Logs

How To Log A Cache Visit

I know this might seem like an overly simple topic, but trust me, there are plenty of newbie geocachers out there who ask me questions like this. And, once you actually go to geocaching.com to LOG a cache, you realize that it might not be that simple of a question after all!

The first time I logged into my account on geocaching.com to log a cache, I was really surprised that I had a ton of options for recording a cache hunt. I figured that it would be the straight forward:

Found or Did Not Find

And that was the end of the story.

Boy! Was I ever wrong!

Here are the steps to logging a cache.

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13 years ago • • Tags:

Tips for Printing

It’s nothing for me to plan to do a whole series of caches in a day. I always plan for more caches than I know I can possible get to in a day. That way, if one turns out to be muggled, or the quest for lunch takes me a different direction, I have plenty of back up caches ready to go. A lot of pre-planning goes into a caching adventure; especially with MY caching buddies!

Caching with ESP Boss means that we simply MUST take the geocache printout with us.

Gee, one time of writing down the PARKING coordinates instead of the cache coordinates! Just one time of saying “Oh, it’s a terrain 1.5!” when it was ACTUALLY a 3 and the man just won’t let me write it down!

I know there’s a lot of discussion in the geocaching world about caching paperless or printing out the geocache’s information before heading out. For those of you that just need to hang on to something, here are all my tips and tricks to taking printouts with you when planning a caching adventure.

The advantages I like to printing out the cache information are:
You can see the size and terrain. This is especially important if you have kids, limited mobility, or are really into swag. When my family & I first got started geocaching, it was really important to us to be able to trade swag. That meant that not knowing it was a micro was always a disappointment when we got to the cache and there were no trade items to be found.

You have the hint! I know a lot of experienced cachers don’t decode the hint until they absolutely have to, but as a novice cacher, that’s just making the game harder than it has to be.

You can see the inventory. Doesn’t always mean the travel bugs will be IN the cache, but at least you can get an idea.

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13 years ago • • Tags: ,

Log Abbreviations: Decoded!

My favorite part of the whole geocaching process is not finding the cache, signing the log, or even trading swag. My FAVORITE part is actually reading the log. I love reading the history of the cache, noting when items were placed for trade and when they moved on.

The best logs have a little “snippet” in them; the story of the find, the drive, the hike, etc. I love reading the antidotes. This is one of my favorites! It was one of the first caches we ever found. It’s near Williams, Arizona, above Kaibab Lake. Kaibab Lake actually has a TON of geocaches nearby but this is the only one I’ve found personally: GC86B4

The first log sheet. Notice the date!

The first log sheet. Notice the date!

But, of course, like anybody, I was puzzled by some of the things said in a log. What, for instance does:

TFTC TN SL mean??

Is this short hand for:

This Find Took Climbing. Tired Now. Sleep Later. ?

Well, it took me a long time, but I think I finally have most of the cache signing jargon figured out. These are the most common abbreviations I’ve seen.

Common Geocaching Abbreviations:

ATCF – As The Crow Flies. Point to point mileage, irrespective of roads or barriers. Note that it’s not a true point-to-point distance, as the distance calculated by a GPS is actually measured following a mathematical model of the curvature of the earth.

BYOP – Bring Your Own Pen/Pencil. An acronym often used by cache owners to communicate to other geocachers that you will need to bring your writing utensil in order to sign the cache logbook.

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13 years ago • • Tags: ,