Geocaching

Just don't make it TOO real ;)

A recent study by Geocaching HQ’s Data Team found actual DNF rates on geocaches were 3-5 times higher than what was reported in online logs. In the new episode of our Inside Geocaching HQ podcast, hear more about the study and how logging your DNFs can lead to a healthier gameboard.

_Cache In Trash Out® (CITO) is an environmental initiative supported by the geocaching community. Since 2002, CITO has helped preserve the natural beauty of cache-friendly spaces. In that time, more than 363,000 people have volunteered at 18,000 CITO events. _

The park I hosted this in looked pretty clean at first sight, but it was pretty impressive what 15 people managed to dig up in an hour -- 10+ full bags of garbage, old stuffed animals, a couch and office chair hidden in a tree, and more

A TikTok user , who goes by the username Forestsprite, recently shared a video of her geocaching adventure.

She searched high and low for it, and just when she was about to give up, she finally located the geocache.  It was tucked in a crevice on an unassuming signboard.

"This feels more accomplishing than my 4.0 GPA," she humorously quipped as she opened the magnetic container and found a sheet of paper filled with the names of people who had previously found the geocache.

Geocaching HQ wants to know!

Personally, I'd love to see Block Parties brought back, or maybe another Locationless cache. How about you?

Yup, it's right there!

Learn more about Earth and its incredibly unique formations on Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8, in celebration of International EarthCache Day! Earn the official souvenir for visiting the physical location of the EarthCache and completing the logging requirements to receive your smiley.

EarthCaches are filled with pools of geological knowledge, just like Pamukkale in Turkey. These bright blue, eye-catching terrace pools are created by the carbonate mineral left by the thermal flow of spring water, pictured above.

Geocaching Blog

On May 2, 2000, at approximately midnight, eastern savings time, the great blue switch controlling selective availability was pressed. Twenty-four satellites around the globe processed their new orders, and instantly the accuracy of GPS technology improved tenfold. Tens of thousands of GPS receivers around the world had an instant upgrade.

The announcement a day before came as a welcome surprise to everyone who worked with GPS technology. The government had planned to remove selective availability - but had until 2006 to do so. Now, said the White House, anyone could "precisely pinpoint their location or the location of items (such as game) left behind for later recovery." How right they were.

London, Paris, New York, Beavercreek?

For GPS enthusiasts, this was definitely a cause for celebration. Internet newsgroups suddenly teemed with ideas about how the technology could be used.

On May 3, one such enthusiast, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an internet GPS users' group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit. The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff."

On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beavercreek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav: N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800

Within three days, two different readers read about his stash on the Internet, used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. Like many new and innovative ideas on the Internet, the concept spread quickly - but this one required leaving your computer to participate.

Within the first month, Mike Teague, the first person to find Ulmer's stash, began gathering the online posts of coordinates around the world and documenting them on his personal home page. The "GPS Stash Hunt" mailing list was created to discuss the emerging activity. Names were even tossed about to replace the name "stash" due to the negative connotations of that name. One such name was "geocaching."

Source: https://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx

This ammo can is the final stop for a multi, which I started on back in 2021. The clues for the final are in an easily accessible, urban area. But once I put them all together, the final was fully 10km away, on a hike part way up a mountain! I had the final saved to my phone and ignored for a long time before finally heading out for the hike today. So satisfying to finally check it off!

*A couple married for 43 years attends geocaching events all over the world, and discovered the one held Sept. 16 to be enlightening on Cherokee history.

The Geocaching event, Cherokee stories and adventure presented by the Cherokee Nation, took place at the Peace Pavilion, and contestants came from several states to participate.*

It's been awesome reading more of people's stories over the last few days. I hope y'all stay active and this community keeps growing!

It's been about 2 months since I started posting regularly in the hopes of getting more people involved here. I've tried to keep a good mix of diverse topics in that time.

That being said, is there any specific content you'd like to see more of in this community? Something you feel is missing?

Thanks to @[email protected] for reminding me that geocaching is still a thing. I brought my old account back to life this week. Now it's time to get my kids into it!

After a possible discovery of explosives in Magdeburg, the police have given the all-clear. As the local police informed MDR, the alleged explosive device poses no danger. According to the police, there will be no further investigations or criminal charges. According to MDR information, the dummy explosive was a geocache.

According to police information, tradespeople discovered a suspicious object in the empty prefabricated building of the former SED party school. It was a type of ammunition box that apparently contained two gas containers and various wires. The geocache must have been lying dormant in the underworld for many years. The last entry is from 2013.

After the discovery, the area around the former SED party school was closed for several hours. The blocking radius was around 200 meters.

Hi all,

Just yesterday I found this community and it reminded me how much I enjoy geocaching. It prompted me to start hunting again, and to my surprise there were three geocaches within walking distance of my office. I snagged all of them on my lunch yesterday, but noticed one of them seems to be in disrepair. It’s in a fairly covered area, but we are approached our nasty weather season, so I fear the cache will be destroyed. Since I’m regularly so close to it, I thought about replacing the container-is this acceptable?

I mostly use c:geo, which shows caches that a free Geocache account on the official app won't, except Premium-only caches, which are designated by the cache owner. (That is to say, the official Geocache app won't show free accounts caches above a certain difficulty/terrain, but you can find them online, and there's no way at all for a free account to find premium-only caches.)

I'm sure most of you already knew that though. For those of you who currently pay for premium or have paid in the past, did you think it is/was worth it? $40 USD a year doesn't seem like that much, but I'm mostly against all kinds of subscription models across the board. I've been told that a majority of caches are Premium-only, but I have no way to determine if there are a significant number of Premium-only caches around me, so I can't make any informed decisions in that regard.

So, what are your thoughts? Worth buying, or worth sticking to a free account?

I just saw [[email protected]]post and that got me curious on geocaching.

I subbed to this to help grow the base but I’m still curious as to what Geocaching is all about?

Is it like Pokémon Go where there are areas with “cache” like in the game but the difference is that this is a real physical thing?

Just curious what this community's demographics are like! I'm closing in on 3500 myself

Always love the thrill of being the first person at a new GZ... this one came out while I was at home, less than 2km away. It doesn't get much luckier than that!

Located in Coombs on Vancouver Island, BC. Now that's a "Large"!

Another year, another GIFF: 18 short films about Geocaching will be released for viewing later this fall. The event is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and the finalist entries have just been announced!

Local GIFF events are happening in many areas from November 9 - 19. In my own community, someone booked a theatre room and about 100 people are coming to watch. Is anyone else from Lemmy going to an event?

This was a project for a new geocache I recently put out. It's commemorating a funny bit of local history when a barge became stuck on the beach for over a year after drifting loose from its moorings.

I glued the boat inside a fake rock for a bit more subtlety:

It's been published for about a week now, and reading people's stories has been great. Everyone seems to love remembering the barge on the beach!

Join your hosts as they talk with Marius about iCaching on the Caching in the NorthWest podcast. Listen live at 9PM PST (which is in about 20 minutes)!

Reading this article got me thinking, I wonder what's the craziest thing someone's found while geocaching? I know of someone who stumbled across a grow-op in the woods while hunting for a cache, another geocacher said he found a gun once. Has anyone actually discovered treasure? Please share your wild stories!

"At first, the Norwegian man thought his metal detector reacted to chocolate money buried in the soil. It turned out to be nine pendants, three rings and 10 gold pearls in what was described as the country's gold find of the century."