Hiya!

Well there may not be as many caches in your area as there are in the Eastern portion of the state, but each area has lots to showcase and in your case you are going to see some fantastic sites. More does not mean better.

Yes, you are correct in assuming now is not the ideal time to begin caching; there is still some caching going on but it has dramatically slowed down due to the snow.

I hope our forums can help you get to know us a bit and to help you so see what some of the ins and outs of the sport are….

Welcome.

@zuma wrote:

@KimInWis wrote:

Hey all! I’m just starting out, reading everything I can, and deciding what GPS model I want to get. Can’t wait to get started, but I might just wait until the snow melts! Anyone near the Ferryville/Desoto/Prarie du Chien area? If so, how is the caching around this area? Doesn’t look like too many…most seem to be in the Eastern side of the state.
But hello and Gooo Greenbay (we just beat the Rams!)!!

Welcome KimInWis. Glad to have ya on board. You are right, your section of the state is a little underpopluated in caches, but the ones that are there tend to be in really great places. Hopefully, after ya find a few, you can correct the problem of not enough caches down that way.

As far as which gps to get, opinions will vary. I have an inexpensive Garmin LegendC, and it is impossible to bust the thing, and I have found a lot of caches with it. Hard to go wrong buying a Garmin, any Garmin. If ya have a few more dollars, the Garmin 60CSx is a good choice.

As far as cachin in winter, the snow can make it tougher. But it is great to be out in the snow hiking, so I would start right away, if I was you.

Have fun,

zuma

Kim, welcome to the addiction, I mean game. I started with the LegendC and up graded to the 60SCx. I have never used any other brand so I will not bash them, but Geocaching.com has it set up to download cache waypoint to Garmin units.

For anyother question you came to the right place. Someone lurking in the boards will give you an aswer for your needs.

Welcome to all of the fun Kim. If you can find those caches under all that snow, you’ll be able to find them anywhere. When I have problems finding one, I start by cussing out the cache owner to myself. If that doesn’t work, I cuss out everyone one else that found it and said, “nice quick find” or “found it in the first place I looked”. It doesn’t always work, but it makes me feel better anyway. Good luck to you.

Hi Kim,

We’re in this corner, near LaCrosse. No, the caching is not as dense here as other areas, but what we lack in number, we generally make up for in awesome terrain. Rochester has lots of them and is only about an hour away from us, but many of those are puzzles. Also urban micros, which I won’t explain that much because it will ruin the surprise for you. After the initial surprise, though, they aren’t all that cool, LOL.

Wildcat Mountain has a series of caches that are awesome. There are several blufftop climbs/hikes in the LaCrosse area that are also great caching. If you want other ideas, just ask. We’ve done pretty much everything along the river from Potosi to Wabasha.

Also, I would highly recommend the GRR series across the river in Iowa. Lots of nice views of the river and nice big containers so you aren’t looking for micros all day. Also, right around PDC, we found a couple others we really liked, Fern Gully and Three Artesian Wells (or something like that).

DUCK! is cool and not far from Prairie du Chien. It’s also one of those places we’d never have visited if not for caching.

@3 Hawks wrote:

@Team Deejay wrote:

Also, I would highly recommend the GRR series across the river in Iowa. Lots of nice views of the river and nice big containers so you aren’t looking for micros all day. Also, right around PDC, we found a couple others we really liked, Fern Gully and Three Artesian Wells (or something like that).

Now Deejay, you forgot to mention DUCK!! You told me that was one of your favorites in SW WI.

Wyalusing State Park has a couple nice caches that will test your stamina and Pike’s Peak State Park (IA) also has a few great caches.

Welcome to the game!! Just take your time and enjoy the journey.

Oops!! That was team genesis who told me about his fondness of DUCK!! I get my teams mixed up from time to time. I must be getting old.