View Full Version : Geocaching on the trail??
dr magooo
02-19-2009, 17:10
I do a bit of geocaching back here in england when i get the chance and i love it.
Was just wondering if there are many geocaches on the trail, because it would be great to incorporate two hobbies into one, hiking and geocaching.
Has anyone else ever taken their GPS with a list of caches stored inside it and done geocaching while on a thru-hike??
I hiked with a guy that did some of that. He carried a GPS and we found a cache north of Bear Wallow gap. It contained, among other things, two Susan B. Anthony dollar coins. I took them and left a Clinton 3 dollar bill and a note that the cache now had a net gain of one dollar. Probably made someone mad or else made them laugh.
sbennett
02-19-2009, 17:26
there are a bunch of caches on the Trail outside of the national parks...my g/f and I found two at the top of Wesser Bald (NC) a few weeks ago
garlic08
02-19-2009, 17:40
My wife (GreasePot, you can find her on geocaching.com) has cached sparingly on the AT and CDT, but not on a thru hike. Lots of fun.
OK, sorry to be the party pooper here. Placing a geocache (or leaving pretty much anything) on NPS lands (which surround a fair portion of the trail), is not permitted. Doesn't mean folks don't do it, of course. A quick glance at most major geocaching web sites will confirm this. Some states do not permit geocaching in the state portion of their AT management zone, either. In Mass, that's 500 ft to either side of the AT. Other land management agencies do permit it in some locations. It's mostly about protecting any rare/fragile resources, or being good neighbors in a narrow corridor.
Cosmo
dr magooo
02-19-2009, 19:33
i didnt mean caches on the actual trail itself per say, just caches very near the trail, so that i wouldnt be taking long hikes just to find the cache, maybe a cache a couple of miles of the trail.
Geocaching is great, but i agree that it shouldnt be on the main trail.
There are several places where "virtual" caches are located, a sign where you get info to post showing you were there or where you take a photo of yourself in NPS land.
theinfamousj
02-19-2009, 21:08
Virtual caches sound awesome, and very in keeping with LNT.
You can have a lot of fun with cat holes and geocachers. :D
Now that's what I call party pooping.
Jim Adams
02-20-2009, 00:28
...using a GPS to find garbage / litter? why not leave the GPS home and just pick up all that you see?
geek
I was just joking about playing tricks on geo-cachers. Not serious.
I haven't tried geo-caching yet as I don't have a GPS, but I think it would be fun.
I guess I could try it without a GPS also.
garlic08
02-20-2009, 01:02
I haven't tried geo-caching yet as I don't have a GPS, but I think it would be fun.
I guess I could try it without a GPS also.
I hear you can do some caches with Google Earth photos.
Some of the local geo-caching sites provide a bit of a description along with lat lon,
so I guess you could join in with just a map and compass, but if you wanted to make your own caches for others you might want to be a little extra sure of your lat lon or provide some good descriptions. There are a few geo-caches in Rockwood Park here.
DiamondDoug
02-23-2009, 15:28
There is a geo cache on my section, from Big Bald to Little Bald, just north of Sam's gap and I-26 on the NC/TN line. I discovered it one day while sitting on a rock eating lunch, saw it, thought it was trash, investigated and put it back. Unless you are hiking the AT, it is a looooong way from anywhere.
Digger'02
02-24-2009, 11:22
Yo Diamond Doug! Jack-of-the-wood is a'callin...!
I found a geocash in the Smokies when I was repairing a step that had 'come loose' I moved the large rock to find someone had dug out the soil below and placed a little tupperware there. I was annoyed, but I know most geocashers are pretty law-abiding.
Pack it in pack it out!!!!
Cabin Fever
02-24-2009, 11:53
National Forest lands have lots of geocaches. All over the place in our neck of the woods in the northern Cherokee National Forest.
I met a couple Oct/08 in SNP, they said they were virtual geo-caching in the park.
alaska moose
02-24-2009, 12:21
I did a search on geocaching.com and you can get a map of all of the caches along the trail. When I hike the AT I plan to cache it also.
Geocaching along the AT is illegal and is really no different than putting trashcans every mile or so.
Cabin Fever
02-24-2009, 12:51
Geocaching along the AT is illegal and is really no different than putting trashcans every mile or so.
Only illegal in National Parks. We had a big debate about his in our Club and discussed with ATC.
To your point, I think it's trash also. Virtual geocaching sounds cool though, but how is that any different than hiking to a specified point?