Geocaching Firsts & Rites of Passage

[+RB_Nielsen]

I'm interested in what "Firsts and Rites of Passage" that experienced Geocacher's would pass along to someone starting out. Geocaching is really not just about finding a cache, it is much more than that.

 

To me Geocaching is similar to fly fishing, you always remember your first trout taken on a dry fly, and something marvelous happens when a trout takes the first fly that you tied all by yourself. The sport of fly fishing goes on endlessly with achieving what seems to be a never ending list of "Firsts and Rites of Passage."

 

So, in a similar vein, what can a new Geocacher look forward to in terms of "Firsts and Rites of Passage?" Let me start with a few of my own:

 

1. First - Finding your first geocache using your own GPSr

2. Rite - Taking a friend or family member along on their first Geocache adventure

3. First - Putting together your very own Geocache and submitting it for approval

4. Rite - getting it approved

5. First - the log entry from the Geocacher who was the first to find your very first cache, and they even leave a compliment.

 

Other "Firsts/Rites"?????

 

[This message was edited by RB_Nielsen on November 29, 2002 at 09:40 PM.]

[+The Leprechauns]

An important rite of passage is when you transition from blindly staring at the GPSr screen, and stumbling around in the woods, trying to find the cache.... to.... "I am now 50 feet away, that hollow tree over there is a likely hiding spot" and you walk over and find the cache in the first place you look. Developing this intuition, sometimes called "the FORCE" or "being in the zone," is a great feeling. You'll know it when you get there.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitos?

[+Ed Rad]

I decided to Geocache after reading about it in the local paper on day. I get my kids on the weekends and thought it would be a neat way to spend time with them doing something a little different. The first one we chose to do was a multi-cache so it turned into a 4 hour adventure. It was funny, the four of us roaming around blindly. I had never used a GPS and I was learning as I went along. When we did find it the kids were thrilled and we were hooked. We went from doing one or two a day to cramming in as many as possible. We eventually graduated to creating our first cache. We were all excited when we recieved the first e-mail notifying us that it had been found. As far as memories of our firsts go, we decided when we first started to keep a scrapbook of all our adventures. I take the digital camera out with us and shoot plenty of pictures of the kids. We print out the cache page and write about our adventure in more detail than what we post on the log. We have a map of the Chicago area at home and we have marked the locations of the caches we found. We have dragged a few friends out with us and they seemed to enjoy it also. This is starting to get long winded so I'll end it here.

[+Geo-Johnson's]

How about the first time running into another geocacher out on the trails........The first ones we ran into were very friendly and we chatted for a little bit........We ran into another one on the same day at a different cache that didn't seem to want to socialize much. The hardest part is working up the nerve to ask them if they're geocachers and hope they don't say "no what is geocaching?"

 

Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners.

[+JoeCthulhu]

Darn it, someone found it yesterday so I know it's here someplace. An hour later: Where the heck can the darn thing be. Dusk: I should have brought a freakin' flashlight.

 

Expletives modified.

[Gary Samad]

My first DNF followed by "dang it, I'm not going to let this cache beat me," then returning the next day and finding the cache, right where it was supposed to be!

 

cu, Gary

[Big Red One]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Geo-Johnson's:

How about the first time running into another geocacher out on the trails........The first ones we ran into were very friendly and we chatted for a little bit........We ran into another one on the same day at a different cache that didn't seem to want to socialize much. The hardest part is working up the nerve to ask them if they're geocachers and hope they don't say "no what is geocaching?"

---

 

Or the first time you are engrossed in a cache and look up to see a non-geocacher looking at you like you are a little touched in the head. O.K., so you don't see a 43-year-old with a three day beard sitting on a trail surrounded by children's toys every day - and this is probably a good thing, but hey - you're out following around a large furry creature waiting for it to poop so you can collect the evidence and take it home - so don't look at me as if I have three heads.

 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step . . . and then I get in my truck and drive the rest of the way

[Big McLarge Huge]

I ran into some fellow Geocachers on 11/30/02. Was really cool to come across them. They were very friendly and helpful (shared GPS info). They were also the first Geocachers that I've met and they left me with a great impression of the folks who do this. I don't remember your names but I do recall that you were from Florida and we met in Bonaventure Cemetery (Savannah, Ga). Good luck in the future.

[Big Red One]

I hit another first today - the first time I suggested a cache should be archived. I am preparing for a trip to Florida and noticed that the last four logs were DNFs and that the owner had not responded or done any logged geocaching since August. So maybe we can help clean up the system a little.

 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step . . . and then I get in my truck and drive the rest of the way.

[+Markwell]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JoeCthulhu:

Darn it, someone found it yesterday so I know it's here someplace. An hour later: Where the heck can the darn thing be. Dusk: I should have brought a freakin' flashlight.

---

 

Followed by a person the following day logging it thusly:

quote:

---

Our First Geocache Find Ever!!! The GPS lead us right to it and we found it in 10 minutes. Are they all this easy? Can't wait to find another!

---

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+Logscaler and Red]

How about willing to post your first DNF? And telling how many times you went back because someone else found it? As many times as it Really took? And then leaving the DNF's on the cache page after finding it?

 

Or when you start going out at night to up the rating a touch.

 

Or when your letting others be first finders to the new caches.

 

or when you put in more hours at WORK then caching.

[+briansnat]

Finding a cache, sans GPS

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" -Max Beerbohm

[Uptonhouse]

How bout remembering to Waypoint your vehicle at the Trailhead? I might remember to do this yet and then I can call it a First.

 

Bugout to avoid the Fallout

[Dinoprophet]

First "First to Find".

 

I was going to post a link to mine, but I accidentally deleted the log while trying to get the URL for it.

 

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

[+Markwell]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dinoprophet:

I was going to post a link to mine, but I accidentally deleted the log while trying to get the URL for it.

---

 

A quick note to Jeremy - you might still be able to recover it. Note the Cache ID, date, and user (and if you happen to have it the Log ID). The magic man of databases was able to recover mine when I did the exact same thing.

 

BTW - my first first was posted here. Cache is still active.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+DenaliNW]

Some have been mentioned:

Your first "first"

Your first 100

Your first vandalized cache

Your first travel bug

Your first missing travel bug

Your first cache in another state

Your first event cache

 

All of these, where memorable milestones for me. Especially the last two. That last one - I still remember wondering, "What am I doing - going out to meet total strangers?" Had a great time though.

[Dinoprophet]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Markwell:

A quick note to Jeremy - you might still be able to recover it.

---

Success! Thanks, Markwell.

 

My first First

 

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

[+georgeandmary]

Leaving the gps at the cache site and not remembering it until you get back to the car.

 

Leaving your pen in the car and then finding a cache with nothing to write with, so you burn the end of a stick so you can write your name in charcoal.

 

Encountering someone at the cache and trying to figure out if they are geocachers or just hikers in the same area.

 

george

 

Pedal until your legs cramp up and then pedal some more.

[+Night Stalker]

I just got a first that is a little unusual. I and my caching partners found a plundered cache where the culprets were so blatant that they logged that they had plundered the cache and left the log book behind for us to find. Go figure.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=34795

 

Lost? Keep Going. You're making good time anyway!!