I started geocaching September 19, 2014 as a fun hobby and a chance to get outside more. It sounded like a world-wide scavenger hunt. I found my first geocache on September 26. To date so far, I have found 937 geocaches in 18 different states, from Maine to Washington. I had hoped to have over 1000 by now, but I got sidelined due to a bad shoulder injury for a couple of years and did not get out much. 2020 and the pandemic travel restrictions did not help either. I hope to change that this year.

Anyway, back to the first geocache. On my first day off from work after downloading the app, I opened the map and discovered that there were several geocaches in the town I lived in! I found one with the easiest terrain and difficulty rating and clicked the navigation button.

A note here: the navigation button will only show you a direct line as the crow flies to the geocache from where you are. You will have to figure out from the map how you are going to get close to it. Once you are close, follow the arrow and pay attention to how many feet away it is. When you get within 50 feet of the geocache, the phone will ding or vibrate.

I ended up in a Walmart parking lot. The app had me navigate to behind the store and my car brought me to within 10 feet of the location. I got out of the car and looked around. There was a guardrail and a couple of small spruce trees in the location the app indicated.

I searched all through the trees, looking for anything that might be hanging from a branch. I looked around the base of both trees to see if anything was hidden in the roots. Nothing.

I looked around the guardrail to see if anything was attached to it and found nothing there either. I then looked into the end of the guardrail and instead of it being hollow, it looked like a random bolt was in there. Strange. I grabbed the end of the bolt and this is what I pulled out of the guardrail:

Inside was a pencil and a piece of paper with lots of dates and names from previous geocachers who had been here before me. I was so excited as I added the date and my username to log. I replaced the container back in the guardrail exactly as I had found it.

I then clicked the Found It button on the app and got to officially record my find. There is a log there where you can write as much or as little as you would like about the find.

A few minutes later I found my second cache in a different corner of the same parking lot. This one was a plastic vitamin bottle with the wrapper removed. Inside was a log to sign and two pennies. I had to use my own pen this time. It's important to bring one with you every time just in case the cache does not have one. It sucks if you have to trek back to your car because you forgot it.

I have since learned in my travels that there is almost always at least one geocache in every Walmart parking lot around the country. I have only driven by one so far that did not have one. If you are experiencing geocaching for the first time, I highly recommend starting there. They are usually easy to find and help you build a little confidence in what you are doing.

If you are a geocacher, leave me a comment below. I would love to hear about some of your favorite finds or how you got started.