The Joys Of Geocaching

[+House Of Boo]

We were just wondering how everyone else found out about Geocaching.

 

We stumbled across the sport/game whilst searching for interesting places to walk the dog.

 

We searched on Google and came across a site which seemed to list nearby locations. We clicked into this site which turned out to be Team Nobbys own website and that is where it all began!!

 

How did others discover the joys of Geocaching??

 

House of Boo

[+Simply Paul]

I was researching Cowleaze Wood near the M40 for a web site I was writing for The Chiltern Sculpture Trust. It's here: http://www.chilternsculpturetrail.co.uk No doubt I was using google too.

 

I discovered that there is a cache there via Dan Wilson's site and had my interest pricked. Geocaching.com lead me to a cache within walking distance and after that I was fairly hooked. It did take me a while to get around to doing the one that had first caught my attention, The Christmas Countdown (GC6EEF) but that's the way it goes sometimes.

 

I think I had actually seen D&P on 'Inside Out' that January, and ironically I now have the GPS handset featured in it, as I bought Dan's etrex yellow off him in June 2003. Small world, lol!

 

SP

[+woof n lulu]

Our daughter, who is in the military told us about it. We found the site, and from then on were hooked on caching, even more so then our daughter !

The part of the US we live in does not have alot of caches, but those we have, we have to travel a distance for. So I pack a picnic lunch, ice down some soda, and off we go!

[+Stuey]

I was told about it a few years ago by some Americans that I met in a chat room. They thought it was suitably geeky for me. I thought nothing of it at the time, but then when I bought myself a GPS for walking (navigation, elapsed duration, stats that kinda thing).

 

Then I remembered Geocaching, and took a day off work, and cycled through the rain to my nearest cache, 7 miles away. I did a few more that month, then left it for a few months, then went back to it and upped it a gear or two.

[+Sparky-Watts]

I saw it mentioned on the Garmin website after I bought my first GPS. I did a search for geocacheing and got a really awful site. The next site I found was Navitrashe, and the closest on there was over 250 miles from me. I almost gave up, and decided to retype my first search, leaving out the "e", and found this one. The rest, as they say, is history!

[+Stem]

I was at my in laws and one morning my wife was reading the paper. She said there is a n article here you should read. I like gadgets, and hiking, and she said this combined the two. I read the article and as soon as we got home I checked out the website. Geocaching sounded right up my alley. After a few weeks of research on which gps to get, I bought a yellow etrex off ebay, and have been addicted ever since.

[+spioradsaor]

An article by Pooter in the Glasgow Herald set me off. Had the old magellan for years for walking and sea kayaking...but never thought of using it in this way...since I did I've discovered more places, more things, more gizmos to do with caching ...in fact the whole thing is pure dead brilliant.

[sidewallwolf]

We came across it looking for GPS reviews

[+Cave Troll and Eeyore]

My brother introduced me to geocaching after one of his work colleagues introduced him.

Its a great way to combine my love of the outdoors and walking the dogs with finding new places to visit.

[+G Force]

My brother mentioned it to me as well forhe thought we would be interested which it turned out we were. He found the site for geocaching after getting a GPS for 4 wheeling in the woods. He also introduced our other brother as well.

[+mongoose39uk]

I came by the game by a bit of an odd route. I was looking for some software for use with agps mouse on my lap top. I had quite a good road navigation system but wanted more detailed off road maps.

 

While surfing for the software I came accross a site for mapping software by somone who he pointed me at this site. Did not know about the politics at the time so I won't go into details.

 

Did a search for caches on my route to work. Then did nothing about it for a couple of months.

 

Finally stopped at the side of Nattybouska's cache, Robrovski on my way to work armed with a laptop and a GPS mouse hanging over my shoulder. That was in late December 2003. Did nothing more about it for a few weeks, then bought a Geko 101 (easier to carry). managed with that for a few months then got a Etrex yellow.

 

Been to 40 some caches in the last 4 months. Good excuse to walk the dog and get my daughter (Tigger Two) out of the house.

[+S&G.Davison]

I had a Etrex as I travel a lot on Business and I had spent so many evenings wandering strange cities around the world and then struggling to find the Hotel

 

We had both been very avid Scuba divers, involved in a lot of deep mid channel wrecks, this type of diving takes a lot of set up / planning and we had got busier and busier at work so no longer had the time to prep for the dives. As such we had stopped diving and were looking for a new "easier" hobby. We had gone for a few walks around Berkshire and had done the standard buy "a few walks round Berkshire" books, but then we discovered all we where doing was following people around the same walks... Having dived complete unknown wrecks and discovered and lined loads of new cave, this "follow the leader" stuff was boring

 

I had come across GeoCaching.com off the Garmin Web site a few years ago... One Sunday last year when trying to think of somewhere different to go for a walk I suggested to Sue maybe we try GeoCaching, we hit the web site, found 3 in an "area" which where Roman Remains, Roman Coins and Roman Road .. off we went

 

It was great fun - We were Hooked..... Sue, I think, likes hitting the numbers and likes the planning and hitting of multiple caches a day, me I prefer the walk, the sights, the puzzle

 

Caching has appealed to us on a number of levels - walking, puzzles, photography, technology. We have developed our own SW tools to help us collect, collate, plan, mark found all cache data. It reawakened our own personal web page which continues to be "our lifes diary"

 

All in all, its great fun with a great community

[Deego]

I was a keen walker and had a GPS. All the nice hills I climbed to the top off had a Trigpoint at the top so I tried to find out more about them, I came Across www.trigpointinguk.com and this is the sister site to www.GeocacheUK.com. It took a while to get hooked on caching though. The first twelve months = 17 caches and the last six months = 107 caches.

Edited April 19, 2004 by Deego

[+wigglesworth]

A close friend Robin Lovelock kept raving about the sport. In the end we went on a cache hunt with him and his wife June. A few months later we bought our own GPS and now we are hooked.

 

We never expected it to be so addictive! It is now difficult to accept going out for a walk without consulting the geocache website for local caches.

Jacqueline and Peter

[+The Rouses]

I was watching the "Inside Out" programme featuring Chris Packham when the article about geocaching came on. I watched with interest as I met the Tate family, Dan and Pid, and Tim and June (pretty much the closest I have since got to other geocachers!)...the bit about Gulliver really intrigued me. When I saw that the programme had put one down, I thought I would have to go and find it...

 

Afterwards I looked up the BBC website and found a link to geocaching.com from there. I suddenyl realised there were loads much closer to my home.

 

Without a GPS, we went out to find our nearest one, namely "Nightingale" in Queen Victoria Country Park (Southampton), It was a great feeling to have found it! After that, I was hooked...

 

Who says TV can't get you fitter?

[+GAZ]

I read about it in Computeractive magazine.......Moss Trooper had an article in, with chance to win a GPSr, found it was near the Roman wall, not too far from me......never looked back since! Just done another cache last Sunday not far from that first one, only this time, and 320 odd caches later, I managed to find it coz I can actually work the flipping GPSr now!

[Leoness]

I was watching the "Inside Out" programme featuring Chris Packham when the article about geocaching came on....

 

...Afterwards I looked up the BBC website and found a link to geocaching.com from there.

 

Ditto - I also saw geocaching mentioned on the BBC's "Inside Out" programme then looked at the programme's website to find the link to geocaching.com.

 

I put the link into my "favourites" and spent a few days reading up on the sport to find out how it all works. My husband already had a GPS but was working away from home at the time (and had taken the GPS with him!) so I had to wait for him to return before we could set out to find our first cache (which was about a month later). We were immediately hooked and hubby bought me my own GPS for my birthday a week later.

 

(Actually, it's me who's hooked - hubby enjoys it too but I often go out on my own when he'd rather be doing something else)

[+Red Clover]

I overheard a co-worker (sweedkris) talking about it to a bunch of ladies during lunch. I know/knew her pretty well and we chatted about it a bit later. A few weeks pass by and I'm bored, its raining, nothing on TV when I thought about the site. Came over, looked into it and bought a GPS 3 days later. Thank god I was nosy and listening in to the conversation at the other table that day

[+aisledog]

While I awaited delivery of my GPSr, which I'd ordered to help me stop getting lost on country walks, I researched the web as to how to get full use out of it. I came across geocaching in www.gpss.co.uk. I still havent figured out what the appeal is except that it adds more of a focus to my walks.

[+SnowLeopard]

Originally, I found the site through Uncle URL's newsletter. I was interested, but not enough to buy a GPS.

Several years later, I was reading Knights of the Dinner Table (a gaming comic written by Geocacher jollybgood) that was talking about Geocaching. The next day I bought my Magellan!

Edited April 20, 2004 by SnowLeopard

[+Daisy&me]

Saw Inside Out. Somewhere new to walk Daisy and an excuse to buy a gadget. That's fo me!

 

Ordered a GPS a couple of days later and found our first cache the day it arrived.

 

We set ourselves the objective of doing 100 caches in the first year, which we exceeded by 150.

[+MoonHerb]

I heard an article on Radio 4 on the way home from work one day. Remembered the name and then searched the web and came across geocaching.com .

 

I then sat on the idea for a couple of weeks, wondering how to break this to the Wife ! As luck might have it, a friend and one of his kids came down for a week last year and we were looking for something to do. I mentioned geocaching, thinking they'd be not that interested.

 

I never thought we'd be out within about 2 hours searching for (and not finding ) our first cache !

 

We spent the rest of the week looking at GPSr's and working with a map and compass ! We did find a cache that weekend - A place to relax - on the second attempt. The rest is history - The History (so far) !!

[+Chris n Maria]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to do some Markwelling - heres a blast from the past.

 

Chris

[+Lennie's Keepers]

Bought a PDA and GPS sleeve for car navigation, then did a search on Google for other useful GPS software and stumbled across Geocaching.com.

 

I thought this looks interesting but I bet there aren't many caches in this country.

WOW was I wrong, 2500 then over 3000 now.

[+BlueDeuce]

Heard about it on NPR. I knew within half a minute this was for me.

[+The Wobbly Club]

We found out about Geocaching from the TV programme Inside Out. We already had a GPSr which we used for RAYNET (Amateur Radio Emergency Comms Network). We looked on the internet and found that there was a few caches near our home. One was located in the Salisbury Catherdral Close, it was a micro cache. We went and found it and the rest is history. We are both leg disabled and when following that little pointer you tend to forget about your own problems. It is a nice way of getting out into the countryside and going to places we would never ever thought of visiting. Only trouble is we never realise we have walked quite so far, sometimes it is a struggle for us to get back to the car.

[+jark44a]

We've had a GPS for years and used it when our walking cycling. Found out about geocaching earlier this year from an afrticle in Scientific American magazine.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

It was a newspaper article in March of 2001 that got us going.

[+minstrelcat]

I found a geocaching link on bookcrossing.com then promptly forgot about it until the Inside Out progamme was shown. We've not looked back since!

 

Lisa

[+Pharisee]

It came up in a conversation with a mate at work. We were actually talking about 'metal detecting ' and the use of a GPSr in relation to that. He gave me the g.com web address and the rest, as they say, is history

[+geffersnco]

We heard about geo caching quite by accident a few weeks ago. We were chatting at work about going on a walk and how the kids would moan from start to finish, when one of my wifes associates mentioned geo caching.

We went home that night and looked at the web site and realised this was exactly what we needed. The next week we set off on our holidays to Arran and on the way up bought a garmin gps, spent more than we initially thought we would,but must admit we are glad that we did.

We spent a week on Arran searching for "Treasure" and the kids loved it.

I am planning a holiday in the New Forest in the near future, but it appears that most of the caches have been removed. Is there a special reason for this that I am not aware of??

[Team Tate]

I am planning a holiday in the New Forest in the near future, but it appears that most of the caches have been removed. Is there a special reason for this that I am not aware of??

The GAGB are currently working with the Forestry Commission to obtain permission to place caches on their land within the New Forest. Unfortunately the process has taken us a little longer than we originally anticipated and we are now just clarifying the final details with them. Once we have the full permission in our hands then caching in the New Forest will be able to start again.

For those that weren't aware, prior to the agreement, the FC lifted all the caches that were placed on their land without permission last year, which is why no caches exist there at the moment. Hopefully, not much longer now, but we will keep you all posted.

Sorry to go off topic, but just thought I would let everyone know seeing as though the question was asked!

 

Sarah

GAGB Commitee

[+paul.blitz]

I found a geocaching link on bookcrossing.com then promptly forgot about it until the Inside Out progamme was shown. We've not looked back since!

 

Lisa

Funny you should mention bookcrossing.com: I was looking at the BBC news site one day, which mentioned bookcrossing.com. It was whilst there I saw about geocaching.

 

A little while later I borrowed a unit, and having failed to find the cache, emailed Tim... and T&J met us at the cache & talked us through it all.

 

Paul

[+Haggis Hunter]

I was on shift at work 7th december 2003 and reading the Sunday Post. It had an article about geocaching with Firth of Forth. I jotted down the details and found my first cache without a GPs within a couple of days. I now take my Daughter Mini HH out to a lot of caches with me, and she loves it. The job that I left last year meant I was out of the country a hell of a lot, so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my daughter . So Geocaching has allowed me to bond a lot closer with her .

Edited April 21, 2004 by Haggis Hunter

[+geffersnco]

Its amazing how kids seem to spur you on with this hobby, like haggis hunter says it gets you closer to your kids and they love it, it gives them a purpose to go out in the country and enjoy what is around them, rather than sitting in front of the tv all day watching cartoons.

 

We intend placing a couple of cache's around where we live in the near future, and making them family orientated. If anyone has any ideas please get in touch. It will make a Sunday afternoon a lot nicer in the long run.

 

Happy Hunting.

[+yorkstan]

I was introduced by Doug, an American friend. I was working for a couple of weeks in the Memphis area, and he suggested we do a couple of caches before breakfast one Saturday. He picked me up at 7:00am, and by 9:00 am we had done two great caches in the woods, and were eating breakfast in a restaurant. I did nothing for about six months, and then bought a Magellan on e-bay (in the US). Shipping to the UK was a huge price, so I shipped it to Memphis and Doug brought it to England a few days later (December 2003). We then went out and did five caches in Yorkshire in one day, and I have kept going.

By coincidence, I am back in Memphis this week, it is just after 6:00am and I just have time to find a cache or two before I start work at 8:00.

Yorkstan

[+geffersnco]

I have just been looking at the forum of people who have designed different types of things to hide a cache in. They are amazing, from logs to a dogs name tag, less than the size of a 10p piece. I think when I set a cache for you all to find you will have to luck very hard!!

 

Question: How many geo- cachers in the UK??

[Deego]

Question: How many geo- cachers in the UK??

Around a thousand ACTIVE in the UK at the moment

[+MoonHerb]

According to this page - UK Stats - (and I have no reason to doubt it) there are 1099 active cachers in the UK.

[+geffersnco]

Thanks to deego and moonherb for there quick reply.

 

I thought there would be more than that?

 

But at least it keeps the sport for the elite!!

 

Hope one day to meet you both, happy hunting

[+wigglesworth]

According to UK stats there were 4323 registered cachers the other day. Clearly they are not all active!

Peter

[+arndale]

I first saw mention of Geocaching on a site about sorting out tea and coffee rounds. You used to have to log in and tick a box to say what you wanted to drink and then when enough people had requested a drink it sent an e-mail to the next person on the list to make them. I'm sure it was called www.whosturnisit.co.uk, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. There used to be a blog on the site with interesting things to do, and Geocaching appeared there one day a couple of years ago.

If anyone knows where that site has gone, I'd be interested to know.

 

Dean

Edited April 21, 2004 by arndale

[+MoonHerb]

According to UK stats there were 4323 registered cachers the other day.  Clearly they are not all active!

Peter

I think that column in the stats refer's to a cumulative total, which is a bit misleading ! I think Teasel or TheCat could sort this question out !

 

I'd also like to know how they define an 'active' cacher.

Edited April 21, 2004 by MoonHerb

[Tea & Cake]

We've always been into walking and generally getting out of the house at the weekends. While I was buying a new GPS on the web I came across G.com via a link from somewhere - I forget now. I thought I made a huge saving buying my etrex on ebay, until walking into Staples and seeing them there for £65 .

[+geffersnco]

According to UK stats there were 4323 registered cachers the other day. Clearly they are not all active!

Peter

Thanks for that. I didn't realise there were so many, actve or not.

 

happpy hunting.

[+Firth of Forth]

I was told about it by a friend from the West of Scotland. I think that I am now much more addicted than he is. I didn't have a GPSr, so I spent six months finding caches with only a map and the clues. However, seeing some GPS units at the first Scottish Cache Bash last year prompted me to buy one. Its much more fun now, as well as easier (sometimes!).

 

I was already a keen walker, so geocaching has complemented that hobby nicely. My teenage offspring consider it an odd pursuit, but can sometimes be persuaded to accompany me.

[Deego]

According to UK stats there were 4323 registered cachers the other day.  Clearly they are not all active!

Peter

I think that column in the stats refer's to a cumulative total, which is a bit misleading ! I think Teasel or TheCat could sort this question out !

 

I'd also like to know how they define an 'active' cacher.

A active cacher (1059) is somebody who has logged a find (or more) for a UK cache in that month

 

The Total (4302) is the amount of people who have found one (or more) UK cache at any time.

 

all figures used are for March

 

I belive this to be correct but I am neither Teasel or TheCat

[+John Stead]

A active cacher (1059) is somebody who has logged a find (or more) for a UK cache in that month

So just after midnight on 1st of the month there are no active cachers except pyoung1s

Edited April 21, 2004 by John Stead

[Leoness]

So just after midnight on 1st of the month there are no active cachers except pyoung1s

 

LOL

[+Firth of Forth]

The best thing is watching someone who has just heard about geocaching and seeing the interest being ignited. A work colleague of mine recently asked about it, so I showed her the website. I could tell that she was an addict in the making and I fully expect her to be out this weekend trying to find a cache even though she does not (yet) own a GPSr. She commented "Who doesn't love a treasure hunt?". But there are always others who shake their heads in disbelief, as another work colleague had done.