Geocache-ing? Like trainspotting or the next biggie?

bluechair84

I've seen MBR (can I say that on here?) doing some geocaching recently. I seem to remember a couple of lads finding it quite frequently. Does this mean that it's as dull as chain-cleaning-fluid and no-one is bothered or yet to become the next singlespeed?
I've just found more about this recently and found there are some in my local area - I might go hunt for them and maybe even make my own - can you do this? Can anyone just leave a tin of crap for someone else to pick up? Can I drop litter and say I'm 'geo-cacheing?' No really, can you start you're own cache and are there other bikers on here that do it? I assume I leave the container and replace the stash with something else for someone else to find.

And how do you say it?


And how do you say 'Gillet'?

v23

Yes you can do your own.

No, you don't take the whole container and leave your own, you either take something from the container and replace it with something, or you just sign the log book.

You'll need to register here - www.geocaching.com - in order to search and log your visits.

It's pretty good fun and can often add a little interest to an otherwise uneventful ride/walk.

JEE-O-CASH-ING

BorisSpencer

Did quite a few last year, it gives the kids something to do and gets them out for a walk in new places. Too many caches now seem to be just next to laybyes or even on the edge of carparks. We like the treasure hunt type ones with a series of places to visit and clues to answer.

bluechair84

What really caught my attention was the encrypted hints and tips - I sat and worked it out and now I'm keen to actually go find this thing. Though I know the encrypted hints are there just incase you get there and can't find it. I might report back with my very first attempt.
How do Geocache people acount for things being left around in the countryside? Do they have an argument to defend leaving stuff lying around? Surely some of the geocaches must go off the radar and never be found again?

BorisSpencer

There is usually a covering letter in the cache explaining what it is to anyone who may just stumble across it.

bluechair84

Well the website is usefull, I'm hoping to tie some in to a couple of rides this week and maybe put my own on a big mountain which doens't seem to have any... What could I leave? Some long life energy bars? A compass? I'd want to make it a bit more cryptic, have a couple of clues to it. What have you found in caches before that were particularly exciting?

toasty

I used to use them to find somewhere to go biking, there's no good trails around here so I'd pick a random geocache within 15 mile or so and go find it! I can track them on my N95 phone and it gives me a vague arrow. Much more fun than biking along the same old roads.

Unfortunately after a month or so I ran out of local ones Might have to check if any more have appeared recently.

The big caches are the best, you know full well it's going to be utter crap in there, yet for some reason it's intruiging wondering what rubbish people have put in.

I wouldn't say they're the next big thing, they've been around for a while. Very cool when you first discover they're hidden all over the world though!

bluechair84

Yeah, I just found one near me that was first placed in 1937. I forget what the website calls them now but there are the permanent ones that you can log as having found.
I zoomed out on the google map and realised that there are dozens around the one that intrigued me, then I zoomed out a little more and found hundreds... zoom out a little more and I quickly maxed out the number of caches the browser will show. Err... they do look like liter, just plattered everywhere... Like v23 says, there are loads just dropped off at car parks... hardly a great find. I thought that they would be limited to places you had to put some effort into finding making them a bit more worth while.