One of the things I like most about running this Geocaching blog is be able to hear your comments about various things related to the hobby. Today I was just sitting here and I started thinking about all of the different locations we have discovered as a result of our Geocaching adventures. And it made me wonder how many other cool spots have been discovered by other cachers like you.

My most memorable wasn't anything special, but it was the first cache I ever found! It was in Dietzenbach, Germany while vacationing there. A good friend of mine told me about Geocaching and brought us all out to a small woods near his home at the time. In that woods was an old well, which is where I found the cache. That cache's name is Alte Quelle (pictured above.)

So tell me, what is your most memorable Geocache Location?

Now that I've somehow ended up with a BlackBerry Curve, an iPhone and an iPad, I've been doing alot of paperless caching lately with them. And since I'm far from being an expert on paperless caching with smart phones, I'm hoping to strike up a good, helpful conversation in the comment field below in that regard.

I'll start off by offering my opinion so far. Obviously the iphone and iPad use the same app, so the extent of my smart phone geocaching extends only to the geocaching iphone/itouch/ipad app and the Geocache Navigator app on the Blackberry.

I'll start with the Geocache Navigator app on my Blackberry Curve. Here's my review, TOTAL waste of money! Why? Because it doesn't even work! I'm assuming it's the compatibility of my phone and not the app, but still, I paid something like $15 for an app that doesn't work and I can't even get the money back. I believe it should show a warning telling you what phones it's compatible with before you purchase.

The iphone/itouch/ipad app is AWESOME! I love it! And it doesn't matter which one you have to do paperless caching either. With the iPhone you can actually navigate to the cache without a GPS, but in my experience it's very slow adjusting the distance and it just isnt' as good as a GPS. So I still load each cache into my GPSr for better accuracy. However, as TomTom pointed out in the comment feild of another post "How do you Record Cache Details before a Hunt" you can actually use your iPod Touch or iPad to do everything else without a data plan, by simply using pocket queries!

Here's what TomTom said, which I can confirm works perfectly "The Geocaching App ($10) supports all of the same features as the iPhone, except for the realtime GPS location. You can create pocket queries online, and load them in to your iPod Touch for offline viewing. You can also choose which caches to mark as “Favorites” and it will save those for offline viewing. I have the entire southwest Michigan saved via Pocket Queries, and it hardly makes a dent in the storage of my device.

While using our Garmin GPSMAP 60Csx as our locating device, we can log field notes “offline” and save them for later on our iPods. Once we hit a WiFi hotspot (or get home), we click on
“Submit Field notes”. DONE!"

So in my own experience, I've had horrible luck with the Geocache Navigator app on my BlackBerry Curve and I LOVE the iphone/itouch/ipad app!

Do you use a smart phone for paperless geocaching? If so what do you use?

I have a sneaky little trick up my sleeve

Have you ever released a Travel bug or Coin into the Geocaching wild, only for a fellow cacher to lose it, a muggle to take it or for it to just go missing for one reason or another? If you have you're one of many cachers who have. The fact is most trackable items do end up missing sooner or later and it's very frustrating and sucks the fun right out of it. Fingers are pointed and there just isn't anything fun about it.

I've only released 3 travel bugs in my time and only one is still accounted for and racking up miles. I attribute my sneaky little trick to it's continued success

So what is my sneaky little trick for keeping travel bugs from going missing?

Leverage the power of superstition! My travel bug that continues to move from cache to cache and has been for over 1 1/2 years is a good luck charm. But if you don't pass it on quickly, your luck may change Here is exactly what I state on the description:

"All who hold this 4-leaf clover will have good luck, but don't hold on to it for any longer than a couple days or your luck may change"

I know what you're thinking... it's like a chain letter. No, it's not. I'm not asking cachers to do anything they wouldn't normally do, I'm not sending the TB to their mailbox (no requirment to pick it up) and I'm not making threats. It's all in good fun and I've had nothing but good feedback from cachers =)

It works and who knows, maybe my little TB really is a good luck charm to some.

So what about you? Do you have any tips for preventing a TB or Coin from going missing? I would love to read them below.

Many of us find just as much thrill, if not more, in hiding caches as we do in finding them. But finding fun, creative places to hide them can be a challenge. So I'm writing this post today to START a list, that I hope you and all of the other awesome Geocachers who read this blog will add to, eventually making this page the ultimate geocache hiding spot resource full of hundreds of different hiding spot ideas =)

So I'll get it started with my 3 favorites.

1. Bird House Cache: I've found a few of these and I always enjoy them. One in particular was hanging from a tree & painted with Geocaching colors.
2. Near Cool, Unknown Spots: Obviously this is a very generic idea, but I wanted to list it because in all honesty some of my favorite finds were hidden near little spots in my area I never would have known about if it weren't for that cache. Hidden monuments, an old house with a story etc. are all great places to hide a cache.
3. At your Home: This requires a little common sense, a quick explanation to neighbors and some very clear rules in the description, but it can be alot of fun. It's not for everyone, but for people like me and my Wife, we enjoy seeing cachers come and go and when we have a minute we like going out and having a chat with them. This is a great way to meet new people in the area and get to others in the hobby.

So what are your favorites? Please leave a comment with your favorite hiding spots and be sure to bookmark this page for ideas next time you're ready to hide a cache.

Happy Caching!
Josh Spaulding
"The Mad Cacher"

In this short video I explain how to be the first to find (FTF) new caches. I walk you through how to set up Instant Email notifications on the Geocaching website so you'll be instantly notified every time there is a new cache published in your area, allowing you the opportunity to jump on it and be the first to find =)

Pocket Queries are the "Easy Button" of Geocaching! I was a long-time Cacher before learning what they were, so although you may already know all about them, I can only assume there are alot of Cachers who, like me, have been caching for a while and still don't know what they are.

So, let me explain. A Pocket Query is basically a Geocache filter that the main Geocaching website offers at http://www.geocaching.com/pocket/ There isn't any ONE thing that pocket queries are for, which is what makes them so great!

SO, let's say you want a list of caches within 30 miles of your home coordinates that you haven't found yet. Too easy. Just go to the pocket query page, check a few boxes and you have your list, which is emailed to you and can be downloaded in GPX format, which means with most GPS units you can actually UPLOAD it directly to your GPSr! (no more entering caches into your GPS one at a time.)

You can also upload this list to compatible devices like iPhones, iPods, iPads (and I'm sure several others.) You don't even need an internet connection with these devices, because all of the cache details are already there, which means PAPERLESS CACHING!

Now, let's say you're a FTF addict No problem. Go to the pocket query page and tell it to run every single day... and to find caches that "Have not been found" and every day you'll get a report in your email inbox of all caches within your specified radius of the location you specified (if any) that have never been found. KEEP IN MIND THOUGH, this is generated daily. So if you're a BIG FTF hunter, the best thing to do is to set up notifications for instant alerts of new caches.

There are many other possibilities. You can filter your queries by difficulty, container type, terrain, attributes and more.

So as you can see, Pocket Queries make finding the caches you're interested in finding much quicker and easier. Not to mention the other, added benefits like the ability to preload all caches in a specified location to your GPSr at once... paperless caching etc.

Do you use Pocket Queries? I would love to hear what you use them for and anything else related them in the comment field below.

We recently moved about 30 minutes minutes away from our last home and decided to put out caches up for adoption. We edited each cache page letting people know that we were looking for someone to take them over. We received a few messages from cachers who wanted them. But we couldn't figure out HOW.

We looked all over the Geocaching website. We did all kinds of searches on Google... nothing. The best we could get is "contact a reviewer."

So, I go to the profile of our local reviewer and right there on his Geocaching profile were instructions on how to do it.

It's very simple. Geocaching.com has made it quick and easy by creating a page that automates the process.

Just go to: http://www.geocaching.com/adopt/

Enter the cache code or the Travel Bug Tracking ID, then enter the username of the cacher you want to adopt it and a request will be sent to them. Once they accept, it's theirs.

Very easy. It took about 1 minute to transfer all 5 of the caches we had near our previous home.

It's been a long while since I've written a post here. I've been a busy guy getting things packed, moved and unpacked into our new home. Unfortunately that means I haven't had much time for caching lately

Now that things are settled down that's about to change though! I've already found a perfect hiding spot for a cache near our new home.

Today I just wanted to write a quick post about the recent Geocaching Bomb Scare that occurred in Anaheim, CA last month. If you didn't hear about it, you can read all about it here.

About a dozen fire trucks from Anaheim and Fullerton were sent to the area along with a hazmat team and the Orange County bomb squad.

My first reaction is "Are you kidding me?" Geocaching has now been around for 10 years now. It's a World-wide hobby. Any good bomb squad is going to know about the hobby. It should be S.O.P. to check the Geocaching.com site before expending all of these resources!

But, what's done is done. And it does serve as a good reminder for those of us who hide caches. Caches hidden in public places can be fun as they add difficulty to the hide, but a light post cache (LPC) for instance, in the center of a busy parking lot may not be a good spot to hide a cache unless it is in a spot where cachers can somehow retrieve and replace it discreetly, without attracting attention. OR unless you specify night cache only.

On the flip side of that, if you come up on a cache that is obviously surrounded by muggles should you REALLY go for it?

If there is one or two muggles in the area who look friendly I just tell them. "Hey, I'm playing a game called Geocaching. You can read about it at Geocaching.com" I've done that several times and I've never had an issue. Most people don't care. Some are curious and want to try Geocaching, but I've NEVER had anyone act worried or suspicious after simply telling them what I'm doing.

So, those are my thoughts on the whole situation. What do you think about caches in high-muggle areas?

img credit: Katie@!

When we first started Geocaching in order for us to know the details of each cache we were about to look for I would take a piece of paper and write down the Geocache code so we know which one to plug into the GPS, the hint (if given,) the cache size, the difficulty if 3 star or more, any info in the description that I believe may help find the cache and if one or more of the last few logs were DNF's I add that too, just so I know that it may not be there.

After our first 100 finds or so, I got tired of spending 20+ minutes writing all of that stuff down. That's when we started printing out the full cache page. It's much quicker and easier, but it takes alot of paper and printer ink, especially if you have a long day of caching planned.

There are a few programs out there that help with this. The most popular is called the "Geocaching Swiss Army Knife" (GSAK) but in my experience it's incredibly confusing and difficult to use. As a matter of fact, I uninstalled it on the same down I installed it because it just gave me a headache trying to figure it out.

SO, I'm on a mission to make cache hunt preparation quicker, easier and far less complicated! I'm going to have a piece of software developed that is simple to use... does exactly what needs to be done, nothing more and nothing less!

But I need your help! I need to know how you prepare for your hunts. I know those using iPhones are all set (I'm jealous and may end up leaving verizon just so I can get an iPhone.)

But if you aren't a spoiled iPohone user please let me know how you prepare. Do you write down cache info? Do you print the cache pages out like we do? Do you use software?

I'll be using the info I get from you in order to have this software developed and you'll have the opportunity to use it once it's finished.

Thanks and Happy Caching!

img credit: Oberazzi

It's human nature to want to hide any type of deficiencies in your life. And it's no different with hobbies. Especially hobbies that are as addicting as Geocaching! But, is a Did Not Find (DNF) really a deficiency? NO, it's not!

Show me a Geocacher with a perfect track record... one who has found every single cache he or she has hunted for and I'll show you a Geocacher who doesn't log their DNF's because it's simply not possible (unless you do VERY little geocaching.)

Caches get muggled. Caches get moved. Caches get destroyed. And I could go on and on with very realistic possibilities. Possibilities that are a reality for many caches every single day.

So why not just log your DNF's? Anyone who thinks you're any less of a cacher just because you have some DNF's obviously doesn't understand our hobby, so who cares about what they think of it. And anyone who really understands the hobby isn't going to think twice about DNF's.

When people don't log DNF's it causes a problem. A problem that I've encountered several times with several of my own caches. Caches go missing and since so many people are afraid to log the DNF, it takes months for the cache owner to realize the cache is gone. This is especially problematic with 3+ star caches.

So please, log your DNF's and help make this awesome hobby even more awesome

Happy Caching!