Finding your first Geocache

The sport of Geocaching has taken the world by storm and everyone is encouraged to try it at least once. It is like a massive worldwide outdoor treasure hunt that uses a GPS device to locate certain geocaches that are hidden. These can be anywhere and this game can be mind boggling for first time users.

If you have not gone Geocaching before the best way to start is to tag along with a friend who does it so that you can learn the ropes. You can also find someone who owns a GPS device and try it out by yourself. You will see that there are various levels of difficulty and types of geocaches that have hints and different terrain. The best one to begin with is a traditional geocache. Do not start with micro caches or multi caches as they will probably leave you feeling frustrated.

With regards to the difficult level and terrain, a 2 should be the maximum that you begin with, but a one and a half is even better. Even though you may be eager, just remember the saying that you cannot learn to swim in the deep end. Start off smaller and slower and then build your way up. You will also learn some tricks and strategies along the way. When you do have a geocache in your sights you should view the past logs to see if anyone else has decrypted the hint or if there was another clue. If not you must make sure you know how to decrypt the hint.

Make sure that when you head off on a hunt, you are well prepared. Take along some food, water, a flashlight, and maybe trinket for when you find the cache to put in its place. Also be sure to go with someone or go when it is daylight. Do not put yourself in dangerous positions unnecessarily. When you are about to leave you can turn on your GPS and select the waypoint that you are heading to. Hopefully the geocache will have a parking area planned so that you can park safely and then wall the rest of the way. If the area is far from your house, then turn on the GPS when you are about 5 minutes away from the designated area.

When you have set your GPS to the compass you can then start hunting. Some caches will have trail maps and some will not, so just take the widest path and follow the compass points. As soon as you get within 100 feet you must slow down or stop so that the compass can settle and better detect where the cache is hidden. This could be under rocks or tree stumps or logs.