syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 9, 2009 9:37:02 GMT -5
Since the weather around here was so nice yesterday (mid 40's and somewhat blue skies) my son and I went out for our first big geocaching adventure of 2009. We ended up finding 13 of 13 caches. Dropped the 4 travel bugs we have been hanging onto for a couple months and picked up or discovered 10 other travelers. The snow in the woods was still over a foot deep in places and most of the recreation area was closed to vehicles so we had to hike in. By the time we were done, we both were soaked up to our knees and our feet were frozen. What a great day. To top it off, we found a couple of piles of rocks and ended up taking some time to fill our pockets. We walked away with enough rough to get at least one batch tumbling. We have been geocaching for over a year now and know how it takes us to remote places. We were wondering how that would fit in with rock tumbling and if it would just be pick up a rock here or there or if we would stumble on a jackpot of rocks. The piles we found weren't jackpots by any means, they seemed more like where the park had extra gravel and needed a place to dump it, but it was still encouraging to find some rocks when we didn't expect to.
We also wondered how many others like us there are that are into both geocaching and rock tumbling\hounding. Obviously everyone here is into the latter, but I would like to hear from those that are also into geocaching. We want to put out a cache later this year that is all polished rocks and let the finders take what they want with no requirement of leaving anything. We will just keep filling it up as needed.
This was mentioned in another thread. There was enough response that I thought it deserved it's own thread, plus I didn't want to hijack the other member's thread.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 9, 2009 9:58:32 GMT -5
Yes, I do both with my kids. We usually leave a Lake Superior Agate in the caches we find. Sort of our personal calling card.
We've been geocaching for about 9 months and don't have the success rate you do. It seems we need to work on our 'caching eyes' so that we know where to look once the GPS gets us close.
Chuck
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 9, 2009 10:09:57 GMT -5
Chuck, I blame our success rate yesterday mainly on the snow. It was real easy to see where others have walked before us so it narrowed down our search area alot. Plus there were no leaves on the trees, so the GPSr wasn't bouncing as much as it usually does in the woods. And lastly, two of them were on islands. The frozen lakes made it much easier to get to them.
I think it's great that you leave agates in each cache. My son has picked up several polished rocks from caches. He has quite a collection going, and most of the nicer ones came from caches.
Steve
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chassroc
Cave Dweller 
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Feb 9, 2009 11:12:29 GMT -5
Can any GPS units be used?
Are there preferred "entry level" GPS units?
csroc
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 9, 2009 12:16:49 GMT -5
csroc: you can use any handheld GPS, but not a vehicle nav type. Check out www.geocaching.com/At a minimum, you need to know your coordinates and the coordinates of the cache and you can dead reckon from there. But it helps to have maps! You'll find a buying guide in the "Shop for Gear" section. I bought a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx because it has several features designed for geocaching. The state parks around here give out low end loaners (Garmin eTrex). (I'm not disparaging these units; just trying to say you can do it with minimal equipment.) Chuck |
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 9, 2009 12:36:32 GMT -5
csroc, I use an Garmin eTrex Vista. It's about 1 step above low end. The big difference is that I can upload coordinates from my computer to the GPSr. The low end eTrex doesn't allow that, you have to punch them in by hand. There are plenty of higher end ones available. Garmin and Magellan are probably the most popular brands that I have seen. I know people who geocache with their iphone or blackberry too, they just don't have the accuracy that the handheld GPSr will give. Stay away from the vehicle nav types like Chuck said. My wife has one of those and it just keeps trying to get us back on a road. Although I have heard some of them have an "offroad" feature that makes it more geocaching friendly.
Steve
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 9, 2009 12:55:53 GMT -5
Yes, I've heard of using iPhones and Blackberries, too. I think some people just use topo maps and no GPS, much like orienteering.
Steve, I didn't think about the tracks. That would really help! I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with the eTrex; just trying to make a point that you don't have to spend a lot of money on gear to do it.
It is a great way to get the family out on a hike for some exercise and fresh air. The kids think of it as treasure hunting. I can't say that I've come across any piles of rocks this way, but I usually managing to pick up a few.
Chuck
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 9, 2009 13:20:16 GMT -5
Chuck, No offense taken. The Vista has worked ok for what we use it for. I would like to upgrade to a more accurate GPSr and hand the Vista down to my son now that he knows how to use it.
Whenever we go on a trip, we see what caches are along the way. The kids are still young and the long drives get boring fast. Last summer we turned a 3 hour drive to the campground into a 6.5 hour adventure by stopping every half hour or so for a geocache. When we finally got to the campground, everybody was in a great mood.
Last year we had an all geocaching camping weekend where everything we did focused on caching. This year we are planning a similar trip only for rock hounding. We are camping in Petoskey MI and have a couple day trips planned up to Lake Superior and around the Upper Peninsula. We'll geocache along the way, but the focus will be to gather as many pretty rocks as we can find.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 9, 2009 14:28:31 GMT -5
I try to do the same when we're vacationing. We haven't yet gotten to the point of stopping to cache along the way (I've considered it, but my wife is destination driven!).
My GPSr is supposed to be reasonably accurate, but I still find that I will approach a location from 3 different directions to triangulate, then we frequently find the cache 10-15 ft away. I blame other cachers for moving it or inaccurate coordinates in the first place. Anyway, that can get frustrating.
Sounds like you have some fun trips planned! I did that with my kids (no wife) to the Badlands last Fall. You're in a good area for it!
Chuck
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Feb 9, 2009 15:56:39 GMT -5
I love geocaching with my family. We go by TeamKooKooHead (and let that be a lesson: if you're going to let a 4 year old pick the team name, be prepared to live with the consequences!). We have a team rule: no caching alone. At least two members of TeamKooKooHead must be present for it to count. That keeps me from going nuts by myself. :-)
Although we don't have many total finds (182), we have managed to find caches in 9 different countries on four continents (!). We hope to knock off another 3-4 countries later this month.
I do have one geocaching-themed cache: GC1CEG5
It is a mystery cache filled with rocks for the taking.
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 9, 2009 19:15:10 GMT -5
ejs, That's a cool handle. We let the kids name the pets. We have a cat named "kitty" and another named "purry". Our handle is syfun. My wife came up with it. Our last name starts with "Sy" and it's "fun". She suggested that on one of our trips, everyone liked it and it has stuck ever since. My son and I have been together on every find. Sometimes my wife and daughter join us, but usually it just us two.
I checked out your Lapidary Mystery Cache. That's the type of cache I like, a Multi with a smiley for each stage.
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rbush
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 116
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Post by rbush on Feb 12, 2009 13:04:55 GMT -5
I stumbled on this thread the other day and thought it sounded like a really good match of hobbies, something more I can share with my Grandkids when we're out camping. I have a Magellan Explorist 210 that I got just to pinpoint my rock finds on my maps, so I went and signed up on the Geocaching web site. I was blown away by how many caches are located near some of our favorite spots. Next rock trip will also be our first geocaching expedition. Thanks for the idea.
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 12, 2009 13:21:41 GMT -5
That's great rbush! I hope you and your grandkids have a great time. My kids are 10 and 6.5 and they are loving every trip. It's like a treasure hunt everytime we go.
Steve
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rbush
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2008
Posts: 116
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Post by rbush on Feb 12, 2009 14:25:29 GMT -5
I have 6 Grandkids. Of the 3 that go camping with us (the other 3 belong to my son in Alabama) the youngest is 16 and the oldest is 21. Yes, I'm THAT old. We all ride quads when we're out camping. Last year their greatest source of amusement was to see who could get the muddiest. This HAS to be an improvement over that. ;D
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ejs
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 478
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Post by ejs on Feb 12, 2009 17:38:52 GMT -5
Geocaching is a great activity with the kids. I can't tell you how many nice places I've been to that I would never have found without geocaching. The key is that all caches are placed by locals, the ones who really know where the hidden cool spots are. If you are going some place and want to do something fun but don't know what, geocaching will always steer you to a nice spot.
Enjoy and have fun!
And leave rocks behind. :-)
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Feb 13, 2009 9:03:57 GMT -5
Steve and Chuck...Tks for your help...especially about using a handheld not a vehicle GPS. I've always been fascinated by maps; used to do some TDS road rallies with a buddy who had an MGB
csroc
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