Finding Caches With Hiking Involved

[+GeoMike11]

I have only found 8 so far...but all but 1 has turned out to be within a couple hundred yards of the nearest parking spot.

 

One reason I started this was to get more active with the expectation that there would be a lot of hiking. Some of them are very obvious by the cache description...some are not. But even so...it seems one must look at the description page for each cache to determine whether or not a good hike is also involved.

 

I was wondering if there was an easy way to find cache listings that required a good hike?

[+briansnat]

Check terrain rating. Caches with longer hikes will often have a slightly higher rating. Probably the best way however is to check the Topozone and Mapquest maps to look for caches that are far from roads.

 

Another good way is to skim the logs. A cache hunt that involves a longer hike will often give the person more to write about, so the logs will often be more involved than a "Found it, thanks for the cache".

 

Also, find the people in your area who hide the kinds of caches you like. They will often have others of a similar type.

 

You can also post a request in your regional forum asking for leads on caches that involve longer hikes and visit the Texasgeocaching.com forums to see if anybody there can give you some leads.

Edited January 24, 2005 by briansnat

[+Snoogans]

Drive a few hours South for this cache. Read the logs and notice that 30 people are watching it.

 

It will be worth the trip. This is a much coveted cache prize:

 

[Tahosa and Sons]

As previously stated, check the terrain ratings, maps and logs of the finders. If you ever get to CO I'll give you a good hike.

[Smaug1]

One tip which I learned today:

 

Do it in the winter, after a heavy snowfall.

 

My wife and I were looking for an easy cache today, but the sky has dropped over a foot of snow over the weekend. It took an hour and a half to find a 1.5 difficulty cache.

 

After we found the cache, we had the option to go back (1/4 mi.) the way we came, head back to the car and head home, or venture onto the trail and finish the loop. We had no idea how long the loop was but figured it was pretty small. It turned out to be another 2.5 miles. Let me tell you something, 3 miles in knee-deep snow is no joke. We must've burned hundreds of calories. My wife is passed out behind me as I type this, hehehe.

 

If you scrutinize the cache on geocaching.com a bit more, that could help too. There is usually a map you can link to. I see that you're a premium member and that will allow you to zoom and pan the map, which might give you some hints.

 

Lastly, remember that finding the cache is only 1/2 your reason for being there. If you're after a good cache in forest preserve or something, by all means hike the rest of the trail/trails while you're there. Maybe even have your eye open for cache spots of your own if the place is up to your standards...

[+pnew]

I'll second snoogans' recommendation. People have come from all over Texas to complete this 10+ mile hike. It was well worth it. Geowyz and I finished it in just under 6 hours and we had some distractions ( ) along our way. Do it!!!

[+Snoogans]

I'll second snoogans' recommendation.  People have come from all over Texas to complete this 10+ mile hike.  It was well worth it.  Geowyz and I finished it in just under 6 hours and we had some distractions ( ) along our way.  Do it!!!

Dude, 6 hours! PLUS that ummmm distraction.... (BTW it was logged 2 times this weekend) Well heck, you're like, what, 7 feet tall? That's one heckuva stride. I'm surprised that Wyz kept up.

 

I think we did it in just under/over 9 hours. Most of our track logs read 14.7 miles WITH your little distraction. I just about died. I came in dead last out of a dozen people and I actually WANT to do it again.

Edited January 24, 2005 by Snoogans

[+BalkanSabranje]

Try this one on your next trip: Flocks Spaziergang

 

2-3 days, 30 km (approx. 20 miles) off path, 3700 meters (10k ft.) ascent.

 

BS/2

[+Gonzo-YT]

If it's a short hike to a cache, I usually try to make it a longer one. Park somewhere else. Find a new route, or make your own route, preferably one that takes you somewhere you didn't expect to go.

 

It's what I like to call "gonzo-style" caching.

 

Getting lost always helps add on the miles as well, and I usually manage to do that.

 

But seriously though, park somewhere totally different and just wing it. Or, park at one cache and walk to others from there.

 

I do it most often in urban areas when I am travelling. Even if it is a park-n-grab, if you don't drive there you still have more fun. I usually find caches that are 3-5 km from the hotel and walk to them.

 

One trip to Ottawa I rented a mountain bike and spent all day pedaling/walking almost 70 km for six caches when I could easily have rented a car and bagged them all in an hour or two.

 

Just because there is an easy way doesn't mean you have to take it.

 

Regards,

Anthony

Edited January 24, 2005 by Gonzo-YT

[+sbell111]

Just leave your car at home.

[TahoeJoe]

You might also try looking at the attributes (new feature) and see if the significant hike icon is present.

Edited January 24, 2005 by TahoeJoe

[+briansnat]

Another way to do it is to string several caches together in a loop hike. The hike to each individual cache might not be significant, but you can often put together a nice 4-12 mile hike in many areas by hitting a few caches.

[+sbell111]

Just last week I did just what Brian suggested, sort of.

 

This is what you can do:

• [1] Find a nice, legal parking spot in just about any city in the US.
  [2] Hit GOTO and find the nearest cache.
  [3] Hit GOTO and find another one.
  [4] Repeat step three until you get tired.
  [5] Walk back to your vehicle.
  [6] Go home and log your finds.
  

Edited January 24, 2005 by sbell111

[+Jeep_Dog]

Check the logs on the cache site. Comments such as:

 

"Fun hike!"

"Found this after a really nice hike."

"..is still a rough hike to this thru brush left travel bug"

"Great hide, good walk in, thanks..."

"We bushwhacked to an upper trail that is a work in progress apparently and made it to the final location. Great spot for the final."

"It was a fun hike. All was quiet there today... no problems."

"Took awhile to find the ammo pouch and a pretty good hike to the cache too."

 

are great indicators there's a hike involved. As mentioned previously, it is almost universal that a cache with a hike involved will generate log comments to that effect.

 

(the above actual comments from my cache)

[Jeremy]

1. Log in to Geocaching.com

2. Click on this link and save the Pocket Query

3. Go cachin'

 

Those should be a good start. I just used one of your found caches as the point of origin, so you can change that.

[+CompuCash]

1. Log in to Geocaching.com

2. Click on this link and save the Pocket Query

3. Go cachin'

 

Those should be a good start. I just used one of your found caches as the point of origin, so you can change that.

I was thinking in the same track -

 

do a nearest - check the distances from home --

 

select a cache - map it and identify - all on the map are listed as a distance from the cache you started with

 

Use GSAK - pick any cache - all caches are listed as a distance from the cache (or your home) - sort by distance

 

have a hiking ball !!!

 

and by all means - have fun! 'cause this was fun answering -

 

--

 

edit - forgot to add that in Texas you wouldn't think one would have to look far for a good long hike - ya think?

Edited January 25, 2005 by CompuCash

[+Polgara]

In addition to searches, and looking at terrain rating, etc., try to figure out who the cachers are in your area that stick to the caches that require long hikes, or better yet cachers that hide caches that require long hikes, and look in their profiles as to what caches in your area they have found. That can get you started on creating a watchlist of hiking caches.

[+GeoMike11]

Wow! Great responses.

 

Good Idea about using the terrain rating. I was not thinking about that to at least give me a good query with which to start checking out the logs.

 

I definitely will check-out the one at Sam Houston State park. I went to college in that area for 2 semesters before moving up to the DFW area and did not even step foot in the park. Now it's a good excuse to make a nastagic visit to the area.

 

I also like the idea of stringing several caches together!

 

Thanks all!

[TahoeJoe]

Also look at the date the cache was placed and how many finds it has.

[+DCDesertRats]

We set out to do some caches yesterday. There were 8 within close proximity and most of them were rated 1/1. It took a half mile hike uphill in the desert to find the first one. It was hidden under a pile of rocks. This is supposed to be 1/1?? Oh well!