Geocaching

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Geocaching is a worldwide scavenger hunt that uses a GPS or phone app with GPS. There are over 3 million active caches around the world. Some are as small as a dime, others are big enough to walk into, all of them provide a unique adventure. We invite you to share your stories, photos, and experiences!

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Geopause, also known as Mid Cacher Crisis, is an affliction many geocachers suffer after a decade or two of geocaching. It is more pronounced in seasoned geocachers although it has been seen in all adults. The early stages of Geopause are often overlooked.

Stages of Geopause to look for:

  1. The Introspective Phase

There is a time in a geocacher's career they realize the goals they set out early in their geocaching life have not been fulfilled. There may be Challenge grids left unaccomplished. They may lament over the lack of finds in other states, provinces or other countries. Geocachers begin to feel that their find count is inadequate and DNF's become a greater source of stress. It's during this period geocachers become withdrawn. You may find them on their phones or desktop computers looking at far-off geocache hides around the world.  Depression often sets in.

  1. The Blame Phase

Children who loved geocaching in elementary school undoubtedly find other interests in their teens. Their unwillingness to go geocaching with mom or dad becomes a source of frustration. Spouses who obliged the geocacher's obsession while dating have become too busy with other tasks during marriage. Work and home life tend to be seen as an antithesis to geocaching. At this stage geocachers begin to lash out. The family's lack of geocaching related enthusiasm is blamed for a seemingly low smiley count and the geocacher will exhibit a range of emotions from sulking to temper tantrums to absolute rage. Be this as it may, this is still considered an internalized phase as it is unclear if the geocacher truly knows the motivations behind his or her emotional outbursts.

  1. The Fancy 4X4 Phase.

Behavior will substantially change at this point. Geocachers may buy a whole new cammo-based wardrobe or acquire the most expensive GPS. The need to geocache farther from home might urge a soccer mom car trade-in to a high powered 4X4 -- and they will proudly parade their vehicle from Event to Event making sure all will see it with the bait of a car travel bug tag. Their hides will revert from micros to regulars while their cammos become more elaborate. Still, the geo-related upgrades are only compensation. The feeling of inadequacy remains.

  1. The Anger Phase

During this phase the geocacher may chastise the geocaching community itself -- complaining internally at the lack of favourite points for what they believe are the best geocache hides ever.  The geocacher may secretly accuse those with higher smiley counts as primarily bogus finds. This is also known as the catch-up phase as the find count for the inflicted geocacher increases over previous years.  The degree to which this behavior is exhibited varies among individuals but it ranges from severe to bat crap crazy.  For many geocachers this is the final stage.

5)  Acceptance

Few geocachers with documented cases of Geopause have been known to reach this phase. It is acceptance that some goals are unattainable. Geocachers find solice for what they have accomplished and find comfort in their current status within the geocaching community. The need to be the fastest to the FTF or to have more smilies than their neighbors tend to vanish.  Geocaching reverts from a lifestyle to a game. 

Be aware of the stages of Geopause and do your best to be patient with those inflicted. 

Source

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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by pineapplelover@lemm.ee to c/geocaching@lemmy.world
 
 

I come across some caches that I haven't been able to find that indicate requires TOTT. What exactly are TOTT and do you need them? The only ones I've done are the birdhouses one where I use a long paint roller so that's obviously necessary. I did a nano size one that said it requires TOTT but it was a small ass magnet sized thing and I just found it using my eyes.

TLDR; What are TOTTs and do I need to buy TOTTs to do caches?

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Geocaching HQ created a souvenir for geocachers to celebrate the September equinox. To earn this souvenir, geocachers must find a total of 3 geocaches, Event Caches, and/or Adventure Lab® Locations between September 22–28, 2024.

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2024/09/celebrating-the-september-equinox/

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My favorite feature: The Team-Mode, where you and friends can battle it out. Great when hanging around with a bigger group of friends, you can split up for a set amount of time and see, who gets the most points.

I am not affiliated with the app, but really enjoy it and thought that you guys might like it as well. Have a nice day!

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Just saw this post via the cross-stitching community, and thought it'd fit perfect here too! Anyone use such a device to find magnetic nanos? Or is there a different tool of the trade you never go without?

https://mastodon.social/@Stitch26/113150645821886853

"Mechanics normally use a #Mechanics Telescoping Magnetic Pick-Up Tool 2 pick up small bolts & other metal that have fallen as they work, but those who #CrossStitch, #Sew, #Quilt, etc., can use it to pick up lost pins & needles so they don't wind up goosing someone when they sit on the couch. 😅 Can be found in almost any automotive store or automotive tool section in Walmart. Some versions even have flashlights on the end!"

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A friend of mine took me on a boat trip from Point Roberts to Patos Island (San Juan County) to find a geocache and finish the map.

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https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCAX5D1

Have you guys done CITO events? After the California fires, I think I'll try to help out next week at this event.

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Everyone who found at least one cache during the challenge was awarded a souvenir today. Was anyone following the 'Cosmic Quest' souvenir challenge? Do you feel like it led you to cache more, or did you mostly ignore it?

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2024/09/we-have-achieved-lift-off/

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I was running my fingers along this metal ledge trying to find a magnetic nano cache. Came across something quite different instead - yikes! Luckily I wasn't stung, but got out of there in a hurry and left that one unfound

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I emailed Geocaching support asking if they could give me a free trial to see if it was worth it. They responded like right away giving me a code for a free week trial but it was attached to a year subscription ($40). I subscribed anyways because I guess it's not too bad and I might be able to cancel it if I don't want it.

So far, I will keep it since it unlocked a few geocaches around Cal Poly Pomona and at parks near my area. So for me, it's worth it, especially when it encourages me to to outside and touch some grass.

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"You have most certainly passed a geocache without knowing it. [...] This right-under-your-nose scavenger hunt reminds us that there is still much to discover in the world, and the community of people in Door County who enjoy the activity is alive and well. I have always been drawn to geocaching and the everyday ingenuity it can inspire. People get absurdly creative with how and where they hide their containers; one cache in my hometown is hidden inside a fake sprinkler head."

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Only worth about $1 USD, but a pretty cool find -- in Canada and nowhere near its country of origin

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This took us three attempts to finally find

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An open-source, full-featured, always ready-to-go Geocaching application.

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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by ingalls to c/geocaching@lemmy.world
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Nearing the 2,000 find mark after ten years of caching on and off, the creative caches have definitely stuck with me more than the rest.

Sometimes it's a particularly unique container, such as one where a metal tube cache sat at the bottom of a PVC pipe, retrieved by pouring water into the pipe, making the cache float to the top as the water drained slowly from holes in the bottom of the pipe.

Sometimes it's a particularly creative puzzle, such as one where I had to use GIMP to see what barely noticeable differences the cache owner had made to a picture, revealing the faint outlines of Roman numerals and a Morse code sequence that gave the cache's final coordinates.

What are some of the most creative caches that you guys have found so far?

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I'm ashamed to say it still took me 10 minutes to find this one

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Not too long ago, I did a geocache and the FTF was a tag from the owner's late grandfather from the Apollo missions or something I forget. Thought that was pretty neat.

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The geocaching is pretty bad around the campus. Only 5 on campus. Been around the UCI area since I'm in OC and it's vastly different. Wonder why. Sure there's less people but I'm sure some of us still play geocache around here? I wonder why.

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Spent over an hour looking for this cache recently. Very subtle under the moss!

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This impressive pile was all collected in one day in my neighborhood

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