Geocaching

Oh man that is mean (but hilarious)!

I'm warned now not to find that cache.
A taruntala .........
I like the last name.

Do you have to register you caches?
Or how does that goes when you hide a new cache?

It sound very serious Tennessee is still suffering from the flood earlier in May.

Quote :

Do you have to register you caches?
Or how does that goes when you
hide a new cache?

You have to go to your account on www.geocaching.com. You will find a link on the home page after you sign in that says "Seek or Hide a Cache". Just follow it, and it will give you more info on hiding and lead you to an online form you have to fill out.

However, even though I did not do it, most geocachers who have been at this for a while will ask you not to hide any caches until you find your first 100. During this first 100, you are called a neocacher and this time is to be used finding an learning about hiding through the hides of other people. Reading the forums at Groundspeak.com can also be helpful. After that initial 100 finds, you become a geocacher and are recognized in the community as a comrade--no matter how inexperienced you might be.

So, I would suggest getting out there and finding a few before you worry about hiding anything. Right now, I have about 4 hides I want to do:

1. The spider I told you about

2. Another micro near this subdivision that is supposed to be built--they have a brick sign up that is begging for a micro or even nano cache

3. A full sized cache in the woods behind a local movie theater filled will Pez candy dispensers (will be themed--you will need to trade Pez dispensers for Pez dispensers)

4. A Star Trek themed cache near this road construction company here called Vulcan.


The spider one, if I can find the right tree with a hole in it, will go out in the next couple of days.

So I'm a very newbie cacher?

Are there rules for hiding caches?

There are both rules and laws.

For example, one of the rules is that you cannot dig a hole to hide a cache in. You can use preexisting holes and use leaves and such to make it harder to find, but you cannot dig a hole.

As for laws, those vary from state to state here in the USA, and probably from nation to nation. Some US laws:

1. No caches near any Federal buildings.
2. No caches in Nat'l. Parks.
3. Caches are allowed in state and local parks if permission is obtained first.

TN laws:

1. No new caches in cemeteries. The laws changed somewhere around 2003. Any existing caches in cemeteries may stay, but new caches must be 1/10 of a mile (528 ft.) from a cemetary

2. Caches must be at least 528 from an elementary or middle school and cannot be on school property.

3. Caches near high schools must be 300 ft. from the building and not on school property.

I want to show you my spider cache before I hide it. This will be considered a micro because the actual container is so small. Here's the spider in my hand:




And here is the underside where the small tube with a scroll to be signed by anyone who locates this is hidden:

That spider if you is a scary critter.
To bad you can't see the faces of the people who will find this "hairy scary" spidy.


You have a several sections for caches?
Mircro - big?

My son is scared to death for this spidy.

A micro is tiny....very small. A nano cache is even smaller.


Small caches are usually anywhere from 3-4 inches wide. A regular cache can be as big and even bigger than a shoe box. There are even some large ones that are as big as a 5 gallon bucket.

The more I read about geocaching the more I like it to get started and find something.

Yes I'll be a good girl and find first 100 caches before I'll hide my first cache.

Have you ever hidden a big cache?

Two of mine are regular sized boxes with goodies (we call that swag) inside. Both are in really cool locations that I just kind of stumbled across. The other 6 of my current hides are all micros. Most of them are here in Watertown, so they don't get found very often. I also have one at the Walmart in Lebanon, TN. With it being a busy shopping spot on a state highway, it gets found a lot more often.

Do you get on-line updates when people register finding your geocaches?
Do all (or nearly all) of the people register their finds?

To get credit for finding caches, you must register them. The cache owner gets an automatic email every time theirs is found. People with many caches hidden could get a whole lot of email!

I went out for a while yesterday afternoon. I managed to find 7, bringing me up to 230 found since Jan. 8. My goal for the year is 250. I think I can make it!

Wow, you have found many chaches since you started.
I think you can make it too.

When you have found a chache you have to tell that on the geochache page?

Have you ever had you were searching for a chace, but couldn't find it?

When you find a cache, you log onto www.geocaching.com (shameless website plug) and log your find. Each cache has an identification number starting with GC. You can use that number to locate quickly your caches that you've found and log them. You must log them to get credit for finding them.

Have I ever not found some? All the time! Sometimes I go back after a few visits and am able to locate them. I may have found 7 yesterday, but I did not find 5 also. There have been some awesome days like the day I found 29. There have been other days where I just went after one or two due to time. I was in the area and just wanted to play! I'm not worried about my ratio of finds versus DNFs (did not find). I just want to find them as I can, hide a few along the way, and have some fun exploring the outdoors. At least this is getting me outdoors--much to the disappointment of my allergies.

Sounds like you need to increase your goal to 300 (especially since it isn't even really summer yet).

Now I'm curious to hear what people hide as caches except taruntula's.

I will need to increase my goal, Gary. I went out again today and found all 10 of the 10 I hunted for. That puts me at 240 once I log them.

Maybe you should just make it 400.

Let me hit 250 first. Then, I'll set my next goal. I'm thinking of maybe 365 or 500 for a year. Either is doable.

Well, my 2nd goal for the first year has been met. I went caching with Sabidoo and got enough to take me up to 260 finds. Then, I went to a meeting of the Middle TN Geocachers and logged 4 more finds today. Then, my wife and I went and did some clothes shopping and we swung through a different way home and picked up one more cache. I'm now at 265.

Glad to hear you were out with Sabidoo, how is that old married codger doing?

He's about to start a new job.

Great Sabidoo and you did some geocaching together.
I hope he's doing fine and can come back here soon.

Doing here some geocaching seems to be not cool.
What if you find a bear?

If you find a bear, you trip someone else and run away! Here, you have to worry about rattlesnakes. I've not seen one of those--yet. I have seen a green snake, a black racer, a chicken snake, and a couple of water moccasins. Only the water moccasins are poisonous.