I can't speak for everyone else that Geocaches, but I would be interested to see if we all have something in common. Certainly we all have a sense of adventure and find an outlet for our inner child with every treasure hunt. I would also guess that most of us are somewhat physically fit as we will hike anywhere for a single cache.
So what about me? Well, I am a 29 year old Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army who is stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado (a great place to Geocache). I am a Tank Commander on a M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank in Dragon Company, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. I have a wonderful wife, two children (with a third on the way) and one dumb Labrador Retriever.
I had always been excellent at land navigation with just a map and a compass. I eventually became proficient with the Armys GPS but it was huge like a 1980's cell phone and nearly impossible to program. I recently got fed up with the lack of features and diffuculty to operate and purchased a Magellan Sport Track Pro. It was absolutely heavenly compared to what I was use to. Many soldiers keep thier military issue GPS stowed and use thier own civilian GPS. While the army issued GPS is still more accurate, the civilian counterpart makes up for it with spectacular features not incorporated into the militarys version. Basically the army version only tells you where you are. Accuracy really isn't an issue anyways. The Army's GPS gives you a 10 digit grid coordinate which gets you to within 1 meter while the average civilian gps will get you to within ten. Now, believe it or not, the Army only really concerns itself with six digit grid coordinates that get you to within 100 meters.
Coincidentaly I am also an avid hiker and have been for years. I also justified my purchase of a GPS for the purpose of finding my way through the mountains and tracking my hikes. It was only a few months ago that I discovered Geocaching. I almost fainted. A way to combine my love for hiking and the functions of my new GPS? The little kid inside me started jumping up and down with excitement. My two hobbies combined into an adult treasure hunt! What could be better? Well, I am completely addicted now.
