Geocaching in the Middle of the Night.

[Guest Peanuthead]

I heard a RUMOR that there is a dude in Northern California that does ALL of his Geocaching in the middle of the night. I heard that one guy checked a couple of his caches at dusk and again the next dawn and that this dude came through and logged two of his caches and time-dated them like 2 or 3 in the morning. I heard this third hand.

Anybody else know anything about this, or know of anyone else who caches at night ?!

[Guest Random]

Haven't heard anything about the California guy, but I can speak for myself. Granted I've only just started (only 9 caches found) but I've done a couple late at night/early morning. I think it totally depends on where the cache is. The couple I hit at night were in urban areas so there was no danger of getting eaten by a bear or falling off a cliff. There's a definite advantage about night caching too...you don't have to worry about giving away the location to passersby. Anyway, if your initial disbelief was about hunting caches in the woods...then yeah, I'd say that's pretty dangerous, but if you haven't hit an urban one at night I'd recommend doing it at least once

[Guest Random]

Haven't heard anything about the California guy, but I can speak for myself. Granted I've only just started (only 9 caches found) but I've done a couple late at night/early morning. I think it totally depends on where the cache is. The couple I hit at night were in urban areas so there was no danger of getting eaten by a bear or falling off a cliff. There's a definite advantage about night caching too...you don't have to worry about giving away the location to passersby. Anyway, if your initial disbelief was about hunting caches in the woods...then yeah, I'd say that's pretty dangerous, but if you haven't hit an urban one at night I'd recommend doing it at least once

[Guest PneumaticDeath]

I don't know about all, but O-Man has done a few. Check out the first log entry for Trifecta. I had enough trouble with that one during the day. I certainly haven't had the gumption to try night geocaching (yet).

 

-- Mitch

[Guest Snowtrail]

Yeah, somebody found my urban cache at 1 am. Not a good idea seeing as how the police are arresting anyone in the park due to the vagrancy problem. Plus, there are numerous other illegal activities going on in the park after hours. I had to change the description on the cache to suggest people visit in daylight.

[Guest Steveonne]

The Nightsea Cache,GC96D, is a cache that one can only find at night. I haven't gone for it yet, but the next time I'm near it at night I will.

 

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

It's what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning

[Guest The 19th]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peanuthead:

I heard a RUMOR that there is a dude in Northern California that does ALL of his Geocaching in the middle of the night.

---

 

I'm a fairly new geocacher from NorCal, but I definitely do not go seeking in the wee hours of the morning. I usually do it at dusk because I get out of work around 6pm or early morning on the weekends. I did get caught after the sun set backtracking from a find, and it was one of the more spookier things I have done.

 

I haven't seen any posts from this person on the West/SW forum, unless they're not saying so... hehe

[Guest BGSkierNC]

My latest cache find was started at night with a small group. See http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=4094 .

First time any of us had cached at night. Lends a different

aspect to the hunt, more of an adventure. Of course, the

three of us stayed together while tromping through the woods

and we did see a pair of eyes of some animal in our flashlights

in the distance. Probably a fox or coyote or something. That

was spooky since you couldn't see beyond the beam of my light.

The worst part was all the spider webs spanning between trees,

and some webs had BIG spiders in them! We agreed before we left

home that if one of us felt unsafe, we would stop and return

home. This sport is not worth risking your life.

 

Everything looks and sounds different at night. All the common

sense rules for animals, snakes, and poisonous plants still apply

at night. I'm no expert, but would recommend getting a bright

flashlight and taking a cell phone and not going alone.

I got my flashlight from

http://www.cutleryshoppe.com/index_catalog.html

then click on Flashlights, or you can try

http://www.cases4less.com/list_accessory_pelican.html .

 

As for any, cache, I try think about what I would do if X

happened, where X is anything from bad weather to GPS failure

to snakebite to radioactive giant ants! OK, maybe a little

extreme, but you get the idea. Plan ahead, be alert. "Let's

be careful out there" (Hill Street Blues, circa 1984).

BG

[Guest adventuretom]

I eat enough spider webs during the day, I can't imagine it at night! I am now in the habit of carrying a stick out in front of my face to keep the spiders out of my hair.

[Guest rijn]

I have seen quite a few posts in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area caches of people going out at night to hunt caches. I used to think that they were nuts... but now it is beginning to look appealing in order to escape the heat. I have been considering night hunting on some of the lower difficulty caches.

 

~Maat

[Guest ideology]

We've done night sorties to the Wombat Stash, The Monkey Trail, Micro Cache Cash 2 and The French, er, Americans, er, Russians are coming. Photos on our web site.

 

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

http://ideology.com.au/geocaching

[Guest mtnsteve]

Perhaps it's because I do lots of full moon hikes and cross country ski, but I'm seeing a whole new side to this sport.

 

I realize that not all caches would make good night hikes and that winter cacheing opens a whole new category, but I like the idea! Kinda like "adventure caching"...finding your way with only moon light or skiing and snowshoeing x-c to locate the cache sounds like a more sporting adventure for those that like to push their limits.

 

I think this could add a new level of commitment, kinda like 5.12 cacheing.

[Guest Jebediah]

Try a light that doesn't spoil your night vision. LED lights give softer illumination without blinding glare. Green or red LEDs are particularly suitable - look for a color that won't wash out important colors on your topo map.

[Guest Alex]

My kids and I set one at night (Canberra Nature Park) which has been found at night by at least one party. It is on a clear hill so there is no scrub bashing involved, just twisted ankles and tumbledowns.

[Guest Snowtrail]

Adventuretom, I have a habit of putting my forearm (don't have a walking stick) in front of my face like a karate block for those spiderwebs...

[Guest Nemesis]

I went to check on one of my caches after dark (Botanical Gardens (Dunedin)), it was buried in dense bush with a flag nearby marking the spot. Needless to say, it was really hard to find, after half an hour or so I tripped over the flag. Maybe I should have made my flag out of reflectorised tape so that it could be found easily at night!

 

Cheers,

Donovan.

[Guest bunkerdave]

Went out on the 4th of July, just after midnite, and found two that were 80 miles from my home. had a nice little drive by the full moon, and one was in the cemetery of a Ghost town. Pretty creepy. It does add a whole different aspect, however.