geocaching and truck campers

[the_tc_life]

geocaching and truck camping goes hand in hand. with the ease of parking and turning around with the truck camper makes driving to the "cache spots" a breeze.
we just started geocaching in febuary and love it! it goes so well with our lifestyle.

there is an event at Riverside State Park, Spokane Washington this Saturday (june 😎 about geocaching, along with a bunch of other events. sorry, the campground is full. we will be camping at site #31. the day use fee is waived for Saturday for anyone who wishes to come check out the events. I will be helping teach the geocaching 101 event at 3:30. so if you are in the area and want to learn more about geocaching and how well it goes with truck camping, come on by.

here is a list of events that day:


on a side note...how many of you geocache?

[BradW]

We found one by accident climbing around in the rocks at Tin Cup Pass, Co. It was a metal ammo box setting between two big rocks. It had a bunch of small "trinkets" folks had left in it. It also had a sign up log with comments from all the folks who had found it.

[the_tc_life]

we just got our first geocaching milestone yesterday...100 finds. on to the next milestone, 250 finds.

[Xpd77]

I've been geocaching since 2005 and can't wait to get a TC (hopefully next year) so I can extend my caching runs over night in some remote areas of our country. For me the appeal of geocaching is getting out there and finding new places that I wouldn't have otherwise visited if not for geocaching. I go by XPD77 on the geocaching web site also.

[Reddog1]

Thanks the tc life. I guess I would have to go with someone to really understand.

Wayne

[the_tc_life]

Reddog1 wrote:
This will probably come across as being negative, and that is not my intent. I have looked at geocaching several times in the past 10 years. I really do not understand the interest. As I understand it, you have longitude and latitude, and locate them on your GPS. I am stumped at the challenge. I have a laptop with Delorme Streets and also Topo. I also have a Delorme hand held. By entering in the longitude and latitude in any of these it shows the exact location, within 20 feet, depending on the satellites. It also gives detailed directions.

Again, I apologize if this sounds negative, but I am trying to understand the attraction to geocaching. Due to my ignorance on the subject. maybe I am missing something, please tell me what.

Wayne

no problem wayne, I don't view it as negative...just a question is all.

I can actually get to with in 6 feet with the gps on some of the caches. yet there are some I could not find. so on the website you can set that cache to a "watch" list. then I wait and see if someone else has found it or not. when someone does, I go back when I can to try again. in fact there is one about 5 miles away from my home that we looked and looked and came up empty. 3 days later someone found it. so I need to go back. sometimes its a challenge to look for it when there are no muggles (a muggle is a non geocache player) around to look for a cache. for example... a couple days ago I wanted to look for a cache but the area it was at was full of kids and parents in the park. it is a cache ill have to try to get later at night or very early in the morning.
I would guess I have about a 90% success rate on finding the caches I look for.
oh...some caches have puzzles that you have to figure out. some are very difficult puzzles.
mainly...caches are placed in areas of interest. like I mentioned earlier...I found a conservation area real close to my home that I never knew was there. I have lived off and on here for 30 years or so but still had no idea it was there. a while ago I found a very small stopping point that had indian painted rocks. there were no signs letting you know it was there, you just had to know. if it were not for looking for a cache there at that spot I would have never known it was there.
as mentioned earlier...some caches are micros...the size of the end of your pinky finger. even with a 6' radius that may not be easy to find.
mainly for me...its about finding new areas. I have already found so many new areas in my town because of the game. now imagine how many new areas I could find nation wide.
hope that might give some insight. if we lived closer to each other I would invite you to go do some geocaching with me so you could get a better idea on it.

on edit: I forgot to mention there are challenges with in the game too. like there is one that starts today at 9 am pacific in the Washington state parks. they are placing 100 caches in 100 state parks. there is a passport you get... then when you find each cache, there (from what I understand) is a stamp you stamp your passport in the cache or something that you take back to the ranger or host to get a stamp. when you get 50 finds you can get a limited edition coin. all 100 finds...you get a different coin.
my family has started the dam challenge here in Washington. we started at grand coulee dam and need to go to a two other dams in the region to complete that challenge. the 3 dams have 3 caches each to find. you find them, answer the questions and take that info back to the visitors center. they then stamp your passport and give you a prize. complete all 3 dams and you get a very cool patch.

[silversand]

Wayne:

Geocaches can be quite complex to decipher; some are camouflaged, wrapped in riddle and enigma...even if given the precise coordinates, some complex cache games can be quite difficult to uncover, indeed.

There are caches with all kinds of bonus / swag items, like solid gold coins, expensive electronic toys (small enough to be hidden), gift certificates, highly sought-after tickets to sports events, and cash (some donators have to beg geocachers to take the items, even if they have nothing of equal value to replace it with! Geocachers are honest to a fault).

I'll bet there are high-stakes geocaching games being played all around the World, with chaches ranging from million dollar bearer bonds, valuable diamonds, Rolex watches, wads of cash, etc...out there.

Other genres of geocaching may involve self-imposed mysteries to solve: ie. finding an extremely desirable ancient ruin site or sites (or, a Lost City hidden in the jungles or under sand in the Middle East, ...somewhere around the World: site the recent book: Jungleland), talked about, but utterly hidden by the handful or one "in the know". The twist is: the "cacher" being a dead and extinct civilization for 1500 years. Whazoo and I played such a game over many months, and won. A trip report was posted on it roughly a year back. The title of the report and content did not mention or intone a "geocaching adventure", however, this was really what this adventure was in essence. Massive investigation went on behind the scenes, using all kinds of technology to find these places (you can't even imagine).

For 99.99999% of geocaching participants, the motivation is getting out with the kids, and having constructive fun, all the while developing critical thinking in the children...

S-

[Reddog1]

This will probably come across as being negative, and that is not my intent. I have looked at geocaching several times in the past 10 years. I really do not understand the interest. As I understand it, you have longitude and latitude, and locate them on your GPS. I am stumped at the challenge. I have a laptop with Delorme Streets and also Topo. I also have a Delorme hand held. By entering in the longitude and latitude in any of these it shows the exact location, within 20 feet, depending on the satellites. It also gives detailed directions.

Again, I apologize if this sounds negative, but I am trying to understand the attraction to geocaching. Due to my ignorance on the subject. maybe I am missing something, please tell me what.

Wayne

[the_tc_life]

Bigfeets wrote:
What are some of your best geocashing websites and tools of the trade? A good Garmin handheld GPS is probably a good idea I'm assuming and of course some good hiking legs.

I use my android smart phone with the geocaching app on it. the app cost $10 and it works very well. to use your phone app you must have cell coverage. so for the times I am outside the cell coverage area and inside the coverage too...I have a Magellan GC. it cost me $140.00 and it has worked very well thus far.
for the website you use the geocaching website to do everything with caching. it is free to play. you can be a premium member for $29 a year membership. membership does have a few perks, mainly...more caches that are available to you. along with some other neat things. I recently upgraded to a paid member.

caches...some caches are right along a road or sidewalk. some are a hike in to get them. so it can be done on all physical levels.

cache sizes range in size from the size of the very end of your pinky finger to an ammo can or even bigger. there are also virtual type caches. those are a cache that you go to where it says and view/do whatever actions the directions tell you to do. those do not have a physical cache.
favorite cache that I like are any of them that takes me to an area I never new existed. that is the best thing I like about it. I have found conservation areas I never knew where a few miles away from home.

[Bigfeets]

What are some of your best geocashing websites and tools of the trade? A good Garmin handheld GPS is probably a good idea I'm assuming and of course some good hiking legs.

[travel4family]

We letterbox (the old fashioned version of geocashing) and love using our site as a base!

[the_tc_life]

Droland wrote:
We have just started. I have a whole drawer full of "useless trinket stuff" that I could not make myself throw away, but I take joy in knowing it will be some kid's (or adult's) treasure.

lol.

i have to buy a few more trinkets. when i find a frog toy in a cache i keep it for my frog collection that seems somehow to be growing. i know im not trading one of my frog finds. lol

[Droland]

We have just started. I have a whole drawer full of "useless trinket stuff" that I could not make myself throw away, but I take joy in knowing it will be some kid's (or adult's) treasure.

[1rickw]

We have been doing it since 2008.
Camper03 and Mrs Camper

[Virgil_Diesel]

My wife and I started Geocaching last year locally using our Jeep. We'll be using the TC along with the jeep next time and used the TC as base camp.