New to this and no clue what I'm doing - help please!

[Andy324]

Started this with my niece who I'm now homeschooling and we just made our first stop at a place but couldn't find it anywhere. It was said to be an easy one and I can see lots of activity but we couldn't find anything anywhere. What are we even looking for?

ChatspinDate

Thanks

Edited September 28, 2021 by Andy324

[+kunarion]

11 hours ago, Andy324 said:

Started this with my niece who I'm now homeschooling and we just made our first stop at a place but couldn't find it anywhere. It was said to be an easy one and I can see lots of activity but we couldn't find anything anywhere. What are we even looking for?

 

Here's a basic info video to get started:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4q6sYuyfY&feature=youtu.be

There are more videos in The App.

 

To research a cache, go to the web site (In the App, there's an "open in browser" link at the bottom of any cache description).  Lots of info there.  At the top of a cache page, there's a link to the cache owner, "A cache by".  You can contact the cache owner and ask.

 

You can also get a lot of good info, ask questions, and even find caches, at a "Geocaching 101" Event, an informal get-together.  You can look for nearby Events on the Search page:  https://www.geocaching.com/play/search

 

Good luck!

 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by kunarion

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, Andy324 said:

Started this with my niece who I'm now homeschooling and we just made our first stop at a place but couldn't find it anywhere. It was said to be an easy one and I can see lots of activity but we couldn't find anything anywhere. What are we even looking for?

A common recommendation for beginners is to stick with small  size, regular  size, and large  size caches. Until you're more experienced, avoid micro  size caches, some of which are smaller than most beginners can imagine (sometimes called "nanos"). Save those for later, after you have some experience.

 

Also, stick with caches that have a difficulty rating of no more than 2 stars . Save the more difficult ones for later. You may also want to choose caches with easy terrain ratings. (The difficulty rating tells you how hard it is to find the cache once you get there. The terrain rating tells you how hard it is to get there.) And it is often best to start with traditional  caches, which will be at the published coordinates. Multi-caches  or mystery/puzzle caches  or other cache types can require more work just to figure out where the container is located.

 

However, some "easy" caches have low difficulty ratings because they're in the "usual spots". Experienced geocachers will know to search the "usual spots" right away, but new geocachers will have to learn about the "usual spots" before those caches will be easy for them to find.

 

Under ideal conditions, a consumer GPSr will be accurate to about 3m (10ft). That applies both to your device, and to the cache owner’s device, so you may find the container 5-6m (16-20ft) from ground zero under ideal conditions. Under less than ideal conditions, both GPSr readings can be much less accurate. Once you get within that distance of ground zero, put your device away and look around for places where a container could be hidden.

 

Where would you hide something? Do you notice anything unusual? Is anything too new, too old, too organized (e.g., UPS: an Unnatural Pile of Sticks/Stones), too symmetrical, not quite the right color or shape, etc.? Don’t look only on the ground; the cache may be knee-level, waist-level, eye-level, or overhead. How might the container be secured in place? With magnets? With a hook? With string? With fishing line? With something else? Does anything move when you touch it? (Be careful when touching things though.)

 

Go ahead and read the cache's additional hints (if provided), and read the past logs and look at any photos in the cache's image gallery. They may help you understand what you're looking for, and how/where it may be hidden. It may also help to look at some of the cache containers available online. For example, check out the cache containers sold by Groundspeak. Also, take a look at the Pictures - Cool Cache Containers (CCC's) thread in the forums, and check out some geocaching videos on YouTube.

 

See also:

• How to hone your Geo-Senses (blog post)

[Darwin473]

What helped me when I first started was to watch a bunch of YouTube videos on how to hide caches. This gave me a better idea on what to look for.

 

There was one "easy" and "obvious" cache that I couldn't find which was a magnetic strip with the GC code printed on it. Stood out like anything to someone with experience but because it was my first magnetic strip cache, I was looking for a container of some type and didn't even register that it was right in front of my face.

[+Jayeffel]

Can you let us know what the cache name and number is? Maybe that can give us something more to help you . The cache name is on Geocaching.com and the number will be on the cache page as well, probably upper right corner, GC______. 

 

We much be able to point you in the right direction. Look at the above advice, it is all good.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Jayeffel
grammar-twice!

[Andy324]

Thanks for your suggestions.

[+Ed_S]

On 9/22/2021 at 5:43 AM, Andy324 said:

Started this with my niece who I'm now homeschooling and we just made our first stop at a place but couldn't find it anywhere. It was said to be an easy one and I can see lots of activity but we couldn't find anything anywhere. What are we even looking for?

Where are you located? If you're anywhere around Amarillo TX I'll take you guys out caching and show you what's what. I'm sure some of the others here would do the same.