Can I Geocache in the winter?

[definitelyaduck]

I live in the northeast of the United States. Needless to say there's a lot of snow around. Is it possible to go geocaching in winter conditions? Are some caches winterized? Do cache owners remove the caches before the snow? Would I have better luck with urban caches in the winter?

[+fuzzybelly]

I'll bet you like playing in the snow duck. I hope so anyway, you live in it. Me too. Bundle up and go have fun.

 

Some of the most satisfying finds I've made where after probing with my walking stick and hearing that ammo can sound. That's when the digging starts

[Pup Patrol]

I live in the northeast of the United States. Needless to say there's a lot of snow around. Is it possible to go geocaching in winter conditions? Are some caches winterized? Do cache owners remove the caches before the snow? Would I have better luck with urban caches in the winter?

 

Lots of folks in the same winter conditions continue caching. The key is research. Check out if a cache has been found during the current conditions. If a cache is on the ground or below the snow level, then some snow removal might be needed to find it. Snowshoes might also come in handy. Be prepared to find frozen caches.

 

I don't know of any cache owners who remove their caches for winter.

 

Check out this recent thread about caching in winter:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=317616

 

 

 

B.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Pup Patrol

[definitelyaduck]

I live in the northeast of the United States. Needless to say there's a lot of snow around. Is it possible to go geocaching in winter conditions? Are some caches winterized? Do cache owners remove the caches before the snow? Would I have better luck with urban caches in the winter?

 

Lots of folks in the same winter conditions continue caching. The key is research. Check out if a cache has been found during the current conditions. If a cache is on the ground or below the snow level, then some snow removal might be needed to find it. Snowshoes might also come in handy. Be prepared to find frozen caches.

 

I don't know of any cache owners who remove their caches for winter.

 

Check out this recent thread about caching in winter:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=317616

Thanks for the link, huge help Edited December 30, 2013 by Keystone
quotey thingy fixed by moderator

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

No... ducks don't geocache in the winter... they migrate.

[+ChileHead]

There was about 3 inches of snow on the ground this morning, plus fresh snow coming down, and I still managed to find about a dozen caches in the woods today.

 

So yes, go geocaching in the winter! You'll find some cache owners make theirs winter accessible, which usually but not always means it's off the ground. Once you have a foot of snow or more then ground level caches become harder. But I managed to dig through 3 feet of snow in years past in the middle of the Adirondack park to find a film can, because I needed the cache to fill in an empty spot in my calendar.

[+MinionBrigade]

Winter is a great time for GeoCaching here in FL! No bugs, no heat, most of the overgrowth has died back.. Makes things a bunch easier! Winter is where it's at!

[+popokiiti]

Urban caches may be easier in the winter, as the cold and snow keeps the muggles away. We are in the PNW, mostly rain in the winter, but we have cached in in the snow. One cache was an easy find one snowy New Year's Day as all we had to do was follow the footprints someone else had left.

[+JohnCNA]

Winter is a great time to go caching. Head for the woods!

 

No bugs. No blistering energy-sapping heat. Hardly any burrs. Less muggles. All the leaves down can make some caches easier to spot. Sometimes you get lucky and there are footprints to follow. Even without the leaves, the trees cut down on the wind a lot.

 

Caches on the ground can be harder to spot but that's compensated by the ones that are off the ground are much easier to spot.

 

If a cache is rain proof, it's pretty much winter proof, too.

[Keystone]

Some wannabe geocaching journalist in Joisey just published an article about winter caching. You may want to check it out.

[+terratin]

Two winters ago we were in the Canadian Rockies as I was in the area on business. We did a lovely hike to a waterfall, though spikes below the shoes would have been a real advantage, went to the continental divide virtual, for which we had to dig out the survey marker from knee deep snow (mind you, we found it in the 4th hole) and did a few other caches that required quite a bit of snow shifting, including our first and only skirt lifter Basically: yes it works, and it's a lot of fun.

 

This year here in Denmark the temperatures have so far remained quite a bit above freezing. Too much rain keeps us inside for most of the time. That's certainly no fun!

[+A & J Tooling]

The only downside to winter caching, other then getting shot by a color blind hunter, is trying to find a cache at the base of a tree under leaves and a foot of frozen snow. Other then that, have fun and if you see someone in a hardhat and yellow jacket with tree climbing gear and tree trimming gear, that's me and to say 'hi'.

[+Paintballvet18]

I live in the northeast of the United States. Needless to say there's a lot of snow around. Is it possible to go geocaching in winter conditions? Are some caches winterized? Do cache owners remove the caches before the snow? Would I have better luck with urban caches in the winter?

 

Yes, yes you can. Its not hard. I've done it in Canada. Caching in the rain is worse than this... You just have to get used to it!!