Data Hacking

262 Part IV — Playtime
As you get closer to the cache there is a natural tendency to slow down. After all, the
slower you go, the more accurate everything will be, yes? Well, in fact, no. Most GPS
receivers rely on the GPS being in motion in order to determine the right direction to go
(it uses the GPS signal as a compass, although some GPS receivers do have a built-in
compass). Slowing down as you get nearer to the cache is not normally going to help you!
Cachers usually don’t hide caches in plain sight or on open ground. Look for things that
stand out — a lone tree or a rocky outcrop. Usually, substantial tree cover is involved,
which can interfere with the signal to your GPS receiver.
Remember too that the cache itself has been hidden — the geocacher who placed the
cache doesn’t want to make your task too easy!
There are some other tricks that will help you too:
Don’t aim for the cache — aim beyond it.
Look for signs of disturbance.
Look for a break in the tree cover.
Use search patterns.
Stop and average.
Approach it from a different direction.
Look for the unnatural.
The following sections look at each of the preceding hints.
Aim Beyond the Cache!
This sounds like the logical thing to do. Walk and walk and walk until the distance reading
reads 0 yards and then you must be there. You’ve been conditioned by the GPS receiver to
count down the distance over however many hundreds or thousands of yards you’ve been walking,
so it’s natural to think that this is what you can expect.
A far better trick is to aim beyond the cache — the GPS is unlikely to take you much closer
than, say, 5–10 yards, so use this to your advantage. Note when your GPS unit indicates that
you are 10 yards away from the cache and then keep going. The direction of travel arrow will
probably begin to waver and spin erratically. Keep walking in the direction you were going and
eventually the arrow will settle and point behind you. Keep going until you are about 10 yards
away. Now stop. Look behind you to the location where you made a mental note of being
10 yards away from the cache and halve the distance between where you are and that point.
That gives you a very good starting point for your search.