Geocaching...

I am an avid geo-cacher I have 218 caches found (in 15 states) and 4 owned caches. Great pastime. met several fellow cahers and all were extremely nice. My family is involved as 2 sisters and 2 sons along with several neices and nephews.

Great way to find sites and other interest that I may not have seen if it were not for Geo-caching.
You can see my profiles and contact me through the geocahing.com web site as Chaser1951

I started with a gps unit a few years ago using it to assist in tracking my running. It is a Garmin Forerunner 201. I used it for both cycling and running. I recently tried it in attempting to find a few caches. I sometimes run trails and thought combining running with geocaching would be a good recreational activity. A typical trail run might be about 10 Km long and a cach hunt around the half way mark would make a nice break.

The first half dozen caches I tried were only about 50% successful. The Forerunner is not WAAS enabled and gets notoriously bad readings in the woods. On top of that, it is nearly useless as a stationary locater. To get a descent fix, it is necessary to walk or run in a straight line and it will indicate reasonably well your decreasing distance to a cache. It is not easy to walk a straight line on a forest setting.

I just received my new Garmin Legend Cx yesterday. I haven't tried it on a cache yet. I have been looking at automating cache locations into the Legend Cx as well as a relatively new Garmin Street Pilot C530 so I will get a proximity warning on the C530 as I am driving along and would then be able to use the Legend to find the cache.

I will also probably carry the Legend on any trail runs that have caches. Mostly, I have found the caches are not generally located along the trails. Perhaps they are not allowed or perhaps Geocachers are not much interested in long hikes.

What does catching a geo have to do with GPS? I mean when Chevy released them, you could tell they couldn't move fast enough to get out of their own shadow. I mean, who really admits to owning a Chevy Geo anyway?

So, is this some kind of cult sport practiced in states that don't allow alcohol consumption?
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{Note for those of you who have had your sense of humor surgically removed, THIS IS A JOKE! You will always know when Robinh is posting a joke because he'll have his right hand in the air.} Humor, get it?!?

"I will also probably carry the Legend on any trail runs that have caches. Mostly, I have found the caches are not generally located along the trails. Perhaps they are not allowed or perhaps Geocachers are not much interested in long hikes."

Many trails have caches along them. While many parks embrace geocaching and even place their own geocaches, some do not allow geocaches to be placed.

I recently got into Geocaching but having some problems with the site setting me up for a premium member which is a pay service. It's only like $3 a month of $30 a year.

This is the site I went to and these three links are all tied into each other. If you sign up for premium service for waymarking.com then u get premium service for the other two sites.

www.waymarking.com/
portal.groundspeak.com/
www.geocaching.com/

Overall I like this (POI-Factory) site the best as it offers fast responses on your questions and answers and the people are very friendly and supportive or your problems. I've been waiting 3 days for them to fix my problems on that other site now.

Just my 2 cents

Michael

I am a regular at geocaching.com as well plus a very early member here(same member name as here).You gotta love this site because it's so non-commercial compared to other sites. So far my son Joe and I have found 4 caches and more importantly spend quality time in the great outdoors. Just started using my i3 to get close to the caches so we don't waste gas and time. My handheld is one I got as a gift a couple years ago. Lots of people frown on the eXplorist 200 but it really works well. The only downside is you have to input the coordinates by hand but really it isn't a big deal plus the gps is stable compared to the fancy ones being made today..

Ray

Do you need a specific gps unit for this? Or can you use any and load different POI's or something?

For around $100.00 you can get a decent handheld gps which is waterproof and runs on batteries.

Ray

Ray,

I will probably go with a Garmin GPS hand held since I already have a garmin gps for the car. Will the garmin handheld be able to read the garmin poi's.

Michael

Mike did your gps come with the mapping on dvd and if so was it NA ver. 8 NT? If so I would look at the Venture Cx and use the same dvd to install maps for autorouting..
Garmin allows 2 installs of the mapping software with no extra charge. The Venture Cx sells for under 200..Oh and I believe you can use the poi's as well..Here is the link for the Venture Cx:
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVenturecx/index.jsp
Ray

I started geocaching this year. Its a great way to spend time outdoors. Caches are hidden in many places from busy areas in the city to wilderness trails. Pretty much all you need is any portable GPSr that shows coordinates. Having maps and being able to add waypoints make locating the caches easier. I personally use TomTom wireless bluetooth GPS receiver and my phone which has installed GPS software.

Ray,

No I have City Navigator NT 7 on DVD. I will call tomorrow and see if they will give me version 8 on dvd since I didn't no you got a free upgrade when you buy the GPS. Of course I bought and registered mine in Feb of last year.

Funny you tell me about that GPS. I was looking at that one as well as the Garmin 76CSX. So If I buy either of these GPS they will probably come out with NT 8 or 9 software so then I can install it on my 2720 right.

Not sure on which handheld as far as the garmins go. I do like the yellow one as I'm partial to yellow. But I want the best one I can afford even if its only like $50-70 dollars difference

Michael