Geocaching for beginners

Several weeks ago I began to develop an interest in Geocaching. A couple from church invited me to go with them to Walterboro to find several of these geocaches. Once I went with them and learned a little bit about it I was hooked. To learn more about the history of geocaching and to read some of the very informative faq’s go to this link. http://www.geocaching.com/faq/
I am brand new to the world of geocaching so I am writing this from the perspective of a newbie in this hobby. I am hoping that this will help you and/or peak your interest in this cool hobby.

It took me a little while to scrape up the extra coin to buy my own GPS but I found a good deal on Ebay for a used handheld Garmin GPS. My friend from church spent 3 hours with me last night at ABC off of 78 and we installed the waypoint software and usb drivers for the GPS so I could download the caches directly to my handheld gps.
One of the things I learned very quickly today as Justin and I headed out to do our first geocache expedition was that you have to be very patient with yourself and your equipment. I also learned that you cannot rely on the GPS 100%. It will get you pretty close but you will have to use your head, common sense and whatever hints that the cache owner might leave you online. It also helps to print out the “Google Maps” map that is also provided so you will have a general idea of where you are going. If you have any experience with using a GPS to find a street address then you will understand what I am saying here.

When you start learning about this GPS adventure game you will realize very quickly that this is an outdoor game that requires lots of walking and possibly jumping and climbing. Each geocache is rated 1-5 on complexity for location so the higher the number the more physically challenging it will be.

You will find yourself looking for these caches in parks, nature trails and even off the beaten path. It is a good idea to wear appropriate clothing when you go. I did not follow my own advice today but hey that is what learning is all about. If you have blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt and/or jacket and some outdoor shoes with sturdy souls then you will be in good shape. Wearing shorts, flip flops and tank tops will earn you lots of scrapes, cuts and possible bruises.

You will also want to go to a Dollar General or a local department store of some sort and get some inexpensive knick knacks that you can leave in the cache in case you find something you want. If you take something you like you have to leave something and make a note of it in the enclosed log. You will also want to equip yourself with a clipboard or covered clipboard you can carry your maps and geocache information sheets in so you can be organized.

One of the most important pieces of equipment that you will need other than your brain and a dependable vehicle is the GPS unit. You may already have a GPS in your automobile and that can help you find the general area where the cache is. That GPS probably won’t allow you to input necessary latitude and longitude coordinates which means you will need a hand held unit for out of vehicle use. Earlier in this article I gave you a URL which has that type of detailed information.

I wound up with a used Garmin c60 GPS which has built in memory and allows you to download the cache information directly into your GPS. You can spend around 100.00 for a GPS that you have to manually enter in the cache coordinates or you can spend between 160.00 to 1000.00 depending on the hardware and its bells and whistles and the corresponding mapping software.

Be aware that if you buy a used GPS and you get the install media from the previous owner you may not be able to unlock the software for that unit a second time. The mapping software is hard coded with the GPS serial number on the Garmin website registry. I am in the midst of trying to get the previous owner of the unit I purchased on EBay to send me the 25 character unlock code for the software that easily costs 100.00 t0 purchase new. The more updated the mapping software is on the GPS the easier it will make it to find the cache locations. Looking back I should have held off on leaving feedback for this seller until I got ALL of the necessary information from him.

I know this because I was in a new subdivision today and neither of my GPS units showed any of the streets. That means that the subdivision streets were newer than 2006 when my mapping software was written. Since then new updates have come out that will enable me to see the newer streets and points of interest. All in all today was a very educational day in the world of geocaching and I got to spend some quality time with my 12 year old son. Apparently Justin is a very good at physically tracking down the cache once we get on foot. He showed me how it was easier to use the electronic compass to find the caches vs trying to use the map with a purple line pointing to the cache instead.

There are also local geocache interest groups that meet on a regular basis where you live. I am thinking that someone in one of the forums on http://www.geocaching.com/ can probably lead you in the right direction to find meeting times in your area.



James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
james.moffitt@comcast.net