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What is Geocaching?

Submitted by King Boreas aka Ian on
Forums
All About Geocaching

Flash Intro-"Geocaching" 
6 minute Movie-"Searching for a cache" 
Basic Info

 

  • Buy or borrow a Global Positioning System receiver. A basic unit is the Garmin eTrex GPS or Magellan GPS 315. Both cost about $100 and can be found at stores such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy or online at http://www.amazon.com
  • Find a cache near you at <http://www.geocaching.com> Enter a ZIP code and the site will list nearby caches. Select a cache, such as "Geocache by Ray" or "Arboretum One" and click on its "details" button. Write down the cache's coordinates and print out the description. Use the online mapping site link at the bottom of the page to get driving directions to the location.
  • While still at home, enter into your GPS receiver the coordinates of the cache as they are listed on the Web site. Coordinates -- such as N 39 degrees 24.661; W degrees 094 14.86 -- describe the latitude and longitude of the site.
  • Follow the driving directions until you can drive no closer to the cache and park your car. Follow the arrow on your GPS receiver as it leads you to the cache. Be aware that heavy tree cover can block the GPS signal. Once you leave your car, it could take anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes to find the cache.
  • The GPS signal will fluctuate once you are within 100 feet of the cache, so from that point on, you're on your own. Check around stumps and under rock and leaf piles. Remember that almost all caches are placed above ground, so no digging!
  • Congratulations! You've found the cache. Take an item, leave an item and record your experience in the logbook. Reseal the cache and put it back exactly the way you found it.

  • When you get home, e-mail the person who hid the cache and let him know you found it. Also, post a description of your experience on the cache's online page at <http://www.geocaching.com> 
     Have Fun !

    GPS info ... Minnesota Geocaching Association ... Geocaching videos 

    Attachment:etrex.jpg

 

King Boreas aka Ian

site aesthetic by aunt margaret
TRANSMITTING

TRANSMITTING

Authorized personnel can check rendezvous info here.

TRANSMITTING

Authorized personnel can check rendezvous info here.

Unauthorized personnel should know
that I have full license to use any means to
protect the security of these transmissions.

TRANSMITTING

Authorized personnel can check rendezvous info here.

Unauthorized personnel should know
that I have full license to use any means to
protect the security of these transmissions.
I believe that punishing even minor transgressions
with shockingly excessive force is the best deterrent.
I am relentless, and I have absolutely no conscience
when it comes to executing my mission.

TRANSMITTING

Authorized personnel can check rendezvous info here.

Unauthorized personnel should know
that I have full license to use any means to
protect the security of these transmissions.
I believe that punishing even minor transgressions
with shockingly excessive force is the best deterrent.
I am relentless, and I have absolutely no conscience
when it comes to executing my mission.
Make your decisions accordingly.

I found something for you.

Wed, 10/20/2004 - 5:54 AM Permalink
KC0GRN

weird...

And I thought I did a lot of running around for geocaching :)

Wed, 10/20/2004 - 8:31 AM Permalink
Clue Master

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there still only 24 hours in a day?

Wed, 10/20/2004 - 1:12 PM Permalink
KC0GRN

yeah there are, and I can't imagine picking up a new game/hobby, my plate's full enough already.

Wed, 10/20/2004 - 1:35 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Sitting in a bar, with twocooler crew chicks, and getting a *find* for doing it. Thanks for an enjoyable evening K. and T.

Coolerheads prevail !

Wed, 10/27/2004 - 9:12 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Sitting in a bar, with two cooler crew chicks, and blaming everything/anything on Kitch

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 12:55 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Sitting in a bar, with two cooler crew chicks, and going to work afterwards. UGH

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 12:57 AM Permalink
mucluck

Parking-----$4

Drinks------$15

Being called a CHICK-----Priceless!

Thanks Guys!

 

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 6:43 AM Permalink
KITCH

HOT CHICK!

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 10:58 AM Permalink
KITCH

I got home around 2am-ish....did the light rail cache all night...(walked most of the way)

 

its really not that far from 7 corners to downtown mpls (by the target center)

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 10:59 AM Permalink
mucluck

Thanks you just made my day  :)

How many hours total did you spend on that one?

Thu, 10/28/2004 - 3:54 PM Permalink
KITCH

I'd guess about 10 or so...

It should take a person 4 hrs...about.

Fri, 10/29/2004 - 6:43 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Statistics for User: mucluck

List of items found (All Cache Finds)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name Count

Traditional Caches* 58

Multi-caches* 1

Virtual Caches* 3

Letterbox Hybrids* 1

Event Caches* 2

Unknown (Mystery) Caches* 4

Travel Bug Dog Tags 8

USA Geocoins 1

----------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Total Caches Found 69
    • Wed, 11/03/2004 - 10:13 PM Permalink
    mucluck

    I wondered who would notice that

    Should have guessed it would be you Ian

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 6:56 AM Permalink
    Clue Master

    Hey Ian, when ya wanna hook up for those McGeoToys?

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 7:41 AM Permalink
    KITCH

    Just put them in the woods. He'll find them

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 7:51 AM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Nahh, just visit the armory. Plenty of room there.

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 11:02 AM Permalink
    KITCH

    KC... MICHIGAN coins just went on sale!!

     

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 11:29 AM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Yup, just ordered one, stinkin 7 bucks shipping though, ouch!

    Well, guess I can have one more collection... Though most of the geocoins are hard to get, and I don't have many connections to get em, so my collection will probably be very modest.

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 12:27 PM Permalink
    King Boreas aka Ian

    Hey Ian, when ya wanna hook up for those McGeoToys?

    Totally forgot about them. Any weekday late morning/early afternoon work for you?

    I'll be at Saxon Lanes (Little Canada) Saturday AM. Kris is entered in the Saint Paul Masters Tournament.

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 12:32 PM Permalink
    King Boreas aka Ian

    gust0208 couldn't find I Blame Kitch (Multi-cache) at 11/3/2004

    Log Date: 11/3/2004 Well, we tried this one and we searched for a good 30 minutes in the area of the cache with no luck. It may be missing since we felt pretty confident on the coordinates.

    Heh Heh Heh

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 12:34 PM Permalink
    Clue Master

    Any weekday late morning/early afternoon work for you?

    Yup. Name a date and we'll think of a place. 

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 1:09 PM Permalink
    KITCH

    ya ...the 7 bucks shipping is a major rip off but oh well...

     

    and I think I'm getting a washington coin for free...not sure yet....I might have to mail her a check  or something from out here (just to be minnesota nice)......

     

     

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 1:15 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Free? Dang who are you sweet talking out there anyway?

    Well I'll have the extra if ya want it, if not, I'm sure I can find a good home for it.

    I guess after I get my moun10bike geocoin I'll haveta see how I can go about aquiring a pepper one, maybe they'll be slightly less difficult to find in a cache out there.. not by much but just possibly..


    [Edited by on Nov 4, 2004 at 04:19pm.]

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 4:19 PM Permalink
    KITCH

    ya...i have all kinds of friends

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 8:19 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    I could get used to this HAM radio thing...

    http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=kc0grn

    Learning about APRS, linking my GPS to my radio and transmitting my position on the APRS network. Don't have physical link between the devices yet, working on getting that, until then I was able to transmit my coords via the internet.

    Once I have it working I can update my coordinates any time out in the parks. Then it'll be a little matter of building a map link into my website (so the interface is a little more user friendly), then people can look to see where I am when I'm out caching or medallion hunting.

    Thu, 11/04/2004 - 11:25 PM Permalink
    OT

    Yesterday's Parade section of the Pioneer Press has an article about Geocaching in it.

    Mon, 11/08/2004 - 1:42 PM Permalink
    KITCH

    lots of stuff in the press lately....

    Mon, 11/08/2004 - 1:46 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    funny thing was I talked to the guy that did the article, even went along and cached with him a bit (with brjzn and good-boy) they both were mentioned in the article, but I seem to not have existed. The guy asked me my name and how long I'd been geocaching at the breakfast. I told him since the Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt. He asked "When is that?".... Hehe, guess all the Pioneer Press guys aren't privy to the medallion hunt info. Personally for the Pioneer Press, I would've thought they'd like the geocaching-treasure hunter link..

    Mon, 11/08/2004 - 2:46 PM Permalink
    Clue Master

     but I seem to not have existed

    Selfish bastards!  ;-)

    Mon, 11/08/2004 - 4:42 PM Permalink
    KITCH

    there was 2 different articles in the paper!!!

    on in the parade section and another in the outdoors section.

    Mon, 11/08/2004 - 8:06 PM Permalink
    Clue Master

    Saved em both.

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 1:02 PM Permalink
    Liquor Lady

    gonna get these

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 1:06 PM Permalink
    Liquor Lady

    2 joes!

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 1:07 PM Permalink
    Liquor Lady

    joe!

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 1:07 PM Permalink
    Clue Master

    Joan

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 1:08 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Bah, I was waiting for that Joe to come up fair and square..

    Tue, 11/09/2004 - 8:56 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    y Kitch, did ya get your Washington Geocoin yet? Got my two today. Kinda middle of the series numbers, best one I guess is 763, Minnesota area code..

    Anyways not having seen a lot of specialty minted coins, these are pretty cool, especially the side with the mountain on it, it's got a cacher and some trees in the foreground, and the mountain is recessed more, making the scene a little 3D.

    Fri, 11/19/2004 - 8:56 PM Permalink
    KITCH

    I'm not sure if i'm getting one or not...

     

    pepper said she was going to mail me one...a freebie....so i'm keeping the fingers x

    Sun, 11/21/2004 - 8:35 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    lol what do you think that 3 is all about :P

    Fri, 12/03/2004 - 10:14 AM Permalink
    mucluck

    What is Geocaching??

    Treasure hunting with out the headaches.  Think Redbear would be willing to give up some coordinates??

    Fri, 12/03/2004 - 11:06 AM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Hey Kitch, do you have a "Conejo Cachers" geocoin yet? If not thought I'd let ya know they're selling them again (they were unavailable for a while, but they got some new ones in).

    Fri, 12/10/2004 - 3:23 PM Permalink
    Terry

    In my work, there are field reps that go out to homes for visits.  At those visits, they are to take GPS readings and are always complaining about how difficult that is when it's so cold.  My understanding is they believe the batteries don't work well or long enough to get a reading.  I thought I'd ask to see what all you who geocache do with your GPS thingys to keep them working in the winter months.

     

     

    Thu, 01/06/2005 - 3:14 PM Permalink
    KC0GRN

    Keep the GPS in an inside coat pocket when you aren't using it, the body heat will keep it at an operating temperature. That way when you check it, it should be alright.

    Thu, 01/06/2005 - 3:19 PM Permalink
    Clue Master

    They're right TV - I can't even keep mine in my car over night without it screwing up.  But it shouldn't be too bad if they tuck them away some place warm when they're not using them.  You'd have to be outside for quite awhile for the batteries to play a factor in the readings if it was warm to begin with.


    Joe


    [Edited 2 times. Most recently by on Jan 6, 2005 at 04:01pm.]

    Thu, 01/06/2005 - 3:57 PM Permalink
    Terry

    Thanks guys!  I'll pass that wisdom on to those that need it.  Very much obliged.

    Thu, 01/06/2005 - 6:29 PM Permalink
    Love4Vino


    Hey ya'll - thought you would get a kick out of this -


    I got a really cool GPS for christmas - and have been out and found a few caches - so I thought I would be smart - and hide one - not a biggie right?


    So I got a jar - camo'd it - hid it - came home - and posted the info - it got approved today - so I decided to look and see what it looked like online - and THAT is when I realized I made a mistake...


    I posted the coordinates to my house - instead of the cache.


    I feel soooo dumb.




     

    Mon, 01/10/2005 - 5:37 PM Permalink
    Love4Vino

    KCOGRN - can you splain this whole APRS linking thing to me? That sounds pretty cool...

    I haven't yet figured it out - but apparently my laptop maping software & my new GPS - talk when they are hooked together - I can have a street map open on my lap top - and with the GPS in the car with me - I can see (there is - 2 sec refresh delay) where I am on the mapping software as I progress.

    Mon, 01/10/2005 - 5:43 PM Permalink