 40.167', that means you're 42 degrees and 40.167 minutes north of the equator.

Edited April 5, 2011 by dfx

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Here's a simple nice diagram that demonstrates how longitude and latitude coordinats work:

 

<snip image>

 

Here, lambda (λ) is the longitude and phi (φ) is the latitude. As you can see, both are angles measured from the center of the globe and that's why they're given in degrees. It's not a very intuitive way of describing a location on the earth, but it's a standard system that's been used for at least hundreds of years.

 

As you may remember from school, one degree can be divided into 60 minutes (minutes of arc, or minutes of angle) just like you can do with an hour. So, instead of saying 4.25 degrees or 4 ¼ degrees, you can also say 4 degrees and 15 minutes, and you would write that as 4° 15'. This is what you see on cache pages. So when you have N 42° 40.167', that means you're 42 degrees and 40.167 minutes north of the equator.

 

I like the way you put it dfx, but...... the OP wanted it in English!

Ya just got too much Greek in there!

[+StarBrand]

Simplified explanation....

 

You know how when you look at a typical map there are letters along the bottom edge (or top) and numbers along one of the sides?? You can define any spot on that map by referencing those values. "B3" is the point where B and 3 come together. Coordintes like you gave as an example are the same sort of thing. They reference a single point on our globe. North so many "lines" and West so many "lines" from a reference point.

 

Make more sense now?? Any dedicated handheld GPS is going to know that already.

[+dfx]

Ya just got too much Greek in there!

 

Only two letters really

[+Chief301]

Wow, I'll bet you're really confused now! Don't worry, any handheld GPS will accept the coordinates you input and show you the direction to that point. That's their basic function, it's not really necessary to understand all the technical lingo or how it all works to do basic navigation to a cache.

 

Notice I said "handheld" GPS. A car GPS is designed to give you driving directions via roads. Some will do off road navigation, but not necessarily. Conversely, handheld units are designed to point you in a straight line from where you are to some designated point (in this case, a cache location). Some will also do road navigation, but again, not necessarily.

 

$100-$200 US should get you a decent GPS well suited for Geocaching. $400-$500 will get you one with all the bells and whistles which are very nice but not absolutely necessary.

 

Whichever one you select, it's really not that difficult to get the hang of it once you start playing around with it a bit.

[sugarkookies2369]

First and foremost, THANK YOU ALL for your time and help regarding my posted question! I truly appreciate your time and patience in explaining this to me

 

Being that I'm 39, I almost felt silly having to ask any questions at all but to be honest, I really didn't understand the meaning of the directions....SO embarrassing! I now understand the concept more and each message taught me more and more... I can hopefully find a good priced handheld GPS so we can begin the fun!

 

Please fell free to add more messages as I'm sure it'll only expand my understanding of this process, thank you again to everyone!

[sugarkookies2369]

Hello!

 

My family is so excited to join in on the Geocaching fun however we don't have a GPS and our cell phones navigate with an address only. Needless to say, we are looking to buy an inexpensive handheld GPS BUT I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english? Sorry to sound ignorant but I need to make sure that I understand this in order to buy a GPS that is equipt to use these directions. Thank you SO much for any help given!!!

 

I have a Metro PCS Finesse cell phone...and thank you for responding!

[Pup Patrol]

First and foremost, THANK YOU ALL for your time and help regarding my posted question! I truly appreciate your time and patience in explaining this to me

 

Being that I'm 39, I almost felt silly having to ask any questions at all but to be honest, I really didn't understand the meaning of the directions....SO embarrassing! I now understand the concept more and each message taught me more and more... I can hopefully find a good priced handheld GPS so we can begin the fun!

 

Please fell free to add more messages as I'm sure it'll only expand my understanding of this process, thank you again to everyone!

 

I belong to another forum where the SuperMod has this sig line:

 

there are no stupid questions.

 

And it can be expanded by saying that there's no reason to feel silly about asking questions about something completely new to you. It's expected for any pursuit to have a learning curve.

 

The folks here are some of the most helpful you will find anywhere.

 

This is a simple explanation of longitude and latitude:

http://geography.about.com/cs/latitudelongitude/a/latlong.htm

 

I don't know anything about caching with smartphones, so I have absolutely no advice for you at all in that regard.

 

But for caching in general...walk before you run. It takes some time to "get into it", so don't be discouraged.

 

And have fun.

[+rav_bunneh]

In very very plain english "N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965" is the Longitude and Latitude. They are the numbers you enter into your GPS to find all the cool treasures. If you need more info the people above me posted technical, but none the less very useful, information.

[Pup Patrol]

The Knowledge Books are a great resource, with loads of information:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb

[+Chief301]

 

Being that I'm 39, I almost felt silly having to ask any questions at all but to be honest, I really didn't understand the meaning of the directions....SO embarrassing! I now understand the concept more and each message taught me more and more... I can hopefully find a good priced handheld GPS so we can begin the fun!

 

It's OK, YOU don't have to understand the meaning of "N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965". The GPS understands it. You just punch in the numbers and the GPS basically tells you "It's thataway 300 feet" or whatever. Then you just follow the arrow and watch that "300 feet" decrease to "0 feet"(actually it probably won't read "0" because GPS units are only so accurate, but once you get to 10 feet or less you're there...put the GPS away and start looking)

 

Once you've got an understanding of how the device works, and how to use it, and gain some confidence navigating with it, you will begin to develop some knowledge of how global coordinates and the GPS system work. The game is educational that way

 

Then when you understand the basics of how to manually input coordinates into the unit, you'll also learn that there are methods of downloading cache coordinates directly from GC.com that save you all the tedious punching in the numbers by hand. But knowing how to input them manually is a useful skill.

[+Chief301]

Oh, and incidentally, the reason someone asked what kind of phone you have is because some smartphones have GPS capabilities and can run navigation apps, some of them created specifically for Geocaching. I have an iPhone 4 and for the first few months that's all I used. The app for the iPhone works great (especially on the iPhone 4 because it does GPS better than the older models). But that may have given you a way to get started without having to buy a GPS, which is what they were getting at.

[+Trucker Lee]

By the way, there is a North Texas cacher who doesn't use a GPS and has a very nice find count. He checks the locations on Google Earth, makes notes, and searches. For instance, your coords you give. In XXXXXXX (let folks look it up for themselves) Michigan, from hwy 59 go north on Cresent Lake, the corner with a Mobil on the NW. Left or west on Tubbs, and right on XXXXXXX. The coords are a location in the back yard of the Xth house, which by the way had a white pick-up parked there on May 10 of 2010. Looks like the back of the dark SUV in the driveway was left open too.

[+luvvinbird]

By the way, there is a North Texas cacher who doesn't use a GPS and has a very nice find count. He checks the locations on Google Earth, makes notes, and searches. For instance, your coords you give. In XXXXXXX (let folks look it up for themselves) Michigan, from hwy 59 go north on Cresent Lake, the corner with a Mobil on the NW. Left or west on Tubbs, and right on XXXXXXX. The coords are a location in the back yard of the Xth house, which by the way had a white pick-up parked there on May 10 of 2010. Looks like the back of the dark SUV in the driveway was left open too.

Right up there with birding without binoculars.

[+Chief301]

 

Being that I'm 39, I almost felt silly having to ask any questions at all but to be honest, I really didn't understand the meaning of the directions....SO embarrassing! I now understand the concept more and each message taught me more and more... I can hopefully find a good priced handheld GPS so we can begin the fun!

 

It's OK, YOU don't have to understand the meaning of "N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965". The GPS understands it. You just punch in the numbers and the GPS basically tells you "It's thataway 300 feet" or whatever. Then you just follow the arrow and watch that "300 feet" decrease to "0 feet"(actually it probably won't read "0" because GPS units are only so accurate, but once you get to 10 feet or less you're there...put the GPS away and start looking)

 

Once you've got an understanding of how the device works, and how to use it, and gain some confidence navigating with it, you will begin to develop some knowledge of how global coordinates and the GPS system work. The game is educational that way

 

Then when you understand the basics of how to manually input coordinates into the unit, you'll also learn that there are methods of downloading cache coordinates directly from GC.com that save you all the tedious punching in the numbers by hand. But knowing how to input them manually is a useful skill.

 

Oh, one other thing...learning how to work the GPS and navigate to the cache location is only half the learning curve in this game (well, probably less than half actually). Where the fun REALLY starts is when you've managed to get yourself to the cache site and now you have to actually FIND THE CACHE! That's a whole new skill in itself. At least once you learn to work the GPS, it works the same way all the time. But caches are all different...different sizes, different types of containers, different ways to hide them. It will take some experience out in the field to learn what to look for and how to find them. And just when you think you've seen just about every way a cache can be hidden, another one will come along that will blow your mind! Welcome to the obsession!

[+nittanycopa]

Hello!

 

My family is so excited to join in on the Geocaching fun however we don't have a GPS and our cell phones navigate with an address only. Needless to say, we are looking to buy an inexpensive handheld GPS BUT I am clueless as to how to read the directions that they give you to start your hunt. What is: N 42° 40.167 W 083° 23.965 mean in english? Sorry to sound ignorant but I need to make sure that I understand this in order to buy a GPS that is equipt to use these directions. Thank you SO much for any help given!!!

 

I have a Metro PCS Finesse cell phone...and thank you for responding!

 

I'm not 100% on the Samsung Finesse, but if it's an Android capable phone - you can run the official geocaching application which will allow GPS functionality and will allow you to view and log nearby caches.

[sugarkookies2369]

By the way, there is a North Texas cacher who doesn't use a GPS and has a very nice find count. He checks the locations on Google Earth, makes notes, and searches. For instance, your coords you give. In XXXXXXX (let folks look it up for themselves) Michigan, from hwy 59 go north on Cresent Lake, the corner with a Mobil on the NW. Left or west on Tubbs, and right on XXXXXXX. The coords are a location in the back yard of the Xth house, which by the way had a white pick-up parked there on May 10 of 2010. Looks like the back of the dark SUV in the driveway was left open too.

 

Really? That house in next door to me! I JUST moved to this area and my next door neighbors have those cars!

[sugarkookies2369]

By the way, there is a North Texas cacher who doesn't use a GPS and has a very nice find count. He checks the locations on Google Earth, makes notes, and searches. For instance, your coords you give. In XXXXXXX (let folks look it up for themselves) Michigan, from hwy 59 go north on Cresent Lake, the corner with a Mobil on the NW. Left or west on Tubbs, and right on XXXXXXX. The coords are a location in the back yard of the Xth house, which by the way had a white pick-up parked there on May 10 of 2010. Looks like the back of the dark SUV in the driveway was left open too.

 

Can I also ask what a "Muggler" is?

[+Chief301]

A "muggle" (not muggler) is anyone who does not know about Geocaching and therefore may interfere with your ability to search for a cache. The term is borrowed from the Harry Potter books where it refers to someone who does not posess magical powers.

 

Muggles may be hanging around a cache location requiring you to use stealth to retrieve the cache undetected, or may find a cache by accident and take or vandalize it. When a cache goes missing and it is suspected that a non-cacher stole it, we say it has been "muggled".

 

Although if you meet a non-cacher at a cache site and he robs you, he might be referred to as muggler

Edited April 7, 2011 by Chief301

[+StarBrand]

In the Harry Potter world a 'muggle' is any person that is unaware of the world of magic.

 

In Geocaching terms, a 'muggle' is anybody unaware of the 'magic' we know as Geocaching.

[sugarkookies2369]

A "muggle" (not muggler) is anyone who does not know about Geocaching and therefore may interfere with your ability to search for a cache. The term is borrowed from the Harry Potter books where it refers to someone who does not posess magical powers.

 

Muggles may be hanging around a cache location requiring you to use stealth to retrieve the cache undetected, or may find a cache by accident and take or vandalize it. When a cache goes missing and it is suspected that a non-cacher stole it, we say it has been "muggled".

 

Although if you meet a non-cacher at a cache site and he robs you, he might be referred to as muggler

 

Hahahaha....Gosh, I'm saying all the wrong things, aren't I? But I feel better now that you made "Muggler" make sense! LOL...Thanks!

[+popokiiti]

Hi sugarcookies and welcome! I'm still asking questions and I have almost 20 years on you! There are a lot of GPS units out there, we use two...I have the easier one to understand

[sugarkookies2369]

Hi sugarcookies and welcome! I'm still asking questions and I have almost 20 years on you! There are a lot of GPS units out there, we use two...I have the easier one to understand

 

Thank you so very much, your kindness is appreciated!

[+Krejaton's Krew]

Welcome SK. My daughters and I are rather new to geocaching as well but we have been having a blast at it.

 

If you have an Android phone, get the c:geo app (it's free) and you can choose live map, which will find your location and the caches around you or go to Nearby which will list nearby caches. From either of those, you can then store them in your phone.

 

Pull up a cache listing, read the description and clues and then hit the compass and it will tell you automatically which direction to go and how far. Keep honing in and stop when you can't drive any nearer.

 

Now comes the hard/fun part--locating the cache. Keep looking! Look inside of whatever is near, look under, around, behind or on top of any objects nearby. Don't underestimate these people! Some make fake rocks contain the caches and one twisted sole put a fake bunny with a cache inside far down a hole.

 

Above all, have fun.

Edited April 8, 2011 by krejaton

[+niraD]

Note that the c:geo app violates this site's terms of use by scraping content from the site. There are other third-party apps that respect the TOU (e.g., GeoBeagle, GeoHunter), and there is also Groundspeak's Geocaching app.

[+roziecakes]

Everyone's replies are really great, so I don't have much to add, except I can vouch that GeoBeagle is Awesome! I used to hate the idea of caching with my husband's Android phone, but GeoBeagle rocks, and is easy to use. We also use Cachemate.

[+hukilaulau]

All good info. more than you need!

ANY handheld gps you pick up at Walmart or any other store will work. Best thing to do is just go get one and then come back to the forums if you have trouble. It will be much easier to give step-by-step directions once we know what specific gps you have.

Now my question: Which one is Trev?

[+Student Camper]

"The folks here are some of the most helpful you will find anywhere."

 

True.

[sugarkookies2369]

All good info. more than you need!

ANY handheld gps you pick up at Walmart or any other store will work. Best thing to do is just go get one and then come back to the forums if you have trouble. It will be much easier to give step-by-step directions once we know what specific gps you have.

Now my question: Which one is Trev?

 

Hahaha...I have to tell you that I was in shock for about a minute, trying to figure out how this person knew my son's name...??? I had labeled my profile pic, "Me and Trev" b/c it's a pic of my son and I however I obviously cropped him out when I posted my pic... Too funny!

[sugarkookies2369]

By the way, there is a North Texas cacher who doesn't use a GPS and has a very nice find count. He checks the locations on Google Earth, makes notes, and searches. For instance, your coords you give. In XXXXXXX (let folks look it up for themselves) Michigan, from hwy 59 go north on Cresent Lake, the corner with a Mobil on the NW. Left or west on Tubbs, and right on XXXXXXX. The coords are a location in the back yard of the Xth house, which by the way had a white pick-up parked there on May 10 of 2010. Looks like the back of the dark SUV in the driveway was left open too.

 

Really? That house in next door to me! I JUST moved to this area and my next door neighbors have those cars!

Ok, now I am really confused! Those directions are NOT my neighbors yard, that's MY backyard! I did google maps and that's my yard. I just moved here in December. But this is why I'm confused....when I click on hide and seek, it asked to search by address, city, etc...I entered my address. The next screen had the directions that I asked about and which are the directions to my house. Was that just telling me where I live and NOT giving me the directions to a cache? Where do you get the directions, clues, etc...to find a cache? Ugh, I feel like an idiot!

[+Chief301]

Hmmm....not sure what the problem is. When you click on "Hide and Seek a Cache" it brings up a page where you can input what area you want to locate a cache in, either by address, ZIP code, etc. When you enter an address and hit "Go", it should bring up a list of the caches I'm order of distance from that location. Click on one and it will bring up the cache page with the coordinates and all the other information you need to go search for it.

 

What are you getting when you enter an address and hit "Go"?

 

Personally, the way I prefer to do it is to use the "Search with Google Maps" option. In that screen you still type in the address you want to search, but instead of a list you get a map of the area with all the caches shown as icons on the map. Click on one to open the cache page.

 

Holler back if you still have questions!

[sugarkookies2369]

Hmmm....not sure what the problem is. When you click on "Hide and Seek a Cache" it brings up a page where you can input what area you want to locate a cache in, either by address, ZIP code, etc. When you enter an address and hit "Go", it should bring up a list of the caches I'm order of distance from that location. Click on one and it will bring up the cache page with the coordinates and all the other information you need to go search for it.

 

What are you getting when you enter an address and hit "Go"?

 

Personally, the way I prefer to do it is to use the "Search with Google Maps" option. In that screen you still type in the address you want to search, but instead of a list you get a map of the area with all the caches shown as icons on the map. Click on one to open the cache page.

 

Holler back if you still have questions!

Thank you SO much for your help! I'll do it that way as I have seen that screen before! This is so much fun and quite addicting

[sugarkookies2369]

Hmmm....not sure what the problem is. When you click on "Hide and Seek a Cache" it brings up a page where you can input what area you want to locate a cache in, either by address, ZIP code, etc. When you enter an address and hit "Go", it should bring up a list of the caches I'm order of distance from that location. Click on one and it will bring up the cache page with the coordinates and all the other information you need to go search for it.

 

What are you getting when you enter an address and hit "Go"?

 

Personally, the way I prefer to do it is to use the "Search with Google Maps" option. In that screen you still type in the address you want to search, but instead of a list you get a map of the area with all the caches shown as icons on the map. Click on one to open the cache page.

 

Holler back if you still have questions!

 

I forgot to ask...what does it mean when they say "Use your stealth"????

[+Chief301]

I forgot to ask...what does it mean when they say "Use your stealth"????

 

This is just to let you know that there may be people about at this location (the "muggles" we spoke of earlier), and that you may need to be sneaky or stealthy to retrieve the cache, sign the log, and return it undetected. We try as much as possible to not let muggles observe where the cache is hidden...not because we're doing anything illicit but to protect the cache from vandalism or theft.

 

If some folks nearby see you take a box out of that bush over there, open it, mess around with the contents, then put it back and leave, you can bet they will be curious about what that was all about. And they'll probably go over there and see what's in the box. Hopefully, the cache owner will have placed a "stash note" in the cache explaining what it is, what Geocaching is, and inviting any "accidental" finders to join in the game and please replace the cache where they found it.

 

Best case scenario, the muggle will now be enlightened to Geocaching, maybe even think about giving it a try, and at least return the cache to its hiding spot. Worst case scenario, the muggle is a jerk who decides to steal the cache or vandalize it. Unfortunately, this happens quite a bit. So we try our best to be "stealthy" and not reveal the hiding place to any observers. This is part of the challenge on some caches, especially in urban areas with a lot of people.

[sugarkookies2369]

I forgot to ask...what does it mean when they say "Use your stealth"????

 

This is just to let you know that there may be people about at this location (the "muggles" we spoke of earlier), and that you may need to be sneaky or stealthy to retrieve the cache, sign the log, and return it undetected. We try as much as possible to not let muggles observe where the cache is hidden...not because we're doing anything illicit but to protect the cache from vandalism or theft.

 

If some folks nearby see you take a box out of that bush over there, open it, mess around with the contents, then put it back and leave, you can bet they will be curious about what that was all about. And they'll probably go over there and see what's in the box. Hopefully, the cache owner will have placed a "stash note" in the cache explaining what it is, what Geocaching is, and inviting any "accidental" finders to join in the game and please replace the cache where they found it.

 

Best case scenario, the muggle will now be enlightened to Geocaching, maybe even think about giving it a try, and at least return the cache to its hiding spot. Worst case scenario, the muggle is a jerk who decides to steal the cache or vandalize it. Unfortunately, this happens quite a bit. So we try our best to be "stealthy" and not reveal the hiding place to any observers. This is part of the challenge on some caches, especially in urban areas with a lot of people.

 

Ahhh...now I get it Thank you once again for your contined help! We are VERY careful to watch for muggles and have actually waited for over half an hour before replacing a cache for this reason. If I was to hide a cache, I think I'd check on it at least once a week, just to be sure that it's still there and safe! We have had such a blast thus far, even without a GPS! There have been 2 locations that we weren't able to find the cache with using Google maps as it doesn't give you close enough details but we zoom in as close as we can. The wooded areas are the ones that we need a GPS for. We still try anyway and still have fun looking even though we didn't find it! So far we have 3 down and many more to go!