Selecting a cache to look for

After you get all your gear together, ready to venture out into the wilds, comes this one small detail: How do you know where to look for a geocache? Like most other modern-day searches for information, start with the Internet. Many Web sites have listings of geocaching caches. I list some of the best Internet resources in the upcoming section, “Internet Geocaching Resources.” Geocaching.com (www.geocaching.com) is currently the most widely used site and has the largest database of geocaches all over the world; most of the information in this chapter is orientated toward that site. However, if you use another geocaching Web site, you’ll find most of the same general techniques described here for selecting a cache also apply to other sites. You can set up a free user account on Geocaching.com to log caches that you find, as well as to be informed of new caches that are placed in your area. Anyone with Internet access can freely view the cache locations without an account. Site owner Jeremy Irish also has Premium Member subscription services ($30 per year) and sells products to help keep the site running.

To start, go to www.geocaching.com. Finding caches is as simple as entering the ZIP code for where you’re interested in geocaching. You can also search for caches by state, city, country, latitude, longitude, or by street address (only in the United States). After you enter where you’d like to search for caches, a list of geocaches in that area is displayed. The list is sorted by how far away the cache is from the search criteria you entered; the closest geocaches are displayed first. The name and type of the cache is shown, when it was first placed, when it was found last, and how difficult the cache is to get to and find. You can scroll through the list of geocaches until you find one that looks interesting. Cache names that are lined out are no longer active. Just click the name of a cache displayed in the list about which you want more information to see a page with the following information.

• Cache name: The name of the cache (usually the cache name has something to do with the area where it’s hidden, who hid it, or a play on words). Bonus: If you hide a cache, you get to name it.
• Who placed the cache: This is usually a cacher’s alias.
• Cache type: Caches can be traditional (a single container), multicaches (where clues in a single cache point to one or more other caches), or virtual caches (a cool location that doesn’t have a container).
• Cache coordinates: These record where the cache is located in latitude and longitude and UTM coordinates; these coordinates use the WGS 84 datum, so be sure your GPS receiver is set to this datum.
• When the cache was hidden: The date the cache was originally placed.
• Cache waypoint name: All caches in the Geocaching.com database have a unique name: for example, GC followed by the numeric order the cache was added to the database. You can use this to name a GPS waypoint for the cache location.
• Difficulty: The difficulty rating is how hard the cache placer thinks the cache will be to find; 1 is easiest, and 5 is the most difficult. Whoever places the cache decides the difficulty level, based on some general criteria, such as how steep or rocky the terrain is or if you have to go through very much underbrush to reach the cache.
• Terrain: The terrain rating is how difficult the terrain is. 1 is flat, easy, and level; 5 could be very steep and rocky with lots of underbrush and generally miserable travel conditions. Like with the difficulty rating, it’s up to the cache placer to rate the terrain.
• General description of the cache: Cache descriptions range from a couple of sentences to stories and history lessons about the location. Clues often appear in the description, so check it closely.
  
• Map location of the cache: At the top of the page is a small state map from which you can take a general idea of where the cache is. A larger map with more detail appears at the bottom of the page. You can click the larger map and go to the MapQuest Web site, where you can zoom in on the cache site.
• Hints: The cache placer can optionally add hints to help a geocacher narrow his search. The hints are in code; I discuss these in the following “Finding the cache” section.
• Logged visits: This is a list of all the comments about the cache from people who have visited it and then logged Web site comments. Some of these logged visit comments may contain spoilers, which are hints that may make it easier to find the cache.

Although most cachers try not to spoil the fun for others, sometimes a clue accidentally appears. Before heading out to search for a cache, check the last time someone found it. Although Geocaching.com tries to keep track of inactive caches, sometimes caches that have been stolen or kidnapped by space aliens slip through the cracks. If you’re just getting started geocaching, go after caches that have had some recent activity. This increases the odds that they’ll still be hiding where they’re supposed to be when you go looking for them.

Three Other Important Things for Geocaching Activity

• Flashlight: This is a must-have for looking in cracks and crevices where a cache might be hidden — and also in case you run out of daylight. If you’re smart, your flashlight uses the same type of batteries as your GPS receiver, giving you even more spare batteries.

• Cellphone: You probably have a cellphone, so bring it along (preferably with the battery fully charged). Just a note of advice, from my search and rescue experiences: I’ve found at times that people think of their cellphones as an absolute insurance policy against trouble. They can fail, cellphone batteries go dead, and you might have really bad cell coverage out in the middle of nowhere. So although a cellphone is great to have along, be prepared to take care of yourself!
• Spare batteries: I always bring along spare batteries for anything that uses them. (In this case, that means your GPS receiver and flashlight —and if you’re really safety conscious, your cellphone, too.) That’s the basic gear you need for geocaching.

The whole key with gear lists is to find out what works best for you. You’ll probably end up carrying too much stuff in your pack at first. After you’ve geocached for a while, check your pack and see what you’re not using so you can lighten your load. Most geocaches are located in pretty tame, civilized areas (usually 100 feet or so off a main trail or road), but I advise letting someone know where you’re going, when you’ll be back, and what to do if you’re late. Twisted ankles and broken-down cars seem to happen a lot in areas without cellphone service.

Few things that make geocaching activity more enjoyable

A few other things can make your outing a little more enjoyable:

• Map and compass: A fair number of geocachers use only their GPS receiver to get them to a cache, but a good local map of the area can be very helpful. Although a receiver can lead you directly in a straight line to cache, it’s probably not going to tell you about the river, deep canyon, or cliffs between you and the cache. Even GPS receivers that display topographic maps often won’t show enough detail that can help or hinder you on your way to a cache. Additionally, a map and compass serve as a backup just in case something goes wrong with your GPS. (Just make sure you know how to use them.)
• Pen or pencil and paper: Carry a small pad of paper and a pen or pencil for taking notes about your route or things that you see on the way. Some geocachers keep an ongoing journal of their adventures, and you never know — you might turn into a geocaching Hemingway.
• Something to leave in the cache: When you locate a cache, you’ll find all sorts of swags, which are treasures other people have left. Don’t expect diamonds, gold bullion, or Super Bowl tickets, though. (You’re far more likely to find baseball cards, costume jewelry, or corporate marketing giveaways.) Just remember that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The best things to leave in a cache are unique, out-of-the-ordinary items (such as foreign coins, fossils, exotic matchbooks, or anything that has a high cool factor). And, please, avoid leaving McToys, geocaching lingo for junk that you reasonably expect to find with fast-food kid’s meals
• Appropriate clothes and footwear: There are no geocaching fashion police, so wear clothes that are comfortable, weather appropriate, and suitable for getting dirty. Even if it’s the middle of summer, it’s not a bad idea to bring along a jacket in case of an unexpected rain shower or drop in the temperature. Also, make sure you’re wearing sturdy and comfortable footwear if the cache is outside an urban area. High heels and wingtip loafers generally aren’t recommended.
• Food and water: Some caches take all day to find, so be prepared with enough food and water to get you through your search; you can even plan a picnic lunch or dinner around your outing.
• Walking stick/trekking poles: If the terrain is really rough, a good walking stick or set of trekking poles can make life much easier when going downhill and negotiating uneven surfaces. A stick or a pole is also useful for poking around in rock cracks looking for a cache, just in case there’s a creepy-crawly inside.
• Digital camera: Although definitely not a required piece of geocaching gear, a number of cachers tote along a digital camera to record their adventures or to post pictures on the Web.
• Small pack: It’s much easier to put all your geocaching gear in a small daypack rather than stuffing your pockets full of stuff.

Three Required Items for Geocaching

I start off with the technology-related items:

• Cache location: Obviously, you need to know where to look for a cache: a set of latitude and longitude or UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates. You’ll find tens of thousands of caches freely listed on the Internet. For information on locating a geocache, see the appropriately named section, “Selecting a cache to look for,” later in this chapter.
• Geocaching alias: Most people who geocache use a registered handle (alias) instead of their real name when they sign cache logs or make Internet posts. The aliases are cool-sounding names like Navdog, Wiley Cacher, or Moun10Bike. Be imaginative and come up with an alias that fits your personality. The aliases are all unique: If you try to register an alias on one of the popular geocaching Web sites and someone else already has registered the alias, you need to select another name.
• GPS receiver: You can certainly find caches by using only a map and compass (my adventure racing team does this to practice our navigation skills), but it’s sure a lot easier when using a GPS receiver. You don’t need an expensive GPS unit with lots of whistles and bells to geocache; a basic model around or under $100 will work just fine; receivers that support WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation Service) usually are more accurate than those that don’t.

Don’t forget to bring the GPS receiver user manual, especially if you just purchased your receiver and are still trying to figure out how to use it.

The original caches: letterboxes

The whole geocaching concept isn’t that new. Over 100 years ago, something similar developed in England: letterboxing. Letterboxing comprises placing a blank logbook and a custom-made rubber stamp in a waterproof container and then hiding it. Clues are distributed with the container’s location, and searchers armed with inkpads and notebooks try to find the hidden box. If they are successful, they stamp the logbook in the box with their own personal rubber stamp and also stamp their logbook with the box’s stamp. This low-tech version of geocaching is still very popular. Depending on whom you talk to, 10,000–40,000 letterboxes are hidden in England, and around 5,000 are lurking in the United States.
Read more about letterboxing at www.letterboxing.org.

Geocaching: The High-Tech Scavenger Hunt

When the U.S. government turned off GPS Selective Availability (SA) in May 2000, it was like magic. Suddenly civilian GPS receivers that were formeraccurate to about 300 feet were accurate to 30 feet. This level of accuracy offered some creative possibilities. Three days after SA was turned off, the following message appeared in the

sci.geo.satellite-nav USENET newsgroup:

From: Dave (news2yousNOneSPAM@hotmail.com.invalid)

Subject: GPS Stash Hunt... Stash #1 is there!

Newsgroups: sci.geo.satellite-nav

Date: 2000/05/03

Well, I did it, created the first stash hunt stash and here are the coordinates:

N 45 17-460

W122 24.800

Lots of goodies for the finders. Look for a black plastic bucket buried most of the way in the ground. Take some stuff, leave some stuff! Record it all in the log book. Have Fun!

Stash contains: DeLorme Topo USA software, videos, books, food, money, and a slingshot!

Earlier that day, in the same newsgroup, Dave Ulmer had proposed a worldwide stash hunt, where people would post GPS waypoints on the Internet to lead searchers to hidden goodies. While Ulmer envisioned thousands of stashes tucked in places all over the world, he had no idea how popular his idea would become.

Starting with a humble little bucket full of goodies in Oregon, Ulmer’s idea took off like wildfire. Within weeks, caches were hidden in Washington, Kansas, California, New Zealand, Australia, and Chile. A newsgroup and Web site that hosted the coordinates of the stashes soon popped up as the word started to get around.

By the end of May, in a Yahoo! Group devoted to the new sport, member Matt Stum suggested that the sport be called geocaching in order to avoid some of the negative connotations associated with drugs and word stash. (A cache is a hidden place where goods or valuables are concealed.) Geocaching had a nice ring to it, and it didn’t sound like a bad Cheech and Chong movie. Today, geocaching has grown popular, and the rules are still pretty much the same: Take some stuff, leave some stuff, record it in the logbook, and have fun! Relatively cheap and accurate GPS receivers and widespread Internet access have helped the sport flourish. As of November 2003, the www.geocaching.com site (currently the largest geocaching site on the Net) had over 72,500 active caches in 188 countries listed in its database. That’s a lot of caches out there to find!

Four top PDA mapping software

If your journeys take you off the beaten path, here are four products you should be aware of:

• FUGAWI: FUGAWI was one of the first Windows desktop mapping programs and now works with Pocket PCs and Palms. The product comes bundled with U.S. street maps and nautical charts, or you can import maps of your own, such as USGS Digital Raster Graphics topographic maps. For additional product details, go to www.fugawi.com.
  
• Maptech Outdoor Navigator: The Maptech Outdoor Navigator is unique. Instead of being bundled with map data or requiring you to create your own maps, (with purchase) you receive a year-long subscription to download all the USGS topographic maps and NOAA nautical charts that you want from Maptech’s Internet servers. Nice. Versions of Outdoor Navigator are available for Pocket PCs and Palms. You can find more about the product at www.maptech.com.
• SkyEye: This is a slick shareware Pocket PC program that displays aerial photographs and topographic maps that you can download from the Internet or create on your own. The program also interfaces with Garmin\ GPS receivers to provide real-time mapping capabilities. For more about SkyEye’s features, visit www.etree.com/tech/notsofreestuff/skyeye/ index.html.
• TeleType GPS: Although originally designed for street navigation, TeleType’s PDA mapping program supports importing aerial photographs and digital maps from the TerraServer-USA Web site. For more information on the software, visit www.teletype.com.
  
• OziExplorerCE: OziExplorerCE is a Pocket PC version of the popular OziExplorer mapping program. The CE version allows you to import maps that you’ve created with OziExplorer on your PC to your PDA.

Reviewing PDA Mapping Software

If you buy a GPS receiver specifically designed for PDA use, it will probably come bundled with mapping software that includes map data and a program that displays the maps and interfaces with the GPS receiver. In addition to the program that runs on your PDA is a program that runs on your PC; this program installs the maps on your PDA and can be used for route planning. You select the maps that you want to install on your PC and then upload the selected map data to your PDA. Because the maps are typically stored in the PDA’s memory card, the more memory you have, the more maps you’ll be able to use.
Most PDA navigation software is designed for street navigation, and has features for getting around on roads and highways, including

• Autorouting: By inputting starting- and ending-point addresses, the map program creates a route for you to follow to reach your destination. (You usually can choose between fastest or shortest routes.) The route is outlined on the map, and the program also provides turn-by-turn directions to get to your destination.
• POI data: In addition to maps, most programs have extensive databases of POIs (Points of Interest) information, including gas stations, restaurants, shopping locations, and other useful travel data. POIs appear as icons on the map that you can click to get more information. You can also search for specific POIs by geographic location.
• Real-time tracking: When your PDA is connected to a GPS receiver, an arrow moves on the screen, giving you real-time information about your current position as well as displaying where you’ve been.
• Voice prompts: In addition to displaying turn-by-turn directions on the screen, many programs provide voice prompts that tell you when to make turns to reach your final destination. This is a nice safety feature because you can pay more attention to the road and less attention to the PDA screen. Devote an entire book to discussing them all.
• Most of these programs are sold individually or might come bundled with a GPS receiver. Expect to pay anywhere between $40–$150 for a software package. One of the challenges in using a PDA in a car is dealing with the stylus. It can be quite a coordination test holding the stylus in your hand, tapping commands on the PDA with it, and driving at the same time. One slick solution is the Stinger Stylus, which is a cross between a plastic ring and an artificial fingernail. Just slip the Stinger over your finger, and your fingertip takes the place of a stylus. For more information on the Stinger, go to www.stingerstylus.com.

Most of the software and maps that come bundled with the PDA GPS receivers are designed for road navigation. But what if you want to display topographic or nautical charts on your PDA or use real-time GPS tracking off the road? You’re in luck because several PDA programs fill this need. Topographic map display is one area that PDA mapping software far exceeds handheld mapping GPS receivers. Your PDA can display full-color, detailed 1:24,000 scale maps that look exactly like the USGS paper versions. Compared with the 1:100,000 scale vector maps typically used on mapping GPS receivers, there’s no comparison when it comes to the amount of map detail that a PDA can display.

GPS-integrated PDAs

The most expensive option when creating a PDA navigation system is to purchase a PDA that comes with a built-in GPS receiver. In 2003, Garmin introduced the iQue 3600, a PDA that runs the Palm OS and features an integrated GPS receiver.

The iQue 3600 looks like a normal PDA but has a flip-up, adjustable antenna that pops out of the top. It has extensive mapping capabilities, including turnby-turn voice directions and integration with the calendar and address book programs in which you can click an address and get instant directions. For more information about the iQue 3600, visit www.garmin.com. If the iQue becomes popular, look for other integrated GPS PDAs to be released by Garmin and other manufacturers in the future; especially as GPS receiver components become smaller and cheaper. As this book went to press, Taiwanese manufacturer MiTAC announced the Mio 168, an integrated GPS/Pocket PC.

Bluetooth GPS receivers

If your PDA supports Bluetooth (a wireless communication standard; www.bluetooth.com), you have yet another GPS receiver option. Bluetooth GPS receivers are pretty slick because they don’t

• Rely on the PDA’s batteries for power They have their own power source and will run from 6–10 hours when fully charged, depending on the model.
• Use up one of the PDA’s expansion slots
• Need cables that can get all tangled up

Bluetooth devices have about a 30-foot range, and the GPS receiver can be placed in an optimal position on the dashboard to receive satellite signals.
Just place your Bluetooth GPS receiver (about the size of a mouse GPS receiver) anywhere with an open view of the sky, and it will broadcast GPS data to your Bluetooth-enabled PDA. (If you have an older PDA that doesn’t support Bluetooth, there are Bluetooth receivers that plug into your PDA’s memory card slot.)
Many of the companies that manufacture GPS receiver cards, listed previously,
also make Bluetooth GPS receivers. Some other companies that offer
Bluetooth receivers include

• ALK Technologies: www.alk.com
• DeLorme: www.delorme.com
• EMTAC: www.emtac.com

For outdoor use, you can easily mount your Bluetooth GPS receiver on a high spot, such as on top of a pack (or some other location that’s in an optimal position to receive satellite signals) and wirelessly record GPS data with your PDA. OtterBox also makes waterproof cases for Bluetooth GPS receivers that don’t degrade the transmitted radio signals so you can create a rugged wireless PDA navigation system for use in harsh conditions. For an extensive list of the GPS receiver devices available for Pocket PC PDAs, including reviews and detailed specifications, check out www.gpspassion.com/en/hardware/gpslist.htm.

GPS receiver sleeves

Certain models of iPAQ Pocket PCs and Palm OS PDAs have a proprietary expansion slot into which you can plug hardware devices. These add-on pieces of hardware are often called sleeves because they fit around the PDA.
The same advantages and disadvantages found with GPS receiver cards (they’re convenient but can run down the PDA’s battery quickly) also apply to GPS sleeves. Additionally, a sleeve adds a lot of bulk to the size of a normally slim PDA.
The main producer of Pocket PC and Palm sleeves is Navman. Expect to spend around $200–$250 for a GPS sleeve. Find more about these products at www.navman.com.

GPS receiver cards

Some GPS receivers take the form of a card that you can plug into a PDA expansion slot. The two types of GPS receiver cards are

• Memory cards: Most PDAs have a memory card slot that supports a Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD) type of memory card. Both of these card formats also support hardware devices that can be embedded into the card: in this case, a GPS receiver. (PDAs without internal memory card slots might have optional expansion packs that plug into the PDA and provide a memory card slot.)
• PC Cards: A PC Card (also called a PCMCIA card) is a hardware expansion card designed for laptops. PC Card devices include hard drives, modems, and GPS receivers. These receiver cards are mostly used with laptops, but some PDAs support expansion packs for using PC Card devices. Using a GPS receiver card with your PDA means that you don’t need to worry about an external GPS receiver or cables. You just plug the card into a slot, and the GPS receiver starts accessing satellite data.

However, note these drawbacks:

• Slot competition: CF and SD memory cards that function as GPS receivers take up the expansion slot that’s used for additional PDA memory.
• Battery hogs: GPS receiver cards quickly run down your PDA’s battery if you’re not connected to an external power source.

Some of the main GPS receiver card manufacturers (and their Web sites) are

• Deluo: www.deluo.com
• Fortuna: www.fortuna.com.tw
• Haicom: www.haicom.com.tw
• Holux: www.holux.com
• Pharos: www.pharos.com