if it makes you feel any better, i had a cache that lasted literally 4 hours after it went live.

as we all know, one of the rules of GC is discretion. military-grade stealth when hunting for a cache. ESPECIALLY if there are muggles about.

my wife and i placed a rather involved cache under a bridge outside of a military installation. to be clear, this cache was at the end of an almost-never-traveled road, and the part of the military base to which it was somewhat near is a field with literally nothing going on. and the cache was placed several hundred yards from the fence line. having worked on this installation for well over a decade, i knew that this location was perfect.

someone was mowing the field outside the fence near the bridge. and by "mowing," i mean he was a very good distance away from the bridge. he just happened to see some kids rustling about near and under it. he drove his mower over to the area, asked the kids what was going on, and they told him, in his words, "mind your own business. this doesn't concern you." rather than taking the time to explain what they're doing and what geocaching is, they got into a rather heated discussion with the guy, who ended up calling 911.

the bomb squad came out and "diffused" my cache. glow sticks, little trinkets, waterproof notebook and pen ... all gone. they figured it was a cache, but they had to be sure, so they took it.

i know all of this because i worked very closely with local law enforcement and the bomb squad. they told me that i wasn't in any danger of legal retribution, but they also said that whoever the kids were need a swift kick to the asphalt for being such jerks.

you can read the comments here. i wasn't gentle, and i wasn't kind.

I win!

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC15FF_pingy-head-south-central-flas-1st-geocache

To be fair ive never been to that cache, but it was a scavenger hunt of a different type.

I looked at what you've posted on Reddit and didn't find any clues.

However your proposal video (which was awesome BTW) was posted on an external site that lists your real name and Youtube username, since your Reddit username is unique, most users use the same username across services and your Youtube name is the same as your GC name, looked at your recent finds, filtered by large, two ammo cans mentioned, looked through photo logs and spotted the 30A sticker. Thanks for the hunt, of a different type.

I am also going to say c:geo.

On Android it is by far the best, and much better than the official app. (I have recently moved to iPhone, and haven't found something as good as c:geo)

I'm not sure it's a trackable; It seems like another cacher's personal tag, something they leave to show they've been there.

Edit: Yet there's this one that's apparently a GC?

First, I would start here:

http://www.geocaching.com/guide/default.aspx

Spend a good half-hour browsing through all the links under the video.

A muggle is someone who is NOT geocaching. Basically, say you're looking for a cache and it's hidden under the skirt of a light post or something like that. The light post it's on is on the corner of a shopping mall parking lot. In this case a muggle would be all the people in the parking lot who are there to shop. You do not want them to see you lifting up the skirt of the lightpole to get the cache because they may come check to see what you were doing, find the cache, not care and then leave it a mess/unhidden/steal it.

Geocoins are mentioned in the link under "What are trackables?". If you find a geocoin, or TB (travelbug), it's basically a coin or some other item (usually a small toy/stuffed animal/figurine, but not always) with a number on it. You go to geocaching.com and when you sign the log on the website you can also type in the number to the associated coin/TB and it will update the page for the trackable to show that you have it and when you drop it off at another cache you will update that same web page (within geocaching.com account) so it's progress can be updated.

Many times, trackable items, especially TBs, have a small message attached to them that says what their specific goal is. Some of them want to make it to every continent, or every US state, or I had one that requested to be kept within a certain distances of airports/hotels or things like that. That way you can hold on to it until you're at the best cache to leave it in accordance with it's goal.

Hope that helped!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=9567451e-a1b8-42aa-9fba-90ac20e5b96f

Someone created a replica of the Arc of the Covenant and placed it in a cave. Still my favorite cache. And this is me with it- http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/323a6cad-2ae9-4a8f-8d79-536b5175c3a6.jpg

There is, as a matter of fact. It's a part of the Headquarters Geotrail, a Geotrail within walking distance of the Geocaching HQ. They even have a little passport for the trail. As someone who lives in an area with many nanos, this tour was great as it was everything except nanos, and this one was no exception.

Here is the original discussion, in which I asked /r/geocaching to help me decide how to word my cache. The essence of it is: it's a multi-cache that requires two players to go to two separate locations at the same time, in order to collectively determine the location of the final cache. One player going to one waypoint and then the other won't work, thanks to some sorcery and stuff.

If anybody's in the Oxford, UK area, the cache just went live today as GC591VV - You Can't Do It Alone!

I found a girl floating face down in lake Ontario when I was caching, called 911 and the police boat scooped her up about 5 minutes later.

I was from out of town so I emailed the police a few days later when I got home and they said she survived.

Log: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=25799179-e7f1-443b-83c5-1ff76a34945b

You're thinking of the archived multi cache Baby Talk. It was a llama, not a horse or cow, and the llama's collar had the coordinates to the final on it. Apparently the llama stopped coming over to people who called for it and the cache had to be archived (if I remember correctly).

Yep... had one the other day close to a guard rail. A very nice man, on his way home I assume, stopped and asked “Are you okay buddy, do you need me to get help?” To which I replied “I appreciate it, but no thank you. I’m just geocaching”

Quizzical 🤨 look ensues. Drives off slowly, and bewildered.

For good measure, here’s the geocache referenced

Although it is annoying, that's a minority. Just happened in a sequence! People after them had better logs.

I like the idea behind the cache (in honor of volunteer firefighters) but to be honest from a foreigner's perspective it's a fairly typical cache (ammo can in a stump in the woods.) Maybe there's a nice view or the trail is great, I don't know, but 345 finds and 1 favorite point suggest otherwise. The quality of a cache is proportional with the quality of the log, for the most part.

If they tag along and find the cache with you they most definitely can log it in the logbook and online. For online just use this link and change out the GC code http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?WP=GCXXXX

I see a fairly good number of cache around your town that you can get started with. You might also want to consider going to this event in Heerlen on 17 July to get to know other players in the area and possibly find a mentor.

FYI: We made a hide and seek geocache with lots of boxes in there where one of the boxes had the log, it was completely trashed and left like that, the geocache url (it's in dutch)

Not sure if I got you right but according the guidlines geocaches have to include a logsheet or logbook.

"For all physical caches, there must be a logbook, scroll or other type of log for geocachers to record their visit."

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?tx=32bc9333-5e52-4957-b0f6-5a2c8fc7b257&ul=IstealCaches&sc=n

Looking at that guy's logs, it seems like he only did this on his first cache. No other caches have the same problem. Still really confused by it all.

1100 caches in a day? Is that even possible? Assuming you cached for 24 hours straight, that would average 78.5 seconds per geocache. Each cache has to be 0.1 miles apart, right?

I guess it's possible on a car or bicycle if you're literally sprinting, jumping out, finding the cache immediately, and going to the next one.

EDIT: Is this you? http://www.geocaching.com/blog/2010/11/24-hour-epic-adventure-nets-more-than-a-1100-geocaches/ Apparently this is a real thing!?

If you're a Premium Member, sorting by # of Favorite Points will be a good guide.

Otherwise, here's a couple of my faves

ET Highway #1

A Special Memory

I'd like to make a recommendation for you before you start doing any hides. Admittedly, you've looked primarily in one general area of town, and thus haven't seen a wide variety of caches. Before you hide one, go check out some of the real winners in town. Go to http://www.geocaching.com/seek/ and enter the name of your town, or your home coordinates, to get a page listing the caches closest to you (not a map). Then click on the header at the top of the 2nd column, the one that looks like a blue ribbon. This will order the caches nearest you by Favourite Points. Premium members can assign fav points to caches they really like, and I find it's a good way to learn which caches in an area are really worth finding. Go find some of those to really get inspired about creative ways to cache.

We have a general rule of thumb in my hometown for caching: it's best to log 100 finds before doing your first hide. Now that's not to try to discourage new hiders. That's so that you have a chance to see which caches are really great and get inspired, as well as see which ones don't work so well (containers that leak, uninspiring locations, etc.).

I'm happy to hear you're enjoying this great hobby. Definitely go find some of the really great caches in your area and use those good examples to make similarly inspired hides. Have fun!

Ok, so they blew it up?? Sounds like it was a camo wrapped pill bottle hanging in a tree?

LOL I guess that one is now showing "Needs Maintenance"??

Is it this one? GCM950 An shotgun shell?

Or this one GC4RC1B ?

Groundspeak has downloads of printable brochures to help explain geocaching to the genral public, as well as specialised information designed for law enforcement personel.

I carry a copy of the first one in my geocaching pouch, and have a copy of the law enforcement one in the car.

There is a cache listed in the ISS. Well, technically it's listed in Kazakhstan, but the final is on the ISS. You can even see the locker it's stored in on Street View.

This is not always accurate as Google Maps have been known to be off over 20ft at times.

I always tell people whether using a smartphone or dedicated GPS, if you're not using GPS averaging you're making everyone's life more difficult. I believe it's built into most dedicated GPS. Android has an appointment called 'GPS Averaging': https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.destil.gpsaveraging

I assume iPhone has one similar. I usually average about 20 points while holding the phone in the air and shaking it. Spot on coordinates everytime.

From the previous weekly newsletter:

>We Want To Hear Your Thoughts on Challenge Caches! Take the Challenge Cache Survey

>Last April, we paused accepting submissions for new challenge caches to collect data and reevaluate the impact they have on the game. Now, we’d like to hear more from you! Take this survey to tell us about your experience with challenge caches.

>What’s a challenge cache? Challenge caches allow geocache owners to create “challenges” you have to accomplish before you can log a specific geocache, like meeting the challenge of finding a geocache on every day of the year. They’re fun. But as challenge caches have grown in the geocaching community over the last decade, they’ve also often caused confusion for players and can add extra hurdles for community volunteer reviewers.

>By taking this survey, you will help us build a better framework for challenge caches — one designed for even more geocaching fun. Thank you!

This is the survey it links to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HFPMDKQ

So no real word yet on when it will end, they're still trying to figure out what to do with them.

What about leaving a tiny bronco? Like getting 60 of these and leaving them. https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Battat-Assorted-Miniature-Toppers/dp/B01D5CBTGS/ref=mp_s_a_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=rodeo+figures&qid=1627789482&sr=8-21

Try this, up in a tree instead;

https://www.amazon.com/SCHOME-Natural-Scarecrow-Repellent-Outdoor/dp/B01M3RE0LC/ref=sr\_1\_8?dchild=1&keywords=plastic+crow&qid=1624907997&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-8

Hi! This is a cache from Team Gently! Thanks for posting! I hope you enjoyed finding it! I'd recommend any of our caches, but our best one is probably Impregnable which has kindly been adopted by another cacher. EDIT: a word

• yes
• not really
• What I would do is, after they are archived, collect the containers, fill them with new swag and logs, and replant them as new caches in the same spots. I know of a case where someone did that, because the cache was in perfect condition but the CO went awol: GC421WW

We only did two caches, but they were both cave caches. Very tight squeezes that required a lot of maneuvering on my belly and squeezing through some small spaces.

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5DNKM_down-the-hatch?guid=0978f680-56d8-4ad7-ad68-75bd00e44b8c

The first one was a fairly short crawl, but still took about forty-five minutes to get to the cache and back out. It was so tight I had to back up in a couple of spots and scoop out some rocks so I could squeeze through.

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5B2WM_cave-cricket?guid=c5ab55c4-5f63-4a7b-a4d5-abd3aafc0f0b

The second one was a lot longer, but I was able to hunch down and walk a good portion of the way. The tight areas in this cave were extremely small and I had a tough time getting through.

These were a couple of very cool caches that took me quite a ways out of my comfort zone. The things we do to gain a smiley !!

Great tale you have told. :)

I tried to have a story like that myself. I had a TB circumnavigate the world and come back to the States. I was in Seattle a week after it was but I caught the owner just too late to try to get him to hold on to it and get it back to me.

I thought it would be neat to have a bug go around the world and then come back to me, haha.

Here's a link though if anyone cares. Point of note is thay the TB has now been to TWO annual geocaching block parties in Seattle (2012 and 2015). I have been to zero geocaching events :(

TL;DR I live vicariously through a dog tag...

EDIT: link

Personally, I think "partially" is ok. Fake sprinkler heads are "partially buried", and so are the pennies/bottle caps that are popping up lately. However, there seems to be a lot of grey area here and I don't think everyone agrees (including the reviewers).

Looking over the official guidelines it says "If one has to dig or create a hole in the ground when placing or finding a geocache, it is not allowed."

That wooden thing that you thought was a trackable looks like an event souvenir. Trackable codes don't start with GC; those correspond to caches (including "event" caches). Googling the code brought up this event.

Carry some of these brochures to help explain what geocaching is.

And, for police who haven't heard of Geocaching, giving them a copy of this wouldn't hurt.

Congratulations on staring out with this great hobby. I remember the feeling how much I wanted to hide one as soon as I found my first couple. I would echo the others and recommend you find more before hiding your first one. I would also recommend reading through the guidelines of hiding a cache to understand what is involved: Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines

Regarding the "hacker" idea, seen some cool ones in Raleigh, NC area with this theme. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2AKE0 for example.

I really like the voice mail idea. Would you mind if I did something similar in my area?

Most I've found in one day is 113. Most of those were part of a 99 cache series around the Chicago area. I forget exactly how long it took us, but we started the day out early hitting a few caches on the way to an event cache that included a breakfast buffet, and ended some time after dark. We completed the bulk of the 99 series caches in about 5 hours.

For historical and posterity reasons, link to the log. Also, the Wu Xing log.

http://www.geocaching.com/guide/default.aspx

What are the rules of geocaching?

If you take something from the geocache (or "cache"), leave something of equal or greater value. Write about your find in the cache logbook. Log your experience at www.geocaching.com.

To piggyback,this appears to look more like the one pictured. You can search the term "floral water tubes" on google/amazon.

I use GPS Averaging when grabbing the coordinates for a cache. Leave the phone on the ground for 2-3mins so the GPS can stabilize, then click the measure button and leave it for 5-10mins.

Download an app with offline maps, like the OpenStreetMap android app. I'm sure there's an iOS equivalent if you're an apple guy. You just download a region in advance, then you have a map of it and you can even get turn-by-turn directions to restaurants/landmarks/whatever or any geographic coordinates with no data coverage.

It's like a multi but it's backed by a "program" that is interpreted by an application. I tested WhereYouGo, it's a little ugly but works!

Basically the program, called cartridge, has a serie of locations and reacts to you entering or exiting them. The program can prompt you with a description when you enter a phisical location, and you can interact with virtual objects or characters that the author envised, or you can be asked to check some real life detail such as the classic "count the number of letter in the sign". The cartridge can give you tasks, trigger events, mantain data about your progress and your inventory, etc. As the "story" unfolds, new locations or object can be made available. It's basically like a graphic adventure (such as Monkey Island) in real life.
While i like the idea i think it's hard to come up with something that's both interesting and simple enought to avoid the user getting stuck at some points.

I think the craziest was what I did'nt find.

I was out night caching with a couple of friends I'd met at a geocaching event. We'd done pretty well. No DNFs for the night, but it was raining when we got to the cache "it's down there ":

It's literally down in an extremely steep overgrown culvert with brambles and everything else. We'd found some other challenging caches, but with the rain we weren't sure if we went down if we could make it back up. So we swallowed our pride and moved on to the next cache.

The next day... Valentine's Day... I was at the movie and got a phone call from one of my caching buddies. "Hey remember that cache we skipped...there was a body found there today." She had been missing for days. That night while were out there were missing posters up everywhere. No one knew if she'd been abducted or what. So stumbling around in the dark, with the posters everywhere had felt like a "maybe this isn't a good night to cache" already...

I've never been back to find the cache there. The final story was super sad.

You can find other people's profiles here (if you know their nickname) or by clicking their nickname on a cache's page (i.e. in the logbook). By searching "brainstrained" I only find your new profile.

I have, however, found the profile of Brainstrain, a used from Baltimore (just like you are, looking at your nickname). Is is the right profile?

Great idea, but be prepared to be disappointed.

People don't read the instructions. People don't follow the guidance on what to do when logging the cache. It's just an annoyance in the game to get a smiley.

My proof for this? http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5GNW7_2nd-caringbah-scouts Asked to leave a photo: 10% did do this.

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5J4AV_a-park-with-a-somewhat-dubious-history Asked to leave a historical (dubious) comment or fact about the park: only 2.

So yes, prepare to be disappointed.

Hey now... Those monkeys are highly trained and have very delicate sensibilities.

But yes, it's not the most optimal. Did you see the new blog post about the new stuff we're doing/fixing/upgrading?

There's a really easy travel bug motel near downtown SF that you don't need a GPS to find -- http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC15XK4_california-gold-tb-hotel?guid=c0c9b2c1-de53-460a-9912-54d03b8f1f0e -- just go in there during operating hours (Tues-Sun, Noon-5 PM); you can either search for the cache yourself or ask the staff to help. I've visited it a few times.

(If you can't figure it out from the picture given, I'd be happy to let you know the address. But it's not terribly difficult to locate.)

I only use micros in the city when there is no other option. And I also like using micros when the location is more important the loot in the container.

Like my cache "A little bit of Bomhus": http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3N5NK_a-little-bit-of-bomhus

A small gem that people don't know exists and the only good place for the cache was near some metal - so the obvious choice was a magnetic micro.

This is a cache I placed nine years ago:

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCNX7D_abandoned-peninsula?guid=fd57f8e0-3e8d-4828-a2e2-d6ad628b274c

It's a battle and a bitch to get to. And since that's the case you don't have to worry about mugglers. So it's worthy of a bigger container! :)

Might want to check out the geocaching.com site to look for events that might be close enough to attend. There's one going on today in Maui. In a couple weeks there is this one near Honolulu.

There were also virtuals being placed nowhere and allowing/encouraging/requiring armchair logging.

For example, Four Windows.

I'll admit, I logged this one. A few months later, I thought better of it and deleted the find. However, the Found It log still exists in the database, and counts toward my find count used in calculating favorite points - so instead of being awarded a favorite point when I log find #1870, I get it on #1871. ^(Y'all got any plans to fix that? Smells like a bug)

Edit: I think part of the problem was that the criteria was pretty subjective. What constitutes an "interesting spot"? Asking the reviewer to make that decision is just a recipe for disaster, so the only thing you can do is not make any judgement on interestingness.

Look at the comments if you're using a site like http://www.geocaching.com

Make sure some people have found the cache recently or it may mean the cache is gone or at new GPS coordinates. Especially for beginners, there's no shame in reading the comments, people are pretty good at not leaving spoilers.

Flip side to this, make sure you leave a comment within a few days of finding the cache. Let people know it exists and you found it or if you missed it this time and will try again later. The most common thing to post is a simple Thanks For The Cache!(TFTC!)

Sometimes it can be tricky to start up, but soon enough you'll get the hang of it and start to recognize common hiding places.

Make sure you check out Geocaching 101 and some of the other links on the sidebar, they can be quite helpful!

Also, here's a list/explanation of all the different cache types.

Sizes will typically vary quite a bit depending on where you're searching for caches. A lot of urban hides are micro, whereas a lot of more remote caches are regulars. Parks are usually good places to find small/reg containers in the city.

I primarily use a Garmin Dakota 20 GPS, but I also use c:geo on my phone/tablet. c:geo works quite well once you get a hang of it.

Any geocache by CacheMedics is going to have a ton of favorite points and come highly recommended. Plus they're super nice people!

And if you're feeling a little...daring...there's a clothing-optional geocache nearby.

Last year my mom was packing up her house for a move and came across something that she knew nothing about. She saw the word Geocaching so she called me. What it was a dozen proxies of trackables (they were just photocopies of the coins or photos of the travel bugs) that had gone missing in 2009. No one in the family other than me was into geocaching and these were last logged before I got into caching. In fact, they were recovered from Joshua Tree and no one in my family had been there that year. It is a mystery how they ended up with my Mom, but I put them back into action right away. It seems as if they have all gone missing again. Bummer.

You can see them in the previous inventory of one of my caches.

Trackables can be frustrating at times.

I have a coin whose goal is to travel around in California. The first person who picked it up noted that it was retrieved from the cache in the cache log, but didn't log the coin as retrieved until months later after a couple emails were sent. They never logged the coin as visiting any caches and when they finally did drop it off, it was in freaking Arizona.

I figure you just got to accept whatever happens and try to enjoy the travels in whatever way you can.

From http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#commercialcaches

Cache listings perceived as commercial will not be published. A commercial cache listing has one or more of the following characteristics:

1. It suggests or requires that the finder go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.

Shameless plug... my newest cache is still unfound (after, like, a month!) in the same area...

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ddd105b8-3d14-452f-bd97-098f327a1fa7

I guarantee you'll love the views and the adventure.

We ran into one we couldn't find while out doing some night caching. After a while, we resorted to the logs and found out why we weren't coming up with the goods. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=fdf00785-6700-4c91-b9a7-4ed5b7cac539 (note: GZ is along a trail in a wooded area)

Apparently it's this one...

> OH what a bad day... My brother in law and I were looking for this cache.. When brother in law started falling on hillside , he hit his head on a tree, and passed away in my arms ... Ambulance , Fire Truck , RCMP , helicopter out of Nelson , B C... BAD BAD DAY............... Someone please archive this cache.... All reports are at RCMP in Creston............. SO SAD

Worst DNF log I've ever read...

At first glance that seems dangerously close to "Geocaches are never buried" but upon reading that guideline completely it seems it doesn't require "a shovel, trowel or other pointy object" so I guess it's kosher.

Edit: typo.

So the Official App will show you all caches if you are a premium member. Otherwise you'll only see the non-premium and low D/T tier caches.

The c:geo App will show you everything even with a free account. With the caveat you won't be able to see the cords on premium caches but they will appear on the map.

Honestly, c:geo is a little clunkier to operate but has so, so, many more features that it's the best app to use if you're using your phone to find caches.

Can't exactly predict the future on that one, however there are alternatives currently that can store caches for offline use.

c:geo for android

and Cachly for iOS

Can't say I have any experience with Cachly, but c:geo makes storing caches for offline use pretty darn easy. I do recommend staying away from the official paid app as all sources point to it being phased out.

Not sure what kind of phone you have but C:Geo is an awesome free Geocaching app for Android. The compass can be a little wonky at times, and the GUI takes a little getting used to, but other than that it works like a charm!

Good luck!

I've made these for a while now, but with a method that doesn't use a saw or glue. Glue can be added to waterproof it though. Check it out:

micro container

Yes, just the other day!! I was in a path walking through a park when I saw a very isolated tree about 100 feet off the path. Gave it a look and what do you know... GC47WG2

> It's not that difficult to filter these out however.

I think I will have to do dig down a bit more to find some good series.

There's one guy near me who has done an "Oddly Named Bridges" series which could be fun because they're not all near each other, so I have to travel and hunt around a bit to complete the series. OMG, I just noticed that he owns 1500 caches in my area ...

> Often times the areas used for power trails don't have 'great or scenic' locations, so are more common types of hides.

Most of those power trails aren't anywhere interesting. I live in a very flat area, so these trails are mostly just a path across fields and through some woodland. No scenic views.

I'm a huge fan of Eric Peterson's excellent Puzzle Caching 101 series. His Cryptography lesson gives a run-down of some very popular ones. At the very least, you can get your head around how to identify different types. http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCYXZ7_puzzle-solving-101-lesson-7-cryptography?guid=395a56a3-61b4-4c29-b413-69374d4c2565

I use geocachingtoolbox.com to code or decode a LOT, but it doesn't do much for me on the inspiration front.

In my opinion, though, the best way to start is to pick a puzzle cache at random, and see how far you can get. COs and recent solvers will almost always set you in the right direction if you're stuck or can't even find a starting point.

I went to Brazil a couple of years ago to find http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCC67_mission-4-southern-bowl?guid=1f8a5fa0-c036-4d48-8765-7a64f90cd679 . It was a really nice trip. You can see my journal from it at http://bjornfree.com/ape/ , the first 25-30 photos is the trip from home (Norway) to Brazil and into the woods.

No worries. We do not want any threads on specific puzzles. There are lots of good resources. I strongly suggest ePeterso's series to new puzzle solvers.

But even the more experienced puzzle cache solver runs into dead ends. At that point you have a few options:
1. Put it away for a day or two and ponder on it.
2. Recruit help from other local cachers who have yet to crack it.
3. Message the CO. Most active CO's want their caches found and most will give you a nudge.

Good luck!

you'd have to travel north of the city a fair bit, but this is one of the best puzzle caches i've ever done! http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2QYXF_pbqr-oernxre

10/10 would recommend

eta: sorry if you don't have a premium account...it's worth having one, imho!

There's tons of good caching in SF! I picked up a bunch when I visited last summer. Golden Gate Park has a bunch (and has the advantage of being near the Haight, which is worth a visit), but my favorite was this one, just because the location was so charming, and I got to chat with a very sweet, very old, Irish couple for a while. Bring some trinkets and trackables, there's plenty of room for swapping stuff!

Cemetery caches are great. I have done several and I enjoyed all of them. I don't think there is anything disrespectful about them so long as the CO has a milligram of common sense. If you ever visit Tucson, I'd highly recommend you do the following cache:

Evergreen's Stories

I did this one last Sunday with my girlfriend and it was a spectacular 3-hour history lesson of southern Arizona. This particular cemetery is a beautiful place as well.

That is pretty neat. I actually have a geocache IN a public library GC546FG Fallen Civil War Soldiers from Decatur County. I assumed that's what we were talking about.

GC5MMQA

It seems as if there are plenty of great caches along Dillon Rd between Desert Hot Springs and Coachella, including some reboots of Wheeler Dealer caches.

All physical caches must have a logsheet or logbook. I would take this to mean a physical log of some kind. You could make the digital log a voluntary thing, though.

Was a bit wary of placing one initially, don't want to break any rules here. Although I guess I can!

Here it is

Hmmm...I found a cache before that kind of reminds me your idea (GC1GQ01), except there wasn't a bonus find/smiley. I wonder if you could make it as a bonus cache. For example, you could find the first cache where they simply sign the log, and perhaps have a note in the first container leading to a second bonus cache where they write their secret. That's the only way I can think of where cachers would be able to log two separate caches to get the bonus smiley. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Carnero has even passed on the facebook account to this new group. Follow them at https://www.facebook.com/android.geocaching the first new release came out today fixing a couple minor bugs brought about with the last update.

To install the new version, it's now a whole new app. You will need to uninstall the old c:geo then go to the app store and install the app called c:geo opensource. None of the app settings will be transferred over so be ready to change your settings again.

hah, yeah.. I find the constant data is what does me in. I had a sudden need when I was in an area where I didn't have data coverage, and I couldn't find anything in context of landmarks. Downloaded the offline maps from http://www.cgeo.org/faq.html#osm-howto at a local Tim Hortons, and off I went.

I create my GPX files with GSAK, and load them on my phone via Dropbox. The import functionality is quite good - a file in Dropbox can be opened with c:geo, and it prompts to create a list.

c:geo gives you the functionality to "one click log offline" - found it, didn't find it, etc.. when you're back in connectivity-land, you just go through and properly log your finds.

Offline maps and caches is the reason I'm not using the official app.

/u/lampworker linked to a good write-up on doing this.

I know what you mean. One of the best caches I have found was completely by accident. During a trip to Germany a couple years ago, my wife and I went hiking in the Alps with our local friend. When I was sitting on top of the mountain, catching my breath, I looked at a spot that looked like it would be a perfect spot for a cache. After looking for a few seconds, I found this.

I'd say that that depends on the cache. If I get an DNF once on this cache, I'll go check on it right away. This one however, can get several DNFs between finds and I only feel the need to check up on it a couple times a year.

GCJN22, which was troublesome in many ways and had to be archived, but it was a hell of a fun find.

Section II.2

• Owner is responsible for visits to the physical location.

> Caches placed during travel will likely not be published unless you are able to provide an acceptable maintenance plan. This plan must allow for a quick response to reported problems, and might include the username of a local cacher who will handle maintenance issues in your absence.

>I run into vacation caches all the time

Do you mean "caches placed in popular vacation spots", or "caches placed by people on vacation"? If the former, it's probably local cachers placing them. If it's the latter, they may have been placed before this guideline started being enforced - or maybe the reviewer is more relaxed than the ones in the US.

Check out GC1M90Y (Gadgets at Deckers Creek). First stage of this 10-stage mystery cache is to find the gadgets in an ammo can, then each stage is a short walk away from the parking area. Cachers can easily replace the tools to their original hiding spot on the way back to their car. For extra insurance that things won't go missing, it's a "premium members only" cache.

There is actually already a series (in Spain).

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3E2WK_la-busqueda-de-las-dragon-ball-dragon-ball-1?guid=dd51b9c6-86d3-4dca-a107-9dc8ac73ce35

For each cache you have to solve a puzzle based on knowledge of the show, then you collect little laminated dragon balls with the owners signature on the back. After you collect them all, he meets you near the location of the final cache, and gives you the final hint on where to go.

We had a TB that we set free 9 years ago with the aim of raising awareness of world poverty. We let it go in England and within a year it was in South Africa before doing a huge tour of Europe. In total, it travelled over 30,000km. The most recent log was in 2012. I don't speak much German but it says something a long the lines of them keeping it for a long time. I have messaged them but still no reply to this day. Maybe there is still hope! Crocaid!

Worldwide, there have been a few accidental deaths caused during geocaching trips. Their bodies are often found by other cachers taking the same route.

Here is a bookmark list of caches where dead bodies were found.

Currently living in Berlin, a definitely must is: GC13Y2Y also I use this bookmark list as bit of a guideline. I'm sure other locals who respond to the thread could come up with better suggestions.

Also have been to Amsterdam but haven't found any there, I did find this bookmark list though. Now if only I could remember the name of that multi-vault cache there...

Edit: tense

I rounded up some buddies and went for the best night multi I could find.

It's archived now, but it was a fire needle based night cache with multiple creative puzzle waypoints. The cache was called "The Hunt for Red October" and based on the events in the 1990 movie with the same name.

This thing was amazing. Walking around the area with high power torches in hand, looking for reflecting needles in the distance. Randomly running into waypoints with puzzles. One was a network of piping with a coordinate hint inside, the other was a 9V connector on the side of a tree.... leading to a submerged submarine with led-based coordinate hints to the next waypoint.

4 years later, we still talk about running this one. We started at 11 PM and stopped somewhere around 4 AM.

Definitely try to find an extensive multy!

edit

or track down the most logged cache in the world, seems it's in Prague:

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC189E5_prague-bridges-1-karluv-most

It's happened quite a few times in the past. Here's a bookmark list that shows 87 such occurences, and that's only until 2007.

edit: Here's a list with 242 caches.

Have you seen this page:

http://www.geocaching.com/hide/planning.aspx

We included a map that has the circles for visible waypoints and geocaches. One thing you have to keep in mind is we don't show hidden waypoints (like puzzle cache finals), so even if a space is open on the map it may not actually be available.

You can also email your local reviewer if you have a spot in mind that looks free on the map.

Haven't done a lot of caching in Denver but I can at least throw out one suggestion. Not that it's hard to spot with all the favorite points but LoDo TB & Geocoin Hotel is right downtown. It's an impressive TB hotel for sure.

I havent read the other comments, but bring a bag/pack. I never thought I'd need one, I'd just go 'minimalist' and carry a pen & gps, however there is so much else needed depending on what you do.

Things in the pack: first aid kit, water, food/snacks, pens, paper, small trade-able toys, camera/phone and weather-clothes depending on the forecast (i.e. poncho, sweatshirt, etc.) I have a small bag (I'll admit it looks somewhat like a purse) which is designated for Geocaching essentials, and a larger hydration pack for longer trips in more wooded or rural areas. I pack for the occasion.

Also, for your reference, This Link is a glossary of Geocaching terms and abbreviations. Just in case you hadn't come across that page yet.

Have fun!

In 2003 Jeremy said that cache placement on military bases are okay as long as the cache owner has the base commanders approval.

I've found a couple caches on parts of military bases that are open to the public. The areas that are open to the public tend to be housing areas and recreation areas. Some military recreation facilities that are inside the fence line also offer private (not listed online) geocaches. All you have to do is go to the MWR office and ask for list of geocaches.

Check out this bookmark of Military Base caches. I've found a couple on this bookmark list and they've all been high quality caches.

There are some caches on the property of Eglin Air Force Base, which you can hunt provided you check in with the guardstation first. (See the rules on this cache: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3FT8W_area-51-eglin-afb ) Eglin may be an exception because it is large and rural and its property includes big wilderness areas.

Those are Challenge caches. OP is referring to Geocaching Challenges. The names are pretty much identical but the concepts are different.

There is one like this in my area. It works pretty well, and has a single rule : No euros.

(And it also says to leave at least 12 coins but that's not really relevant as there are probably 50+ coins in there)

Caching over 200 for 2 years. We do it as a family and a big dog walk. We actually focus on the dog part.. all cache finds must include his picture.. our favourites are finding abandoned objects in the forest. There's a bunch of old machinery around where I live, and last summer there was lots on the PNW with some WW2 bunkers. Favorite so far

I'm from Seattle, and since just about every park has caches in it you really can't go wrong. A walk around Green Lake has lots of caches you could try finding, and Woodland Park is right there (not the zoo) and has some of the most-favorited caches in the area. Magnuson park also has a bunch for the urban hike type setting.

If you're willing to drive an hour away, one of the coolest caches to find is up at Snoqualmie. It's the Project APE tribute cache, which takes you through a 2.5 mile long pitch black tunnel. It's closed from October 31-May 1 unfortunately, so if you don't spring for it this week you'll have to wait a while.