my grandparents on my mom's side have been doing it for years now - my mom and brother have been doing it with him and on their own for about a year or so

my wife and i have recently started doing it and have enjoyed it so far - just wondering how many TWWers did it as well and how many caches you guys have

for those who don't know
http://geocaching.com
you enter in coordinates on your device and go to them and find a hidden item(s) - sometimes with clues - sometimes without them

10/16/2007 11:57:34 PM

Cool, I don't know how I didn't know about this.

10/17/2007 1:42:07 AM

sounds gay as shit

10/17/2007 2:18:37 AM

it's like a egghunt for grownups. although i thought the one where you take a pic of intersection of every lattitude/longtitude was cool. unless you are in the open ocean

10/17/2007 2:42:12 AM

it would be entirely too hard for me to not leave wierd/creepy things for people to find.

10/17/2007 2:45:28 AM

actually this sounds kind of cool.

if i had a gps, id check one or two out.

10/17/2007 2:59:35 AM

I was planning on doing this the next time I go camping. If you are going to be hiking anyways, it seems like a fun addition.

10/17/2007 10:06:42 AM

What type of hidden items are usually found?

10/17/2007 10:22:16 AM

i came across one by chance at Regency Park, it was just a metal pillcase with a piece of paper inside

10/17/2007 10:28:30 AM

Geocaching is awesome unless you suck at it. Spending hours looking for shit and not finding anything is pretty disappointing.

Quote :

"What type of hidden items are usually found?"

Small toys, knick knacks, logs for you to sign (like a film canister with a piece of paper).

Just finding it is the coolest thing. There are actually two pretty nice caches on campus. One of them was hard as shit to find though.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 11:51 AM. Reason : cuz I'm an idiot]

10/17/2007 11:51:17 AM

I found one over by Lake Johnson. Geocaching is cool if you wanna get outta your house on a nice day and walk around.

10/17/2007 12:24:08 PM

haha we talked about this in class today

10/17/2007 12:25:57 PM

My boyfriend's dad is really into it and we've gone caching with him around Raleigh a few times. The only one we couldn't find is the one behind Priscilla's on Western.

10/17/2007 12:27:38 PM

I got a GPS for my husband as a birthday gift and then took him out geocaching, he loved it.

10/17/2007 2:44:02 PM

I am on Geocaching.com and I'm in double digits, but its nothing to brag about. I've been doing it off and on for a few years now, and enjoy it when I get the chance to go. The kids like doing it too, so its a good way to get them outdoors and mix some gadgets and the outdoors all in one.

10/17/2007 7:36:35 PM

My dog has left several small brown geocaches all around Lake Pine in Apex-good luck finding them

10/17/2007 9:04:08 PM

^^ yeah my grandparents have about 500 - it is a fun activity but always seems to take longer than planned

so far we are just using my phone with a bluetooth gps receiver - we'll probably get another gps receiver though soon so we'll both have one - hoping it's helpful in areas where signals are spotty

10/17/2007 9:07:38 PM

so what do i need to buy for this? A GPS device?

10/17/2007 9:09:57 PM

yeah in the simplest terms that's all you need - there are plenty of recommendations out there though - i'd read up if i were you to find the best in your price range

10/17/2007 9:13:27 PM

I looked around and put a few on my GPS but haven't found any yet.

Though I would imagine it gets a little frustating while looking for them and your GPS can't get enough satellites to give your position. The smallest branches get in the way!

10/18/2007 10:59:37 AM

Hmm...you could put those coordinates into ArcMap and stick an aerial photo up to see where exactly it is.

10/18/2007 11:10:38 AM

^easier than that, you can use google maps

10/18/2007 11:30:52 AM

The GPS should have little issue even in dense brush. I have a Magellan Sportrak Map from like 5 years ago that works great. The things lock on like 4-5 satellites. Hell I can sit it in my car and use it just on picking up sats through the windows, and carried it on my last airline flight, and was able to pickup everything as long as I was near the window so it could triangulate.

The important thing is to let it get a signal in the clear and triangulate. On mine it can take up to a minute if I have moved a lot since it was last on or doesn't have a great line of sight. Once I get the initial hit though, I'm usually able to get within 5-10 feet, and then its just a matter of searching on your own anyways.

10/18/2007 2:19:41 PM

found 2 more this weekend out in Ammon, NC - didn't have anytime to do any in raleigh though

10/21/2007 10:56:18 AM

did it one time with a club. would do it again.

10/21/2007 12:19:22 PM

used to do it. never made any of my own, but found a lot of the ones around goldsboro.

10/22/2007 12:15:49 AM

I need to order one and put it out in RR. I have a great spot that has a hidden memorial to a pilot who died in a P-80 shooting star that crashed into the Roanoke River.

10/22/2007 8:11:03 AM

What does the "hidden memorial" look like? Where's it at?

10/22/2007 1:08:10 PM

Sorry its just like a tombstone memorial at the base of a tree. It was placed next to an oak tree that is now simply massive and the roots hide the stone when you walk by. To make things worse, one of the hurricanes knocked down some massive limbs, making it harder to get to, and I don't know if thats ever been cleaned up.

10/22/2007 2:08:39 PM

Technician story on geocaching

http://tinyurl.com/24pfzh

10/23/2007 2:04:59 AM

This stuff annoys me. God forbid people go hiking for the sake of hiking.

10/23/2007 7:40:02 PM

we hid our first cache(s) today

a multicache in a park near our house

1/6/2008 10:54:13 PM

Quote :

"My dog has left several small brown geocaches all around Lake Pine in Apex-good luck finding them"

HA! You made me spit crackers all over my keyboard.


I put a few caches on my GPS but never went to go find them.

I have a GPS 60CS and damn if one tree branch above me keeps from acquiring.

1/7/2008 10:10:04 AM

It's against the law to remove or leave anything in a public park. Thus geocaching in these areas is illegal.

1/7/2008 10:17:26 AM

I just got a new GPS for christmas and want to start messing with this.

My GPS even works inside my house, which is pretty amazing (and one of the nice things i heard about it in reviews).

1/7/2008 10:38:22 AM

there's a big group of people at work that do this

they hide shit around campus... and our campus is like... huge.

1/7/2008 11:07:09 AM

yeah the wife got a 60CSX for xmas because she hated using mine to look off of and wanted her own

thousands of caches are in parks across the US and they are rarely a problem

^^ it'll work indoors but the accuracy will be off more than if you were outside with a clear sky

1/7/2008 11:13:09 AM

Yeah, she got me a 76CSx and im loving it so far.

I wanted the marine version mainly for all of the boating/fishing that i do.

I downloaded BlueChart and also all the City Navigator 2008 NT stuff.

1/7/2008 11:40:05 AM

yeah we loaded city navigator NT and it works pretty well - for geocaching it should only be used to get you close though because a lot of the times the best place to park isn't necessarily the closest road to the cache

1/7/2008 11:56:10 AM

Quote :

"It's against the law to remove or leave anything in a public park. Thus geocaching in these areas is illegal."

Hi Mr. Jump to Conclusions. It is NOT illegal to hide it in most parks. Local rules apply, but it is best to check with the ranger or whoever maintains the park to get permission. Many parks encourage it, or at least do not discourage it, as it attracts more patrons to their park. Its not like 800 folks a day are walking off the path a few feet to find an ammo box. Even in busier locations they may get a dozen visits in a week.

But on the flipside geocaching IS illegal in all NPS maintained land. So you can NOT hide geocaches in these areas. However you can still do a virtual cache, which usually points somebody to an interesting location or marker, and asks you to answer a question only available when you go to that site and collect the information. So while not a traditional cache, it is still a geocaching site that you can find and get credit for.

And congrats Omar. This reminded me that I need to make sure to take the GPS when we go to Asheville next month. Gotta see what we can log, if its not too cold up there.

1/7/2008 12:12:46 PM

Yes, geocaching is illegal in National Parks.
http://www.exploreasheville.com/geocaching/what-is-geocaching/index.aspx

On the blue ridge parkway it is a federal felony carrying a $1000 fine and up to 2 years in prison.
http://theendoftheroad.typepad.com/the_needle_in_a_haystack/2007/11/geocaching-ille.html

In NC state parks, where permitted, geocaching requires a $35 special use permit.
http://www.ncgeocachers.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=10
http://www.geocachingpolicy.info/usa.html
Apparently it's banned completely in Umstead Park:
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=145901

1/7/2008 2:17:16 PM

Which part of

Quote :

"it is illegal in all NPS (NATIONAL PARK SERVICE) maintained land and to check with local park rangers if it is not NPS controlled?"

did you not understand? Fish and Wildlife and others have yet to come down for or against it, so at this point its up to the local rangers discretion.

[Edited on January 7, 2008 at 2:23 PM. Reason : ]

1/7/2008 2:22:44 PM

http://www.ggaonline.org/gadodont.html
i live in cobb county, GA

Quote :

"Who does allows caches at this time? This list does not cover all areas by any means, but Cobb County and Gwinnett County in Metro Atlanta have been contacted and allow caches. Gwinnett wants Dr. Mark Patterson to review caches placed in the larger conservation parks, but is OK with caches in the local sports fields/walking trail parks. Contact the GGA and we will let you know how to get in touch with Dr. Patterson in Gwinnett. Columbus Parks and Recreation Department also wants to review caches in their parks. The Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center (GEHC) Parks Geocaching Guidelines have been developed and we want to link them here too."

1/7/2008 3:09:21 PM

^^ I was agreeing with you, dumbass.

So basically free geocaching is prohibited in all NC state and federal parks. The only thing left is little city parks. So don't tell the park ranger you're doing it.

1/7/2008 4:38:51 PM

i just heard about this a couple days ago... it seems like fun. seeing as i have no classes this semester, i might go ahead and try it.

1/7/2008 5:43:54 PM

our cache got published late last night and the FTF took a keyring with a compass and put a $100 bill in as his replacement!

1/8/2008 11:48:27 AM

Can you do this with one of those portable Garmin nuvi units that are meant for driving? I bought one of these for my girlfriend's car, but this geocaching sounds interesting.

1/8/2008 12:18:44 PM

I'm sure you can Joe. As long as it has a point to enter coordinates and can be carried outside of your vehicle, then your golden. The main problem with many car units is that even if the coordinates aren't exact on a specific road, the software will override the GPS and still show you on the interstate, street, etc. Not sure how the Nuvi handles going offroad, but I know this was an issue in some units before.

The reception quality may not be as good in the woods as a true hiking or handheld unit, but I'm sure it will work. You really only need the GPS to get within 10-15 feet, and then its all in how you can look around.

[Edited on January 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM. Reason : ]

1/8/2008 12:44:04 PM

I just got a garmin nuvi too. I may have to look into this as well.

1/8/2008 12:49:38 PM

My dad has been doing this for about 2 years or so

Him and my Uncle have put out several micros, travel bugs, and caches in and around Gboro

I've gone a few times, and it's fun, but sometimes it takes longer to get to the location than it is to find the thing

It's only worth while if you do high difficulty/high terrain difficulty ones that will take a while to do, or at least take a high amount of effort

Speaking of high difficulty terrain, there is 1 or 2 near the north pole, and there is also one that requires scuba diving to get to

1/8/2008 12:52:55 PM