garmin

Geocaching to me started in 2008. Of course that’s several years after the actual start of the game, but for me it was in February 2008.

That’s when a friend first told me about it.

We went out to find our first few geocaches on March 1, 2008 on a snow-covered day. We ended up with five finds that day, and I remember grabbing my first geocoin to move.

For the first few weeks, I used one of said friend’s GPS units to cache some. I knew, though, I needed to buy my own.

Remember, too, that this was before the boom of smart phones. This was a time when paperless geocaching was just starting (I used a Dell Axim for paperless caching – anybody remember those? Google it if not!), and some people printed out all the caches they were searching for etc. I did that for a while. I think a lot of paper was wasted.

I still remember when you would decode the hint in the field.

I still love my original GPS… still going after all these years!

Now, life is easier. Smart phone apps make Geocaching an easily accessed game. So much so that people don’t even need to go back and log online anymore – they can do it from their phones. (For the record: I still log each find of mine via my computer, not my phone).

Recently, I saw in a geocaching group on Facebook about a GPS somebody was selling – the Garmin 60 CSX. The reason wasn’t that it was broke or anything, rather they were looking to get a new GPS with all the bells and whistles.

If you talk to some geocachers, the 60CSX is the best GPS ever made for caching. Its reception in the woods is excellent. It’s durable and can withstand a beating. I know all of this because I own the 60CSX and I dread the day it stops working as they don’t make it anymore.

It’s the first and only GPS that I’ve owned in eight years of playing the game.

I don’t need all the bells and whistles. I don’t have all these different maps on there, either. I use it to point the way. It’s not a GPS I use for navigation, and that’s why I love it so much.

Now, I do have another Garmin that can do things like Whereigos etc. It was a gift to me and, one day, it might be needed to be my main one. But for now, the 60CSX is still the boss.

I read through comments on this thread and there were people who fully agreed on how good this GPS is and questioned as to why somebody wanted to sell it. By the photos, it was in mint shape.

Sometimes, the upgrades aren’t always better.

As it is with many things in life, the “next best thing” is always coming out. But is it worth the money? The 60CSX, when I bought it, was a $300+ GPS. I’ve looked out of curiousness, and some of these new ones are anywhere from $400-$600! Some are higher, some lower. But if you are upgrading from the one that is like the granddaddy of them all to something else – you aren’t finding it cheaper, that’s for sure.

Smart phones can do a lot of the things that the newer GPS units do. That allows you to keep a great old GPS for use when geocaching – at least that’s the way I look at it.

This is just me rambling, of course. It’s not money being spent. But if you have something that works well, then stick with it. The grass isn’t always greener, so utilize what you know and what has been faithful to you!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Well-hidden caches are still something I love to find!

I was starting to re-write my profile on geocaching.com and thought I’d just bring it to the blog, too, to show my start and current state of geocaching — to me that is.

In late February of 2008, a friend asked me if I had heard of geocaching. At that point, I hadn’t. He explained it that it was a bit like letterboxing, just with a GPS. Being the two of us were planning on trying letterboxing come the spring, geocaching seemed like a perfect match.

He had a pair of handheld GPS units and we set out to find a few.

My first was at a covered bridge (GCKFXY) near my town and we found that one quickly enough.

We found five that first day (three of which are now archived!) and I was instantly hooked. A few days later, we went out again and found six more caches. This game was insanely fun and addicting.

I didn’t, however, have my own GPS unit. So speliopirate lent me one of his for a few weeks so I could investigate this game a bit more. The following day, I went and grabbed two caches as I learned how to use these GPS units.

It built from there.

Not too long after those first few outings, I decided to invest in a GPS unit of my own. I hemmed and hawed between the lower-priced Garmins and the 60 CSx. I finally decided to splurge on the CSx, figuring I wouldn’t be looking to upgrade any time soon. I’m still using that unit to this day and love it (though it’s apparently been discontinued). I really believe it’s the best GPS out there for caching, but that’s my personal preference.

I’ve gone through several stages of geocaching — from the rush of getting as many as I could in a day/week/month/year, to being a bit of a FTF hound to today, where I’m more interested in events, good and clever hides and I don’t frown upon a multi cache that takes several hours to complete for one smiley.

It’s what I love most about this game — everyone plays it how they see fit.

Since I started, I’ve met some great people (and a few I wish I hadn’t met!), made some excellent friends and had some great adventures. I’m a little slower with the game now as I don’t rush out for new caches and I usually keep away from caching at night, unless the cache is a quickie or meant to be done at night. I figure people put a cache out for a reason, I might as well see where the cache is located!

I still dislike caching solo (I just don’t find it as fun as when I go with people), but I don’t rush anymore and I just kind of like strolling along and finding a few good caches. It’s still an entertaining game, still adventurous and still fun to find an ammo can in the woods under a pile of sticks.

As for what’s in the caches, I still trade and move travel bugs/geocoins and I love trading for signature items. Outside of that, I usually just dig signing the log and trying to look through the logs to see who has been there before me.

In a few weeks, I’ll be heading to my first GeoWoodstock, a mega event that will attract more than 3,000 people. There are workshops and vendors and people and caches. For the weekend that I’ll be there, I plan on hitting up seven events. I’ll look forward to meeting many people, taking a lot of photos and grabbing a cache or two. This is the event that people look forward to each year and I’ve been planning it since I heard it was going to be somewhat close to me (it was announced that Warren, Pa., would be the event home at last year’s event in Seattle).

One year of waiting will end in about 20 days. The only big downfall of this year is that with the lack of a job, I wasn’t able to get a pathtag made before the event. That would have been fun to trade them there, but it is what it is. I’ll bring all my old ones that I have left and see if I can at least trade a few. And maybe I can trade some signature items, too.

If you are a reader of my blog and plan on being at GeoWoodstock (and any of the smaller events that weekend), let me know and maybe we can figure a way to meet up when there. I’d love to meet some people that I’ve only known through the blog/twitter etc.

I look forward to a great weekend and hope Mother Nature deems it a worthy weekend to send us some beautiful weather. Even if not, I think it will be one heck of a fun experience and really am excited to see an event of this magnitude.

And, for the record, it would be cool to own one of the caches on the grounds where the event will be or one of the ones nearby. Can you imagine getting like 2,000 e-mails with people finding your cache… in one weekend? That would be interesting.

The countdown continues for GeoWoodstock 9. Hopefully it lives up to expectations!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.