How did you know Geocaching?

[+saso_362]

I ran into a friend from High School while getting gas at a local station. He noticed my GPS sitting on the dash of my truck and told me a little about the sport and gave me the website URL. I have had numerous GPS Units for several years, but had never heard of geocaching. <p>

 

First thing I did when I got home was check out the site and see what was nearby. My first cache experience was a real downer. Couldn't find the cache, there was snow on the ground and the kids got covered in snow, sticktites and more mud than you could scrape off... <p>

 

But later that day I found the next cache I tried and I was hooked. Since then I have promoted it and have been responsible for adding six active local cachers.<p>

 

That was in March of this year and now 300+ caches and 200+ benchmarks later I now enjoy it more than any of my other old hobbies!<p>

 

PS - I went back and finally found that first cache I couldn't find after some considerable searching!

[+boulist44]

We were spending a few days with friends in Florida. An invitation was offered to go out on his boat and visit his cache on Makinson Island. During the boat ride he explained what a cache was " A box burried for someone else to find". Well I thought, they are not all locked up!.

Returned to Europe, bought a GPS and now there are 2 of us not locked up. Totally hooked now and hope to keep it that way. I search the web for anything to do with the sport.

[+Monkeybrad]

One of my best friends, FullCt, called and told me he had met somepeople who were into a sport I would love. He gave me the web address and I spent the next three days on the website. Went and bought an old GPS 12, hunted the one nearest my home, and then the next closest 7, by the end of the night I was hooked. My wife gave me a Garmin V for my birthday and we have never looked back.

[moose1961]

I first heard about Geocaching from my two boys Scoutmaster (and good friend). He had been told about it and went on a hunt the week before. My wife is a science teacher and she had purchased a Garmin GPS for a class she taught in highschool one year.... then the next year they did not offer that class. So I decided to check it out that was less than six months ago.... needless to say I am hooked,,,, still learning but none the less hooked.

[Fakk 2]

I first found out about geocaching by accident, I was doing a search at google and did a search on Stargate (tv series/movie) and a few other words, I was looking for a site that had the symbols from the rings. When the results come up, I follow a link to a Travel Bug called Stargate.I sort of read about the TB and thought, why?, then I went back to google and followed some other links. While the pages loaded, I went back to the browser that had the TB info and followed a couple other links when I saw about the caches and giving Long/Lat readings. I already owned a GPS mainly because I m horrible with directions and reading maps. I saw the concept and thought that "Hey I been waanting to do something like this, go out hide a treasure, and let someone find it concept" Only I wanted to make it a bit more tricky sort of like a treasure hunt I give them a map they have to find their way using the map (this from someone who can't read a regular Gas station Map fold up) Anywways, I look into the pages more and think well let me try one. I decide to do one not to far from where I live, and low and behold, I have wlaked by this very cache numerous times. As I am not one to walk a beaten path. I think wow, so I do a second one, This one in a different location that I have frequented, And to my astonishment I have walked by this cache a few times before as well. And been here ever since, though lately now I havent had tiome to cache, and only get to visit the site while at work.

 

GeoCache Pickup Line: Hey I'm looking for treasure, Can I look around your chest?

[+Czarniecki314]

My friend Gwen told me about it and took me along... instantly hooked!

 

Me and you and a dog named Boo...

[+Captain Morgan]

jhgrc showed me his GPSr and told about geocaching. I got instantly hooked...

[+makerofthingsup]

I simply put "gps treasure hunt" in google and there you go all I needed to know but dared not to ask

 

Manufacturer of the finest sense for over half an hour

[+Possum Posse]

We read an article in the newspaper about geocaching and thought it would be fun. We were right.

 

"Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us" - Thomas Paine

[+Divine]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Possum Posse:

We read an article in the newspaper about geocaching and thought it would be fun. We were right.

---

Ditto.

 

- I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory. -

[+Breaktrack]

I purchased a GPSr for my car in March of 2001. While browsing through the Garmin site in search of any updates and doodads for that unit I came across the link to Geocaching. The kids and I hit our first ever a couple of days later in June of 2001. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

"Afghanistan was a battle. Iraq was a battle. The war goes on."

[+Planet]

My cousin who has every techie toy there is had a GPS and told me about it. I didn't do anything about it for a while because I didn't have access to a GPS. Then my friend the bryno got a legend and I told him there was something we could do with it! We searched one nearby, ran back to the house, pulled a few more up, and the rest is history. At first I balked at doing the ones involving large elevation changes, not any more!

 

Yesterday I met a woman in the park and the story is here , she had heard of it and wants to try it.

 

Planet

[+Marsha and Silent Bob]

I was doing my daily reading on Slashdot and I came across this story.

 

It was posted 6/4/03... If you check my profile it shows that I joined geocaching.com on 6/5/03

 

The surfing that I did about geocaching immediately grabbed my attention. Hiking, techie stuff, and the Internet, excellent!

 

Used pricewatch.com and found the cheapest decent GPS (from my limited reading) and had it shipped next day to me.

 

I cached a few times in June but quickly lost interest due to the Minnesota State Bird (mosquitos) and the heat. I started back up in August after the weather/humidity had died down and the bugs had melted away.

 

I have (without trying) caused three people I know to start geocaching as well. Crazy stuff.

 

Silent Bob

[EcoTrekUSA]

I cached a few times in June but quickly lost interest due to the Minnesota State Bird (mosquitos) and the heat.  I started back up in August after the weather/humidity had died down and the bugs had melted away.

 

I have (without trying) caused three people I know to start geocaching as well.  Crazy stuff. Silent Bob

SEEK-ing extra cross-publicity for Saturday's (10-Jan-2004)

to help launch this state-wide MnGCA :: CITOday event

as a GeoScouting :&: HyperportCO-piloting promotion ...

 

NOTE :: This is a "take something, leave nothing" cache!

Bring your own "cache" container! <-( Trash-Out Bag ?)

 

:: HyperportCO-pilot CITOday <-(See last blurb)

 

More ( Geocaching :&: GeoScouting ) Resources ::

If you're looking for help, want to share photos or experiences,

check out the Cache In Trash Out forums. <-( InOp URLink ...)

It's a great place to get started.

 

Mahalo ...

Anticipatory Thinking Integrators @ VICnet-LLC

Via: EcoTrekUSA

"Geocache Hitchhiker" :&: GeoScouting Advocate

[Team Lizzzard]

Well, I was kinda interested in this GPS technology for quite a while and some day in July 2003, I decided I needed to have a GPS receiver - without an actual immediate use for it, merely as a gadget I simply wanted to try. While doing some web-research on GPS in general as well as different models and manufacturers of GPSrs, I stumbled across geocaching. I thought it sounded quite exciting. So I got myself a Garmin GPS72 and a few days later went and got my first cache. And I have to say it changed my life. I think I never before spent so much time and enthusiasm on another obsession or hobby.

Best of all, the other half of Team Lizzzard enjoys it just as much as I do, she sometimes might be even a bit more ambitious about it than I am!

[+Imajika]

Some friends were visiting from Texas and they showed me their Etrex. I started playing around with it and thought it was pretty cool. Then they told me about geocaching and this web site. I looked around this site and decided I HAD to get my own GPS and take up this wonderful hobby.

 

And if you're near College Station, TX you can visit my friends virtual cache.

 

[TimSkells]

I found out from the WG site

[+MarcB]

I'm very proud to say I must have an unique story!

Back in 2002 I was on a puzzle website which involved some encrypted text. Me being a lazy begger copyed the text into Google but ended up with nothing back.

Then I pasted "cbyvpr" into the search engine which got me this...

Result

and what should be the first result but this page...

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=4972

...where in one log someone had encrypted the word "police" (which is "cbyvpr"). Intrigued by this I investigated the site and found out that "Geocaching" sounded good fun!

Looking back, this is a great example of how the smallest of things can change your life...

MarcB

[+Stump]

A friend of mine in California told me about it a couple of years ago. I looked into it but couldn't justify getting a GPS unit for the couple of caches that were a few hours from here.

 

Last summer I was looking at GPS units and trying to come up with an excuse to buy one when I remembered my friends old hobby. Checked out the website and found that there were many more including one a few miles away. Ordered an eTrex and have been busy every since.

[+pnew]

Geocaching was my father

 

I never knew him until I was about 20

 

Since then we have become close

 

very close

 

then it happened...

 

[sorry for the suspense... uhh my keyboard just suddenly stopped working]

[+dasein]

Wil Wheaton told me about it. Well at least his blog did. Wil Wheaton's blog page

[+radioscout]

I have read about it on a mailing list for boy scouts.

[uperdooper]

my brother made me do it.

[+geoguyver]

I asked for a GPS for Xmas and remembered the "Project Ape" last year si I did a search on the internet for "GPS treasure hunt" and was directed to geaocaching.com.

[+crzycrzy]

I was introduced by my friend Robert.

He has an incredibly nice GPS.

Mine is a piddlin 3rd place...

Then again, I do love my Legend.

[+RAH&MMH]

I ran into a friend from High School while getting gas at a local station. He noticed my GPS sitting on the dash of my truck and told me a little about the sport and gave me the website URL. I have had numerous GPS Units for several years, but had never heard of geocaching. <p><BR><BR>First thing I did when I got home was check out the site and see what was nearby. My first cache experience was a real downer. Couldn't find the cache, there was snow on the ground and the kids got covered in snow, sticktites and more mud than you could scrape off... <!--graemlin:--><p><BR><BR>But later that day I found the next cache I tried and I was hooked. Since then I have promoted it and have been responsible for adding six active local cachers.<p><BR><BR>That was in March of this year and now 300+ caches and 200+ benchmarks later I now enjoy it more than any of my other old hobbies!<p><BR><BR>PS - I went back and finally found that first cache I couldn't find after some considerable searching! <!--graemlin:-->

 

Not sure if he considers me "an active cacher" but I am certainly one who learned from SASO_362. And used one of his GPS units until I got my own. Thanks.

[+lumacafi]

Hola Garri.

 

Oddly enough i found about geocaching on CNN, on an article about a cache being blown apart by authorities in the US, i read the full story, and found the concept of treasure hunt very appealing.

Next day i bought my first GPSr.

 

Like some say, bad publicity is better than no publicity.

[+nekom]

I'd heard the word before, but didn't know what it was. Earlier this year I e-mailed a local historian about the status of an old railroad tunnel, he told me that a friend of his who was into geocaching had told him the tunnel still stands. hmm.. Geocaching, eh? Well, I bought a GPS, found the tunnel, and the cache

[+Wild Thing 73]

It was in Quartszite, AZ, while camping on BLM land in the middle of nowhere, that a friend from the past said that they had coordinates to find a "hidden treasure" (a cache) I plugged the settings into my Delorme map program, which I use for navigating the highways and byways in our Motorhome, and set out (about 3 miles from our camp) to find this "treasure" no joy, no handheld GPS. I was unaware that it was Geocaching. When we arrived home, I was reading a RV mag and an article on geocaching. I called my friend and asked if that "treasure" coordinates were related to geocaching? Yep it was

[+llatnek]

I think I heard about it first from Kim Komando (Digital Goddess), either from her radio show or one of her newsletters.

[+Team Cotati]

We went to different schools together.

[+AllenFamilyCachers]

My wife's aunt rounded up about a dozen of my neices & nephews and took them all out. One of the kids was my daughter... so my wife and I went out with them as well. I saw how much fun the kids had while on the hunt and I thought it might be fun to bring our family more together and out in nature. Then when I started seeing some of the hides, that's when I got hooked. I'm now beginning to be known as an evil hider in our town... it's great!

[+Team GeoBlast]

I did not learn of GecCaching from a human or the internet. On a day hike, I had to go do what we all know the bears do. I found a little side trail and followed it behind a big tree. Whist doing my business I noticed an unatural pile of rocks partially covering an ammo box... luckily a little to the left

 

I took out the big green box that said "Game Piece" on it back to where my girlfriend was waiting and said, "hey check this out" We opened the box and found that it was full of stuff and a log book. We sat down and read the log book and marvelled that it had been there for over 3 years and volumes of people had found it. I got so into the stories and then I logged a three page entry myself. Because I neglected to read the "found it?" info sheet (not sure it was even there) I just put the box back where I found it and chuckled all the way down the trail about the logs I read. Then I forgot all about it not knowing what a good muggle I was.

 

A few months later, I was hiking on the same trail with my 8 year old son and showed him the box. I had a few things in my pack to trade so we traded for one of those silver dog tag looking things. This of course was a Travel Bug and it had the website url on it. Once I got on the site, I punched in my zip code and discovered that I was surrounded by treasure in little green boxes. I had a GPSr as fast as they could mail me one and the rest is history.

[+Jhwk]

My "uptotheminute" brother-in-law got me started.

 

Just like he got me started in high power rocketry, scuba diving, D&D, Harley's, and long rifles.

 

maybe I need to think for myself, but I sure have enjoyed the distractions.

[+DIDS]

I learned about it from this post on SpeedGuide.net. I am hooked on it.

[+paintfiction]

Found a wheresgeorge dollar....

 

checked it out....

 

found people were finding money in things called "geocaches"

 

Figured if there is money in them I should be looking for them too!

 

Googled "geocache" and found gc.com

 

Not interested (when I realized there really wasn't too much $$ involved)

 

I started thinking that I was going to spend a week at my in-laws bored to tears....

 

hunted the gc.com website for caches around THEIR house

 

found plenty!

 

immediately bought a GPS-V so "we don't get lost on the trip"

 

found my first cache in Chicago nearly killing my mother-in-law due to heat exhaustion

 

Geocaching is good!

 

never looked back

[+dragon0987]

i was watching "10 greatest lost treasures" on one of the sat channels and geocaching was one of them looked it up on the internet talked it over with the family and every one was excited to try it ,next day went out and bought a gps (garmin lgend at walmart),that was a week ago now i am waiting on a garmin 60csx to get here so i can use it (the kids keep taking the gps when we go cachin)

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I came to know geocaching in the aftermath of a horrific alien abduction experience. I had been abducted in April of the year 2005 at night while hiking near our wilderness home in the mountains of Western Maryland. After what seemed like many hours (it later turned out to be 5 days later) I was advised by one of the aliens that I had been captured and partially dissected and "reconstructed" as part of their "catch and release" program, and was shortly thereafter returned to Earth's surface and released in a bizarrely sculpeted, barren and cold wilderness area which was obviously far from home; I later discovered that I had been released in the Badlands of South Dakota. As the three aliens escorted me down the ramp, they handed me a small inexpensive GPS receiver, turned it on, and advised me to use the GPSr to navigate to the nearest highway, which was about 64 miles away, and then to hike to the nearest town along the highway until I could find help or transportation. This was my introduction to GPS receivers, and I shortly thereafter discovered geocaching when I needed to return to the "release site" to pick up spare batteries for the implants which they had placed in my brain. I later discovered that the aliens had pre-programmed my brain to "discover" geocaching, as part of a multi-galaxy advertising program aimed at promoting geocaching on over 800,000 planets and other large celestial bodies, funded by the largest vendor of geocaching technology tools in the universe.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+paintfiction]

I came to know geocaching in the aftermath of a horrific alien abduction experience. I had been abducted in April of the year 2005 at night while hiking near our wilderness home in the mountains of Western Maryland. After what seemed like many hours (it later turned out to be 5 days later) I was advised by one of the aliens that I had been captured and partially dissected and "reconstructed" as part of their "catch and release" program, and was shortly thereafter returned to Earth's surface and released in a bizarrely sculpeted, barren and cold wilderness area which was obviously far from home; I later discovered that I had been released in the Badlands of South Dakota. As the three aliens escorted me down the ramp, they handed me a small inexpensive GPS receiver, turned it on, and advised me to use the GPSr to navigate to the nearest highway, which was about 64 miles away, and then to hike to the nearest town along the highway until I could find help or transportation. This was my introduction to GPS receivers, and I shortly thereafter discovered geocaching when I needed to return to the "release site" to pick up spare batteries for the implants which they had placed in my brain. I later discovered that the aliens had pre-programmed my brain to "discover" geocaching, as part of a multi-galaxy advertising program aimed at promoting geocaching on over 800,000 planets and other large celestial bodies, funded by the largest vendor of geocaching technology tools in the universe.

 

the big question is.......

 

Garmin or Magellan?

[+Doc-Dean]

Bo knows geocaching?

[+Driver Carries Cache]

I read a story in my local paper about the Tenaya Lodge in Yosemite offering a "geocaching package" for guests (they supply everything including lunch, packs and GPSr).

 

http://www.tenayalodge.com/accommodations_packages.aspx

 

It sounded cool. Then I saw the piece on Bay Area Backroads (here in the SF Bay Area) where a local group took the host out looking for a cache.

 

Bought my GPSr less than a month later!

 

I'm almost done studying the manual and reading the "Idiot's Guide To Geocaching" then I'm off to find cache!

 

Mike

[+ravens3]

I came to know geocaching in the aftermath of a horrific alien abduction experience. I had been abducted in April of the year 2005 at night while hiking near our wilderness home in the mountains of Western Maryland.

 

There's wilderness in Maryland?

[+Tallahassee Lassie]

I read about it eons ago in Parade magazine, and thought, "Hmm, interesting." Then last winter I asked for a GPS for Christmas, but Santa forgot or something, because it didn't show up until the next day in the tree. But Santa got a little treat back on one of our hikes in the woods. So I guess it's lucky for all of us.

[+hikergps]

Can't remember for sure. I think it was either a news story involving the bomb squad or a magazine article in Backpacker. I found the site and lurked the site and forums for almost a year. Got a $20 GPS (back when you could actually find such a thing on ebay) and signed up. The family and I set out on our first caching trip. SOMEBODY transposed the numbers on the first cache we went to. After deciding that there is no way that it was out in the middle of the field that the tractor was turning over, we rechecked the coords. Coords re-entered and away we went. Found our 1st one and got hooked. Mrs. hikergps has been going to school full time until recently so I have kept it to a minimum until she has more time to accompany me.

[+silverquill]

It was my son-in-law who told me about geo caching. Evidently he and his mother stumbled across someont making a hide near his campus. His father got into it some, but he did not -- just thought it sounded like something I might be interested in. So, I put a GPSr on my Christmas wish list, and my mother got me an eTrex Camo. We were alll out at her place in Oregon, so with little nephews and rest of the family in tow, we headed to a favorite beach to look for our first caches. It was a micro in a tree. Guess who actually found it? Yep, my 84 yo mother! I think she found the next one, another tree micro, before I found my first ammo can. Then on the way down the coast to California, my older daughter found her first -- and a FTF for that cache to boot. So far, its been a great journey!

[+TeamBarstool]

I read about it somewhere about a month ago & decided this was something I wanted to try. I started researching what GPSr to buy that was mac compatible and was disappointed. Then I remembered that I had a garmin gps12 boxed up in storage. I dug it out and went out in my neighborhood looking for urban micros.Tomorrow the Team is going out for our 2nd caching adventure.

 

we are hooked!

 

TeamBarstool

[Geopuckz]

we were told from my dads fellow worker who had geocached before. I thought that it was going to be boring contest thing b/c he didn't really explain it to me, then after we went to look for the "ammo boxes" i said WOW!!!!!!!!!! and justed wanted to keep going.

[+boda]

I laughed at friends who had a GPS but no reason to use it. (But I really, really wanted one too.) A few months later my wife's brother and his son came out from Maine to visit us in California. He told us in advance that he wanted to geocache. After he described the process to us I laughed at him and all the other nuts that would do something so silly.

 

They came out and we humored the boy and he then took us to several places in our neighborhood that we hadn't ever been to before and they were fascinating. No more laughing.

 

Borrowed my friends GPS to see if that was the model I might want to buy. I liked it for several reasons, but one was that it had some geocaching functions. It turns out my friend already knew about geocaching through his GPS manufacturer, but never had that little push to get them started. We provided that and now our two families cache together often. We even have some of our kids in different parts of the country hooked.

[jphotow]

I've known about Geocaching for several years, but didn't get involved until I bought my first GPS unit recently. I purchased a GPS more for navigating in the backcountry (I'm a serious amateur photographer) and marking good photography locations to return to in the future. I though geocaching would be a good way to learn how to use the unit. Now, when I go out to shoot or just get some exercise by hiking or bicycling, I usually look up any caches in the area where I'm planning to go.

[+Grumparoo]

I heard about it from my mom, who heard about it from my uncle (her brother), who's son (my cousin) was doing it. This was about 2 years ago, but I didn't start caching until just recently when I got a new PDA and bluetooth GPSr.