geocaching

[turtlex]

Hey All - though I'm not sure if it's a sport of not, I couldn't think of where else to put this topic. Mods - please feel free to re-direct if there's a more sensible spot.

I was wondering if anyone else here participates in geocaching?

I love it and have "found" caches all over the country, plus Canada and Newfoundland!

Basically, geocaching is sort of like a treasure hunt you go on using your GPS (I currently use a garmin handheld model GPSmap 60CSx, but started with a much less expensive model). You find a hidden cache, typically a box or container of some kind, take trinket out and leave a trinket for the next people. Nothing expensive. Sometimes its something like a MickyDs Happy Meal toy, or maybe a key chain, or a matchbox. Anything really. You also sign a log with your geocaching nickname and then post/log your finds at www.geocaching.com - it really is a fun way to get out and enjoy the world. Not to mention, the beautiful places I've seen but never would have come across had I not been out looking for a cache.

There are hidden geocaches everywhere. And I do mean everywhere, believe it or not - you have at least one in your city right now. If you don't believe me, I encourage you to go over to the geocaching website and enter your zip code in the upper right corner and hit the find button.

If you want to start caching, all you need is a GPSr (receiver) and an account at geocaching - which are FREE by the way.

So far, I've found nearly 70 different caches. If you want to look me up over there, just search for turtlex.

[Odetta]

It is funny you should post this as my family just tried it today! We went hunting for 3 caches... found 2 of 3 today.
You're right about them being everywhere... there are 40 within a 2 mile radius of our house, according to the website!

It is truly very fun and I can see it being quite addicting!

[turtlex]

Woowhoo! Welcome to the fun world of geocaching. I was going to post something about how many families geocache together, but since I only cache with adults, I'm no expert on that side of it. I do see a LOT of signatures by families and kids and what not.

I just think it's a lot of fun. 2 for 3 is pretty good for your first time out.

Why kind of GPS are you using?

[funky dredd]

I talked to my wife about this last night! It looks very fun and according to the site I have 20 geocaches in my area. Very cool!

[Odetta]

Well, um... I'm not all to sure, but it's one that's geared more for cars and less for on foot... so it's kind of challenging.

BTW, we found 2 more today... one was just acroos the street from our house!

[turtlex]

Wow, you're doing great, especially if you're using a car model.
When geocaching first started, no such thing existed, so you're actually doing really well. Congrats.

You (the royal you, meaning everyone) can get a handheld one for about a hundred dollars now. So much cheaper than when I started years ago. I think I paid about 300+ for what now costs about 100. Oh well, prices come down. Which is a good thing.

When I first started out, I couldn't believe how many geocaches were out there. I also has one just about outside my door.

I really enjoy getting out and seeing different places.

When I go on my yearly roadtrip - we always load up the GPSr with caches for whatever areas we are driving through, and ending up at. I've got "finds" in a bunch of states. Montana has been my favorite, so far, I think. Just so beautiful.

[Odetta]

Thanks, but, to be honest... we should do well, considering my hubby works for a GPS company.

Anyway, it has been fun so far. But I think if we want to do some more challenging ones, we would need to get a different type once we go more into the bush.

My 7 year old is really enjoying it! Like finding buried treasure! Very addicting.

[turtlex]

Oh, you have someone on the inside (works for a GPS company). Lucky!

I won't ask which one, which company, but like I said, I have a Garmin now and started with a Garmin.

A warning, be a little tentative with the harder rated caches. When I first started we just downloaded everything regardless of the terrain and difficulty level and headed out into the woods, etc. On one, we tried everything and a friend even fell a bit (as she says it - "I fell off a mountain" for that cache) and we couldn't get to the cache, no matter how hard we tried. When we went back and looked at the entry at geocaching - someone had added a note about "bringing rock climbing gear" and we just cracked up. No wonder we couldn't find it!!!!

Even some of the ratings can be hard to judge. What someone thinks is a 2 might be a 4 to someone else. We have ended up in some remote areas, in a vehicle that really should have been a 4x4. But, we did find that one!

Just be careful, and it's always best to go with someone. We also have a little set of walkie-talkies so that we're always in touch - should someone want to try for a cache that someone else in the group doesn't feel up to.

We also have a little "kit" we put together that holds a bunch of caching items in it. We put stuff in it when we come across items that we think will be good for caches. Key chains, and carabiners, and happy meal toys. I'm big on leaving little action figures, etc.

Also, I have a couple of Travel Bugs out in the field.

It's a great time and there's never a shortage of caches around. I have a few I'm planning on hiding soon.

[She-Oy]

Isnt there another word for this? I think there is, I know there are hundreds of websites devoted to this type of thing. Will has found a couple, but he actually "happened" upon the first one, no gps, no prior knowledge it was there...he just found it in Georgia.

We started looking it up and found that there were these boxes everywhere, but again, I think it was called something else.

[turtlex]

I've heard it called "terracaching" as well, but the most common name is geocaching.

You can also participate in benchmarking. I've found a couple of benchmarks, but honestly, perfer to geocache.

[towerguard]

There is one less than a block away from me! I could walk out there in like...2 minutes.

[turtlex]

Towerguard -

Go for it!! You never know what you might find. Do you have a GPS?

You'll be a cacher before you know it.

A quick note, also in my geocaching "kit" - extra batteries for my GPS.

[Aesculapius]

I went to Elberton, Georgia for reasons other than geocaching, and a couple of friends went along with me. We were heading out to Elberton to see the Georgia Guidestones, but, after being at the site for a few hours we noticed a small grouping of rocks and washers and other objects near one of holly bushes nearest the road. We counted eleven of these objects and then walked down eleven bushes and looked near the base of the holly bush. We found a small, black box with a stamp (no pad, though) and a small index card notebook inside for people to sign.




A few other stamps already left in the notebook:




We weren't searching for the cache, but, it was a nice surprise. We also found one across the street from the Guidestones. It was in an artillery shell box, but, apparently a mower had recently found it's hiding spot. We found parts of the notebook that was inside this cache all along the side of the road in small pieces. I found a lego man that someone had left inside the box. lol

We didn't have a stamp the first time, so, I just left two small figures of Isis and Thoth in the cache box...that I just had in my car for some reason.

An illustration a friend left in the book:


He also left this:




There is also a cache at the peak of Mt. Charleston near Vegas.

[She-Oy]

Letterboxing! That's the other word I was looking for...although it's slightly different from geocaching because it doesn't use GPS, only riddles and or clues. Oh and instead of treasures in the box they contain a pad for people to stamp in...just like what Will found at the Guidestones.

[Brice]

...and here is the entry for the letterbox Will found:

http://www.letterboxing.org/BoxView....ia_Guidestones

[Letti]

This thing is incredibly good. Whenever I have free time I would like to be a part of it. Brilliant.
Thank you for the amazing thread.

[alinda]

This sounds like alot of fun.
We have all of the needed
equipment in our camper,
I believe I will also
*register @ the site*and plan on
doing this soon. Great idea!

[turtlex]

Oh, geocaching is a real good time, especially when camping. There are caches just about everywhere, including most campgrounds (if not in them, then around them).

Aesculapius - I'm not sure you found a geocache, per se. I think by the stamps there in the book, you found something else. If it were a geocache, then the log book would have a geocaching registered number on it. Also, by the looks of some of the entries, its another kind of log, what with the stamps and all.

All geocaching caches are registered at the geocaching site, and usually have a name on them something like "GCX143" or something. Also, the log book usually has the same thing.

I actually came across something similar when geocaching and it took a while to realize that I was in the wrong place and it wasn't a cache I had found, but something else. This was in Iowa, I think. I cache all across the country while on vacation.

I plan on "hiding" my first cache this summer. I have the container and some items already, just waiting for things to dry out and then I'll plant it and register.

Ah, letterboxing, yes I've heard of that, but never participated.

Edited To Add : Oh, the Georgia Guidestone. Always wanted to go there. Very cool that you did.

[Aesculapius]

Aesculapius - I'm not sure you found a geocache, per se. I think by the stamps there in the book, you found something else. If it were a geocache, then the log book would have a geocaching registered number on it. Also, by the looks of some of the entries, its another kind of log, what with the stamps and all.

11

[Aesculapius]

I actually came across something similar when geocaching and it took a while to realize that I was in the wrong place and it wasn't a cache I had found, but something else.

What did you find?
A time capsule?

Oh, the Georgia Guidestone. Always wanted to go there. Very cool that you did.

You should visit the site. Although, it's hard for me to describe it as "cool".

A quote from *****

What you need to do is sell all that Star Wars stuff, then head over to those stones and show the world what is really going on here.

A sheriff told me that.

I found something else hidden there at the Guidestones, but, it's quite difficult to talk about. A "chip on Her shoulder"! Some people make the drive just to piss on the stones.

[turtlex]

Hey Friend -

No, it wasn't a time capsule, it appeared to be a cache from a private school. There was some info on the sign-in log about that. The actual cache I was looking for...we found that about 150 feet up the path.

The Guidestones are on my unofficial list of neat places to visit. When I do my cross-country trips - I always try to find interesting places to visit and see. Also, one of their nicknames is "America's Stonehenge" and I really enjoy the whole Stonehenge mythology.

I use www.roadsideamerica.com to find some funky places to visit. I read about the Guidestones there years ago.

And the geocaching has literally taken me all over the country and into the most interesting places. Places there is no way I would have seen if I'd not been caching.

[Aesculapius]

Your travels sound very interesting, indeed.

[turtlex]

Oh, my girl and I, we have a great time on our yearly road trips. We've been to Montana three or four times, up to Maine, down to Cape Cod. Last year we went to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We always listen to the DT on cd during the drive and always geocache along the way.

Not sure where we're going this year. We want to head to Montana, but might end up in the South West this year.

[Aesculapius]

On his deathbed, my grandfather sent a message to me through my aunt and my mother. One of his last things to say was about a particular keystone that he wanted me to find and open. What for?...he didn't say. I found the keystone and I researched what was written upon it before I tried to remove it. It was a large steel plate which has the letters "WPA" engraved on it, and the dates "1936-1937" printed below the text.

The WPA was a relief measure established in 1935 by executive order as the Works Progress Administration, and was redesigned in 1939 when it was transferred to the Federal Works Agency. Headed by Harry L. Hopkins and supplied with an initial congressional appropriation of $4,880,000,000, it offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented scale by spending money on a wide variety of programs, including highways and building construction, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation. So gigantic an undertaking was inevitably attended by confusion, waste, and political favoritism, yet the 'pump-priming' effect stimulated private business during the depression years and inaugurated reforms that states had been unable to subsidize.

I'm pretty sure the WPA was the precursor to the Salvation Army. I asked my mother about this particular keystone and why her dad would want me to remove it. And, why didn't he just have me remove it when he was alive? He was living with us for a while before he passed away. Why wait until he was on his deathbed to send this message to me?

It turns out that they used to live a few blocks from this particular keystone, and he used to take my mom on walks to the keystone when she was young. She said that they would walk down there and he would tell her strange stories, and that she didn't really pay attention to them.

We broke loose one of the bolts holding the plate to the concrete. It took two of us everything we had using a six foot crowbar, and, when the bolt snapped it was quite loud. The keystone is right across the street from a few houses and when it snapped, a light came on in one of the houses. So, it still sits attached to the concrete archway by three bolts.