who are the women cachers out there?

[Guest mfratto]

It hits me that there are a lot of women in this sport, and just want to hear from you gals. Do you do this on your own? With family or significant others? What do you think about caching?

 

I always find it a bit annoying that many caches are directed to men or small children, though I think things have been getting a little better in our area lately (more women joining in, go Diane!). We try to leave caches with prizes that might be interesting or useful for everyone, all ages.

 

My husband heard of caching from a colleague, and after our first cache, I was quickly addicted -- we are equal partner cachers, it's not like I "tag along." But when we were shopping for items for hiding our first cache, he started getting all the guy stuff, and I was like, "hey, wait a minute..."

 

He loves it though, because though we always love to do things outdoors, caching gets me "off trail" more than I normally would do -- I get very focused when hunting a cache, and don't mind stepping in, through, over, or eating as many gnats or misquitos as needed to get to the goodies, LOL. Your story and thoughts?

 

Mauri, of Mauri and Mike

[Guest rusty]

My wife and I always cache together but she is not at all into computers so I guess my reply is from a guys point of view.

 

We usually take turns with the GPS and she will leave hair things or other 'womens junk' We just placed our first cache last week and she picked out most of the contents for that, I nixed the trashy romance novel with the half naked guy on the cover, you just have to draw the line somewhere

 

Rusty...

[Guest Cache-potato]

Rusty, same here, wife loves it, however, not real good with the computer but, hey, I'm no good at shopping. We all have out weak points.

 

[This message has been edited by Cache-potato (edited 01 July 2001).]

[Guest Peanuthead]

Uh...Rusty, Cache-Potato,...Mauri said she wanted to hear from the gals, not you blokes.

[Guest Lazyboy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peanuthead:

Uh...Rusty, Cache-Potato,...Mauri said she wanted to hear from the gals, not you blokes.

---

 

My wife would love to reply to this tread peanuthead, but she's really busy thinking of something for me to do. My wife also doesn't do the computer but she has her own gps and usually beats me to the cache when we close in.

[Guest mfratto]

You guys have me totally cracking up -- good to know wives are influencing the contents of caches and finding the boxes first, heheh.

 

Now of course, you know they can "do" the computer, y'all are just afraid to let them near it....

 

Mauri

[Guest bradrobb]

When I bought the GPS the wife said what do we need that for???????

 

I set up my first Cache and she went to check it with me and used the GPS to find it.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=2347&Nocache=0.7055475

 

It have pictures of her there and she liked trading the Girl Guide badges someone left.

 

So the geocaching helped to ease the expense of the GPS and justify it.

 

My 2 cents worth.

 

Brad

[Guest sandip]

Rhonda, Katie and I just found our first cache yesterday and we are hooked. Caching appeals to us on a number of different levels-we love computers, the internet , technology and gadgets. We get to use all those and get out in nature! The cache is an added bonus. I think more women, as they hear about caching, will flock to it. I'm telling everybody I know about it.

Sandi

[Guest sjs102]

I first heard about geocaching in an article in Smart Computing on "Games to Play with Your Electronic Toys". After checking out the website, thought it sounded pretty neat, and borrowed a friends GPS to try it out. We have a group or about 6-5 adults and 4-6 kids that usually get together to go cache hunting. I'm the one who does all the electronic leg work - ie looking up the caches, figuring out how to get to them, etc. The guys in our group are not real computer literate - so it's not just a guy thing. I like geocaching because it is something you can do as a group/family, and not be limited by age or talent - everyone has fun. It also gives us an excuse to get together and drive around to area parks that we've always heard of, but never had the chance to see. Also there is nothing more humbling then having all the adults trying to figure out where the cache is based on the gps & compass, and have the little guy who's poking around under the trees say "do you think it's this box covered up with sticks?" This is a great activity for everyone.

[Guest Ttepee]

I first heard about geocaching in an email support group for parents of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) kids. This sport/game couldn't be more well written for me and my son. I have always described him as the Daniel Boone type of our day. This is something that we can do together where we work, sweat, and reap the rewards together... 85% of the time without arguing...which is a real feat for us! And 95% of the time he is the winner (which can be tough in our soceity for an adhd kid)... he's just so in tune to the environment around him. I just love it and can't say enough good about it. I'm just as hooked if not more than my son is... but the great thing is we have a similar drive.

 

My favorite is to cache with him alone but we both love to share it. My boyfriend kinda puts up with my obsession with it and will hunt with us when he's otherwise unobligated (dadgum he slipped up;-) .. but I invite my son's friends and cousins on most every hunt we go on. It's just too much fun not to share!

[Guest rijn]

I have found a few items in caches you could say might be more for women one was a cooking computer cd, some ?as seen on TV? stuff, and first aid stuff like Band-Aids. (Have you ever known a man that willingly put on a Band-Aid? My husband won?t.)

 

When we place a cache I go and do all the legwork of getting the container and the goodies for the inside. I like to put things in the cache that represent both of our likes so for him it is always something Star Wars and for me it is a classical c.d. or a book. Then we go out together and find a site.

 

As for Rusty?s wife I say go ahead and put the romance novel in the cache you know someone will pick it up and it could possibly be a guy. I bet they always want to read one to see what it is like but would never buy one at a store.

 

Maat

of Me, Maat and Rijn

[Guest k]

As soon as I read about geocaching, I knew where I was going to spend that garage sale money! Made enough to buy an e-Trex Legend, and my geocaching began. I usually go with my son (husband can't go because of disability), and most recently we took one of my friends and her daughter. True, most of the items in the caches are not geared toward women (though in one I found a beautiful butterfly magnet that no man would pick up) but even with the cache I placed last month, most things were either outdoors/camping related or for children -- so I'm guilty of gender-bias, too. The one I am placing this weekend will be scout-related, so I can't mend my ways just yet. We will be going up to Montana in a few weeks and plan on doing some geocaching up there, so maybe I'll take along something more feminine to place in the caches. Oh, I just remembered that once I picked out a scarab bead from Egypt. Maybe I'll start putting interesting beads in the caches for others.

Marcy

[Guest mfratto]

I'm so happy to be hearing from y'all -- yeah, my husband won't wear bandaids either, but I don't blame him, he's hairy and taking them off is pretty tough!

 

I think camping items, etc are great -- they are more unisex -- even tools, etc., are useful for women, and I personally have been waiting to find a pocket knife, which I would like to have (I could buy it, but I would rather wait and maybe find one in a cache). So I think all items don't need to be explicitly "girlie" (though some of those might be nice, too -- even for little kids, most of the toys I have seen tend to be boyish, so in one cache we left some pretty girl things for hair, etc).

 

I would definitely take the romance novel, especially if it was Nora Roberts -- they read so fast and are pricey, so good to get one for free!

 

Maybe my point is more to have a selection of useful items that aren't like cable wires or wrenches, etc...or at least to have a selection, and maybe even a few "girlie" things.

 

Either way, I am just really glad to hear from grrl-cachers (as Anton calls us, hahaha)

 

Mauri

[Guest Squad51]

Team Squad51 is comprised of 11 year old Tony and his mom. I can't get anyone else to go with me! Most of the men I know are too lazy to get off the couch...LOL! As for trashy romance novels? Nah, give me the latest Stephen King and I'll be happy! I enjoy caching, but I will admit I'd feel a bit safer running deep into the Rockies with an adult male around! Eep! Was that an admission of weakness on my part?

[Guest Snowtrail]

I'm the gadgethead in my family, my husband is ex-Army and thinks that a GPS is cheating.

 

I tend to go out by myself. I can't really find anyone to go with, and usually it's a last minute thing - 'I had the GPS in the car, I knew there was one on the way home, well I -can- try to find it before dark even though I don't have the clues, but it's rated 1/1 how hard can it be anyway?'

 

As for the 'girl' things in the caches, I don't really care. If there's something I don't really want, I just put it in the next cache. I am fond of placing movie tickets in the caches, so it's more of a uni-sex all age kind of thing.

 

I have read a lot of women going with family, or others, but are there any women who go alone? What are you doing for safety?

[Guest mfratto]

Safety is an important issue. I did one cache alone, and since I teach, I have more daytime off in the summer and have thought of going out on my own when hub is working. I keep bug spray within reach, which I think can work as "mace" as well as bug reprellent. Also, the one time I went alone, I went to a fairly well-travelled area in the late morning when lots of joggers were out, which made it harder to hide the cache, but made it safer.

 

Although if you are hiking in mountains or real wild areas, you also have to think about encountering wildlife, cougars, bears, etc, eh? Any tips about that? The most we have to worry about here would be a skunk or a raccoon, but I am curious about safety precautions for more wild areas.

 

Mauri

[Guest Snowtrail]

I am an avid hiker, and love to go in more remote areas alone. It clears my mind to not have any distractions other than the natural.

 

As for safety in the wilderness, I feel safer there than I do in more urban cache areas. Large animals will more likely than not try to get away from you. Mama bears just out of hibernation with her cubs are the one rare exception. Just stay out of those areas, and don't feed them. Mace will also work, but unfortunately, you have to be close to the wild creature to spray it. I have used it once on a Rottweiler/Pit Bull mix. It was very effective.

 

In town, I guess you should let someone know where you go, with coords if possible. Carry a cell phone, mace and if somebody follows you into the woods, leave. If you have a conceal-carry permit, by all means, use it. But most parks do not allow firearms, so just do a little research before you go.

 

Don't hunt at night. I found early in the morning better because most of the people I run into are runners, or other recreational type people who aren't looking for trouble.

 

Bring a big dog. When I walk a German Shepherd, people go out of their way to avoid me. It's not even my dog, it's my neighbors.

 

Don't become a statistic.

[Guest Anton]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mfratto:

Although if you are hiking in mountains or real wild areas, you also have to think about encountering wildlife, cougars, bears, etc, eh? Any tips about that? The most we have to worry about here would be a skunk or a raccoon, but I am curious about safety precautions for more wild areas.

 

Mauri

---

 

Mauri,

 

Don't forget about the fresh-water sharks we have here in Upstate New York. They're small, but powerful carnivores, and they've been known to snag napping canoers right over the side. You're gone in a flash of pearly white teeth. Yikes!

 

Anton, 10H/9F

 

 

------------------

Anton Ninno - N2RUD

Syracuse, NY 13210

[Guest mfratto]

Right-o Anton -- saw plenty of them when we were planting the Cayuga Conundrum Cache on Saturday, but I find that a supply of Snickers candybars in the canoe, one tossed overboard from time to time, will appease the shark gods and bring safe canoeing

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anton:

Mauri,

 

Don't forget about the fresh-water sharks we have here in Upstate New York. They're small, but powerful carnivores, and they've been known to snag napping canoers right over the side. You're gone in a flash of pearly white teeth. Yikes!

 

Anton, 10H/9F

 

 

---

 

 

[This message has been edited by mfratto (edited 05 July 2001).]

[Guest Peanuthead]

Mauri,

 

The general consensus with cougar and bear is to look big and make a lot of noise.

Raise your hands above your head, wave them, and yell at the son of a gun. The number one thing to remember is DO NOT RUN !! If you do, their instinct is to chase you and drag you down as if you were a deer. Ouchie !!

That is the general consensus.

 

- Peanuthead

Oregon (cougar and bear heartland of America)

[Guest mfratto]

So I take it no Snickers Bars then? Seriously, this is good stuff for everyone to know.

 

Cos you just never know!

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peanuthead:

Mauri,

 

The general consensus with cougar and bear is to look big and make a lot of noise.

Raise your hands above your head, wave them, and yell at the son of a gun. The number one thing to remember is DO NOT RUN !! If you do, their instinct is to chase you and drag you down as if you were a deer. Ouchie !!

That is the general consensus.

 

- Peanuthead

Oregon (cougar and bear heartland of America)

---

[Guest Leapgirl]

We're new to the sport and have only hidden one so far. I put it together. I was the one who read the Sunday newspaper article about the sport and got Hubby hooked. He works the GPS and I usually end up actually finding it. My sister and I are going hunting together in Kentucky in August.

 

[This message has been edited by Leapgirl (edited 06 July 2001).]

[Guest Maluso]

Hi Mauri... Well, you can count three women in this crew. Two women and a girl, anyway. I'm already an addict, my partner has come out a couple of times and helped me hide one the other day up in the 1000 Islands. My daughter thinks this stuff is fun and plans to go geocaching in Hawaii soon.

 

Later this summer I'm heading out for a two week road trip which will be mostly focused on geocaching. I'm still planning my route.... can't wait.

 

Diane in Ithaca

[Guest makaio]

s logging roughly 3500 vertical feet total, then did a third 4 mile round trip hike on comparatively level ground to another cache. While the ground was fairly level, the terrain was tough with 6 foot high grass and tight trails through thorny raspberry bushes which grabbed and tore at our clothes and skin most of the way. And she was wearing shorts! I offered to leave her in a safe shady spot while I went ahead but she wouldn't have it. She was going to find the cache with me come Hell of high water. I love this woman! Now we're home, the baby is bathed/fed and asleep and we're both exhausted from hiking 10-12 grueling miles with heavy loads. Looking forward to another family caching adventure.

 

The caches we found today...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=2558

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=1462

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=2738

[Guest Guppy]

I think I'm the true cacher in this family. My husband enjoys it but it always seems to be my idea to go and find one or place one. His cousin Chris is also very interested and comes with us when she can.

I put mostly general stuff in my cache. When I was shopping I did consider the hair things but then put them back. I'll get them next time.

Maybe Chris and I will make an all girl cache. Hmmmm.

[Guest Gossamyrrh]

32-year-old female from Georgia here....

 

I like to leave "practical" things in a cache....rubber bands for those with long hair, small cans of bug spray, so on and so forth....but I've been known to leave things like cans of Spam.

[Guest T-storm]

Hi, Mauri,

I'm female, 34, and fat and horribly out of shape. I just started this and hunt (and will soon place) caches with my husband and usually our 2-year-old daughter. As soon as hubby turned up this new hobby idea, I bought into it and was very excited waiting for our first chance to hunt. I made up a big list of potential "treasure" to leave in caches divided by adult and kiddo as well as a list of potential hidy holes for future cache placement. I'm generally not really into anything especially girly anyway, but looking back through my list I'd say it reflects things that I think of as useful or interesting regardless of gender. Having hunted and found our first caches now and still feeling quite hooked on the idea, I'm also sold on it as a reason to get off my backside and get some exercise! I really can't believe I actually put out a lot of physical effort and in the *heat* no less (I abhor heat) and had such a great time I can't wait for the next chance to do it! I've also introduced the geocaching concept to a friend in Houston and I think she's plotting a way to incorporate it into an outing for the GirlScout troop she leads. One thing we're doing from the beginning is leaving a small item (we selected a lapel pin bought in bulk) in each cache we find as a "calling card" of sorts in addition to whatever swapping we do. I really enjoy it as a great family outing.

 

T-storm

[Guest celts]

I've been caching for about a month and am hooked. a 53 year old retired RN, I go with my daughter, husband, sister---anyone who shows a remote interest. I love the thrill of the hunt, making a cache, all of it.I've only had 2 bumper stickers on vehicles in my life(Boston Celtics (big Larry Bird fan--same school and general area of country) and Gore for president. Now I am on a mission to get a third---GEOCACHING.COM. Please---anyone---where can I get a dozen of them????

[Guest Cisupete]

40 year old girl checking in from rural Indiana. I love to do both, hide 'em and find 'em. My whole family is addicted. Sure do wish the Hoosiers whould pick up the pace and hide a zillion new caches.

[Guest shuccrum]

I want to start geocaching but I am single and my children are all grown and in other states. I can't think of any of my friends who would be interested in this. Is this something I could do alone? How can I find other people close by that are into the sport?

 

[This message has been edited by shuccrum (edited 22 July 2001).]

[Guest Sluggo]

shuccrum,

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You wrote:

I want to start geocaching but I am single and my children are all grown and in other states. I can't think of any of my friends who would be interested in this. Is this something I could do alone? How can I find other people close by that are into the sport?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Here are my suggestions.

 

1. Read these postings for about 1 week.

 

2. Purchase an entry level (or used) GPS Unit (about$100).

 

3. Select a cache near your ZIP Code. (Any one that interest you and is within your capabilities.

 

4. Invite a friend to go to your first geocache hunt with you. (Any friend. If they aren't interested, ask them to do it as a favor to you).

 

5. If after the first geocache hunt your invited friend isn't "turned-on" by geocaching, then invite another to go on the second hunt with you.

 

6. Continue the process in steps 4 & 5 until you find someone who likes it and you enjoy going with.

 

7. Tell everybody that you meet what geocaching is and how much fun they can have.

 

8. After you have a local cadre of geocachers, upgrade your GPS unit to one that has all the bells and whistles.

 

9. Spend more money and time than you have on geocache hunts and geocache placements.

 

10. When you see a geocaching "want-a-be" post on this forum give them the same advice I gave you. HAPPINESS WILL INSUE!

 

Good luck and may all your hunts be successful,

 

- - Sluggo

 

[This message has been edited by Sluggo (edited 22 July 2001).]

[Guest Chris Juricich]

'mfratto' was curious about women who cached-- yet oddly, my first curiosity (and an old issue on messageboards)is...

 

"But, who are YOU, 'mfratto'? Are you male or female? And when somebody posts curiosity about 'women geocachers', I immediately suspect (a little) that the person asking is a guy looking for some connections. Hey! I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but the only 'issue' I have at times are folks whose online presences bring up gender topics. Makes me nervous,particularly if the poster's gender is uncertain!

 

Me, I'm Chris Juricich, a male, and I let it all hang out.

[Guest Chris Juricich]

On a simpler note, my wife actually got me started on this 'sport'. I was planning a promotional treasure hunt for a small business friend when she told me about geocaching. Within about a week of the discussion, I'd researched and bought my first GPS unit, and about two weeks later have done about 5 geocache hunts.

 

Great fun!!