Last night, I took on the challenge of my first geocaching experience. A friend of mine tried it, and I finally had the time to give it a shot. It went south pretty quick as I wandered around, aimlessly retracing my path several times as passersby’s asked “Are you lost?” and “Do you need help?” “I know exactly where I am! I live here!” I thought. And thanks to my smartphone, I was right where I was supposed to be: N 39 degrees 46.158, W 086 degrees 10.002. Nonetheless, I still felt lost and clueless.
Why? Because the goal of geocaching is to find a hidden treasure box in public places and sign the log-in book when you do. To help you find these treasures, geocachers post the treasure’s longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates along with a few clues. It’s like Nicholas Cage’s National Treasure minus the heated chase and stealing the Declaration of Independence.
But long before the National Treasure series hit theaters and the prevalence of smartphones everywhere, geocachers would have to find clubs with geocached treasure clues and pursue them with only maps, compasses, pencils, and paper. Then, GPS systems and the almighty internet arrive along with Geocaching.com which lets you search for caches nearest your address and communicate with other geocachers. Geocaching became popular until finally, smartphones appear and take the features of the internet mobile along with built-in GPS trackers to locate your position.
Sounds easy enough now, right? Apps out there like Geocaching.com’s can locate your position, let you pick a geocache near you, find the coordinates on a map, and leads you to the prize… all for only ten bucks! With something so great, why, exactly, was I lost?
Well, like you, I wanted to test out some free apps before I sell my phone’s GPS soul for $10. After using Geocache.com’s website to find nearby geocaches, all you need are your current coordinates. These are are some good free beginner’s apps that will do the trick:
1. GeoCaching Intro (iPhone) – Geocaching.com’s free version of their grand-daddy $10 app.
2. GPS Status – (Android) – The simplest free app showing only a compass with longitude and latitude coordinates.
3. GPS Test (Android)– shows a compass with coordinates, but also shows your speed, altitude, and sunset & sunrise times. I highly recommend this one after your GeoCaching Intro trial expires.
So, how did this fancy smartphone technology perform? From a beginner’s perspective, it worked great. After reading reviews of my gps phone, the HTC Inspire, one user said “The GPS on this will get you within about 5m or 15 feet” which is great for a mobile device. The phone recalibrated my northern position a few times, but with the geocache’s description and clues I was able to find the hiding spot.
I eagerly climbed the steps to “take a seat” as the clue said. The sun was setting below the Indianapolis canal’s horizon, and I was running out of time. I tried using my phone’s flashlight for five minutes, but it was too late. I would not be finding a hidden black film canister any time soon. Now I know why GPS Test’s sunrise/sunset feature can be so important.
Overall, I truly enjoyed Geocaching. With the internet and an app, it took me about 10 minutes of set-up and I was out the door enjoying beautiful weather on a treasure hunt. Next time, I will bring a friend using a different app to increase my chances of success, and we’ll definitely leave long before sunset. And that next time can be at anytime, because I can easily search the internet for local geocaches and navigate to it with a GPS phone. So, like Geocaching.com’s slogan says, “Go somewhere. Do something” and try it out!
Author Bio: When he’s not running or mountain biking outdoors, Nate Schrader writes for TravelProducts.com’s blog about anything from your ordinary travel power converter to airfare travel to the best local food in town. He also enjoys keeping up with the latest technology and smartphone apps.
Photo Credits:
http://www.hikealot.com/
http://tdc4ever.bazaarandroid.com/
2 Responses to “A Beginner’s Guide to Geocaching’s Best Smartphone Apps”
Thank you for an interesting article.
If you use android, I think you should try c:geo (https://market.android.com/details?id=cgeo.geocaching). In my opinion one of the best geocaching apps for that platform.
This application seems like a great way to spend time with your loved ones and bond with them especially if you have kids. I feel that your kids will love this game and it will strengthen your relationship with them. This is perfect since holiday season is fast approaching. I’ll definitely try this out.