My First Geocaching Experience!

February 17, 2005

Where to start? I bought the basic eTrex model (yellow one) yesterday. Played around with it last night, and put a few cache way points in it. This evening after work, I tried to find my first cache. I didn't have a lot of time, the park closes at dark, and it still gets dark pretty early.

So anyway, I hike most of the way up a steep hill. I got the spot where my eTrex was saying the cache was 16-17 feet away, but due to the trees the gps unit was only accurate to 20 ft. I looked for as long as I could, but had to leave to get out of the park before they closed the gates on me! I never did find the cache, although it was last found 4 days ago. So it should still be there. If the weather permits, I'm planning on going back tomorrow to find it. Wish me luck.

February 17, 2005

Good Luck and Welcome!

The first one will probably be one of your most memorable.

Savor the hunt and have fun!

February 17, 2005

Sounds like you're having fun already, and also finding out that the hunt can be half the fun. Welcome to the hobby.

3.8k · February 17, 2005

Welcome to the Recreational Activity/Spot/Hobby/Addiction!

The first cache can be tricky. Make sure you have the basics right. Check to make sure the datum you are using is WGS84, and that your coordinates are set to h dd.mm.mmm (hemisphere, degrees, minutes, decimal minutes) and not h dd.mm.ss or h.dd.ddddd. The Yellow should default to this, but if you changed it while playing around with it, you are sunk until you change it back.

The common wisdom is that the Garmin Yellow Etrex has found more caches than any other unit, so you've got a good GPS receiver.

It also sounds like you didn't make the rookie mistake of expecting your GPSr to get to 0 feet before you started looking.

Here is where experience pays off. When you get to within 20 or 30 feet, stop looking at your GPSr and think "Where would I hide this thing?"

Two more quick tips. First, your first few hunts should have a difficulty rating of 1. Second, pay attention to the SIZE of the cache on the cache page. Micros are harder to find than Small, and Small are usually harder than Regulars.

Rule number 1: Have fun!

February 18, 2005

Well I went back today and found the cache! Woo-Hoo! Great fun. I walked within 5 feet of it yesterday, but didn't I see it.

The cache was on the side of hill, more than halfway up. There are alot of trees, but none with leaves. My yellow eTrex said I was with 10ft of the cache and that it was ahead and a little to my left. Then the arrow suddenly spun around and pointed behind me and said I was 60 feet away.

Now I know they aren't accurate down to the centimeter, but isn't that a bit much? Would I get better performance out of a Legend(next step up)?

4.5k · February 18, 2005

No. Once you are that close to the cache location, the normal error of 20-30 feet will "fool" the GPS into thinking the cache is that way one second and then the other way the next. +SO the arrow starts doing a "bee dance". Time to put the GPS away and start looking. Good luck.

February 19, 2005

My first cache... as I was walking towards it, It was a bit uncovered and that gave it away. My second cash I saw it from about 50 feet away!

My third cache was a multi with a micro and a regular cache. The micro was the hardest part. After getting a few under your belt, it seems easy... watch, my next one is going to be rough!

Dave

3.8k · February 19, 2005

Another problem with the pointer on any GPS without a built in electronic compass: It measure direction by your change in position, and to do that, you have to be moving at 2 or 3 mph. Most of us slow down when we get near the cache, and the arrow gets "lost" because you arn't moving fast enough.

Cachers with electronic compasses swear by them (or at them, since they have to be recalibrated when you change batteries, etc.) Most cachers do fine without them, me included.

3.9k · February 19, 2005

My first cache... as I was walking towards it, It was a bit uncovered and that gave it away. My second cash I saw it from about 50 feet away!

My third cache was a multi with a micro and a regular cache. The micro was the hardest part. After getting a few under your belt, it seems easy... watch, my next one is going to be rough!

Dave

Try this one on for size Dave. :huh: JMB'S CENTENNIAL CACHE

February 19, 2005

My first cache... as I was walking towards it, It was a bit uncovered and that gave it away. My second cash I saw it from about 50 feet away!

My third cache was a multi with a micro and a regular cache. The micro was the hardest part. After getting a few under your belt, it seems easy... watch, my next one is going to be rough!

Dave

Try this one on for size Dave. JMB'S CENTENNIAL CACHE

JMBella, Great to see you on the forums. For those who want to get an idea of the 3rd cache I went to (It's JMBella's), here it is:

JMB's Double Wammy Web Cammy Multi Cache

Although it seems like a lot of work, it's rather simple but I just ran into a "Comedy Of Errors" with it.

First step you have to stand in front of the webcam, call someone and have them do a print screen. My wife hit "Print Screen" and as I was walking away from it she hit "Print Screen" again because it didn't "print" :huh:

Then I knew where the Micro was but I just couldn't see it. Without giving it away it was actually pushed back a bit too much and I couldn't get it, my wife couldn't get it, I ended up scraping my knuckles to get at it. I picked a day when it was a total muggle zone so I had my son with me and I pretended something dropped where the micro should be. When two cars pulled up with a boat load of people, I exclaimed "Is this what you dropped???" I finally pulled out the micro and got the clue to the main cache....

Finding the main cache was easy!... well, it was hidden quite well but the coords were right on and I found it.

I am heading out to the Calverton area when the weather gets a bit warmer so that will definately be one on my list. Currently I am keeping things local. Tomorrow me and my son are hiking on the local trail in hopes we can visit atleast 2 of the caches in the area. I also want to check on my own.

Dave

February 19, 2005

Here is where experience pays off. When you get to within 20 or 30 feet, stop looking at your GPSr and think "Where would I hide this thing?"

Thanks Alan2... Mine was doing the same spinning and reverse pointing... So, now I know where a cache I was looking for is.. and will go back and snatch it when no kids are around.. You have been more help than you may realize...

February 19, 2005

No. Once you are that close to the cache location, the normal error of 20-30 feet will "fool" the GPS into thinking the cache is that way one second and then the other way the next. +SO the arrow starts doing a "bee dance". Time to put the GPS away and start looking

Thanks Sputnik.. More help than you can imagine... you and Alan 2..

1.6k · February 19, 2005

Welcome to caching. May you find many caches in the future.

February 19, 2005

Well I went back today and found the cache! Woo-Hoo! Great fun.

I did the chicken dance after I found my first. Good luck!

February 19, 2005

Welcome aboard, soon your golf clubs will get rusty, your friends will wonder what happened to you, and you will evaluate every plastic container that you see for cache container potential. :huh:

11.3k · February 19, 2005

I wish I had read a thread like this one before I set out to find my first Geocache a little over a month ago. There are some good tips here. :huh:

Mastifflover -- you are so right. Yesterday I had to go into town to run some errands. WHOOPS . . . I looked for five Geocaches instead (finding only two of them), so now I have to go into town again to buy my bottled water.

Oh . . . ANOTHER opportunity to go Geocaching. Whoopee!!

1.2k · February 19, 2005

Well I went back today and found the cache! Woo-Hoo! Great fun. I walked within 5 feet of it yesterday, but didn't I see it.

That's pretty common on my own hunts, too! :-)

February 20, 2005

my Husband and I went Geocaching for the first time last sunday. I picked 3 caches to do that I thought were easy. While doing the first one I was looking at the GPS and my husband said do you know how to read that thing. I said I will learn. I started to get the hang of it and also there were foot prints in the snow which helped. We found the frist cache and I got all excited. Then we looked for the other two. I went to work and told everyone. It was fun and relaxing to get out. I was going shopping yesterday in another town and though I would try (what I think is an easy cache) on my own. I found it.

I found out about geocaching through a friend in Tx. I am taking a co-worker with me I think today to find 3 more. I think this is the best thing going and it is fun. When I go to NY for a baby shower my cousin said she would go with me when I go geocaching. :laughing:

February 20, 2005

My Son and I found our first 2 caches yesterday. That little gps gizmo only gets close, once we figured out we actually had to look for it we really started having fun. The second cache we went to was near a lake where there was motorcycles ice racing. Way Cool! You could say we're hooked :laughing:

February 20, 2005

I think you are already hooked ... I know I am :laughing: LOL

My First Geocaching Experience!

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