There's Treasure Everywhere!

[Zerok]

For some, this might call to mind the title of a Calvin and Hobbes collection.
However, I'm referring to real life.

Sadly, on these forums geocaching has not been well received: [3 topics :(]

C'mon, what's wrong with you people? It's nerdism meets the great outdoors... a sign of the modern blending of culture and technology.

If you're reading this and thinking "wtf is geocaching" then you're a lazy oaf who probably should get off your ass and start doing this (<3). You use the internet, GPS, two feet and a heartbeat to find hidden containers scattered liberally across the globe. If you live in a city of some sort, I guarantee you there will be several within a 1-2 mile radius.

My girlfriend and I discovered this worldwide treasure hunt via a Trivial Pursuit card, and shortly after she looked it up and discovered a bunch of caches hanging out in her hometown of Georgetown. Intrigued, we simply used Google Earth to hone in on one location and found a box full of strange delights. A year or so later, she (we) have surpassed 100 finds, as Halifax is saturated with the little buggers.

Hides can be simple (in a tree knot) or crazy (glued to the underside of a fence pole cap). It's free, it's fun, it gets you outdoors, and you can build up stats on the site: http://www.geocaching.com

I've found Lego, money, beautiful trading coins, trackable items and loads more in these caches. Soon we're going to hide a few of our own and watch as people from far and wide leave their trinkets and signatures.

So after reading this post, your mission is to go to the geocaching site, get your home coordinates and just take a peek at how many are surrounding you. Post a pic of it or something. I know you're bored. If this topic is successful, perhaps an NG club would be in order. We'll see.

(Lauren's blog about caching)

You're still reading... GO! ---> http://www.geocaching.com

[Idiocy]

can't it be inside tho

[Sawdust]

Hey kids,

Get off your lazy butts and do something productive this summer/semestral/spring/etc. break. Like this fine discovery

Sincerely yours,
Uncle Sawdust

[Zerok]

Here's an idea of what your map might look like.

The smiles indicate ones we've found.
The little green boxes (there's one on the far left) are ones we haven't found.
The '?' is a mystery cache... OOoooo.
The yellow boxes (lower left) stand for multi-caches.

This is a rough square mile of a medium sized city.

[LOLZILLA]

This is very interesting. I just looked up my area and found that their is a few caches near my area. Infact, there is one very close to my house on an orienteering course. I may check it out someday when I have time.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 09:56 AM, Idiocy wrote: can't it be inside tho

Rarely. They're mostly outside.
However, we have encountered a few that were inside public venues.

One was in the public library (with their permission) disguised as a book.
Another was in a store's back mailbox, with instructions to find the 'real' cache inside.

[Fro]

There was one very close to my location, but it has been found. If I ever see anything close to my location I'm off to find it. I hope that there is some sort of money in it because I really need some. That's pretty cool though. I've never seen anything like this before.

[BananaBreadMuffin]

Maybe there's only three topics because everyone named their topics "There's Treasure Everywhere!" ;)

Anyway, there's one on my way to uni, I might leave 15 or 20 mins early some point next week and see if I can find it.

[Fyndir]

I can't help but be doubtful that any of the ones near / on monuments in the Glasgow area are still there, since they mostly seem to have been hidden quite a while ago and seem to be in common areas rather than out of the way.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:03 AM, Corky52 wrote: There was one very close to my location, but it has been found.

What do you mean by "found"? Once someone finds it they don't take the whole thing, since the object is for lots of people to find it. They can take something from inside it though, so long as they leave something too.

Here's an example of a sexy GeoCoin we found (low quality pic). These things have tracking numbers and you are supposed to pick them up and drop them off in other caches so they can gain mileage and travel all over, etc. The urge to simply keep them is hard to fight though...

[BlueFlameSkulls]

Interesting. Only one near my house.

Placed in 2007, not sure how it all works but I know exactly where it'll be.

[zrick]

Wow, this sounds interesting. I've never heard of this before.

[Otto]

Don't tell me what to do.

see you on the road. :(

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:04 AM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote: Anyway, there's one on my way to uni, I might leave 15 or 20 mins early some point next week and see if I can find it.

Sweet, be sure to post about it.

At 10/3/08 10:07 AM, Fyndir wrote: I can't help but be doubtful that any of the ones near / on monuments in the Glasgow area are still there, since they mostly seem to have been hidden quite a while ago and seem to be in common areas rather than out of the way.

You should be able to check the online log to see when the last "find" was. Urban caches tend to be in "common" areas, but they are often well hidden. I mean, if you look at the map I posted, probably 60% of those smiles are in what would be considered "common" areas... there's one in a bush on the main quad of my university... thousands of students walk by it every day. There's one in a tree by a very busy bus stop... one in the middle of a parking lot of the university down the road, and they've remained undisturbed for quite some time.

[Idiocy]

There's one in a park over the road.

The park is 300 acres though...how do i find a more specific position?

[Fro]

At 10/3/08 10:08 AM, Zerok wrote:

At 10/3/08 10:03 AM, Corky52 wrote: There was one very close to my location, but it has been found.

What do you mean by "found"? Once someone finds it they don't take the whole thing, since the object is for lots of people to find it. They can take something from inside it though, so long as they leave something too.

Oh got it now. I just looked over it really quick and saw that it said Last Found and that the only one near me was under that section. I was thinking that they had a list of places that weren't found and once you found it then it gets checked off the list. I didn't know you had to take something and then give something back. Meh, what's stopping someone from taking it all and not putting anything back in there just to be assholes?

[cHunter]

I live out in the middle of nowhere so I was quite surprised to see that there are several just 2-5 miles from my house. I might have to go treasure hunting later.

[Black-Ops]

OK, the town with the blue circle around it is my hometown. Everything inside the red squiggle are caches that are fairly accessible from here (some effort is required, of course.)

I'm pleasantly surprised, there's a lot more than I had expected. Might suggest the idea to my dad so we can get out of the house on Sunday.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:20 AM, Idiocy wrote: The park is 300 acres though...how do i find a more specific position?

Click on it, and you should be able to bring up its personal page. There are GPS coordinates listed there.
You're supposed to enter those into a GPS device then go hunting for it, but if you don't have one, you can enter the coordinates into Google Earth and use the satellite picture to try and figure where it is. That's how we found caches prior to investing in a GPS.

At 10/3/08 10:20 AM, Corky52 wrote: Meh, what's stopping someone from taking it all and not putting anything back in there just to be assholes?

Nothing at all besides honesty. Most people who do this are doing it as a hobby so they tend to respect the rules. The stuff you find in the caches tend not to be super valuable anyway, and some of them only have a logbook because they're too small (film canister size) to fit anything else into. Of course there are instances of vandalism, etc. It's unavoidable. But for the most part the rules are upheld.

At 10/3/08 10:20 AM, cHunter wrote: I live out in the middle of nowhere so I was quite surprised to see that there are several just 2-5 miles from my house. I might have to go treasure hunting later.

Yep, they are all over the place!

[Racoonmario]

You have me interested. This sounds like a bunch of fun.
Googlemaps says there is one near my house, I'm going out to look for it.
brb.

[BlueFlameSkulls]

out of interest...what am I actually looking for?

I know where the nearest cache is, I know the area well enough. But how will I know it's still there? It seems in an open place where anyone can find it and probably move it...whatever it is.

[JaY11]

Are these things obvious for what they are? Because:

1. There is 1 down the road from my house.
2. I don't want to end up breaking into something I'm not supposed to.

[Fyndir]

At 10/3/08 10:12 AM, Zerok wrote: There's one in a tree by a very busy bus stop... one in the middle of a parking lot of the university down the road, and they've remained undisturbed for quite some time.

I might take a look next time I'm out in town and can be bothered, although I might get accused of being a terrorist and arrested since the one closest to me is right next to a major train station.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:24 AM, Black-Ops wrote: I'm pleasantly surprised, there's a lot more than I had expected. Might suggest the idea to my dad so we can get out of the house on Sunday.

It's actually a lot less than I would have expected, given the larger towns right around you. Perhaps this is more of a North American trend right now... though if you zoom out from Cardross you can see a bunch more. I figure Edinburgh would have tons... maybe not...

Geocaching is only 8 years old or so; something to keep in mind.

At 10/3/08 10:30 AM, Racoonmario wrote: You have me interested. This sounds like a bunch of fun.
Googlemaps says there is one near my house, I'm going out to look for it.
brb.

Definitely looks like a tree hide. Though it could be in a bench or something. If you couldn't find it, the cache's page will have a decryptable hint as well as other people's logs that you can use to help your search. Also, the logs may have a note that warns you that the cache has been disabled or taken down for maintenance.

At 10/3/08 10:31 AM, BlueFlameSkulls wrote: out of interest...what am I actually looking for?

I know where the nearest cache is, I know the area well enough. But how will I know it's still there? It seems in an open place where anyone can find it and probably move it...whatever it is.

First step is to check out the cache page and get its size and difficulty ratings.

Micro size: probably a film canister, or smaller.
Small: Size of a key hider thing, or thereabouts. Maybe a small jar.
Regular: Ammo box or largish tupperware. These are usually hidden in low-traffic areas and hidden well due to their size.
Large: Probably in the middle of nowhere. I've never encountered a 'large' so far.

Step 2

Read about the cache. There are often searching guides, and things on the page that tell you if it is winter friendly or not. Clues, in other words. There's also the hint. Hardcore geocachers prefer to resort to the hint only in dire situations. Thhhen there's the online find log, where people may post hints, or pictures that can be very helpful.

Tips:

- Caches will often be wrapped up in camo-tape, or covered by some loose wood/rocks.
- Look for trees that have knotholes or cracks or convenient Y-bends.
- Urban caches will often make use of magnets so they can be affixed to really unlikely places. Keep an eye out for metal.
- Poke stuff. I've found many a skillfully hidden cache by just sort of tapping things that look solid but are in fact being used to conceal the hiding place.
- Try not to attract too much attention. Though Lauren will tell you I'm not a big buff for the stealthy approach, it's not a good idea to yank out a little box then replace it when a group of kids are watching or something.

[Luxury-Yacht]

This sounds so fucking sweet. I need to try this.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:39 AM, JaY11 wrote: Are these things obvious for what they are? Because:

Usually.

1. There is 1 down the road from my house.
2. I don't want to end up breaking into something I'm not supposed to.

They wont be hidden in a place that's going to get you in shit for trespassing. Each cache that is hidden has to undergo a review process before it's made available online. Use Google Earth to see if it's in a wooded area or an urban area. If it's in an urban area it's likely in a "public" place.

Also, read the online log to see what people are saying about it.

Here's a picture of a "large" cache. It's an ammo box all camo-taped up. You're probably not going to find these ones in an urban area. This one was in a large park.

[Hoeloe]

There's one at the end of my road. I didn't see it though, and now I can't be assed to go again =D

[Racoonmario]

It was hidden under a stone beneath a tree. There were woodlouse crawling all over it.
Man, this is great! You should all try it out.

[Zerok]

Here's me finding one (or putting it back).
It's the white thing by my hand: another "regular" sized one.

[Zerok]

At 10/3/08 10:55 AM, Racoonmario wrote: It was hidden under a stone beneath a tree. There were woodlouse crawling all over it.
Man, this is great! You should all try it out.

Niiice, I love how you just went right out and got one!
Just to be sure, you did hide it back, right?

Anyway, you should get an account on the site (if you haven't already) and log your first find!