:d How Did You Get Learn About Geocaching?

[+diverhank 0]

I learned about GPS back in 1982 in the aviation industry and did some work on GPS and INS (inertial navigation system) integration so I'm familiar with GPS but never own one until about 1.5 years ago. I bought a Garmin 2610 Street Pilot for car navigation and got really hooked using it. Then I bought a Garmin Forerunner 201 GPSr for running...One day while browsing the GPS forums on my two units...and someone mentioned geocaching...I've heard of geocaching a few years back but paid no attention since I didn't own a GPSr...

 

Well, I was curious to see if my tiny Forerunner 201 can handle geocaching so I tried to find my first cache while running...I managed to find it (a micro) after about 30 minutes, despite having the GPSr guiding me to within 3 ft...ha, a similar micro today would have taken me 2 minutes flat []...Now I am so hopelessly hooked.

 

Of course, I have outgrowned the Forerunner 201 since it only holds 100 waypoints. I want the Legend or maybe the Vista...1000 waypoints...that's it!!!

[+TrotzO 0]

lessee......

I bought a Sportrak Color mostly for driving directions and stumbled upon Geocaching by accident. My son had mentioned it to me after seeing something on TV about it, but he was under the impression that they only did it in the Northwest (go figure). I "googled" Geocaching and the first site that came up was Geocaching.com (naturally). I was pumped to see that there are thousands of caches all over the world! Since then, I've found a few caches and plan on finding lots more. Since I travel quite a bit (work and otherwise), there is no cache in the US that I won't find sooner or later

[+Pablo Mac 0]

Once upon a time I was a GPS land surveyor, which in some ways is like a professional geocacher, in that I searched for property corners and government survey benchmarks as a major part of my job. SIDE NOTE: sub-centimeter GPS accuracy ROCKS! My $50,000 equipment would guide me onto a thumbtack in the ground, and that's where our handhelds will be soon.

 

I had read about and bookmarked geocaching.com, and even looked up and saved a few caches to find "one of these days." About ten months after my first knowledge of the sport I noticed a GPS in my friend's pocket and asked him, "Is that a GPS in your pocket, or..." (you know the rest) and what he used it for. He started into it, and I interrupted that I already knew enough about it, so show me the ropes already!

 

The rest is history, and I'm now the most prolific cacher in my town for boths hides and finds, with no end in sight!

[+Mr. Krabs and the Krusty Krew 0]

A few years ago I got a Wheres George dollar bill while on vacation at Hershey Park. I entered it onto the website and spent some time searching the internet to learn more about Where's George...while doing that I came across some posts about Geocaching and thought it sounded pretty cool...fast forward a year or so and as a going away gift, the guys I work with gave me a GPSr. I asked the leader of the pack why he got me that and he said he had one and liked and it just seemed like something I would like. I remembered Geocaching and asked him if he had heard of it. Turns out he hadn't so that night I did a search on google, found the site and sent him the link. A few days later I hunted my first (a micro of all things) and have been hooked ever since.

 

Al

[+LindyF 0]

I picked up a book on GPS use to get some tips on using it while hiking. It mentioned Geo-caching so I looked it up on the internet and then I was hooked. Only got a few at the end of last summer but now I can hardly wait till winter is over as many of the hiking spots I love to go have caches on them or nearby. can't believe how many I've walked by!

[+WARedBear 0]

Two years ago I was using another forum for a timeshare and someone posted a thread asking if anyone geocached on their vacations. He was nice enough to list the web site address so I clicked on it and off I went. I spent the next several days if not weeks reading all of the threads and looking at the nearby caches. I couldn't afford a GPSr at the time so I just read and read. A friend of mine had an old GPSr that he didn't use or need so he gave it to me. It was really hard finding those first few caches with a hook on only three satellites. I started looking all over the web till I found a Magellan Meridian on sale....bought it...and off I went. The rest is caches I have not found yet. My wife (Purple Bear) is not into caching. She will go with me sometimes for urban finds but not into the woods and not much off the paved trail. My middle daughter (Booger Bear) loves to go but she works to much now (three jobs) to go. Our youngest daughter (Skittles Bear) likes going but she has only been out a few times. Her husband (Little Bear) has been out with me twice and seems to like it.

[Shoobie & the Sand Crabs 0]

i learned from a friend of ours

[+julz91 0]

One of my blog buddies posted an entry about it two weeks ago. I thought it sounded fun, and asked her for details. She pointed me to geocaching.com, and when I found there was a microcache three blocks from my apartment, I had to try it. Found that one without GPS and decided I needed to jump into it with both feet. Two weeks later, here I am with a new eTrex Legend, and 7 finds, planning another round of cache hunting with my boyfriend this weekend (we took his kids last weekend and they fell in love with it).

 

It's getting to be spring, I'm getting exercise while being outdoors, and I get to treasure hunt - what's not to love?

[+Marcie/Eric 0]

I got a new GPS, some supplies, and I havw to wait tfor my GIRLFRIENDS day off!

 

I'm itching to go out. Got about a dozen within 5 miles of my house.

[+Baron Von Cache 0]

I found out about it from a post on forums.therianthropy.org.

Read it, went to the link, and it hooked me.

Edited March 10, 2005 by LazerZero