How Did You Start Geocaching?

January 9, 2004

Well, I didn't start geocaching until last year. But, I remember when SA was turned off on May 1, 2000. Since I was at work when I found out, I immediatly tuned into sci.geo.satellite-nav (which I read sporadically) to see If people had really found out that it was off, and to see how big a difference it made. On May 2nd, This post was made, the first Idea for a cache. Visible here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=l....news.verio.net

I was also reading On May 3, 2000, when dave ulmer created the first geocache. It is here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=l...com%26rnum%3D10

I thought it was a pretty cool idea, but none of those EARLY caches were near me. I even remember when a couple of different people created websites to keep track of them all.

Sometime later, late 2000 or early 2001, I checked out geocaching.com for the first time. I rememer that there were only a dozen or so caches with in 100 miles of me, and the closest was 40 or 50 miles away. Again, I thought that sucks & forgot about geocaching.

Then, in February 2003, the bomb squad closed down a section of I-15 north of Salt Lake City, interupting my drive home. It turns out they were called to a geocache.

http://www.utahgeocachers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=156

Once again I checked out geocaching.com and found there were over 1000 caches within 100 miles of home, and several within only 5 miles!!!!

The rest is History!!!

dino_hunters

1.2k · January 10, 2004

I punched in the coordinates and followed my GPS

January 10, 2004

Without a gps......

D

upinyachit

20.7k · January 10, 2004

My story and more blah blah:

In May of 2001, I was channel surfing and happened upon a story on TechTV about the hobby. I checked out GC.com and found that, while there was only about 4-5 caches in my area, one was only a couple of miles away.

Not having a GPSr, I still couldn't play. I hopped over to ebay.com and put a bid on a garmin GPS 3 plus. I won it for around $145 (after shipping). A few weeks later, I had my toy. The rest is history.

I still use my 3+. I've thought of upgrading a few times, but 'old faithful' just does too good of a job. A while back, I bought a Grand Cherokee. The 3+ fits perfectly on the shelf created by opening the little storage compartment in the dash (The thing that would be an ashtray if that option was chosen). I use a sticky pad to hold it in place. I now run it using an external antenna wired through the twilight sentinal hole in the dash and on external power.

I now use the GPSr all the time, the mapping is really helpful during regular driving. The only problem is having to disconnect it to go on most cache hunts. (Nashville is ugly with parking lot caches. I leave the toy in the dash for these.) For this reason, I am thinking of buying a geko 201 for trail use.

Edited January 10, 2004 by sbell111

January 10, 2004

I found out about GCing when I did an online search for some landmark (I can't remember what) and I thought it was cool. I already had a GPS. Later I found my first BM by accident and started to keep a log of them and wanted to find a listing showing all of them, after anouther web search I came across the BM section of GC.com. I started to go BM hunting for this site and decided to do the cacheing while I look for the BM, now its the other way around, I watch for BMs while cacheing, or orienteering

1.1k · January 10, 2004

snip...I found my first BM by accident and started to keep a log of them and wanted to find a listing showing all of them.....

Who doesn't find their first BM by 'accident'. As far as tracking them I don't think I ever did. Have you spoken to a professional about this obsession? :tongue:

1.6k · January 10, 2004

I had heard about it several times, but had never really been interested.

Then one of my friends told me they had spent the summer geocaching, I was really interested. I immediately wanted to get a GPSr with some of my extra summer work money, but my parents said "maybe that would make a good christmas present" (even though christmas was a good 5 months away) so I lurked for a while, then got bored, and then on christmas day, low and behold, there was a Magellan Sportrak Map under the tree for me, and I've been caching whenever the weather's nice...

January 10, 2004

Thought this would make a good entry,

I have not found one yet but look forward to it.

I have a NAV 6000 for my boat and I was searching for the c-map chips when I found this web site by accident, I am still playing around with inputting the waypoints so as soon as I get that figured out and the weather gets a little better I am off to find my first and hopefully not my last.

3k · January 10, 2004

I received my first GPSr about 5 years ago, it is a Lowrance Global Map 100. I got it for fishing, hiking and camping. It was the first GPS of its kind at the time as it was the first to allow downloadable maps, a whole 2MB worth. :tongue: It was a great unit then and it still is as I use it from time to time.

So, I was surfing the web looking to see what was the latest and greatest in gps units and I kept coming across this term "geocaching" in my google searches. Since I wanted to learn more about the new gps units that were out I kept passing up geocaching.com and figured I would read more about it later. Well later wasn't that long and I started reading the main page and the forums and was hooked even before buying a gps. I got started geocaching with my old GM100 but didn't use it for long as geocaching gave me a great excuse to buy a new GPSr.

January 10, 2004

I really have no idea how I started... suddenly I was just out on a trail... and I had this device in my hand...

...oh and everything was going in slow motion... then I got poison ivy and it all became real

January 10, 2004

FOUND OUT ABOUT GEOCACHING IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER AND I HAVE BEEN HOOKED SINCE!!!! I'M STILL NEW TO THE SPORT BUT IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE I LOOK FORWARD TO HIKING IN THE WOODS ALOT MORE THAN I USE TOO!!!!!!!!

Edited January 10, 2004 by goober3

January 10, 2004

Told this before but for those that haven't read it here you go:

Was on vacation in the redwoods of N. Cal. in 1999 when I spotted something on the road , stopped to check it out and it was a battery pack. Looked some more and found the other half it on the side of the road. It was a gps (good thing it said gps cause i wouldn't have known what it was). Stopped at a store and put in new batteries pushed buttons till it turned on and it worked. Didn't have a manual and didn't know why I would want coordinates so I gave to my dad.

Forward 4 1/2 yrs later was doing a search on Rhino120 and came across G.C. com and that dat reposessed my gps.

Now I really want a better one.

January 10, 2004

The best way - by word of mouth. My ex-boss who I was friends with had his GPS on the coffee table. I mentioned it, and said I had one (Dad got me one a long time ago) but didn't have much use for it. He mentioned geocaching and I knew from the start I would like it.....

January 10, 2004

found one by accident while kayaking, signed up on gc.com later that day. just started getting into it this winter break.

January 10, 2004

Newspaper article featuring local cacher Mike Chimalowski ( I know thats not the correct spelling ) in the Erie Times News. Sams Club had a Magelan MAP 350 package deal a couple months later. Found a cache, hid a cache, and away we go !

January 10, 2004

My friends from Texas were visiting me and I started playing around with their Etrex Legend and thought it was pretty cool. They told me that they geocache and explained it to me. They said I should look at the gc.com website for more info. I came to the site, looked around and thought it looked like a lot of fun.

I started researching GPS Units and ended up buying an Etrex Legend on January 1st of this year. I've been happily geocaching ever since! :tongue: (Yes, I am a newbie! LOL!)

If you're in Texas, visit my friends virtual cache.

January 11, 2004

Hey I hit that virtual about a month ago while passing through CS... very interesting

January 11, 2004

I work for a Parks and Rec Dept in Missouri. A guy came by and asked permission to put caches in our parks. Being unfamiliar with caching, I was the most against allowing it. Our staff decided to allow it and put me in charge of monitoring caches for compliance assuming I would be very critical. I went out, bought a Garmin and went to find some caches. I had a ball. I went home and got the wife & kids and went out to find some more. Everyone fell in love with caching.

When I placed my first cache, the approver sent me an email with about 20 questions including "did you get permission". (He didn't know I worked for the P&R Dept). That sealed it as being an a-ok thing for our parks.

I started 9 months ago and am creeping up on 200 finds. I'm hosting a Geocaching Potluck at the end of the month, co-sponsored by our department (that way I can get the facility for free). It just gets funner and funner!

January 11, 2004

I work for a Parks and Rec Dept in Missouri. A guy came by and asked permission to put caches in our parks. Being unfamiliar with caching, I was the most against allowing it. Our staff decided to allow it and put me in charge of monitoring caches for compliance assuming I would be very critical. I went out, bought a Garmin and went to find some caches. I had a ball. I went home and got the wife & kids and went out to find some more. Everyone fell in love with caching.

When I placed my first cache, the approver sent me an email with about 20 questions including "did you get permission". (He didn't know I worked for the P&R Dept). That sealed it as being an a-ok thing for our parks.

I started 9 months ago and am creeping up on 200 finds. I'm hosting a Geocaching Potluck at the end of the month, co-sponsored by our department (that way I can get the facility for free). It just gets funner and funner!

I think this is the best story yet!

January 11, 2004

My mother actually found an article about caching in our local paper and showed it to me. For some reason she thought I would enjoy it I read the article and sat on it for a couple days, then showed it to my girlfriend. Finally checked out GC.com to see what was nearby.

Found a 1/1 that was in an area I was very familiar with and went to see if we could find it (didn't have a GPS at this point). Using the description and clues fromt he webpage we made our way there, checked the surroundings with the clues and found the cache.

I think the hook really imbedded itself at the moment we opened the lid and read through the log. After that we went back to my place to log the find and look for another cache.

To our delight a brand new cache appeared and we ran out the door in search of a FTF. We still didn't have a GPS. Weren't able to pull off the FTF, but we did come in third.

January 12, 2004

I ran across GC.com during research for mapping programs. I had already ordered a new Gecko 301 for bicycle trips. After looking over GC.com and looking at caches close to home I took my Rhino 110 and chased down my first cache. Now I plan to combine cycling and geocaching. I love my new Gecko and look forward to having fun on and off the road!

CG

January 12, 2004

I decided to get my first unit when I heard SA was turned off (Magellan 315-June 8, 2000). I had looked at GPS units before SA was turned off, but did not think 100 meters of accuracy was that great so I waited.

Shortly after my purchase I started to look for games to download to my GPS (at the time I thought there may be games that you can download into it like you can with graphing cals) and I accidentally came to the geocaching site. I looked at it and noticed that there was no cache anywhere near me (or even in my state), and forgot about the site.

In October of 2001 some one at the yahoo M330, or Meridian group posted a link to Clayjars review of his meridian gold (I was waiting anxiously for it to arriving in the mail, so I wanted to know as much about it as I could). Since then I managed to visit the site almost daily, and even do a few caches (FYI- Eastern South Dakota still does not have many caches).

Wyatt W.

January 12, 2004

I was checking the forum at TNUSA :unsure: (Ted Nugent United Sportsmen of America) and found a topic about about geocaching that linked to GC.com. The rest is itchy history! :blink:

3.5k · January 12, 2004

In honor of this, my 1000th post, I offer you my own story of how I started Geocaching.

Aaah yes, I remember it like it was yesterday <fade to flashback>

Thanks for readin'! :unsure:

Bret

3.2k · January 12, 2004

A friend from Florida told me about it. We are both into Orienteering and thought some geocachers might like our sport as well. I often put Orienteering maps in caches. Dont' use a GPS, but enjoy finding the caches by map reading alone.

January 12, 2004

A friend of mine (jslagle) has been mentioning geocaching to me for many months. I liked the idea and offered to go along on a cachehunt, but it never panned out. A few weeks ago I was bored and for some reason remembered that "geocaching" thing my friend was always talking about. I visited the site, not expecting that there would be dozens in close proximity to my home! I borrowed a GPSr from my girlfriend's father, found three caches, and was hooked.

Since my birthday was so close, I asked for and received a Magellan SporTrak Map, dug out my old Handspring, dropped a few bucks for CacheMate and a premium subscription. I haven't done much caching since the first three as it is dark around here when I leave work, and the weekends have not yet allowed for it.

I'm already glad I have a premium subscription. Since I haven't had opportunity to actually search for caches, I have the nearest 250 stored in my GPSr as waypoints, and have been watching for any in close proximity as I drive around for work and at night. This has given me at least a dozen to locate when I get a chance!

1.2k · January 12, 2004

I punched teh coords into my GPSr and headed out to find the cache. :unsure:

January 12, 2004

I too found geocaching through an internet search. I had received an etrex yellow and realized that it would not do what I wanted it to do. I sold it and was looking for a meriplat when I found geocaching.com. After searching for caches using my zip code I was amazed to find more than 100 caches near my home. One was within a half mile! I told my wife about geocaching and she seemed pretty interested so we drove to it and with the clues we found it. We were hooked. This is something that we enjoy doing together. I wish we had found out about it sooner.

January 12, 2004

I heard a story about geocaching on NPR and I knew I was onto something cool!

I borrowed an older GPSr unit from my father in law who got it as a gift several years ago and never knew what to do with it.

I had no idea what I was doing or what I would find, but Miraculosly I found my very first cache on the first try. The kids and I have been hooked ever since !

Edited January 12, 2004 by cool_and_the_gang

2.2k · January 12, 2004

like i said in another post. "my brother made me do it." :unsure:

January 14, 2004

Did any one find out about Geocaching by coming accross a cache then going to the site to find out about it?

January 14, 2004

Started geocaching late in 2003. I came across geocaching.com by accident and mentioned it to my girlfriend. Thought she might like it since we both like to go on walks and short hikes but were running out of ideas of where to go. Geocaching seemed like it might solve that problem. Pick a cache from the list and go find it, what could be more simple? So I told the girlfriend about geocaching and she looked at me like I was nuts but she checked out the website and said "let's go". Had a gps that has been sitting on a shelf for the last couple years. Dusted it off, found a nearby cache and off we went. Both of us have been hooked ever since.

1.3k · January 14, 2004

Every time read that first message group post by Dave it always amazes me. It started with one guy thinking that we should hide stuff. I heard about caching on the radio a while ago, and i thought it sounded cool. I forgot about it for a long time until i saw something on tv that reminded me. I searched on the internet, ordered a GPSr that night, and have been at it since. So far after 60 finds its been the most fun ive had in a long time. My friend is now hooked on it too, and we go nuts trying to find everything! Whoohoo!

January 14, 2004

local newspaper :bad:

January 14, 2004

I had used a GPSr for work once doing a noise survey for a proposed power plant site. With that experience I went out and bought my own and toyed with it during hikes and other outdoor adventures. Then I read an article in the newspaper about geocaching. It sounded pretty cool. I tried it and liked it

January 16, 2004

I’m sort of a gadget-head so GPS was always interesting to me.

My family does a lot of hiking and camping. A couple of years ago I started to look into GPS units to take on our trips. Not so much for navigation (we stick to marked trails) but more for the fun of logging where we’ve been. While researching GPS units I stumbled onto geocaching.com through one of the search engines. Sounded like a lot of fun so I bought a Magellan. My kids love geocaching. It’s become a family activity.

January 16, 2004

My husband and I had just purchased a 32 ft Travel Trailer. I was online looking up RVing with families when I came across the Geocaching website. I was immediately enthusiastic but it took months to get my husband interested enough to consider buying a GPS. Then our 10 yr old got interested so we bought a Geko 101 for him - I still haven't gotten my own GPS yet. :unsure:

January 16, 2004

Saw a bit on the travel channel about a year ago. Had a Meg 315gps for hunting so now I am hunting caches in the off season.

January 16, 2004

A friend of mine that I met in an IRC channel told me about a cache he found one day. I started looking at the geocaching site and discovered that my long-lost BBS friend Kablooey was a prolific hider and finder of geocaches, which intrigued me. So I asked my friend to take me on a cache hunt. He did, and let me use his GPS III while he used his new GPS IV. Found my first cache and was hooked. My kids had lots of fun with it too (and still do). Months later our friendship fell apart, and I ended up buying my own yellow eTrex. And the rest is history? :unsure:

I've gotten several friends into it myself. It's a great outdoor activity for these folks, who were already hikers/kayakers/outdoorspeople.

January 16, 2004

I have been using GPS since 1993-94 for work. I was looking at a GPS the moment SA was turned off and was amazed at how quickly my EPE's went from 30-40 feet to 10! A couple of years ago I was looking at internet mapping pages and came across this site, saw an article in a magazine, decided to check it out. Went on our first hunt just down the street. We did a couple of caches then my wife had our baby and wasn't able to do it for almost a year and now am really getting back into it. This is the coolest hobby/sport/obsession! It is something that is something different to so many different types of people. People who are hikers, people who like to go for drives, treasure hunters, my wife is into it for the travel bugs. It is just soo much to so many different types of people!

Thanks

and of course...

Peace!

January 17, 2004

I have had a GPS'r for sometime that I purchased for hiking and mountain biking. Early last year my wife showed me an article in our paper on caching and said that it looks like fun and that I should try it. Did just that and my only problem now is finding / making enough time to get out and cache.

January 17, 2004

A friend of mine (Mr Nordam) bought a GPS and showed it to me as we were riding our bikes on Presque Isle. I told him it looked like another expensive toy and it looked like a waste of money.

The following week he told me about a "game" he discovered that uses a GPS. It was called GeoCaching and he wanted me to go along and find one. We didn't even know how to use the goto function and just walked around until the coordinates came close to matching the posted coodinates.

We found it... I was hooked... and now I can't get him to as much as I do. :unsure:

January 23, 2004

I'm just curious about who got you into geocaching. How did you get into geocaching? Where was your first cache find? My language arts teacher introduced me to the sport of geocaching and I have loved it ever since. My first cache find was Be the Tree in Syracuse New York. It is right near my school - so it was a cool find because I had never know it exsisted. What about you?

[Originally a new topic; merged into this existing topic by moderator.]

Edited January 23, 2004 by Keystone Approver

January 23, 2004

I found this website through a link at wheresgeorge.com. An old bill I submitted there a year and a half earlier has finally had a hit. The rest is Radman history!

2.7k · January 23, 2004

I, too, remember when SA was turned off. I had had my Street pilot for a year or so.

I have always had the unit hard-wired in my vehicle and it is always turned on. Prior to the turn-off of SA, as it sat overnight it would make a random trail in a roughly star-shaped pattern as much as 1/2 mile radius of my house.

After SA turn-off, I did a simple test by parking at the local Krogers, setting a mark, and trying to find the exact parking place the next day.

I got within one space.

One night as I was surfing the web, I searched for "iridium flares" and the search engine turned up a cache page in Germany. (I just tried to duplicate this feat unsuccessfully- so maybe it was God's will) <_<

So I searched for caches in my area and, finding thousands listed, printed out a couple in the place I was going the next day, and proceeded to find my first cache in a place I was familiar with- without use of GPS. I found 2 that day, and I was hooked.

January 23, 2004

I saw a show on TLC The Learning Channel, My wife said I watched the entire show with my mouth hanging open! I knew this was special. That was in Aug of 91. I havn't looked back.

2.7k · January 23, 2004

91?

January 31, 2007

Well like the title says, I was wondering how everyone started geocaching. Share your story of how it all began.

I was reading the Toronto Sun (newspaper) about 6 months or so ago. I read an article about KSACat (geocacher) finding a cache in Toronto. It was something like a stay at a hotel in the city or something like that. It was a small newsartcle that briefly explained geocaching. I cut the article out brought it home hit up www.geocaching.com and was very interested in the hobby and how many caches were around my area. At Chirstmas my wife bought me a GPS unit and so it begins. Still new to it and having fun.

Share your story of how you got involved.

January 31, 2007

I was a frequent visitor of aximsite.com since work had purchased me a new Dell Axim PDA. I noticed several references to it in the GPS section of the forums and thought it would be fun, but alas, no GPSr!

Several months later, Woot had a good deal on a low-end Lowrance and I convinced my wife to let me buy it and "see if we like this thing". That was 7 months and 250 caches later!

10.2k · February 1, 2007

I was surfing epodunk.com and for any municipality you're looking at, there is a link for "Geocaching and Geography". Back then, it took you to a zip code search for the municipality in question. Now there's still a link, but it takes you to the state page for that State. Anyways, I did a little investigating into what the heck geocaching was, and here I am 3 1/2 years and slighty over 1,000 caches later.

How Did You Start Geocaching?

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