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Wondering whether to get into Geocaching


TheWheelchairGuy

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So Geocaching really interests me, I've been watching a number of YouTube videos and find it really interesting having to go and find these hidden caches.

 

The question that I would like to ask is, I'm a wheelchair user, is it really something that I can get into? I've seen from the website the location of a lot of the caches and they seem to be out in the country, where you need to go down country lanes and through woodland to get to them. I've seen that there are some located in urban areas, is there enough to keep me going?

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So Geocaching really interests me, I've been watching a number of YouTube videos and find it really interesting having to go and find these hidden caches.

 

The question that I would like to ask is, I'm a wheelchair user, is it really something that I can get into? I've seen from the website the location of a lot of the caches and they seem to be out in the country, where you need to go down country lanes and through woodland to get to them. I've seen that there are some located in urban areas, is there enough to keep me going?

 

Please don't think me rude to ask, but how dependent are you on the chair? Can you stand briefly to reach something 6 ft off the ground? Some very determined wheelchair cachers don't mind crawling a short distance on the ground to get to a cache. Will you be going alone, or with someone who can help out with caches that you can't quite reach?

 

Caches that are rated 1* in Terrain are supposed to be wheelchair accessible, but a) perceptions vary as to what that really means and b)some older caches are not rated correctly.

Edited by NanCycle
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Come on in, the water's fine. I think you will enjoy geocaching.

 

There are numerous caches in urban areas. Someone will come along later and offer a link to a website that is geared toward wheelchair-bound cachers.

 

For now, look at caches which have a Terrain rating of 1 star. That rating is intended to be for wheelchair accessible caches.

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If you look at the map of caches near you you'll likely see many in the city. There are caches that are more accessible to others, but that doesn't always mean easier to find. And if you're interested, then try it. Obviously we geocachers say to do it, but in the end it's up to you to decide if it's something you should do or not.

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Depends on your location.

There are usually suitable caches around.

 

Some you may need some assistance with retrieving and replacing.

While you may be able to get close to the cache, and be able to see it, it may just be out of reach, especially if you are confined to the wheelchair.

 

A useful site is handicaching.com/ where caches get an additional rating suitable for the less-able cacher.

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I think it would be great fun for you. I would go look for them with the mindset that you might not be able to grab them all. Some rated 1 star are not always that way and some rated 1.5 or more I have found that could be reached by a wheel chair. Just have to check each one out. I know if I started seeing logs from you in are area and you mentioned you were enjoying the game we would probably hide some special for you that you would think was fun. Not sure there are cachers in your area that would do that but I think it is a possibility. Hope you find some.

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The wheelchair attribute is bound with T1 rating, which is making it little useful, because owners, with the blessing from Groundspeak, are free to rate their caches as they want...

 

There are many 1.5-2.0 caches that should be available to at least some wheelchairs, at least by good weather, because they are on the ground, by forest path, or by paved path required slight climb (about 10%).

 

Honestly, I have no idea how much power in hands you'd have to have, or how the electric wheelchair will carry on with such conditions, but I suppose they could be.

 

Some cachers are using grabbers (I'm not sure how it's called in English) so the tool that increase your arm range by 0.5-1 m. I'd like to personally buy one, because there are some trolwners who place T1.5 caches without the reach of anyone having less height then average cave troll (so being under 2m). But there are some T2 caches withing the reach of average standing adult, so with the grabber they could be reached from wheelchair too.

 

And there are city multis with virtual stages, even if you can't reach the final, you could do all the stages. The final you could log with assistance or ask the owner for permission. Normally in the multi, the stages are the most important, and if the final is hardly available, it's only for muggle protection, so I don't see a reason why the owner would oppose the fotolog (even if fotolog is against guidelines, guidelines are not to blindly follow).

 

The best is to ask the owner about the availability of the cache. Terrain ranking depends on many factors. For example, T5 cache may be available from kayak without having to stand (and it's T5 because it requires a boat) or it may require climbing on the bridge pillar...

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It really depends on the area you are in. Most caches out in the country or the woods require looking around in hollow trees or on the ground so it really depends on how mobile you are without the chair in situations such as those. Urban and suburban caching is probably the best way to go as a lot of these are wheelchair accessible. You may find it useful when selecting a cache or two to find, to look at the terrain and the attributes. A 1 star terrain is often assigned to a wheelchair accessible cache. And I have found that the majority of 1.5 and 2 star terrain caches could be accessed with a wheelchair too. If it is possible to stand for periods of time then you will find that you can access a lot more caches. Maybe you could bring along another person who could reach up to the higher spots if standing is an issue.

 

My advice is to just give it a try, I find that geocaching is a great pastime for people young and old alike!

Have fun :)

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Terrain stars are not reliable, neither are wheelchair accessible icons.

Sometimes they are not even good indications.

Older caches are not adjusted to the 1 star guideline there is today and I also find that caches are often adjusted by cache owners after review (not realizing how important good indicators are to us).

Being a handicapped geocacher I always read the cache descriptions and look at the pictures.

 

People who are not handicapped do not always know whether a cache is wheelchair accessible or not

They just don't always think of what can be obstacles, except for the obvious ones.

 

The most important thing is knowing what you are and are not capable of and knowing the level of performance of your wheelchair or scooter.

Make a list of obstacles that are important for you.

I often write cache owners in advance with some extra questions regarding things that are important to me.

I find that to cache owners to be very helpful and I always get an answer, but I also find that there are some things CO's didn't take in consideration at all when placing the cache.

 

You can consult handicaching.com and also write down your experiences on this site.

 

Maybe I'm lucky because I live in the Netherlands (which is a rather flat country) but there certainly are some awesome caches out there for us to find too :)

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