Do You Plan Your Route?

[+Laughing at the Sky]

When you plan a day's geocaching, do you actually plan out your route? Or do you just do a pocket query for an area and then just randomly go wherever the arrow happens to point you?

[+Touchstone]

For the most part, I plan my route.

[+redsox_mark]

A mixture.

 

If the caches are all walking distance from each other (park the car once then walk), then always have a detailed route. Though I may deviate from it... I might notice a cache not far away that I didn't include in my initial route/plan for example.

 

If the caches require driving to multiple locations, them I might start with an initial rough route, but I tend to then move into "what's nearby" mode.

 

Or sometimes I'm just en route between A and B (for a non-caching reason) and decide to look for caches on the spur of the moment, no plan or route at all.

[+on4bam]

When you plan a day's geocaching, do you actually plan out your route? Or do you just do a pocket query for an area and then just randomly go wherever the arrow happens to point you?

 

I keep an updated database of the caches in Belgium and when planning a day out we first look for a few locations we like (avoiding events that might interfere with our activities). Next is looking for caches we want/like to do (multi, Wherigo, solved mysteries ...). After selecting these in GSAK I add traditionals in the area just in case we come across any along the way. Then we look for unsolved mysteries that we might solve. Then all is loaded into the GPS and to GDAK on the tablet. We also make a list so we know the order we want to do the caches (we might do a nearby multi halfway the one we start first and continue afterwards.

 

So we're well prepared for our outings most of the time knowing exactly what we're going to do. Our selection is (a lot) more than we can do in one day so we're flexible in case something unexpected should happen.

[+JL_HSTRE]

I often plan my route.

[+AustinMN]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. More and more, I make a list of caches I'm thinking about chasing that day, but not planning a specific route.

[+Shinook & White Juan]

We plan our route, and then do a pockey query of our destination.

[+SwineFlew]

With GSAK. Its more powerful than GS plan a route.

[+dprovan]

I plan a route, do a pocket query, and the go see where the arrow takes me. When I go at lunch, I have to plan the route so I can get back to work at a reasonable time, but that doesn't mean I don't change my plan if something comes up I wasn't expecting. If I'm in a cache dense area, "just a tenth of a mile further" comes up a lot...

 

On weekends, when I have my lovely assistant with me, I plan the route much more carefully because I need to be able to express an exact plan in advance, but then I don't expect the plan to pan out because she normally wants to cut the route short once we're there.

[+narcissa]

We usually pick a starting point and an area we'd like to cover, and then play it by ear once we get out there.

[+TheOldfields]

Definitely plan a route using this wonderful app: http://geo.inge.org.uk/gme.htm#install

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Originally, I used to be less planned. I would just load a pocket query for an area and then see where the GPS took me. These days I think I prefer to plan the route, so the main objective is to have a good walking route planned. I like to know where I'm going, how far I'm likely to walk, and how long it's likely to take me.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Laughing at the Sky

[+niraD]

For "a day's geocaching", I usually plan my route. I don't always stick to the plan completely, but I do have a plan.

 

But I don't do "a day's geocaching" very often. Usually, I just pick up a cache or three as opportunity allows. Even when I was maintaining a streak, I didn't usually plan much, other than making a point of finding a nearby cache whenever I was somewhere away from my main blast radius.

[+jellis]

Yes. Depending on the area I do a loop so you don't have to back track over found caches. If an area has only one way, cache the right side caches one way and the other side on the way back.

[+humboldt flier]

I am a planner, however, some flexibility is needed.

 

This past weekend I put in 1800 miles beginning in The Redwoods zig zagged all over the southern and eastern reaches of the state through Death Valley and back to N. Central Calif.

 

Original route was to go through the Sierra Nevada's and drop south, however, a storm front blasted through the Sierra's and made things grind to a halt soooooooooooooooooo, I ran the route in reverse order via Ventura, Calif. thence via a zig zag route into the Lake Havasu City area on into Nevada the Death Valley, out through Lone Pine / Olancha into Ridgecrest / Trona / Barstow / Needles / Mojave / Tehachapi.

 

Planning, planning, planning with a large measure of flexibility and the ability to see through bug guts on the windshield.

 

I kind of feel that the fuel companies might be supporters of this zany activity.

[+humboldt flier]

Yes. Depending on the area I do a loop so you don't have to back track over found caches. If an area has only one way, cache the right side caches one way and the other side on the way back.

 

A big 10-4 to that

[+edscott]

Yes always. I print out a map to the area I want to cover then number the caches in the most logical order to do them. Sometimes it is a combination of driving and hiking sometimes it is an all day walk, but I never leave the house without a plan. Of course things happen and the plan sometimes has to be altered on the fly.

[+Inmountains]

I found a cache today that I did not even know was there until I went to lunch. Most of my caches are "on the fly", I just don't like planning. I would guess that over half my finds are "just because I was in the area." And as narc said, most days that I have multiple finds, I go to one that I planned, and then do a "nearest cache" search to see what else I can grab. The most planning I do is when I figure out a puzzle cache or am trying to complete a challenge. Even then, I grab caches that I had not planned on grabbing.

[+on4bam]

Without planning you might get a surprise when trying to find some caches. Some need 2 liters of water, others need a magnet on a 2m wire, UV light to read tags or other tool.

OK if you just do roadside micro's but not when doing multi's or the "better" traditionals.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Yes always. I print out a map to the area I want to cover then number the caches in the most logical order to do them. Sometimes it is a combination of driving and hiking sometimes it is an all day walk, but I never leave the house without a plan. Of course things happen and the plan sometimes has to be altered on the fly.

 

That's a great idea, printing a map and numbering them. Useful if you're doing a long day out of lots of caches.

 

But also, I only recently started using the routes function on my etrex 10. That means I can plan a route consisting of caches, which is great.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

I found a cache today that I did not even know was there until I went to lunch. Most of my caches are "on the fly", I just don't like planning. I would guess that over half my finds are "just because I was in the area." And as narc said, most days that I have multiple finds, I go to one that I planned, and then do a "nearest cache" search to see what else I can grab. The most planning I do is when I figure out a puzzle cache or am trying to complete a challenge. Even then, I grab caches that I had not planned on grabbing.

 

It's interesting the different approaches people have to geocaching. To me, it's funny that people would spontaneously find geocaches just because they are in an area. Whereas for me, the main point of geocaching is that it takes me to interesting places that I might not consider visiting otherwise.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I found a cache today that I did not even know was there until I went to lunch. Most of my caches are "on the fly", I just don't like planning. I would guess that over half my finds are "just because I was in the area." And as narc said, most days that I have multiple finds, I go to one that I planned, and then do a "nearest cache" search to see what else I can grab. The most planning I do is when I figure out a puzzle cache or am trying to complete a challenge. Even then, I grab caches that I had not planned on grabbing.

 

It's interesting the different approaches people have to geocaching. To me, it's funny that people would spontaneously find geocaches just because they are in an area. Whereas for me, the main point of geocaching is that it takes me to interesting places that I might not consider visiting otherwise.

Back in the old days, geocaching was about finding places, as in, "Here's yet another park I didn't know about." Different things mixed in such as who can be the first one there, who can hide something in plain sight, and how many can I find in a day? The rules Guidelines changed as the RASH (Recreational Activity, Sport, Hobby) grew and more people found out about it. Not all changes were good and some even drove geocachers away because it was no longer the same thing they started out doing. Some even tried starting other websites so they would have more control over keeping the RASH more focused on their way of geocaching.

 

Despite all the changes and that not everyone likes every part of how it has grown, you can still choose how you geocache. No one can force you to post DNFs when you don't find a cache. No one can force you to like power trails or even micros for that matter. You can put together your own parameters and only look for the kinds of caches you think you will like. You don't even have to plan your day, just look on your phone or GPSr and see what cache is closest and go for it if you want to.

 

Geocaching - something different for everyone

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Nicely put, Team GPSaxophone. I think that's a big thing, having flexibility built into the website to allow people to define geocaching in their own terms. A while back I was temporarily obsessed with finding travel bugs and geocoins, so I felt like I was playing a different game to most other geocachers for a while. Now I feel like I've evolved, and feel like the main thing for me is go use geocaching as an excuse to have nice days out in different places I might not have bothered visiting. Unlike some people, I'm not actually particularly interested in my score, but that's totally fair enough if that's what gets other people excited. I'd rather have a nice day out than rush to find 50 caches in one day or whatever. For me, it's nicer to plan a good route taking in 10-20 caches, rather than frantically dash all over the place.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Laughing at the Sky

[+Wet Pancake Touring Club]

When long times and distances are involved, I research caches that I specifically want to find, or may be 'special'. I am working on several GeoTours, a Jasmer challenge, a D/T matrix challenge, and a favorites challenge. So, these are the caches that I plan around. I do use third party software to organize everything, by adding tags to the cache name. These tags are unique, and easy to filter on the GPSr. I load ALL (planned and unplanned) of the caches in the area onto the GPSr. So, I can easily focus on the caches I really want to find by filtering, yet also look for opportunity caches by removing the filter.

 

My tags are:

 

Dhv - D/T matrix

Jhv - Jasmer

Fhv - Favorites challenge

Thv - GeoTour

 

I can filter on the specific tag, or on 'hv' to get all tagged caches.

 

Skye.

[+redsox_mark]

 

It's interesting the different approaches people have to geocaching. To me, it's funny that people would spontaneously find geocaches just because they are in an area. Whereas for me, the main point of geocaching is that it takes me to interesting places that I might not consider visiting otherwise.

 

For me it is both.

 

Sometimes I choose a place to go geocaching, as it looks an interesting area and/or good caches there.

 

Othertimes life brings me to a place, and whilst I'm there I look for caches. Even in this case, they can bring me to interesting places.

 

Life takes me to Qatar on Monday. I will try and find some caches while I am there, and I expect that will be interesting.

[+niraD]

Sometimes I choose a place to go geocaching, as it looks an interesting area and/or good caches there.

 

Othertimes life brings me to a place, and whilst I'm there I look for caches. Even in this case, they can bring me to interesting places.

+1

 

A couple years ago, a business trip took me to Massachusetts. While I was there, geocaching took me to a number of places that I wouldn't have visited during that trip otherwise, including an afternoon wandering around the MIT campus exploring its public art.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Sometimes I choose a place to go geocaching, as it looks an interesting area and/or good caches there.

 

Othertimes life brings me to a place, and whilst I'm there I look for caches. Even in this case, they can bring me to interesting places.

+1

 

A couple years ago, a business trip took me to Massachusetts. While I was there, geocaching took me to a number of places that I wouldn't have visited during that trip otherwise, including an afternoon wandering around the MIT campus exploring its public art.

 

That's a good way to look at it actually. Perhaps while we're in an area, geocaching can take us to hidden corners of that area that we would otherwise not have seen. That's a really good point actually. And I think that should always be something to keep in mind when people hide new caches - you should be bringing people to an interesting place.

[+redsox_mark]

[

That's a good way to look at it actually. Perhaps while we're in an area, geocaching can take us to hidden corners of that area that we would otherwise not have seen. That's a really good point actually. And I think that should always be something to keep in mind when people hide new caches - you should be bringing people to an interesting place.

 

I agree.

 

I've also found many interesting hidden corners from geocaching in/near the city I live in that I never knew about before.

[+marshajean]

I used to just load a pocket query and go where the arrow took me, but not anymore. Now I plan my route and find that I am much more efficient and can actually get many more caches in. I can more easily look at the cache descriptions and logs, so I can see if there are many recent DNF's. I can do a print out for multi's so I can more easily 'do the math', or whatever it takes to reach Stage 2. Also, I find I am more confident in an area I am unfamiliar with because I recognize the roads and have a better idea where to turn and where the caches are located. Plus...it's a lot of fun the night before checking things out!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Sometimes I choose a place to go geocaching, as it looks an interesting area and/or good caches there.

 

Othertimes life brings me to a place, and whilst I'm there I look for caches. Even in this case, they can bring me to interesting places.

+1

 

A couple years ago, a business trip took me to Massachusetts. While I was there, geocaching took me to a number of places that I wouldn't have visited during that trip otherwise, including an afternoon wandering around the MIT campus exploring its public art.

 

That's how I do most of my geocaching. Some places, however, have very few geocaches so I just take what i can get.

 

I had a business meeting at MIT a few years ago (before geocaching). "Interesting" architecture. Although I didn't geocache I did go to a baseball game at Fenway. I'll be at a conference in Cambridge in August and will hopefully be able to do some more caching in Massachusetts as all of the previous caches I've found in the state were while traveling to/from Maine along I-90.

 

 

[+Trucker Lee]

Normally I just follow the whim, but am planning a journey to pick up some counties for the Texas County Challenge. For that I am considering finding the 10 most favored caches in each county then planning a route that will take me to at least two in each county. The others are bonus and spares.

[+GrateBear]

I plan it after I download the PQ for the area. Decide which way to go initially, then follow the road from there.