Geocaching

[Rockymtnx]

Just wondering how many members have tried Geocaching? Last year I found a few Caches in Alberta and also placed a few. This year I never really did much as to finding new ones. Maybe we could create a Alberta Outdoorsmen Cache to find.

For those of you who don't know about Geocaching you can read more at www.geocaching.com

[Big Bull]

I started Geocaching the day that I got my GPS. It is the best way to hone your GPS skills. I think that an Alberta Outdoorsmen cache is a great idea. How about if everyone sends me the coordinates of their favourite hunting spots?

[Grizzly Adams]

I found it about as exciting as watching paint dry. We have a couple of caches around here and once I had the co-ordinates, it was easy to find them. Then this take something and replace it with something else in the cache seems childish to me. One of the local caches is at the camp ground just west of the Bergen store and the other is at the top of Eagle Hill, by the radio towers.
Grizz

[russ]

I started Geocaching the day that I got my GPS. It is the best way to hone your GPS skills. I think that an Alberta Outdoorsmen cache is a great idea. How about if everyone sends me the coordinates of their favourite hunting spots?

Yeah I'll start with Lake Minnewanka ;) That's an awesome spot - to hunt for photo's :D

[Rockymtnx]

I found it about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Grizz


The ones I found were pretty fun to find. Some took a little bit of work to find.
One that I have hid is 2 hour hike in. The first to find prize was some binos. Eberyone that has been able to do the trek has enjoyed it.

[geezer55]

I know there are some geocachers on this board, we've done it as a family since 2004. Some of the caches are easy to find and easy to get to while others take a lot of work. The one that took us the longest was to the top of Table Mountain at Beaver Mines Lake. Took us 5 1/2 hours to complete. Some caches took a lot of thought in the way they are designed and some are just plain evil . . . such as nanos (something the size around as your small finger and about 1/2 inch long). Give a try and it does teach you about your GPS.

[Versatile]

My old man does it and he really likes to do it but I just couldnt get into it.

[Mintaka]

*

[simmered]

I stumbled accross that geocaching.com website tonight. It seems like a pretty neat thing to do. Great way to get outdoors and go for a walk. If anything else the dogs will get some good exercise! Was looking at the website and they are everywhere! I didn't realize this was such a big thing.

Seeing as how this is a pretty old thread is there anyone else who is into this recently?

[jpohlic]

I've been doing it for a long time. I have a GPS mount on my motorcycle and it's a great excuse to go for a ride.

My wife and kids also enjoy it although I found out recently they don't like tromping through 18+" of snow for an hour each way only to be unable to find the cache.

Whenever we have a long road trip planned we scout out caches for our rest stops.

[Matt L.]

I started Geocaching the day that I got my GPS. It is the best way to hone your GPS skills. I think that an Alberta Outdoorsmen cache is a great idea. How about if everyone sends me the coordinates of their favourite hunting spots?

Nice try Big Bull!

[TheClash]

there is a travel bug heading my way from my brother in austin texas..should be interesting to see when it gets here and by what route.

[Slannesh]

Haven't in a while but i've done it for several years now... I'm a casual player at best though :)

I find it's a lot more fun when you have someone to go with or the kids are interested in doing it too.

[dcutter]

We've been geocaching for a few years now (Tattooed Superstar is my handle). My little one absolutely loves it, and it's a great excuse to take an off season romp in the woods...and by great excuse, I mean it's easier to sell the Sleeping Dragon on a cache, than scouting stand locations :evilgrin: :innocent:

[sparky660]

I am a caual as well. I think it is a great way to keep your orienteering skills sharp. If people find it to easy there are harder ones out there. Just look at the rating. FOr those that find it easy have you ever looked for a micro in a thick forest?? I have and it was far from easy. It's something to get my lazy butt off the couch.

[bunnyhunter]

thought about it, when I pick a GPS I will give it a go...the first couple of times I found geocaches by accident while hunting was weird :huh: why is this ziploc baggie tied a a tree:huh:.....Now I know what they are!! lol always leave anything like that as I found it.....seems like a great pasttime

[222rem]

I started Geocaching the day that I got my GPS. It is the best way to hone your GPS skills. I think that an Alberta Outdoorsmen cache is a great idea. How about if everyone sends me the coordinates of their favourite hunting spots?

Gem of a reply :love: :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[222rem]

I started Geocaching the day that I got my GPS. It is the best way to hone your GPS skills. I think that an Alberta Outdoorsmen cache is a great idea. How about if everyone sends me the coordinates of their favourite hunting spots?


15U 0551618 5548372
The coordinate is good.

[BigRackLover]

Gem of a reply :love: :lol::lol:


x2 :lol::lol::lol:

I'll put a geocache under my permanent crown land stand with a sign in sheet. Will see who uses it and who does not. We'll see who was lying and who wasn't in "use other people stuff" thread.

[simmered]

Wow, quite a few people are into this. I think this is going to be a great hobby to get into and get me and my family outdoors. My dogs are going to love it!!!!

Anyway I have a few newb questions. Those tracking bugs look kinda neat and I think I'm going to get a few of those, but is geocaching.com the only website? or is there other ones that have the same sorta thing? how are people going to know which website to go to, to log that they found it?

[BigRackLover]

geochaching.com is the only website.

I think creating a moving AO cache (of favorite spots .. not honey holes) would be an excellent idea. I'll put my thinking cap on now and put together a plan.

[dcutter]

http://www.geocaching.com is the only website as far as I know simmered. There may be other sites with a similar game, but they won't be linked in to the travel bugs, and coins and stuff.

[simmered]

What do most people use for their caches?

[dcutter]

What do most people use for their caches?

I normally just use an ammo can, but anything with a tight fitting lid works.

[GeoTrekr]

I learned how to use my GPS well, especially learning it's quirks and limitations through geocaching. I haven't headed out in a while, but I'm thinking of picking it up again this year.

I liked searching not for the cache itself, but for the areas it would take me to. I spent my whole childhood living right next to fish creek, and geocaching brought me to places I've never seen before, or even known existed, within the park. That's the part I liked about it most.

I recently went on the website, and it looks like I have a loooot of catching up to do, there's so many caches now. The downside of this, of course, is that the spots are kind of missing their uniqueness this way, if people are just dumping crap all over the woods, 50m apart :(.

If you're placing a cache, pick a spot that's unique or enjoyable in some other way than just the presence of the cache. A lot of us appreciate that :).

[simmered]

I plan on putting my first few in areas that have brought me good childhood memories!
Are most people good about replacing things when taking? or is there a lot of people out there just taking stuff cause no one is around? I like the idea of seeing what people will leave in the caches!

[sparky660]

I find that most are real good at replacing the items. Just with anything there are a few bad apples that don't adhere to the rules but the majority do.

[dcutter]

I have three chaches hidden, and I have never had anyone steal from them. Besides, for the most part, it's just dollar store crap that you put in it anyways, so if someone does steal anything, you're out $1. IMHO, the best part of placing a cache is reading what the finder's have to say in the notebook, the photos they upload of themselves at your cache, and the friendships you will garner through the game.

Quick little story: I was heading out to do some maintenance on a cache that I had hidden close to my home (Home at the End of the Driving Range). It's the middle of winter, and as I get close to the cache, which, as you may have surmised, is near a golf course, I come across a family and their dog doing their best to look innocent. All the while the little girl is sneaking peeks at the gps she had hidden under her jacket. As I got closer to them, and they realized I was there, I made some comment about this being a good place for someone to hide a geocache. They seemed relieved, and eventually asked me where I had hidden it, as they had made several passes without locating it. Afterwards we had tea at my place, and they have stayed in touch since.

[Map Maker]

I plan on putting my first few in areas that have brought me good childhood memories!
Are most people good about replacing things when taking? or is there a lot of people out there just taking stuff cause no one is around? I like the idea of seeing what people will leave in the caches!

IMO, people that do geocaching are people that enjoy being outdoors, and because they are outside enjoying simple things they are very respectful.
Proof of that, I found one geocache that someone filled with $2 scatch&win tickets, you leave 2 bucks and you take a scratch and win. When the tickets are all gone, he takes the money and buys more. In two years, no one has stolen anything.

I like the idea of hiking to a mountaintop and leave a cache with a disposable camera on it and asking people to take a picture. Never know what you would get.

[dcutter]

I put a disposable camera in one of mine, however, it succumbed to the cold, and I was unable to have the film developed. Too bad, because the finders informed me they had taken some pretty cool pics with it :(

[simmered]

Thats a great story Bob.

I like the idea of the camera, but I might just go and grab it before winter.

Going to the outdoor show in edmonton this weekend, I noticed that maptown is going to be there. Maybe they'll have some show specials or something. What does everyone use for a gps? I was looking at the eTrex Vista HCx. Sounds like a good unit

[firegod74]

www.Landsharkz.ca in BC has nice stuff. Travel bugs and geocoins, along with other trackable stuff. I just ordered some coins and delivery to northern Alberta was 3 business days. You can't beat that for online shopping

[firegod74]

Thats a great story Bob.

I like the idea of the camera, but I might just go and grab it before winter.

Going to the outdoor show in edmonton this weekend, I noticed that maptown is going to be there. Maybe they'll have some show specials or something. What does everyone use for a gps? I was looking at the eTrex Vista HCx. Sounds like a good unit

I use the Geocache Navigator app for my blackberry. it allows you to search for caches wherever you are. It uses satellite for the positioning, but cell towers for the setup, so cell service is a must.

[Off in the Bushes]

I am into caching also since I got me GPS unit and for my b-day the wife go me some cache containers from ebay one is a pine cone and the other is a birds nest, just need to figure out where to locate them. I found a fake rock once that was really cool.

I enjoy getting out and searching for them, as it takes me outdoors, but I am a little conflicted with the idea as it is a form of littering, but you know where the junk is. :huh:

Found the one at the top of Beauvais and when we where there this summer, I could hear a goat bleating consistantly when we were there, later it dawned on me that it was most likely a bear cub. Yikes a little to close for comfort, but I never saw a bear, and everthing ended fine.

[solocam3]

The idea is to place these somewhere different that you would normally not go, so when we travel you can search for them with Google Maps. There are several web pages out there that do the same thing. Some folks make it their summer holidays to travel around the country and see how many they can find. There are some that have logged like 8000 finds. I have 168 found and have been doing it for 5 years. It is a great sport to get you outdoors.

[Gorram]

It's a good excuse to go for a walk, especially when you've time to kill in some hotel, far from the woods you'd LIKE to be walking in!

Found two this morning on "The Plains of Abraham"! :cool:
Beats trying to figure out what the heck they are saying on the french tv.

Cheers, Gorram.

ps: same username as on geocaching.com :wave:

[bearff]

Have been into geocaching now for better than 5 years. i have over 400 finds and have placed 40 or more caches. Geeocaching has taken me to more cool places than i ever could have imagined, and has allowed me to share some extraordinary spots with fellow cachers who normally wouldn't have had a reason to be there. It is a great hobby for young kids, it gets them outside enjoying nature and the outdoors. It also really helps you know how to use your GPSr and your compass and teaches you to search for out of the ordinary clues to find the final resting spots. I have found caches as small as a thumbnail to as big as a deck box. The funnest part of caching for me now is the trackables, I have travel bugs in asia europe and north america, it is cool to see these things move and to read the logs from the people that move them. all in all once you have the GPSr it is a very enjoyable and cheap hobby to get into, great exercise and gets the kids into the outdoors.