Geocaching: Please explain

[Crymson]

Wasn't sure to put this into sports or technology.

Can someone explain geocaching.

I get it in principle. i THINK it's essentially, someone hides something, somewhere, and gives it a coordinate and you go find it.

However, what at the resources? Can i use a simple iphone?

I just read an article on how some dude found an old wwII artillery shell along the glenmore reservoir while geocaching and it kinda got me thining that there may be a good calgary community.

[bituerbo]

It's the most nerdy thing you can use a GPS device for.

[arian_ma]

I was checking this out today as well. I thought they hid stuff in the mountains to add another goal for when you go on hikes/climbs.

[Kloubek]

^^ That's a possibility. But more often than not, my family (yes, they are possibly nerds) generally oes their geocaching in town. I'm sure Calgary must have a super healthy amount of caches and cachers.

If your Iphone tells you your exact coordinates, then it can be used for geocaching. However, accuracy is important, since a 20 meter radius makes a huge difference as opposed to something that can get you inside a couple of meters.

I have never really seen the draw of this activity. I guess it is an excuse to rally up the family and go out and do something together, but the end result is pretty lame. Oh wow. I found a little tube with a piece of paper in it! Yay!

[Unknown303]

Yeah it's a worldwide game of hide and go seek. Use a GPS and find the cache. Usually there's a log to write down that you've found it and sometimes geocaches have coordinates to another one. A lot of mountain peaks have little Geocache boxes so you can write down that you made it to the peak.

[ByTeMe]

Sometimes there are "pieces of treasure" in the caches with a destination on them. So if you are going to another cache in that location, you update in it. Gives you more motivation to go out doing it I guess.

Then again you are totally right with the piece of paper thing though.

[Cascade]

yeah i could see it being fun if it were done on a hike. And if there were coordinates for another one, over and over, and finally it took you to a really cool spot, then yeah that would be cool.

[topmade]

^^ I think that's the main idea of it. To go spots you wouldn't normally go to even if you were on a holiday. If you like backpacking then it'll probably appeal to you more. But if you are in it for the free prizes then you're going to be sadly dissapointed.

[bituerbo]

If you were a millionaire with access to planes and submarines, this came would be cool. But you're just driving to a spot and walking around... pretty lame.

[speedog]

Have done it with the kids on occasion and some we have never found. Others we took 2-3 times to find and often we have discovered interesting places to visit that we would've never thought of going to - places that are historically or geologically of note. The contents of most geocaches themselves are of really no interest to ourselves - it's the hunt that draws us in and most are quite difficult to find even when they are right in front of you.

[desto2para]

a friend of mine is really into it, but its pretty much some one hides something somewhere and you find it
youll be surprised there is lots to find at nose hill

[whiskas]

There are 1000's of them in Calgary. Some of them are in fantastic locations, and some of them are very very cleverly hidden.

You either have fun getting to the cache site or have fun actually finding the cache. You do not do it for the sake of the stuff inside the cache - it's usually just some tacky childrens toys. When I find a cache I just sign the log and put it back.

You could use a phone with GPS, but they're usually not very accurate, particularly since you're using a google maps overlay which is sometimes incorrectly offset.

I have topographic maps from Natural Resources Canada loaded into my Garmin and they are amazingly accurate. And when you're in the middle of a dense forest every meter of accuracy you can get is a huge help. An iphone doesn't hold a candle to a handheld GPS.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by whiskas
There are 1000's of them in Calgary. Some of them are in fantastic locations, and some of them are very very cleverly hidden.

You either have fun getting to the cache site or have fun actually finding the cache. You do not do it for the sake of the stuff inside the cache - it's usually just some tacky childrens toys. When I find a cache I just sign the log and put it back.

You could use a phone with GPS, but they're usually not very accurate, particularly since you're using a google maps overlay which is sometimes incorrectly offset.

I have topographic maps from Natural Resources Canada loaded into my Garmin and they are amazingly accurate. And when you're in the middle of a dense forest every meter of accuracy you can get is a huge help. An iphone doesn't hold a candle to a handheld GPS.
I've got a cheap Garmin eTrex Legend.....but don't like it. It loses its signal even in the slightest tree cover. Do you use UTM or Lat/Long co ordinates?

[Zero102]

I have a ~$140 Garmin eTrex Legend HC, and it has been excellent so far. I also have an iPhone with the geocaching.com app on it so that I really don't need a fancy GPS receiver, just something that is quite accurate (so far my Garmin has been), since the iPhone itself is consistently about 20-30 feet off.

We started geocaching about 2 months ago when my wife was 9 months pregnant (the doctor said walking would induce labour, so.... why not go geocaching!) and to date we have 35 finds. To be fair though, we took over 4 weeks off right after the birth of our daughter.

Sometimes we'll dedicate a saturday or sunday to hunting out geocaches, sometimes we'll just be driving along and pull out the iPhone for a quick grab on the way home. It is a fun hobby IMO.

The best description of it I have heard to date is:
Geocaching is a game involving the use of a multi-billion dollar satellite network to locate worthless plastic containers full of worthless toys buried deep in the woods.

[Awd-Tsi]

lol im gonna go plant something at one of these places

[cde1966]

It's a good way to teach children hoe to use a GPS and it gets the kids away from the computer/video games.

[The_Rural_Juror]

It would be a much better game if some of the coordinates lead you to landmines. That way it can be a real life game of minesweeper.

[freshprince1]

My brother does it quite a bit with his kids. Basically you can look up a list of different locations and find them with a GPS. You find the stash, write your name and leave something behind to add to the stash. It's like digging for treasure...but I don't htink you're supposed to take anything? Kinda neat to see the trinkets left behind by others.

[C_Dave45]

www.geocaching.com will give you everything you need to know. As for taking/leaving something..here is the general etiquette:

1. If you take something from the cache, leave something of equal or greater value.2. Write about your find in the cache logbook.3. Log your experience at www.geocaching.com.

You can also search for caches in the area by using their google map app on that site.

[alloroc]

I heard stories of folks that worked for the roadworks in NFLD They would bury a grader - and other various pieces of heavy equipment for a couple of years then sell and ship them to somewhere in NewHampshire.

Does that count?

[Sugarphreak]

...

[baygirl]

I did this with a friend of mine one day- you need a lot of patience. One of the things we found had the clue "not for the squirrels". It turned out to be a fake pine cone hanging in a pine tree. Someone had way too much time on their hands, and decided to make a fake pine cone with a hollow center, which is where the log sheet was. We spent about 45 minutes trying to find that one.

[bituerbo]

Leave the keys to your car in 1 geocache location, along with the note stating that the title (which includes the cars location) is in another geocache location.

[SilverGS]

Sometimes Geocaching leads to other finds

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgarian+discovers+bomb+Glenmore+Reservoir/3379127/story.html

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by SilverGS
Sometimes Geocaching leads to other finds

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgarian+discovers+bomb+Glenmore+Reservoir/3379127/story.html

Haha, shit, I know that guy! :rofl:

[Tezzating]

I'm not keen on the iPhone as the GPS device.. its kinda accurate.. within 50m or so which is an aweful lot when you're walking around in the woods.
Use the iPhone to get the co-ordiantes and the Etrek for actually getting there works better for me.

If you want to take the dog for a walk, or get the kids outside, caching can be a lot of fun on a Saturday afternoon.