Running Into Other Geocachers

[UnknownShyguy]

So I always wondered this. Do you guys ever go to find a geocache and you find someone who's trying to find the same geocache?

[+StarBrand]

Its rare but it does happen. Only about 4 times in my first 5 years. 8 or 9 times in the 2nd five years.

[+oxford comma]

only twice in 191 finds- and both were attempted FTFs-

[+Walts Hunting]

Last week I was biking and rolled up to one in Petalua and found a father/daughter team. Introductions and a short hunt got it.

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

Sure. I just thought of 5 6 7 so it's probably more like 10 in 700+ finds. It's fun. You instantly have something in common.

[+laker91]

I have on several occasions. Great way to build up your network of PAF buddies. You already know that you have something in common. In fact, I met a fellow cacher about a month ago and he ended up calling me last weekend to help with a cache in a park about 20 minutes away from my house. We ended up spending about 3 hours doing a number of them that he hadn't done in the area and he helped me with one that I hadn't completed.

[+Ben0w]

Happens and is fun.

 

First time I met other cachers they passed me on the way to the cache, in a hurry. I had time and enjoyed the walk, but immediately identified them as geocachers. On GZ they were already searching for the cache and just seemed having found it, when I came round the corner. It was obvious that the boy warned the girl - she tried to hide herself in the bushes and he tried to act totally unrelated to the place, covering a regular sized container in his hands. Totally funny on the whole way to them, since I already knew what they were. After my coming-out they were clearly relieved. The situation was really weird: a couple walked to a spot with some trees, the female suddenly is missing, the male just does as he always was a single and has some business just standing there on the street. Could have been a totally other impression to a random muggle.

 

Then there was the cache I already had found: I spotted a good friend of mine obviously searching something there. So we found out we're both geocachers but didn't know this from each other until then.

 

On another cache I already gave up when on the way back to the car I met another cacher. He convinced me into looking again, and I showed him the best access path to the area and a suspicious spot where I thought the cache had to be but didn't found it, mostly due to the fact I didn't want to disturb possible wildlife. He dared to looked closer and got it (turned out to be a fake wildlife spot, so no real damage done)! So this encounter at least earned me a "Found it!".

 

Recently I met a friend of mine, totally randomly on the same T4 cache. None of us knew that the other was going for this cache, having to swim & dive in a lake, at the same day and time.

 

Another similar thing: a place where I occasionally work just changed location and now happens to be just on the other side of the street to a multi stage. I sometimes spot obvious geocachers in "full stealth" trying to solve the puzzle there (I already have). Nice view.

Edited July 31, 2012 by BenOw

[Mr.Yuck]

only twice in 191 finds- and both were attempted FTFs-

 

Well yes, those who partake in the FTF side game are going to have a much greater chance of running into someone. I did go for FTF's the first two years or so. But even with that, I'm going to say only 5 or 6 times in 2,400+ finds over 9 years!

[+cmhall9]

Funny you should ask. I ran into two last Sunday looking for the same cache.

I found the cache first and as I was getting into my car the other two walked up from different directions and started looking around with their phones out. So I said to them both, "Geocaching?" And both of them smiled and said yes.

It was really cool. Three strangers geocaching and meeting up at the same cache.

This was not the first time either. I think I've ran into other cachers at least 3 or 4 times in the last few years.

But here is a question: Have you ever seen someone caching one of your geocaches and you decide to stop and say hello? I have. Twice. I like meeting new geocachers.

[+Dan2099]

The closest I came was I was waiting in the car while my wife was shopping and I noticed a couple "lurking" and lift a light pole skirt....I didn't talk to them but just found it funny....

[+BlackRose67]

Just last week.

 

Came across a group of 4 cachers as well as a solo cachers; we were all hunting caches that were published earlier in the day.

I knew who the group of 4 were, but did not know the solo cacher.

[+terrkan78]

I've rarely gotten caught while actively searching at GZ - only on park & grabs in town. I'm a very quiet person, so I just say, "Hi" and leave.

 

I particularly like caches out in the boonies - not many people there, geocachers or otherwise. I see people along the trail sometimes, but I don't know if they're geocachers until I get home to log my find and see their online log dated the same day as mine.

[+popokiiti]

We'd driven out to the airport to watch planes and chill - no geocaching. Looking in the rear view mirror, Popoki Nui said "there are some cachers behind us." Sure enough, 4 males, 3 around 12 yrs, one about 18-20. I got out and looked at them, then approached. Saw one whisper, alerting the others to me. I said "I'm not a muggle, I'm a cacher too." We had a nice chat, a Q & A session. Turns out the eldest had only been caching a few days....including one day in a thunderstorm, up a hill when he and his girlfriend suddenly had their hair stand on end - literally! We don't often have such storms, so mentioned how to stay safe - no cache is worth getting struck by lightning over!

We went to a Star Party gathering (astronomical group) and saw in the same field folks with GPSs doing the coordinate shuffle. They were doing a Wherigo.

[+Sol seaker]

I've run into cachers a fair amount of times.

However, there are some caches I WISH someone would show up and help me find.

 

There was one in a wooded area we were looking for. We walked up to GZ and there was a family there going through the swag. They looked like they had just gotten caught. They were trying to hide the HUGE cache behind them, but it was pretty useless. It was one of those big 24 gallon rubbermaid containers.

We laughed and held up our GPS.

We then chatted a while and we suggested they don't take the young children searching for a nearby cache that was dangerous.

 

Once, early on in the game, my friend and I were searching for a cache when a pickup truck screeched up to us. He yelled out the window "Are you looking for the cache?"

We nodded.

He said, "It's under the fence cap."

We would have rather found it ourselves, but the interaction we then had was another kind of fun too. There were many more to find by ourselves. It was fun to interact with another cacher.

[+Alkhalikoi]

I think I've run into other cachers about 10-12 times in my 1600ish finds. I think the most fun was when I was putting on my pack for a 7-mile hike, another cacher (who I had run into a couple years before) pulled up and we ended up having a great hike together. Another time, when I was about 300 miles from home, I was looking for a cache on a pier in Pismo Beach, CA. As I'm looking for it with a couple of caching buddies a nice couple asked if we were looking for a cache. They'd found it a few minutes before and it turned out they were cachers from near home.

[+frinklabs]

There are certain cache locations at certain times of year when you absolutely do NOT expect to run into other cachers. It can be disconcerting when they conceal themselves at GZ and startle you.

 

My log entry for Just Add Ice:

 

Very simple to get within 70m of the cache then it went downhill from there. It turns out that my improvised hip waders (garbage bags) very quickly leaked. I was more than halfway out so I wasn't going to turn back at this point; I've had soakers before and the water wasn't too too cold.

 

Getting overconfident within 20m of GZ led to a Stand-By-Me-like plunge up to my waist into an invisible deep spot. This provoked an exclamed "son of a B****!!" from me. My outburst flushed out something that was at GZ but it wasn't a raccoon -- it was a tiggrrr! What are the odds of running into another cacher at a mostly-winter-visited cache, in a rainstorm, at dusk?

 

Luckily she had the cache in hand so I didn't have to make the find (or risk the raccoon factor). She passed me the log which I signed, and then led me out a less-deep path (also using improvised hip waders).

 

Thanks!

[+OZ2CPU]

some cachers likes a hello out there, and make them self visible by adding / wearing knowable icons from this game,

on them self or their car.

we just added a TB sticker and a geocaching logo on our cars, we hope this help to be spotted by others to say hi.

[+redsox_mark]

It has happened to me 20 times (in around 2500 finds). I know the number as this is something I keep track of.

 

It is more likely to happen when going for a FTF.

[+OZ2CPU]

it is also common in my area to find the CO lurking around when a cache is released :-)

the 2-4 FTF hunters meet with the CO have have a chat, really nice actually.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

It's happened to me quite a few times. Although I'm not a FTF hound I've had FTF on 15 or so caches but have never run into someone else while getting a FTF. However, when I was in Zurich a month or so ago there were a couple of events there that day (one was a WWFM event with almost 500 attendees). I ran into a group of cachers at an earth cache, then about a half hour later found a traditional where I had pre-planned on meeting a couple local cachers prior to the event. I was in the area about 15 minutes and met three different groups of cachers searching for that cache.

[+Straight-Cache-Homey]

We were muggles and ran into a geocacher in the woods with his two kids on a great hike near our apartment. We had heard of geocaching before but weren't too familiar with it. When we realized we could play a game while doing our hikes anyway, we were sold.

[+humboldt flier]

Yepper to that, however, this meeting had a different "flavor" to it.

 

Was out on a cache run along a hiking / biking trail north of Morgan Hill, Calif.

 

Along comes a cyclist and asks if I am a Geocacher I confirmed his suspicions, whereupon he confessed his Geocaching sins to me.

 

He then commented that there was a cache nearby that has had him stumped. My comment was "we are essentially at GZ".

 

We simultaneously espied the prize and he climbed to the top of a rather skinny object for the capture and re-hide.

 

Sure glad he happened along because there was no way this old goat was going to muster the flexibility and brute strength to capture the prize let alone have enough gas in the tank for the re-hide.

[+Anonymike7]

Reading some of the responses above, I feel like I've been lucky in meeting lots of cachers on the trail. I've just recently passed one year and 500 finds, so my percentages compared to some others are rather high. Below is a sampling of instances when I've met fellow cachers:

 

* Two guys working together on an FTF

* Another guy whom I beat to FTF by 3 minutes

* A dad and his 3 kids, who were just leaving the trail as we came up

* Two older ladies who were just entering that same trail as we were leaving

* A pair of 15-year olds who had been following our trail of signatures down a bike path until they caught up to us.

* A trio of teens who had no idea that an event was happening a quarter-mile away in the same park

* A guy who pulled up in his car as we were scouring a rock wall, "Yeah, I couldn't find it either!"

* A married couple who were trying to FTF a cache. I wasn't on the hunt for FTF; it was just a nearby cache. I got the STF, they picked up TTF.

 

And then, of course, there was a recent event in which I went out on a hunt with one set of people and returned with an entirely different group. I can't remember any other instances of running into other cachers, but I'm sure there will be more in the future.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Anonymike7

[+captnemo]

I've run into another cacher a few times over the years and it has always been nice to chat for a bit. I seem to run into cachers finding one of my caches more often. I ask them if they are Geocachers then introduce myself as the CO.

[+Chief301]

4 times in just over 300 finds. Two of them were on the same day a couple of months ago, once we were approached by the CO's who were driving by and saw us searching....they stopped by to let us know tha cache was gone (but hadn't been disabled). Once up in Arkansas we were just about to grab a LPC in a supermarket parking lot when someone drove by and honked and waved at us like maybe they knew what we were doing, but I'm not sure.

[+T.D.M.22]

Wow it seems rare. For me it was 3 times in less than a year. Once was FTF that neither one of us found it. Second was a couple days after an event, had about 8 cachers there at once. Third I tried for FTF and didn't find it. Went got some others in the area and came back to see another cacher going for it. I figured at least I could follow him and get second. Usually happens every 3 or 4 caches around here with FTF.

[+geocat_]

If you ever attend a Mega Event, you will undoubtedly encounter cachers at other caches on a fairly consistent basis. I have witnessed an actual line form at some caches near the Midwest Geobash this past weekend. I also ran into a couple from Canada at a much more remote cache at the trail head to a 4.5/5 Letterbox hide. So sometimes it is ice to have this happen as it is nice to have company with more challenging hunts.

 

Outside of Mega Event encounters, I would say my encounters with other cachers are almost exclusively while attempting FTFs. Often one or more "FTF regulars" but occasionally, like this morning, I meet a new cacher while attempting to find a FTF. Always enjoyable!

[+Harry Dolphin]

I don't keep track of them. But I'd guess 30 or 40 times in the last eight years.

[+badger10]

A couple of months ago we were out doing a mini power trail (about 15 caches along a farming road) and we had a car behind us, a car just in front of us, and two in front of that car. A total of ten cachers out at the same time. I also met a fellow cacher while going for a ftf 36 hours after it was published. What are the odds.

[+ayrbrain]

I adoped a couple of caches a few weeks back, we had already found them but way back beginning of last year. We went out to the nearest one to us to check on it just as we were searching we noticed a lady and her daughter ahead of us also searching, turned out they had just that morning started caching and this one was their first, so it helped us locate the cache asit had been a while since we found it.

[+ayrbrain]

I adopted a couple of caches a few weeks back, we had already found them but way back beginning of last year. We went out to the nearest one to us to check on it just as we were searching we noticed a lady and her daughter ahead of us also searching, turned out they had just that morning started caching and this one was their first, so it helped us locate the cache as it had been a while since we found it.

Edited August 27, 2012 by ayrbrain

[+Beach_hut]

We've bumped into cachers looking for caches at least a dozen times.

 

A couple of times we've bumped into people looking for our caches, in fact from memory it's happened twice in our caching carerrs and both times it was the same day.

 

Once we've bumped into a cacher looking for our unpublished cache, which they had no right to know about, but that's another story...

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I run into cachers quite frequently. After finding a cache in Austria, I ran into a cacher from Germany heading up to teh cache. We had a brief conversation (my German is not as good as I'd like) and headed back to the car while they went up for the find.

[Love]

I was actually quite happy to run into two sets of other geocachers at the famous gum wall cache here in Seattle yesterday. I had looked for that cache two other times with no luck - I finally had a really good spoiler hint and decided to try to find it yesterday and it was that much easier with other cachers already holding it.

 

Probably the coolest times I've run into other caches was on my 600th cache find at a beautiful beach in Oregon. Then another time ran into cachers working on the Route 66 geotrail as I was showing my mom what geotrails were all about.

[+stijnhommes]

The only other geocacher I met by accident was the man who ran the bike rental shop in the village where I was on holiday in Belgium (if I understood his French anyway).

[+1Husky]

Our first time was on Mackinac Island when we were very new at geocaching. With over 1800 finds now, we've run into familiar faces and new ones fairly often. We've learned to quickly recognize when someone's caching and it's always been fun.

[vagabond]

ON my very first cache, here's my log check the date.

 

vagabond found [Traditional Cache] San Diego: Chupy 1

 

Saturday, 17 February 2001California S S 50.7 mi from your home location

 

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Started out from black mtn parking lot, hoped the cache was still there after all the rain, crossed the creek at a real nice and slippery spot and found out the creek was about knee deep in that spot, luckly it wasn't very wide just 1 leg in.

Found the site fairly easy it was right where my gps said it was( beginners luck )

while I was going through the cache I heard a commotion accross the creek and saw 5 people coming accross, I just sat back and watched fo awhile as they tramped all around the cache site, I hollered to them that if they were looking for the cache I had it I went over to them and showed them where it was and they said they would put it back, so I headed out for the toy box confident I would find it with no problem

[+TerraViators]

It happens quite a bit for me...even when I'm caching out of state. I've made some good friends after meeting them at GZ.

[+TheMasses]

i can think of about 5x and I've been caching just over 15 months and almost 400 finds

[GPS-Hermit]

Yes, it happened about 3 times - I usually cache alone and once had just finished and was not discovered so I hid to see how others go about finding the cache. Very interesting to watch!

[+Ma & Pa]

Too many to count.

 

Especially fun and interesting when it happens on our caching trips. Offhand I recall bumping into cachers in FL, CA, VA, ON, QC, NS, NB, PE, UK, NY, PA,

[+theosus]

It use to happen more often, when there wasn't a cache under every tree, shrub and lamp skirt. I remember running into a few here and there around 2002-2004, but it's been a while since I ran into someone I was SURE was another cacher. With the smartphone apps it gets even harder, the handheld GPS units were a dead giveaway.

[+ipodguy]

Happens to me occasionally. It's fun! A quick geo-chat, maybe you team up, maybe you go your separate ways.

 

Just last weekend I was just starting down a trail and some teenage kid looked at me and asked if I was a geocacher. He noticed my GPS and said he was a cacher too. He asked me for a little help with a cache he couldn't find, and it was on my way so we hiked there together. I helped him find it and then we said our goodbyes. He went back the way we came, I continued on and that was that.

[+MartyBartfast]

I've met over 40 so far, and started keeping a list on my profile page as a reminder to myself.

[+ayrbrain]

A few. The most recent when we went to check in a cache that I had just adopted. A mother and little daughter were at the very cache we were going to, we had found this one a couple of years back and just about remembered where it was Lucky they were there so it helped us. But the frst time, I was under a bridge searching and a man walked by twice with his dog, on his second time passing by he asked if I had found it yet Since then we have met one or two.

[+SwineFlew]

Beside doing new caches, very very rare. If its in the woods, never, well, never happen to me of yet. I did two caches today and didnt see any cachers.

 

I do bump into cacher if they have the cache placed at their place.

 

Everytime theres an event, you have a greater chance of bumping into cacher in the general area.

[+sparklefingers]

Other then the 2 people/ groups that got me geocaching I haven't ever met another cacher.

I have seen people I think are cachers.

Twice I have gone to a cache and have been leaving to see the same woman(with stroller) talking to herself/baby about getting through this muddy track, we're almost there.

And I have drove past multiple people at a cache on the main road.

I've also seen people in our little parks with gps and wondered if they have also been caching

 

Never met a cacher at a cache