Does anyone do this? My family just started this past week and have already done 6 (only found 4 of them though!) I was just wondering if there were any other BOLers that geocache? Great family activity, all of ours were up by towers so way too much hill climbing for our first time. By tomorrow I don't plan to be able to walk anymore!

My parents were way into it for a while and tried to get me into it but I never had time. Sounded fun though!

I'm not really into it but I have taken my youngest grandson (7) on a couple. He enjoyed it but didn't care for all the walking...he called it treasure hunting.

Can someone enlighten me as to what GEO-caching is? I was thinking along the lines of HMDA data, but I must be wrong...

Go online to find a geocache close to you, then take a gps and program it with the coordinates of the cache. Then you go and try to find the cache. When you find it, you take something and leave something of you own. I'm not sure about the taking part though, some people may not take things.

Sounds like something KC GEOQueen could really dig.

My 5 year old calls it a treasure hunt too. You have to find the cache, either a ammo can, or a weather proof bottle of some sort and then there is a log in there, you log your visit. There are a bunch of little 'goodies' in there, you can feel free to take something and are encouraged to leave something.

There are also 'travel bugs' that people get..they have id numbers and you attach them to an item. Then people take them and move them around from cache to cache and the owner of the bug can track where their item went. We found a kid's toy fireman in one and moved it. I can just see a child with the parents tracking on line where the fireman toy is going throughout the area!!

It's fun!!

Ok, I searched for this thread because I could remember reading about this on BOL.

I finally bought a hand held GPS because I was tired of getting turned around and lost on long bike rides on rural roads with no signs. I also wanted to give Geocaching a try.

My soon to be 6 year old son calls it treasure hunting as well. We found our first cache yesterday and he was thrilled! We actually searched for it the night before and I had even looked exactly where it was hidden and missed it.

The neatest thing is that the hunt took me to a recreation park that I knew existed but had never visited even though it is just a few miles from my home. It is an absolutely beautiful place and is the sight for an old fire tower so the view was amazing.

It is a great activity to get the kids away from the TV, computer, and video games and out of the house walking. I wish I had tried this sooner! I have downloaded several dozen caches that are nearby to my GPS for more treasure hunting!

The website I used to locate the caches is http://www.geocaching.com/

I never heard of this before. It sounds really intersting. I am sure my son-in-law and grandson would love it.

I have to say, I got a little bit of a rush when we found the cache last night. I never thought that finding an old peanut butter jar full of worthless trinkets could be so exciting! I couldn't wait to read and sign the log book while the kids couldn't wait to see what they could trade for. I can't wait to take my son to a larger cache. There is one locally that has unusual coins that you can trade for.

sounds fun but I'm too lazy.

I'm a member but don't have a GPS. I thought that I'd be able to use the GPS system on my cell phone, but there's no way that I've found to enter the coordinates into the phone. DRAT!!!

I know someone at work who does this. Sounds like fun, but I've never tried it yet.

I am hoping that the weather cooperates this weekend so we can go out and find a few more "treasures". There are several nearby that I want to check out.

For what it's worth, I bought a garmin GPS with a highway navigation package (turn by turn directions) and accessories for $150 on e-bay. I used it on three recent trips and feel that it has already paid for itself. I will not take another trip without it! Actually, for $150 it would be worth it just for the geocaching as well.

I think that I'll look into getting one. It sounds like so much fun!

There was a lengthy article in out local paper on Sunday on geocaching along with a lot of pictures. It was being done somewhere local and it showed several groups actually doing whatever it is you do.

I took yesterday off and in honor of Christopher Columbus took my 6 year old son to seek treasure!

We searched for and found 5 geocaches yesterday! Two were quick and easy and three were pretty far into the woods. We were gone for about 5 hours, had a nice picnic lunch and enjoyed a wonderful day in the PA wilds.

Here are some pics:

Pic 1

pic2

pic 3

pic 4

pic 5

Looks like he had a great time.

How PRECIOUS Thomas J! Looks like he was having a BLAST!

Thanks for sharing!

We both had a blast. I told him I knew we were getting close to the treasure because he would start whining! As soon as he would start to complain, we would find the "treasure" and magically his feet didn't hurt anymore. It was a great time, hopefully he will remember it for a long time. There are still many "treasures" near where we live to be discovered, We are hoping to put together and hide our own cache soon.

I learned what Geocaching was when I had a report that somebody looked suspicious in our parking lot. When I went out to our light pole and lifted the cover from the base, I found a magnetic key box with a log sheet rolled up inside.

I stole the Cache and put it in my desk drawer as I don't want people lurking on our private property in and amongst our employees' vehicles.

Am I a bad person for this?

PUP!!

No, you're not bad. You would think the person would know better to hide a treasure at a bank. Geesh


....and HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!

There are pretty strict rules about placing geocaches - you could have gone online and reported the incident and they would have removed the cache from the data base. We will be placing ours on 110 acres of wooded land that my family owns. I would NEVER place a cache or search for one that was in a very public area like that or on posted ground. In PA you even need to get permission before placing them in state parks or state owned land.

I looked for caches online prior to a three day stay near the Philadelphia International Airport and found two. I didn't opt to do either one because I thought that I would look suspicious combing the grounds near the airport with my GPS in hand.