Geocaching

“Lots of cachers like the real easy ones for quick, simple, painless finds. Good to build the numbers (kinda like lotsa mindless posts on backpacker.com to build the total post number for individuals. LOL)

I placed one by a bike path this spring. It has umpteen "finds" already. My first one, which is much more remote -- both the drive to it and the hike up to it -- it hadn't been hit since last October. Although someone did just find it. (and it sounds like I need to do cache maintenance! ruh roh!)

Also, I need to get back to the one called Rattlesnake Den. It's a premium cache off I-90, maybe 45 miles from me. Three different parties did NOT find it and I don't think it's been found yet.

However, the one cacher said he found six timber rattlesnakes laying on a log. I was HORRIFIED cuz I was there later that same day and was poking into all kinds of logs and leaves by logs!

The guy who placed the cache had no clue, placing it at night. He changed the name of it after reading about the snakes. Me? I'm gonna try to get some guy to go with with re-visiting that one!!

Link to it, but it's a premium cache so you might not see if not a premium member”

“"Me? I'm gonna try to get some guy to go with with re-visiting that one!!"

Girl power!! LOL!”

“Too far away or I would have to take a shot at that one.”

“Uh, Ohio Hiker does hang out int he parks...I think he'd be the most scary thing to run into.

As for lazy cachers...thats my buddy. Last night one of the caches I had printed out said ".25 mile walk required." He tossed it in the back and didn't want to do it, lol.”

“ One of my Travel Bugs is on the move in Wisconsin again.”

“I need to buy a few travel bugs.”

“A buddy of mine made the comment that most Geocachers aren't really outdoors people. The number of hits my level 5 caches get is about a 100th of some of the regular caches in the area. One cache got 3 hits total, in the summer...another went 2 years before anyone had the skills to go for it during the winter. That's OK though, I kinda like it like that.

Nigal...sounds like you did get a lazy ass cacher...but perhaps he had that "follow the arrow" addiction. I have noticed more then a few cachers seem to get mesmerized by that little arrow and follow it at all costs. One cache near my home gets comments like..."couldn't get to the cache, water was too high", all the time...it's a shame they didn't take the road behind the cache to get to it..LOL I had to update the clue on one of my caches because folks were following the arrow...they actually swam across a rather large creek and rock climbed a cliff to get to it, instead of wading across the creek lower down and walking up the side.

Liz...We are into rattlesnake season out here too, I like having my walking stick with me, handy to poke around with and if ya have to, to move the little critters away with. I bumped into a doctor at a cache near my house, he said they have had 3 rattlesnake bites in the last couple days in the ER.”

“Animal!”

“"Nigal...sounds like you did get a lazy ass cacher...but perhaps he had that "follow the arrow" addiction."

Actually he probably went to more trouble his way than mine. I gave the co-ords for the parking lot nearest the cache. I nice and quick 20 minute stroll and you're there. In his log entry he said he went to the parking lot, saw it was a mile and then desided to cut yards instead.”

“Most cachers I know are like my friend, city people, not outdoors people. My friend follows the arrow and gives up easily. IMO it's primarily a geek sport...techies buy a GPS and want to play with their new toy, so the head off looking for geocaches. About a year ago there was a detailed thread about cachers that feared bears. Most of them swore up and down I was wrong and that if they didn't go out there with a gun or pepper spray they would get eaten. I told them they were more likely to die in their car on the way...but of course I was wrong. Idiots.”

“I'm still amused by how afraid of the woods my friend was last night...he even had my big maglite and all I had was a tikka. Crazy non backpackers.”

“Nigal...OK, he's a sob.

Dub..you would have liked this one”

“That is a badass cache! Great waterfall behind it, why in the world did you have to remove it? Too many weenies afraid to hike that far to find it?

I've been looking at all the caches in WV lately...there seems to be several good ones near my cabin below Dolly Sods...I feel like taking a trip there this weekend just for some caching.”

“"A buddy of mine made the comment that most Geocachers aren't really outdoors people."


Having attended GeoWoodstock, I can attest to that.”

“LOL, I didn't even know there was a GeoWoodstock, but the few cachers I've met were nerdy people.”

“I went and "fixed" my cache on a steep hillside above the Upper Iowa River last night. What a trek to get up there!! LOL! I almost didn't want to do it on that slippery hillside (It's monsoon season here, ya know, just like India!)

First I found a tree CUT down at what would be considered the trailhead and covering the trail. Had to fight my way through that. WTF is up with that?? DNR trying to keep people out?? Or someone being stupid!

The cache itself was a little wet. Not bad for making it through winter and probably four or five 4+ inch rains. I cleaned it, grabbed an agate from it (replaced by a "77" pink small model car), managed to lose $1 worth of quarters down the hillside, and took a wet deck of cards out of it.

After all that, I decided perhaps I should replace the container. I'd brought another one of the same type along.

It was kinda funny. The last that I knew it was logged was in Oct. 03. However, someone with a GPS -- and no name -- logged it in January 04. And apparently some campers found it in March 04. Kinda fun to see that. I thought it was sooooooo lonely all this time!!

I considered moving it, cuz the trek up to it is probably not too environmentally correct. But then I thought, screw it. Everyone has said they've enjoyed the challenge. And it's not like it's getting visited even once a month... so it stayed. :-)”

“Found 6/7 today. I'm the second no find on the one we didn't find...so maybe it's gone?

My cache buddy sucks...he gives up really easy and never find the cache...he found 1/6 today and I found the rest. He gave up on two and wanted to leave but I found them.

Now I've found all the caches in my are to the NW and W of my house. There are two to the SW and then to my E, NE, and SE there are probably 100 or so.”

“I gotta dump a bug off near Columbus nexy weekend. Any nice easy ones west of you Dub?”

“Lizs, the only containers I have seen that stayed completely dry are ammo boxes. Usually you can pick them up at an Army Surplus store for a few bucks.”

“Thanks, chili. Course I am never near army surplus stores. lol Actually ole Rubbermaid didn't do too damn bad! Kept the critters out. And after winter and a bunch of really bad rains, I was impressed. It seemed to me some of the dampness inside could have come from people taking out the baggies and laying them on the ground, as they looked through to see what was in there... and then the baggies picked up dampness from the ground.

Maybe I'll have to make the trip out of freakin' rural middle America to find an army surplus store... like 2 hours to 'the Cities??' lol”

“Chili's right, come to think of it, I've never found a wet ammo box. I've found all kinds of wet tupperwear/ziplock boxes. The worse kind are the plastic storage containers made for inside your house for small items.

Nigal, There aren't many near me to the W of me. To the SW there is one off of 70 that I haven't got yet and then two difficult ones further down in the Darby Creek area. There is an easy one in Hilliard near Avery but that's about 4 miles off the interstate. If you're going to be on near Dublin (NW) then I know all kinds of easy micros. Lemme know where you'll be and I'll look at my logs for an easy find.”

“Nigal, use the map feature on the website. It will pinpoint the caches and you can zoom in to the level you want to see.”

“Start here and keep narrowing the scope until you find the caches in an area close to where you will be.”

“The cache down the street from me was under 4' of water for months, when it was finally accessable, it was found to be safe and dry.”

“ASW

AmericaGear.Net

Command Post

Does anyone have any experience with the new plastic ammo cans?”

“I haven't seen a plastic model. But if it remains as dry as to old steel models, then having something lighter would be a definite bonus.”

“I've never encountered a plastic model either. All this geocaching talk makes me want to go out again! Maybe I will...”

“Saturday, I attempted #200 with cottonsocks and the kids. After a 30 minute search, I realized it was going to be a "no find". I was going to attempt another one next weekend on the coast. However, I couldn't stand the wait and went and found one today.

Two hundred down, many more to go.”

“Congrats...I'm a long ways off from 200.”

“What did you get, Chili?”

“crabs”

“LOL, rosey.

For the two hundred, I guess I got about 100 mosquitoe bites, about 80 briar scratches; a couple of ticks; and some really good times doing it.

Today, I snagged a quick find that was pretty unremarkable.”

“Bwaaahahahahaha....

I just got my GPS back from Garmin (they sent me a new Gecko after my other one bit the dust) and wanna try to find some geocaches around here.

What site do you use for listings of geocaches?”

“geocaching.com”

“I haven't been out in the longest time. Mainly for the reasons chili showed in his post..."I guess I got about 100 mosquitoe bites, about 80 briar scratches; a couple of ticks;". LOL!”

“Any good caches near Atlanta?”

“I would have to imagine there are a bunch.

Set the zip code for downtown and run a query.”

“There are a ton, I was just wondering if anyone had done any in the area and could name a few good ones. Guess I'll check the GC forums!”

“Dub, let me know, too, K? I like the tough ones, at historic sites and obscure natural areas, old buildings, etc. Thanks!”

“Went out and got three caches out of four today. The one I missed was a multi and the co-ords for the second one was like 27 miles away. WTF?

I found a $1 bill that was registered @ WheresGeorge.com. You can enter a bill’s serial number and register it there, write on the bill where to register it on line and then watch to see where it goes. The one I found has gone like 375 miles. The #1 registered bill has been 6,700 miles! Wow!”

“I keep meaning to set up a cache nearby. I have a great place for it and nobody has set up any there surprisingly.”

“Daughter and I found 3 out of 4 today. We had a great time and got lots of exercise. The one we didn't find was in the area of some storm damage from hurricane Ivan. The cache was small so I'm sure it's there somewhere but just hard to find with all the trees down in the area.”

“I run across a few "where george" in geocaches lately. Always interesting to see the travel.

Hopefully, I will pick up a couple caches while taking the kids home tomorrow.”

“You can catch them easily at the dealership”

“Hey chili, I’ve been meaning to ask you this. You once said you find caches at rest areas. How do you search the data base for them? Is there another way to search other than by zip code?”

“Nigal, I use a search on the entire state. Once the list opens, up near the top is a link for a map. The broadest view is usually the entire state along with portions of a couple others. I just zoom in until the interstate system is shown on the state I am searching.

From there, I can see what is close to the Interstate and zoom in and identify those close enough to make a detour for.

It is a little cumbersome, but it is the only way I know to identify those at rest areas.”

“Moochograssyass!”

“BTW- do ever do any benchmarks?”

“Yes, I have done a few. I usually try to find a few benchmarks if I am geocaching in a specific area for a day.

Ratio of benchmarks to caches is about 1:25”

“Nigal,
How cool!
I'm registering a bill and will see where it goes!

:-)”