Geocaching

Ogedei · 06-18-2008, 10:04 PM

Any nerds among us that search for buried treasure?

I went out with some work people on our lunch break the other day.

What kind of GPS do you recommend for a started unit?

Thanks!

Og.

ohammersmith · 06-18-2008, 10:19 PM

Wanted to try it but could never figure out which GPS I'd want. Problem with me & gadgets is that I always end up going up the feature chain and wanting the fanciest once and never getting it because it's expensive.

If I end up upgrading to the new iPhone though... I imagine some clever person is going to make a slick Geocaching app for it. hehe.

Phaedrus49er · 06-19-2008, 06:38 AM

Been trying to find time to do some geoHASHing myself

rookie · 06-19-2008, 07:40 AM

This interest me but I have never done it. I have a handheld Garmin unit.

Aoife · 06-19-2008, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohammersmith

If I end up upgrading to the new iPhone though...

NO.

Celestialmom · 06-19-2008, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ogedei

Any nerds among us that search for buried treasure?

I went out with some work people on our lunch break the other day.

What kind of GPS do you recommend for a started unit?

Thanks!

Og.

Whaddaya mean NERD??!!!!!

Ahem, yes I'm a geocaching fiend and addict (very unfulfilled this summer since the price of gas has risen so high and we live in the middle of nowhere, meaning I really have to drive to get to new caches).

I own a Magellan 500 series, and have several friends that use both Magellans and Garmins. Honestly, though there are pros and cons of both brands, the features are what are most important.
1. Handheld (the car models don't hold up well traipsing through the woods)
2. Map capability (all or at least most come with background maps, but make sure you can buy and load additional detail/topographical maps). Included maps basically show main highways and some major landmarks, but don't help much with smaller roads or trails.
3. Computer connection--if you enjoy geocaching at all you'll want to be able to download the coords and data to your gps instead of hand entering and printing all the info.
4. Rechargeable--most use lots of battery power, so you should either buy stock in duracell or make sure your gps unit is rechargeble (or use rechargeable batteries, I guess)

Hope that helps! Did I mention I really love caching?!

Celeste

Ogedei · 06-19-2008, 07:21 PM

How important would you rate a color screen on the unit?

I am looking towards the Garmin GPSMAP 60. It's black and white. The next model up is color and is about $100 moe, but has double the waypoints and a microSD slot.

Og

ODB · 06-20-2008, 07:14 AM

I am just finishing up the set up of a geocaching challenge in the Arkansas State Parks. I'll put a link here when I'm done. We are recommending (and I use) the Garmin 60Cse for each of the parks to us not only for setting geocaches but will also be using them for digital mapping of trails.

Celestialmom · 06-20-2008, 12:00 PM

I have a color screen, which is very nice but definitely not necessary...

Ogedei · 06-20-2008, 12:43 PM

I got the GPSMAP 76Cx. It's a little larger, but I liked how it felt and the button interface on it.

Might not be ideal for a smaller human, but good for me. I'll play with it today.

Og.

Jean-Paul · 06-21-2008, 05:29 AM

Aoife, you crack me up! Reminds me of Erika!

We did it in Little Rock without a GPS. We followed the clues and the landmarks. There were a couple that we just couldn't find, but for the most part it was pretty cut and dry.

I love it though. Want to do it in other cities. I can't wait to see Joe's link.

Celestialmom · 06-21-2008, 07:03 AM

Ooh, cool...have fun!

foodfromafar · 06-21-2008, 10:24 AM

We love to geocache! We have a Garmin handheld, a 60CSx with chips for all terrain and road. My husband does all the computer and chip stuff. I'm in it for the exercise and adventure.

Ogedei · 06-21-2008, 02:33 PM

I didn't pick up the maps, they cost nearly as much as the unit

Perhaps in the future I will look into it. Mine takes chips as well. There are a few initiatives around for the Calgary trail system which would be open source. I might be waiting it get a windows machine to do that though. It was a large pain to get it working with linux.

I went out yesterday. Found 2, failed on another and turned around on the last one, which was an earth cache, simply because the location was teeming with teenagers.

I climbed through bush, down a steep steep grade, got eaten by mosquitos. All without going more than 3 or 4 km from home.

foodfromafar · 06-21-2008, 09:17 PM

We found 3 caches today! One was a microcache that we couldn't find the first time we looked. It was at the entrance to a park we went to to find another cache today. It was about 1 1/2 mile round trip on paths for the most part. Went by 3 waterfalls. Beautiful. Anyway, on the way out of the park, we decided to look for the cache we failed to find on our last trip and there it was! After all the hiking, we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in the mountains for a late supper. It was a great day!

Celestialmom · 06-22-2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ogedei

I went out yesterday. Found 2, failed on another and turned around on the last one, which was an earth cache, simply because the location was teeming with teenagers.

I climbed through bush, down a steep steep grade, got eaten by mosquitos. All without going more than 3 or 4 km from home.

Sounds like ...fun...?

Of course, some of the best finds I've had have been the ones that..ahem...didn't go as planned!

See this one: Log by celestialmom for Hogback Hollow Cache (Traditional Cache)

Or this one: Log by celestialmom for Junzie's Fishing Spot (Traditional Cache)

For a good laugh, read the logs after mine in the above cache...

Quote:

Originally Posted by foodfromafar

We found 3 caches today! One was a microcache that we couldn't find the first time we looked. It was at the entrance to a park we went to to find another cache today. It was about 1 1/2 mile round trip on paths for the most part. Went by 3 waterfalls. Beautiful. Anyway, on the way out of the park, we decided to look for the cache we failed to find on our last trip and there it was! After all the hiking, we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in the mountains for a late supper. It was a great day!

Wow, fun! I'm jealous! (Well, not jealous but definitely wish I was there...) I'm glad you had a great day yesterday.

Mad Mel · 06-26-2008, 03:53 PM

I've dabbled in that, but without a GPS it can be more difficult to find any of the good stuff. The ones we did find were pretty lame. It gives you something to do when visiting family in some podunk town though, that's for sure.

ODB · 08-05-2008, 12:47 PM

Sorry to not get back on this topic. We launched the ParkCache Challenge about 3 weeks ago. You can see how it work here: ParkCache.