When is a find really a find?

The question here is a philosophical one of how you choose to play the game. There are no formal rules so it is up to you make your own. One rule that many geocachers think is the first commandment of geocaching is that you must sign the log to claim a find. In our opinion there is one instance when you can still claim a find without signing the log. This is the case when you have have posted a DNF, the owner verifies the cache is not there and sends an email saying something like "it is all about the journey" and tells you that it is OK to claim a find. This is a rare occurrence and it depends on the hide and the geocache owner, but it occassionally happens.

The main reason we are writing this post is not for the first commandment of geocaching. It is even deeper. It involves claiming a find when another geocacher tells you what to look for. An example of this is a puzzle or a deviously camouflaged container. You go there several times and just can't find the cache. You email the owner and are told that they do not wish to give you a hint, but "Good Luck". You either "phone a friend", email someone that found the cache previously or hound somebody at a local event to tell you what to look for or how to solve the puzzle. You head out the next day, sign the log and claim a find. You have to ask yourself some questions. Did I play the game fairly? Did I respect the wishes of the hider? Many geocachers do not realize the number of hours that go into a devious hide or a difficult puzzle. The effort to make the game fun for others on these caches is not the same as for a quick park and grab. Why should the effort put forth by the finder be the same as for a park and grab? If you do not wish to put the effort into difficult caches, do the easy ones. No one will disrespect you for doing so. If you can't solve a puzzle or are just curious as to what that devious hide is then it is okay to ask a friend about the hide. The right thing to do in this case is to write a note saying that you visited the cache, but not to claim it as a find. The community will respect you much more for doing this than for one extra cache in your statistics. One other reason to resist the temptation to ask another finder of a cache on how to do it is that you will feel a much higher sense of accomplishment. We can remember a really difficult puzzle cache. Others had found it, but we were determined to solve it on our own. We spent weeks working on it. I even had dreams of it. In fact I had looked at the graphics so many times that I had it memorized. You might say we are obsessed, but this puzzle literally took us 100's of hours to solve. We finally found it. It was one of our most memorable finds.

Some things to think about:

1. You can't find them all.

2. Play the game the way you wish, but respect the wishes of others and the community as a whole.

3. Don't worry about your statistics.

4. Hiders of difficult caches put a lot of effort into the cache.

5. Select the type of caches that you like to do.

AND

Most of all

Have FUN!

That is what it is all about.

Who really invented GPS?

There is an interesting article in today's Miami Herald questioning who owns the rights to GPS technology. A defunct company called SPS claims that Motorola ended a joint venture in 2000 that gives SPS the intellectual property rights to GPS technology. Motorola claims that they gave SPS $5,000,000, paid for their offices, and paid employee salaries. The law suit could potentially be in the $1 Billion dollar range. The trial will take about a month.

How Does GPS Work?

A lot of Geocachers ask; "How does GPS work"? We found a pretty cool video on the NASA Sci Files site. The video is intended for kids, but is a good explanation of the technology. If you get asked this question you might want to point the person to The NASA Sci Files movie titled - How Does GPS Work.

Rehiding geocaches

On Saturday we did cache maintenance on several of our caches. We found both stages of a multicache missing and another hidden about 100 feet from the original area. On Sunday we went geocaching. We found two geocaches out in the open. This seems to be a common occurance these days. There are three possiblities. One is of course, muggles. Another is an animal or some other fluke in nature moving the caches. The third answer is a disturbing possibility. Geocachers. We are not accusing anyone, and hopefully we are wrong, but we suspect that some geocachers seem to think that geocaching is a race for smiley faces and do not rehide the caches properly. Although geocaches are officially owned by the hider, we as a community should have some pride in ownership of each geocache we find. When finding and rehiding geocaches we should use some logic and consideration to protect the caches for future finders.

1. Please rehide caches so that they will not be seen by muggles.

2. When hunting for a cache beware of muggles and wait until they are out of sight.

3. If you are hunting caches as a group the person that extracts the cache should rehide it as they are the only person that really knows how it was originally hidden.

A little extra care by all of us will make for fewer missing and archived geocaches making it more fun for all of us.

Yamji

Need a break from geocaching? Like movies?

If so, you should check out Yamji a new social networking site devoted to cinema. It is truly in its infancy, but looks like it will be a great place to check out movies that you have seen, want to see, or to find movies to add to your Netflix queue. After registering you can submit movies to the database, write reviews or studies on movies and start a list of your favorites in your own folder. I added The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. That should make for some fun comments!

So if it is a rainy day, or you just need a break from geocaching you go on over to Yamji and get in on the ground floor of a cool new site.

West Nile Virus

Here in New England several cases of West Nile Virus have been reported in the past few weeks. Mosquitoes in 17 towns in Connecticut have tested positive for the virus. Although some communities are spraying to kill mosquitoes you should be ever vigilant to prevent contracting the disease. West Nile Virus can be serious, but you can minimize your risk if you take precautions. Avoid wet and swampy areas at dusk and dawn. Dress appropriately. This means long pants and long sleeve shirts. Spray yourself with a product that contains Deet when leaving the car and before setting foot on the hunt for the geocache. If you have been bitten by a mosquito and are curious as to the symptoms you can visit the the CDC website.

Finding your first geocache

Geocaching is a lot of fun and we encourage everyone to try it. It is important to get off to a good start so that you have a great time and want to continue on with this fantastic hobby. Here are some suggestions on how to start.

If you have a good friend that geocaches ask them to take you along and “show you the ropes”. Ask them if you can carry the GPS and try to find the cache with them walking along. This way you will actually be a participant rather than a spectator.

If you don’t know a geocacher ask around to see if you know somebody that owns a handheld GPS that you can borrow to see if geocaching is for you. Ask for a quick lesson on how to use it. If not you will have to buy one and understand how to operate it.

Picking a good cache is important to success and fun on your first outing. Things to look for are terrain and difficulty ratings, if the cache has a hint and type of cache. We strongly recommend that you select a traditional cache for your first find. Micros and multi-caches might make your first hunt frustrating. We suggest you select one with no more than a 2 difficulty and 2 terrain rating. 1 ½ on both might be better. You might also want to pick out a cache that is hidden in the woods, but not a long or strenuous hike. Insure that you know how to decrypt the hint in case you don’t find it without the extra clue. Read a few of the most recent logs to insure that it has been found recently.

You probably want to dress appropriately for the area you are visiting and pack a few essentials to take with you. As a minimum you should take some paper and a pen/pencil and extra batteries for the GPS. If you are going during the week after dinner you should take a flashlight or headlamp along in case it gets dark while you are in the woods. Things look a whole lot different in the dark than they do in the light. A bottle of water is always a good thing to take along and if bugs are prevalent in your area some Deet is a good idea. You might want to bring a small trinket along to trade when you find the cache.

Okay, now you are ready to venture out. Hopefully the cache page has parking coordinates or instructions on how to get to parking. If not you should click on the map on the cache page and look where the cache is hidden and try to have knowledge of where to park before leaving the house. This is usually not a big problem for first time geocachers as you can select one that is fairly close to home in an area you are familiar with.

Okay now for the real adventure. Make sure that you turn the GPS on and have it near a window or on the dash of your vehicle so that it can receive continuous satellite reception. We highly suggest that you turn on your GPS and get satellite lock while still in your driveway at home. Select the waypoint you are hunting for and select the compass display to show the direction to the cache. If the cache you’ve selected is a distance from your home, drive toward the area and when you are 5 to 10 minutes from the parking area pull over in a safe place. Turn on your GPS, wait for good satellite reception, select the waypoint, and select the compass display to show the direction to the cache. DO NOT DO THIS WHILE DRIVING – IT IS DANGEROUS. Follow the arrow to designated parking.

So you are parked, and have the compass display on the GPS for the waypoint you are hunting for. Now what do you do? Well first of all start having fun! That is what this is all about. If the cache page has instructions on what trails to follow you are in luck. If not, think of trails like roads. Pick the widest trail that is in the general direction of the cache and head off. Stay on trails as long as you can. This is easier on you and the environment. When you get to within about 100 feet of the cache you should slow down. This will give the GPS time to settle down and give you a better idea of where the cache is. Keep you eyes open. Look for a place that the cache could be hidden in. Rocks, stumps, logs and the base of trees are likely hiding places. If the GPS arrow seems to be taking you in circles you should ignore it and look at the distance. You may never get to zero, but try and get to within 10 – 20 feet if possible. Sometimes walking in a cloverleaf pattern will make it easier to get to ground zero. Okay now you are in the general vicinity. Do you see any thing that is unnatural like a pile of sticks or rocks that look out of place? If so, that is probably where the cache is hidden. Sometimes a hiking stick or a stick you find in the woods is a good tool to use to poke in nooks and crannies in hopes of hearing a plastic or metallic sound. That is a dead giveaway. Been looking for 10 minutes and still haven’t found the cache? Then decrypt the hint. Hopefully it makes sense. Many times they still seem cryptic even after they are decrypted. For example, if it says something like “keep looking and you won’t be stumped” then is most likely in a stump.

Success, you found it! So what do you do now? Well open it up and see what is inside you silly goose! If you see something inside that you like you can trade it for that trinket we mentioned earlier. You should always try and trade for things that are of equal or greater value. If you forgot that trade item, no big deal. It is all about the fun of the hunt. Find the logbook. Write down the date, write a passage about your experience and sign your name. Make sure you seal the cache as best as possible and hide the cache like you found it.

Head for home, log into Geocaching.com and log your find. Remember to write a good log about your quest.

Congratulations. You are now a geocacher!