Today I went back to Rock House Reservation and it was worth it. I set out to find several caches and I found a whole lot more. I took the long scenic route all around the reservation and it was breath-taking. I stopped in awe at the enormous rock formations and the giant rocks perched carefully on top of larger ones.

I kind of stumbled upon the little cottage in the woods known as the museum. I was not sure what to expect the museum to be but it was nice. It has a porch with benches that overlook Carter Pond. Inside there are facts about the reservation and how the formations came to be. It all happened many thousands of years ago, caused by glaciers. The Wisconsin Glacial Episode was the main cause of the landscape features.

All in all I found 6 caches but they turned out to be secondary to the views I found. I plan to go back soon with my good camera for more pictures. I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful place. If you’ve never been, you can at least get 10 caches if you don’t love the views.

It was a warm night but winter brought us a lot of snow in total. It takes a while for all of that snow to melt so we knew there’d be some snow at the cache. Geocachers are a resourceful bunch and many of them brought their gear. Head lamps and full snow gear was common. It was believed to be about a half mile round trip. Piece of cake, right? Did I mention I was wearing jeans and dress shoes? Well I was. They weren’t my favorite shoes anyway.

We started up the path and I got a little snow in my shoes but kept going. After a while you lose track of exactly how far is left and just keep going forward with the group. There are reflectors on a tree every once in a while to lead the way. I hear “Ok, we’re here” once and I think “Great, that was easy!”. It wasn’t.

"Gnomad64"

On the way to the cache there was a bonus cache. That was great. We got to the intended cache, “White Buck’s Moonlight Walk” and sat on a log. To the left you’ll see Cal (Nomad64) sitting on the log in the dark. We all had a great time chatting at the cache before making our way back.

The walk back was very easy and surprisingly quick. I was frozen footed and waterlogged so I headed home. With the event and two caches I’ve finally hit a total of 250.

One way to help establish this site in the community is getting out there and spreading the word. I may not be a prolific cacher but on this night I felt like one. It was great fun.

Please LIKE our Facebook Page at Facebook.com/MassGeocachers.

For those familiar with Ames Nowell State Park, located in Southeastern Massachusetts, there are several Geocaches to be found in the park including a couple of multi–caches.

Among these caches you can find a sticker share cache, a pen swap cache, and even a very large cache. None of the caches are micros and there are plenty of trails to help you refrain from much bushwhacking, which makes Ames Nowell State Park one of the ideal locations for beginning Geocachers to get their feet wet, so to speak.

The only downside to Geocaching at Ames Nowell is that it is located near a highly populated area and it’s not uncommon for a cache to be muggled (damaged, stolen, or otherwise raided). In fact, the first cache my wife and I found at Ames Nowell was muggled less than 2 weeks after we found it. That cache has not been replaced. So, be very careful not to let anyone see where the cache is hidden.

You will need to watch out for yellow jacket hives/nests. Last night my wife and I were attempting to finish finding all of the caches in the park, when I stumbled upon a very active nest of yellow jackets located under a rock within a few
of Mountain Biker Cache. Luckily, my wife was about 20 feet away and I was able to get away from the area quickly without being attacked, but we decided to not press our luck again. We’ll go back for that cache in the winter.

You will also need to watch out for Poison Ivy in a few places, but we’ve only seen a few areas and not directly near any caches.

The park officially closes at sunset, but we’ve been out there well beyond sunset with no problems. There’s free parking at the end of Linwood Street and with several miles of trails the park is great for mountain biking and hiking.

Geocaching at Ames Nowell is one of the best locations with a good variety of caches. I highly recommend this area to any Geocacher, but especially beginners.

Let’s start with a few important rules.

No–No’s For Hiding A Geocache
1. You may not place a Geocache on land managed by an agency that does not allow Geocaches, such as military installations, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and cemeteries.
2. You may not dig a hole to hide the Geocache and you may not hide the Geocache in a way that requires other Geocachers to dig to find it.
3. You may not deface public or private property, regardless if it is natural or man–made.
4. You may not hide a Geocache in an area that would be extremely sensitive to extra traffic, such as an historical site or archaeological site.
5. You may not hide a Geocache close to active railroad tracks. Generally, 150′ is a reasonable distance, but check your local laws first.
6. You may not hide a Geocache in an area that might be deemed a high–target area for terrorist attacks.
7. You may not hide a Geocache within .1 mile of another Geocache.
8. You may not hide a Geocache containing explosives, fireworks, ammo, lighters, knives (including pocket knives and multi-tools), drugs, alcohol or other illicit material.
9. You may not hide a Geocache that solicits for charitable, religious, business, social, or other purposes.

Other Considerations For Your Geocache
1. Your Geocache must have a logbook so Geocachers can log their visit.
2. You must maintain your Geocache at all times. Once you hide it, it is your responsibility.
3. Don’t place food in your Geocache.
4. Your Geocache contents must be all–age and family friendly.
5. The hiding spot for your Geocache should be near a trail (when possible), but hidden from view of people passing by.
6. Accurate GPS coordinates for the location of your Geocache is vital to the success of your Geocache.
7. Choose a container for your Geocache that’s waterproof. The most popular choices are ammo cans and plastic Lock & Lock^® containers.
8. Camouflage your Geocache to blend in with the surrounding environment.

Drafting A Permission Request Letter

Provided that your Geocache meets the above criteria and you are willing to do some work to maintain the cache, you’re ready to seek permission from the agency that manages the land you want to hide your Geocache on. Some Geocachers skip this step unless placing the Geocache on private property (permission is required then), but asking permission is the right thing to do, and it is always encouraged; not to mention, the managing agency appreciates the courtesy.

Rather than writing a letter or sending an email, you may find it easier to meet face to face with someone from the managing agency. Regardless of the approach you use, here are a few example permission request letters that have worked for other Geocachers, which you may use in their entirety or portions thereof to gain permission. In the end, you want permission and you want that in writing (email, letter, or a custom permission form is fine).

written by briansnat

Dear ___________________:

I’m writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache, it’s the focal point of a sport called geocaching. Geocaching entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the
additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. Please contact me at_________ to discuss this.

Thank You,

written by Dave of the Wombles

Sir,

I am writing to request permission to place geocaches on land under the control of the council. I am a member of an organization called the __________________ which has the aims of promoting Geocaching in harmony with the environment and landowners.

Geocaching is a hobby which uses a global positioning system receiver to locate a hidden container. These containers are found by using latitude and longitude coordinates freely available on the Internet at http://www.geocaching.com/. It is a non–commercial hobby which encourages people to locations of interest, views and simply to get out and go walking.

It is a fun, family oriented activity that promotes people getting outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest. Children thoroughly enjoy finding a geocache and its contents, which are often small toys and trinkets. Finders are expected to exchange things from the cache.

Geocachers are usually environmentally minded people and are encouraged to follow the Cache In, Trash Out motto which has resulted in tons of rubbish being removed from around the world, thereby having a positive environmental impact of the activity.

Great care is taken to hide the containers out of view of the public eye (although they are never buried). This is partly to avoid being plundered by whoever happens to walk by and to preserve the sport. It also ensures that the addition of a cache will in no way detract from the beauty of the location. Typical cache containers range from tiny ones the size of a fingernail, through tubes and cylinders with room just for a small pencil and log sheet, up to plastic or metal boxes with space for several swap items and a log book.

Once a geocache has become established, it will get a visit every one to two weeks on average, although there are more visits initially.

I would be happy to provide you with any other information which you may need.

Yours,

written by Spoerke

Dear __________:

I am writing with the hope of receiving permission to place a geocache in __________________. If you are unfamiliar with the word geocache, a geocache is a hidden container that holds a logbook and may also contain items for trade; it is also the focal point of the free, family–friendly outdoor recreational sport called Geocaching. The people who participate in Geocaching are called Geocachers.

Geocachers are generally environmentally minded people who strongly believe in preserving the area they are in. One way they help preserve the area is by following the Cache in, Trash out motto, meaning Geocachers do their best to collect any litter they may come across. These efforts result in tons of trash being removed from parks, forests, lakes, oceans and other areas around the world every year.

In accordance with Geocaching rules, my geocache would not 1) deface any property, 2) contain any illegal or inappropriate material, and 3) detract from or devalue the surroundings in any manner. Furthermore, the geocache would be camouflaged to blend in with the surroundings and I would maintain the geocache at all times.

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that Geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. Likewise, Geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

I believe that ________ is a place that would be of interest to Geocachers and I would like to place the geocache no later than (DATE), so please respond at your earliest convenience.

To learn more about Geocaching, please visit http://www.geocaching.com

Best,

Hopefully you read this article before heading out to find your very first Geocache, but even if you’re reading it as a well–seasoned veteran you might find some tips pretty useful.

Let’s begin by explaining what Geocaching is. According to a lot of people, Geocaching is a high–tech game of treasure hunting or hide and seek. From some people, that’s about all the explanation you’ll ever receive. I see it differently. Geocaching is a grown man’s justification for playing in the mud, a grown woman’s justification for not always getting dolled up, and a child’s justification for being a kid.

While Geocaching is fun, it can also be dangerous depending on the terrain and climate the cache is located. The most important rule of Geocaching is to remember that safety is your first priority. Don’t go Geocaching in a blizzard or a hurricane, don’t try finding a cache at the bottom of a pond if you can’t swim, don’t go at night if you are unfamiliar with the area, don’t wander deep into the woods without having a good sense of direction so you can get back out, etc. Common sense is your best friend when Geocaching; use it.

What You’ll Need

The first thing you’ll need is a membership at a Geocaching website, such as Geocaching.com. Basic membership is free at Geocaching.com, so you can put your credit card away. With a basic membership you’ll be able to do everything you need to get started with Geocaching, but one day you’ll probably want the premium membership which is very affordable and offers some good benefits. For this article, I’ll assume you became a basic member of Geocaching.com.

You’ll need a GPS device unless you’re an expert with compass and map. Most Geocachers use a hand held GPS device of some type. Your cell phone may have GPS capabilities. You can also use a vehicle GPS device provided that it doesn’t have to be plugged in to work.

Depending on where you’re heading, the time of year, the time of day, distance on foot, and other common sense factors, you might want to bring a flashlight, insect repellent, a first aid kit, a clean/dry pair of socks, granola bars, and water. For your first time out, I’d recommend staying relatively close to home, which means you’ll probably only need a couple of things from this list. Use your best judgment.

No matter where you’re heading always bring a pen and if you can, grab something from home or a nearby store that you can trade at the cache. Trading items and writing in the log books are part of the fun Geocaching offers.

Most importantly, you’re going to need the coordinates to the cache; how else will you find it? On Geocaching.com you can look–up nearby Geocaches and download the coordinates directly to your GPS device for each cache or write down the coordinates and manually enter them later. There are several conversions available if you need them.

Choosing the Geocache

When you made the choice to start Geocaching I’m certain you didn’t say, I’m going Geocaching, but I really just want to roam around the woods for the next four hours and not find anything. If you did say that, why not just go hiking?

The majority of first time Geocachers, AKA newbies, may have doubts whether or not they’ll find the Geocache and I’ll tell you right now that if you’re looking for a micro as your first cache, you probably won’t find it. So, the question I’ve been asked by a lot of newbies is, What size cache should I look for first, and what sizes are there?

Before we get into sizes, let’s first cover a few of the more common types of Geocaches.

Traditional Cache Icon

Traditional Caches
• Traditional caches are the most common you’ll come across, and what I recommend you start with. On Geocaching.com these caches have an icon that looks like a plastic container with a green cover.
• This is the original cache type consisting of (at a bare minimum) a container and a logbook. The cache may be filled with objects for trade. Normally you’ll find a Tupperware-style container, ammo box, or bucket filled with goodies, or smaller container too small to contain items except for a logbook. The coordinates listed on the traditional cache page are the exact location of the cache. A container with no logbook and just an object or codeword for verification generally does not qualify as a traditional cache. « http://www.geocaching.com

Multi–Cache Icon

Multi–Cache (Offset Cache)
• Depending on where you live, you may find several of these in your area. While they can be fun, I wouldn’t recommend them for your first attempt. Find a few traditional caches first, then tackle a multi–cache. On Geocaching.com these caches have an icon that represents two plastic containers with yellow covers.
• A multi-cache (“multiple”) involves two or more locations, the final location being a physical container. There are many variations, but most multi-caches have a hint to find the second cache, and the second cache has hints to the third, and so on. An offset cache (where you go to a location and get hints to the actual cache) is considered a multi-cache. « http://www.geocaching.com

Mystery/Puzzle
Cache Icon

Mystery or Puzzle Caches
• Again, you may find several of these in your area, but I would advise against trying this type of cache first. In fact, I would advise that you don’t do this type of cache until you are quite familiar with Geocaching and pretty darn good at it. Some of the puzzles are very challenging and if you get it wrong, well, let’s just say you may also end up going the wrong direction. These are identified on Geocaching.com with a question mark.
• The "catch–all" of cache types, this form of cache can involve complicated puzzles you will first need to solve to determine the coordinates. Due to the increasing creativity of geocaching this becomes the staging ground for new and unique challenges. « http://www.geocaching.com

Those types of caches are probably the most common you’ll come across. There are other cache types that we’ll get into in another article, but these are the three types you need to be aware of just starting out.

Ready for the sizes?

Micro Cache
Indicator

Micro
• A micro cache is the smallest cache available and they can be a 35mm film case or smaller. A sub-category of Micro is called a “Nano”, which can be as small as the eraser on a pencil. Yeah, that’s pretty small and the hiding places can be pretty intense, like up a tree or under a small rock within a field of small rocks. All you usually get to do with these is sign a logsheet and put it back. For your first few finds, it’s probably best recommended that you avoid the micro caches.

Small Cache
Indicator

Small
• A small cache is usually described as a sandwich–size plastic container or similar. Often times jars are used for small caches, such as a peanut butter or mayonnaise jar. Officially, the term small cache means less than approximately 1 quart or 1 L. Small caches can hold trade and trackable items as well as a logbook. This isn’t a bad size to start with.

Regular Cache
Indicator

Regular
• Now we’re getting to the big caches. Regular caches are generally ammo cans or shoebox–size plastic containers. As you can imagine, they can hold a lot of items and they can tell quite a few stories by looking at the items and reading the logbook you find in the cache. Just starting out, this is the best size cache to find first. It’s a little bit of a challenge, but not daunting like the micro caches can be.

Large Cache
Indicator

Large
• There are times when you just want to find a really big cache, I mean big like a 5–gallon bucket or larger. That’s when the large caches are nice to find, although I have yet to find one that contains the trackables or trade items it’s supposed to have. Because of the size of these caches, they are spotted easily by wandering hikers and sometimes get ransacked, or muggled as Geocachers call it – yes, just like the nonmagical people in Harry Potter. Some people just don’t get it.

Sometimes the cache owner sets the size to other or they don’t provide the size of the cache. In those instances, reading the description usually provides more information. I’ve found a few marked other that were pretty decent size, so don’t eliminate them from the possibilities, just try to estimate the size and go from there.

What Are Trackables?

Trackables are items that have unique identifier codes, which are used to keep track of an item’s location and travels. The most common trackable items you’ll run across are Travel Bugs and Geocoins. Each trackable item can have its own story and most trackable items are designed to travel. You can find out a lot of information about the trackable item (where it’s been, where it wants to go, and why it wants to go there) by entering the code found on the item or by clicking on the item within the caches inventory on Geocaching.com. The finder’s job is to help the trackable item attain its goal, which is set by the owner.

You can purchase your own trackable items from numerous websites and set your preferences for that trackable item, or you can just help other trackables with their goals. I have 5 trackables out there and one day soon I’ll make that 6 I’m sure.

If the cache you decide to look for has a trackable item in its inventory, such as a Travel Bug or a Geocoin, you may take that trackable item out of the cache and move it to a new cache. It’s very important that when you take a trackable item you log that you’ve taken it and when you drop it off in another cache you log that you’ve dropped it off. Always log your finds.

A Little Background

The very first recorded Geocache was placed near Beaver Creek, Oregon on May 3, 2000. At the time, the owner of the cache called it the Great American GPS Stash Hunt and the cache was a black bucket filled with a logbook and pencil, and items like a slingshot, videos, software and books. The word Geocaching was coined on May 30, 2000 and combines two words, geo for earth, and caching (from cache) meaning a place to temporarily hide something and memory caches are used in technology to serve images and other information quickly to the user. In a nutshell, Geocaching means to temporarily hide something on the earth that can be found with technology (your GPS).

There are a few sacred rules to Geocaching that have been present since its conception in 2000. The most important and oldest rule is, if you take something from the cache you must leave something of equal or greater value in its place. This rule is broken all too often, which in turn leaves caches without much value to the finder. So, help turn the tide by always replacing what you take with something of equal or greater value for the next finder. With that in mind, there’s an exception to the rule.

If you find yourself in an unsafe situation and something inside the cache can improve the situation, take it and use it because safety is your first priority. A good example of that would be if you were Geocaching in the woods at night, your flashlight grows very dim and there’s a working flashlight in the cache. Nobody will be upset if you take that flashlight. If you have an opportunity to return to the cache later on, drop something off in place of the flashlight even if it’s the flashlight you took. I am speaking from experience with this. Remember, safety is your first priority.

Other rules worth mention here would be to always Cache In Trash Out (CITO), which basically means pick up any litter you find and discard it appropriately; always place the cache back exactly where you found it; do your absolute best to not harm or disrupt the environment; don’t draw attention to the hiding place of a cache; and always log your finds.

With that, happy Geocaching!

We purchased 5 travel bugs and a hitchhiker for each of them a few weeks ago. These travel bugs have similar missions to visit US military installations around the world. One will visit Air Force installations, one will visit Army installations, one will visit Coast Guard installations, you get the point. To get them started, we wanted to place each of them near an installation respective to their mission. Fort Devens was the choice for the US Army Installation Traveler.

On day one, we stopped by a cache near Hanscom AFB, which was a quick find and we left the US Air Force Installation Traveler there. Then we headed toward Fort Devens. As the sun was setting, we couldn’t find an entrance to the park that past Geocachers mentioned and we decided to put it off for the next day.

Day 2 brought with it some illegal activity as we paid no attention to the “No Trespassing” signs posted around the area, and started looking for the cache we abandoned the day before. Oops.

About an hour into the hike, we realized that we were pretty dumb to have only grabbed one bottle of water from the car, but determined and getting desperate to find this cache we kept going. Then, we ran into some new high voltage power lines, and the bridge that previous Geocachers used was nowhere to be found. There was no crossing that river. So, we headed back to the car and drank a lot of water on our way back home.

On the third day we got a late start and we had a new Geocache in mind for the US Army Installation Traveler. Oh, I shouldn’t forget, I dug out my CamelBack that I used in Iraq and filled it with water for this trip. No more heat exhaustion for us.

It was about 8:30PM by the time we arrived at the new location and “dark” would be an understatement. It was black in every direction thanks to the wonderful canopy of trees blocking what little light the moon could offer. I told my wife I didn’t want to use a flashlight if my eyes could adjust to the darkness, especially the high powered flashlight, but really there wasn’t any other choice if I wanted to make it out of there in one piece. So, the high powered flashlight came out and suddenly we could see quite well.

First we tried to bushwhack our way through the marsh, since the cache was only about 1/4 mile from the car. That didn’t work to our advantage, so we retraced our steps and returned to the car in search of trails. By the time we found a trail it was probably closing in on 9:30PM, early, but the blackness surrounding the flashlight beam was quickly draining my eyes of life.

Our GPS does not have a long battery life, and for the next hour we wandered trails, hoping that we would find one that our topographic trail map displayed. Yeah, the trail map was wrong… really wrong. Destined to find this cache, we kept going.

At about 10:30PM we had narrowed down the possibilities enough to believe we were pretty close to the cache. The GPS concluded that we were right, but the high powered flashlight was growing dim and so was the low powered flashlight. We were both exhausted and growing quite hungry, but being so close we pushed on.

Just after 11PM we found the cache and the GPS was useless. Okay, so my wife found it while I was chasing mice through the woods. We dropped the US Army Installation Traveler and low and behold, someone left a working flashlight in the cache! We took it and thanked them profusely for helping us get out of the woods. I don’t know where we would have ended up without a flashlight.

So, the few pointers I’d like to leave everyone with is to always have plenty of water (CamelBacks are great), always bring extra batteries for your flashlights, and pay attention to signs (they’re there for a reason). Good times.

Your Geocaching story can in fact appear here, but first you’ll need to Login/Register if you haven’t done so already. Then, select the Tell Your Geocaching Story link from the Members Only menu, located directly below the Login area to the right. We’d love to hear some great caching stories.

Bring ‘em on!

Speaking of help, how would you like to help the site? Found any caches lately? Every find has a story behind it and I’d love to hear them from you and post them here. Login/Register if you haven’t done so already. Then, select the link from the Members Only menu, located directly below the Login area to the right. Full credit will be given and it will go a long way toward creating some great content here.

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