Geocaching Adventures

[+Polgara]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world. Each area has their own dangers, precautions, animals, climate and topography, some of which are very different from other areas.

 

SO tell me....you get up, its a nice day out, (or maybe its not) and you search for a cache on the net, what kind of cache are you hiking to or dashing to, what are you wearing, does it rain all the time where you are or is it stifling hot, what is your environment like, is it desert, mountains, jungles, and what are your precautions? How are caches hidden where you live? What is GPS reception like, does it snow, what is in your caches, do they get muggled alot, what do you see on your hike, do you see creeks, or meadows, etc., you get the picture....

 

NOW TELL US A GEO STORY!!!!

[+SixDogTeam]

It's really dark.

[+Suziq]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world.

 

.

Actauly it started in Oregon

[+briansnat]

I'm in northern NJ in what is called the Highlands Region. Our "mountains" here aren't very high. Usually between 600 and a thousand feet above sea level, but many have rocky ledges with excellent views. The area between the Highlands and NYC is pretty flat, so you can get a good view of the NYC skyline from a lot of places on clear days and can see the Shawangunk Mountains in NY state to the north.

 

The terrain is very rocky and fairly rugged thanks to the last glacier, which pushed rocks and boulders down here from up north, then forgot to take them back when it receeded. Since the area has been settled for over 300 years, logged, farmed and mined, then abandoned, the forests have many stone walls, old foundations and abandoned mines which are great places to explore (and hide caches). The forests have pretty heavy leaf canopies, making GPS reception iffy sometimes. Caches are often hidden among rocks, in crevices and because of all the rocks, there are many great places to hide them.

 

Most of the open space is in the higher elevations, while lower areas are pretty built up, mostly suburban, or semi-rural with ever increasing numbers of strip malls.

 

The weather varies and can reach 3 digits (F) in the summer and is usually in the teens & 20's in the winter, with ocassional dips into single digits. Some years see a few feet of snow and others get little, or none. April and May are usually pretty wet and the summers somewhat dry. On average, we can expect about 2 days of rain every week, with the ocassional evening thunderstorm.

 

As far as animals, deer are everywhere. We consider them to be giant rats with hooves and they eat everything in sight. A lot of the forest understory is non existent and homeowners can't plant flowers and many shrubs thanks to these 4 legged eating machines. We have a large population of black bear and it isn't unheard of to see one strolling down the street dumping over garbage cans. There are some poisionous snakes, copperheads and rattlesnakes, but they are pretty rare and we consider ourselves lucky if we encounter any (and unlucky if we step on one).

 

And what is particularly nice about this area is that that you drive a 30 to 45 mins south and you're in a totally different environment. Relatively flat and swampy, but I'll let one of the central NJ geocachers describe their area.

 

Two fairly typical Northern NJ scenes (each near one of my caches)

 

Edited May 5, 2004 by briansnat

[+Planet]

With four seasons it's everchanging. If you have ever seen one of those calendars with the idyllic New England pictures, that's my caching area. All of New England, plus NY, NJ and PA. By the end of this month I'll have added MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL. I try to avoid urban areas, rest stop and roadside caches (except BrianSnat's of course). But this is not a rule (see Central Park geocaching at night adventures). I have a gallery of over 1000 pictures if you're curious.

Edited May 5, 2004 by Planet

[+SnowLeopard]

Since I am in Duluth, Minnesota, the caching season is about four minutes!

[+geoatv]

I learned about geocaching last summer while in kuwait for the U.S. Army. There were only two caches in that country then. And with all the tension, I never did get to actually find them. I was, however, within 500 feet of one, but sometimes it's safer to stay in the jeep and keep rolling.

Now I'm back home in southeastern ohio. I like the winter months best for caching. A year of 120+ temp in kuwait was enough heat for a lifetime.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world. 

 

.

Actauly it started in Oregon

Thank you

 

I live in an area where the cachers aren't hiding enough these days.

[+carleenp]

The Weather here could be just about anything and can change in a matter of minutes. The land varies from river bluffs, to flat prairie and fields, to rolling sandhills. This is a fairly typical Nebraska summer scene. That is my Dad in the photo and I have a cache at that location:

 

[+tirediron]

Victoria, BC here. Not really too much different from Seattle/WA State area. We don't have much in the way of mountains (some good hills is about all). A big plus is that our 'caching season is pretty much 365 days/year. The temp is a lot more moderate than some areas as well... a REALLY cold day is -5C (28F) and it doesn't get much above 25 (80F) normally in the summer.

 

There is lots of heavy canopy and tree cover to make life interesting, and since most of the island is still "wild" there are some awesome hides. We are also the most cache-dense area of Canada...

[+Polgara]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world. 

 

.

Actauly it started in Oregon

 

I never said it started in Washington.

Edited May 5, 2004 by Polgara

[+joefrog]

Birmingham, Alabama here -- surprisingly hilly area here in the central part of the state, mountainous in other areas, and down to beaches and flat land in the lower part of the state. People from CO wouldn't consider what we have "mountains" but some are qualified just the same. Right NOW is the best time to cache in my opinion, because the humidity here will soar in the summer months. And so do the bugs...

 

Weather ranges from mid to high 30s in winter (for a few weeks, anyway) to 90s in the summer. Right now is nice, with daytime high expected at 78F or so.

 

We have lots of rivers, streams and valleys, as well as some scenic views!

 

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world. 

 

.

Actauly it started in Oregon

 

I never said it started in Washington.

Are you sure about that?

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world.

[+Polgara]

Geocaching has stretched from Washington State, USA to countries all over the world. 

 

.

Actauly it started in Oregon

 

I never said it started in Washington.

Are you sure about that?

 

Yes I am. Stretched does not = started. Not to mention this has NOTHING to do with the original topic.

Edited May 5, 2004 by Polgara

[Leoness]

I learned about geocaching last summer while in kuwait for the U.S. Army. There were only two caches in that country then. And with all the tension, I never did get to actually find them. I was, however, within 500 feet of one, but sometimes it's safer to stay in the jeep and keep rolling.

 

My husband's done one of the caches in Kuwait back in January when he was there training the Kuwaiti army.

[+DavidMac]

East Tennessee is a great mix of "tall" mountains (for the southeast at least; 6500 ft), parallel ridges, and gentle rolling hills. I try to save the urban caching for winter, when most places are a little less active than in the summer. We only occasionally get snowfall of 2-3 inches that never sticks around for more than 3 days. Winter temperatures are usually in the 30's and 40's during the day.

 

One of the things I love about Knoxville is the fact that one doesn't have to drive very far to get away from the city. Most of the flat areas are somewhat open while the ridges that divide them are wooded. This picture was taken from a cache on one of the higher ridges:

 

 

During the summer, I try to spend more time in the mountains. Early summer temperatures are tolerable, but are often accompanied by so much rain that it is often joked that we have a dry season and a monsoon season. The upper elevations of the Smokies are considered one of the rainiest places in the eastern US, with nearly as much annual precipitation as parts of the Pacific Northwest. July and August are usually dry and intolerably hot and humid, so the cooler temperatures of the mountains are a welcome escape. I consider myself lucky to live within 15 minutes of the Smoky Mountains National Park, and spend alot of time there and in the surrounding National Forests.

 

[+TeamK-9]

Southwest PA, is a place of much variety. You can go to the city and log some lame micros, and there are some really cool micros. Just about every municipal park system around here has a cache in at least one of it's parks and the state DCNR has a cache permit system allowing for caches in state parks and forests.

 

Some of the cooler caches I've read about have required drives on old forest service fire roads, and while I personally have not gone to visit these caches, I plan to with my new GeoJeep...

[+nfa]

My home is in the Adirondack Park in Upstate New York. It is a park made up of around 6 million acres, 45% of it public land and 55% of it private land. The park is mostly wild land, with a few towns scattered throughout. The area that I live in is almost as much water as land, which makes for great canoeing and kayaking. We routinely have winter storms dumping 2 or more feet of snow in a 24 hour period, and the temperatures can get into the -40 range (C & F, as this is where they meet). Visit my profile to see some pictures I've taken while out caching, and feel free to get n touch if you're coming through and/or have questions.

 

NFA

[+Ma & Pa]

We have been looking for caches for only a few months now, here in South Eastern New Brunswick, Canada. We still have a lot to learn.

 

One thing we have learned is that there may be more than one way to get to a location. Another thing is that the sport around here is different in Winter than in Summer. Some caches are not available in Winter, and we recently found out that some caches may also be a problem in Spring. Here is what happened recently when we went out thinking most of the snow was gone in the woods. (Don't be too hard on us, we are still newbies)

 

"I am reporting our no find for the benefit of other newbie cachers.

We tried to get to this from Gorge Rd. Tried to get to it from closest spot on the road but the water was too deep and fast. We then drove down the road and crossed the little foot bridge. We were now 200 meters from the cache and had to go up and along a steep hill. We wore rubber boots thinking the snow wouldn`t be deep , but it was over our knees in spots and we had to take off the boots a dozen times to remove the snow. Eventually our socks and pants got soaked and our feet began to freeze. We had to bushwack in precarious places and couldn`t hang onto trees, as many of thenm were rotten and would fall when we touched them. We persisted till we got close but the tree cover played havoc with the GPS, so we had to get back to the truck for our own safety. A 1.5 hour adventure

 

I suspect there is a better route to get to this cache. I would not recommend the direction we took, (especially for children), because of the snow , the steep incline and the many rotten trees."

[+Mr. 0]

I'm in Central Ohio here, so it's pretty much flat here. There are some rolling hills left behind by the glaciers, but for the most part it's flat. One can find some decent ravines in some of the parks, but no mountains to speak of. What I usually see during the hunt are woods, creeks, ravines, ponds, lakes, etc. Almost all of the caches are hidden near some sort of water feature. There are some meadows as well, usually full of ticks. I also see a lot of deer, raccoons, opossom, groundhogs, chipmunks, squirrels, a wide variety of birds, and bugs.

 

The most popular style of cache is just a traditional, usually an ammo can...the next most popular are 35mm film can micros. Multi's, and puzzle caches have seen a recent surge in the past few months as well. Most caches are hidden in wooded areas of parks....we do have a lot of woods around the area. The actual hides tend to be in stumps, or under/around fallen trees...covered by the tell-tale pile of sticks. Caches contain a wide variety of items. Most of them are well stocked, and well placed. They don't get muggled a lot, but we do see our fair share of muggleization.

 

Weather wise, we see it all here, and it changes frequently. It's normal to have to use the heat in the car in the morning, and have the A/C on by afternoon. A couple of weeks ago, it was 85° one day and around 30° the next. Just yesterday it was about 45°, today it was 75° and it's supposed to be 85° by the weekend. We get fair amounts of snow in the winter, cool autumns and springs, with much rain, and summer is usually hot, humid, and buggy (we're gearing up for the 17yr cicada this year as well).

 

What I wear...well it just depends. In the summer, l typically wear light colored jeans, so I can see the ticks better. Light colored T-shirt. Columbia hiking boots. Camelbak HAWG backpack (sometimes it's more of a hassle than it's worth, so it stays in the car on the short hikes). In the spring/autumn pretty much the same, sometimes I'll substitute the backpack for a photographers/fishing vest to carry stuff. Depending on the weather I may also be wearing some sort of jacket/coat/flannel shirt, I might also wear military surplus BDU pants, and steel toed boots. In the winter it's usually the BDUs, steel toed boots (helps keep me from stubbing my toes on stuff I can't see under the snow), T-shirt, flannel, and a heavy old Carhart coat. No backpack or vest because I can stuff everything in the coat. Oh and I almost forgot I'm always wearing some sort of hat.

 

GPS reception is fair to good in the late fall, winter, and early spring. When the trees have leaves on them it's hard to tell what reception will be like.

 

Ok I think that's long enough for now...most of you probably stopped reading a long time ago.

 

 

 

The first was taken a couple of days ago while I was scouting locations for placement. The second was taken after finding a cache this past winter.

Edited May 5, 2004 by Mr. 0

[Radman Forever]

I live in Central Michigan, the middle of the Thumb, we have lots of farms...... very few woods..... almost all the caches in the area are mine.....um yeah.....

 

That's why I hunt in Michigan's backyard, Northern Michigan, where all the good caches are!

 

We have big pines! That's my dog, Tucker in the middle.

 

 

I like to find ruins of ghost towns (usually find nothing at ghost towns, you guys in Nevada are so lucky)!

 

 

We are also known for our lighthouses!

 

 

We also have lots of snow for 4 months out of the year!

 

[+wildlifeguy]

I'm in Central California in the Gold Country so in an hours time I could be at 9,000 ft in elevation or at the beach. Forest, deserts, rain, fog, humid bayou type conditions are all within easy reach. Urban, rural, wilderness it's all there for me! I really like all the one's that are associated with the history of the area. Pioneer cemeteries have been some of the neatest places to cache.

 

Peace!

[+wildlifeguy]

I'm in Central California in the Gold Country so in an hours time I could be at 9,000 ft in elevation or at the beach. Forest, deserts, rain, fog, humid bayou type conditions are all within easy reach. Urban, rural, wilderness it's all there for me! I really like all the one's that are associated with the history of the area. Pioneer cemeteries have been some of the neatest places to cache.

 

Peace!

[+JMBella]

WOW!!! That photo is the furthest thing from my mind when I think about TN. Absolutely breathtaking.

Edited May 6, 2004 by JMBella

[+JMBella]

Long Island NY. Well, it's an island. That means about 75% of the caches have a really nice view of either the Long Island Sound, Great South Bay or The Atlantic Ocean. The biggest problem around here is not snakes or bears, it mosquito's & ticks. Particularly Deer ticks. Long Island deer population is pretty overwhelming when you consider how built up it is. It not at all out of the ordinary for humans to be able to hand feed deer around here. Which is unfortunate because the deer become Dependant on humans in some parts. There's also tons of wetlands as you might expect, which make for some excellent Swamp Caches, like this one. For the most part the terrain is pretty flat with a few exceptions. The North Shore has incredible view of the Sound and CT, with bluffs as high as 150 feet in some locations. One of the highest points on LI, I believe about 550 feet ASL, is the Brookhaven Landfill. Pretty sad I know, but we do have natural elevations as well. The Ronkonkoma Moraine runs from the North Shore in Western Suffolk County all the the Hamptons on the Eastern part of Suffolk. There is a trail called the Paumonauk Trail that follows a large portion of this Moraine. We also have a tremendous pine barrens region. There's a great mix of rural areas that truly feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, yet in 5 miles away in any direction you could be hunting for urban micros. I'll post some photo in a bit.

[+DavidMac]

WOW!!! That photo is the furthest thing from my mind when I think about TN. Absolutely breathtaking.

That picture was taken in the Smoky Mountains NP outside of Gatlinburg during one of our snowier days. For the curious, it was on the way to this virtual.

 

Let me guess, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind when they think geocaching in TN is this (sorry, couldn't resist!) : :P

 

 

[+Nuwati]

I am from Western North Carolina (Brevard). I live minutes away from the Pisgah National Forest. I also work on the Forest at North Carolina's largest cold water fish hatchery. What a commute. When I explain Geocaching to other folks, I say that it is a "The Coolest Places in WNC Interactive Field Guide".

[+Two Geeks and a GPS]

Two fairly typical Northern NJ scenes (each near one of my caches)

 

Where are the drums filled with toxic waste?! Just kidding

[+Polgara]

Its really great to hear about everyone's different caching environments. Its not something you really think about till you leave your own element.

 

I cache in PA, DE & MD, and its interesting to me that caching is different in PA, then from DE. There are more bugs in DE, and the forest is slightly different, with less rocks and more swamp and cypress trees. PA is very rocky, and in central PA, its very hilly. Erie is alot like the beach, which surprised me, I always thought of Presque Isle to be hilly, but to my surprise, it wasn't!

[+JMBella]

Let me guess, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind when they think geocaching in TN is this (sorry, couldn't resist!)

 

Actually the first thing that comes to mind when I think of TN is this.

[+briansnat]

And this is what probably comes to mind when most people think of NJ...

 

[+Renegade Knight]

Southern Idaho we have Rocks, Lava Flows, Rivers, Canyons, Desert, Sage, Mountains, Rocks, Rocks, and more Rocks.

 

In the desert you will find Rocks, In the mountains you will find Rocks, the Lava flows are sharp rocks ready to kill you.

 

This is a canyon full of rocks. Beautiful.

[+joefrog]

And this is what probably comes to mind when most people think of NJ...

Yep, that's what I saw!

[+The Wombles]

Here's the prettiest village in England near this cache

 

Or this view in the Georgian City of Bath near this cache

 

Or maybe in the countryside near this cache

 

Overall, local history goes back to 3,500BC, there are excellent views from the Chalk escarpment towards Bristol (some bloke called John Cabot sailed from there to Newfoundland), and caches are infrequent amoungst the greenery.

[+magking1971]

I have been to two of those places Wombles wayyyyy back in 86!

[+Criminal]

[+Pepper]

Yup WA is looken' good!

Great Pics Criminal

 

Here is one I took on my way to Wenathee.

 

 

Pepper

[+Mr. 0]

I really should stop looking at this thread....It just makes me sad when I compare pics to my own.

[+briansnat]

I really should stop looking at this thread....It just makes me sad when I compare pics to my own

 

Heck, if I can find nice spots in NJ, I'm sure you can find some nice ones in Ohio!

[+Mr. 0]

Well yeah I guess I do have to admit, there are a lot of locations much nicer than the NJ interstate system.

 

Nah, don't get me wrong, there are many beautiful spots in Central Ohio (It gets better as you head south or east), but it's just my personal taste. I'd much rather be surrounded by mountains. That's where my envy lies.