GPS for Dummies.pdf - Engineering Surveyor

Chapter 7: Geocaching131geocaching alias. Some people who are really into geocaching havecustom business cards or stickers made up for placing in the cache log. Read the logbook. It’s fun to read about other cachers’ adventures andwhen they discovered the cache. Exchange treasures. If you take something from the cache, leave something.If you forgot your goodies, just sign the logbook. Quite a few geocachersare more into the hunt for the cache than for the loot inside.Trading up means leaving something in the cache that’s better than whatyou take. There’s always been a considerable amount of discussion inthe geocaching community about how caches start out with cool stuffbut soon end up filled with junk (broken toys, beat-up golf balls, cheapparty favors, and so on). Some geocachers even take it upon themselvesto remove anything from a cache that doesn’t meet their personal qualitybar. If you can, trade up to make the finds more interesting for everyone. Cover your tracks. Seal the cache container up and put it back whereyou found it, making sure that it’s hidden just as well as it was before youfound it. Go home. Use the track-back feature of your GPS receiver to follow yourexact path back to your car. Better yet, activate the waypoint that you setfor your car (but see some different sights by taking a new route back towhere you started). Share your experiences. When you get back to your computer (if you’rea member of Geocaching.com), log your find on the Web site so the wholeworld knows you found the cache. Go to the cache description page andclick the Log Your Visit link at the top of the page. (This is completelyoptional. Some geocachers prefer operating under a low profile, keepingtheir discoveries and adventures to themselves.) Do it again (and again, and . . .). After you have your first cache findunder your belt, you’re ready to venture out into the brave new world ofgeocaching and find even more caches. As your experience with a GPSreceiver grows and your skills in navigation and cache finding improve,you’ll likely want to start challenging yourself more by going after cachesthat are more difficult to find and reach.The force is strong with this oneA Star Wars Darth Vader action figure, TravelBug, started his travels in an Arkansas geocachein February, 2002. By the time he was returned tohis owner nine months later, he had journeyed17,534.64 miles, including tagging along on aerialmissions in Afghanistan, pub-hopping in England,and working on his tan in Florida. At last report,Darth was getting some R&R in Texas.