The challenge is that you hide a steel ammo can of 30-caliber or larger in the woods by the end of this year. It doesn’t have to be a death-march, but, it must be in the woods. Hiding an ammo can in the “urban jungle” is not a good thing! Please demilitarize the ammo can by obscuring the military markings.
When you post your geocache listing, please link to this posting so we can spread the fun. Now go hide that can!
Milestones are points in your geocaching history worth noting. Your first, 100th, 1000th, etc. Sometimes the milestone just happens. Other times you plan for a special geocache or geocaching event to coincide with the milestone. I was wanting to find North Carolina’s oldest geocache for a long time. Since my 400th geocache find was approaching, I decided to make it this one. I wanted to wait for the 10th anniversary of GC70 Octopus Garden, but, I was only two geocache finds away and the anniversary was two months away. Now’s the time to do it!
I was in Charlotte, North Carolina today scouting a location for an upcoming event (as yet to be announced). What better time to mark number 400? I first had to find number 399. I chose a micro nearby for this purpose. Sorry GC1A3T9 Altoids Sours – Tangerine. After preparing for number 400, I found the parking area where the hunt for the Octopus Garden begins. This was a puzzle geocache. That means you must solve a puzzle to get the actual location of the geocache. Luckily, the puzzle was pretty simple. That’s good because I’m not too good at puzzles! I solved the puzzle long ago so I already had the final coordinates.
By reading the previous logs of GC70 Octopus Garden, it was clear that the hardest part of finding the geocache was to find the right way to the geocache. A direct course is not always the best way to get to the geocache locations. I studied topographical and satellite maps of the area. It was clear that a direct approach would require crossing one of two creeks. It looks like a deviation from the prepared trail was in order.
As I left the trail it became abundantly clear that searching for the “Octopus Garden” shouldn’t be done just after a rain storm. Well, I was already here, so, quit whining and start the swampy adventure. After trekking through some very soft soil and knee high weeds and grass, I became completely soaked from the knees down. I tried following a little use path. It was taking me a little off course. I found another “path” to follow. It was a little better, but, still didn’t take me directly to the coordinates I had. Time for bushwhacking!
After a couple hundred feet, I found what was surely the path intended to be used. I was right…This time, anyway! It wasn’t too long before I found the geocache. It was right where I thought it would be. Except for a few minor deviations, my planned path was correct. There was no creek crossing involved. It wouldn’t have mattered because I was soaked anyway!
%5B10%5D.jpg "Me with \"Octopus Garden\"")
I stopped and reflected on my accomplishment. I have just found North Carolina’s oldest geocache. It was placed on September 30, 2000. This was near the beginning of geocaching as we know it. I thought it would be nice to have an event to celebrate this historical geocache. I have just submitted an event cache. I will keep you posted when it is approved.
A FTF or (first-to-find) is a term used for the geocacher who is the first to find a newly place geocache. Some could care less about being the FTF and other obsess about it. I think I fall in the latter category. I currently have 61 FTF’s out of the 395 geocaches I have found. That is a 15.4% FTF rate. Yes, I am counting! This confirms my obsession. I even went as far to establish a 10% FTF club and am a proud member of the 15% FTF club.
The appeal of being FTF depends on the finder, but, I think most would agree that being the only one, other than the original geocache owner, that has seen the geocache in its original condition and hiding spot is something special. Every time it is found after that, it will change a little. Also, being the “first” at most things has its certain prestige.
So, how can you become a FTF hound? You must be a premium member of Groundspeak. Why? One of the premium member perks is to be notified of any newly reviewed geocaches. In my area this is a must. There are too many FTF hounds around here. In many cases, if you don’t find it within 2 or 3 hours after it is listed, you will not find the clean geocache log. Also, if you have one of the new “smart” cell phones, you will have a leg-up on most others. I have lost several FTF’s to those with an iPhone or other similar phone. Another thing you need is the willingness to pay the price. What do I mean? If you are going after the FTF status, you will probably be driving a lot. Gas ain’t cheap!
I freely admit that I am addicted. This is more than just an obsession with me. It is a bona fide addiction. I fully expect to one day making the following public statement. “Hi. My name is Randy. I am a FTF addict. I have been sober for 12 days.” (Cell phone sounds) “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP…There is a new geocache in your area.” “Oh, crap! I will be back in a little bit.”
Luckily, I had a solution right under my nose…Uh…I mean in front of my eyes. I had an automobile GPS receiver. I am sure you have seen them. Some popular units are TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan. I have one called the Mio C230. It is a basic unit, but, does help me get around unfamiliar areas.
We are all used to seeing a GPS coordinate in this format:
N 35° 37.017 W 081° 16.962
This is the standard format used on Geocaching.com and other geocaching listing services. This format works great in your handheld GPSr, but, most automotive GPSr’s require the digital format like this:
35.61695 -81.2827
Both coordinates are exactly the same, but, in different formats. Since your geocache coordinates will be loaded into your GPSr, you can simply tell your handheld GPSr to display the digital format. I have had several handheld GPSr’s and all have allowed me to do this. Here is how it looks on the Garmin GPSmap 60CSx:
Now all you have to do is look at the coordinates of the geocache you are trying to find and enter the decimal format into your automotive GPSr. You can use your automotive GPSr to take you to the area of your geocache hunt! It is easier and quicker than using your handheld unit. This saves time and gasoline…And time and gas are money.
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