This topic contains 28 replies, has 15 voices, and was last updated by 
Ckayda 10 years, 9 months ago.
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I’m hoping to make some good progress on my “days of the year” chart this winter but it’s going to be a tall order since I’ve literally never found a cache in January, February or March and have found very few in the months surrounding.
There are a few caches in my area that I’ve deliberately put off finding because I’m pretty sure they’ll be not quite as hard to get in the dark or in the snow but there’s not enough of them to make much of a dent.
We’re rapidly approaching the time where it will be dark in the morning, when I go to work, and dark in the evening when I leave so I won’t have daylight to work with except on the weekends and holidays which I’m not too worried about.
I guess what I’m saying is: Any suggestions on how people seek out and find caches in cold, dark, snowy conditions would be appreciated. Keep in mind that it’s just me. I don’t have a whole posse of people that I go out with where it’s just a simple matter of each person searching one square foot of GZ.
Get a good flashlight, look for when the cache was last found, checking the logs…has it been found since the snow hit the ground? If the snow has already been on the ground, then there is a good chance you may be able to find it.
Look for the Available in Winter attribute but that is not always a homerun and there is a lot of discussion as to the true meaning of Available.
Find a nice portable shovel and metal detector and hunt only ammo cans in the White Season.
Following the signals from space.
It won’t be as difficult as you are thinking! WA has great suggestions. Also, watch what is being found in your area in the winter. There are crazy people (like me) who will actually go hiking and digging out a container. If you see that I (or someone else has done that), get out there before it snows again – because chances are you will find a geotrail to the container. Unlike grass, snow will be trodden down and easy to follow until more of the white stuff arrives. Also, solve puzzles….they may be more challenging to solve, but the hides generally tend to be easier. Good luck!
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Events count for a find also – so don’t miss those!
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
I’ll come caching in the winter with you. :-). Now I just need to find where my snowshoes are packed….
Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
All of our caches are winter friendly. Come to Eagle River in the winter.
It took us six years to fill our days of the year chart. Don’t try to do it all at once or you will end up not enjoying the caching experience. The calendar achievement is harder to do if you live in a rural area with very few P&Gs to get on those nasty weather days.
Just go out when you feel like caching. If the day is a bit warmer than usual, find a nice place to take a hike. If the sun is out, go absorb some vitamin D. If it’s cold and windy, stay home and read a book… or hit those P&Gs. If the roads are OK and you have the time and money, go on a longer trip to an area with caches you haven’t found yet.
Virtual caches are often in locations where you just have to get some information or take a photo. Some EarthCaches are in winter-firendly spots, but not all. Go on your days off this year, and on your days off next year… or the next… when they will be on different dates.
Do not burn yourself out by doing too much too soon and not savoring the experience. Caching is not a competition; do it recreationally. If you’re not having fun, pull back a bit. If you’re not a winter person, make this your slow caching season. Some cachers even “hibernate” for a few months.
Do what is enjoyable and fulfilling for you and your family. Everyone caches differently.
@beccaday wrote:
I’ll come caching in the winter with you. :-). Now I just need to find where my snowshoes are packed….
Yeah, snow shoes are great! Not that anyone out here knows what they are
The best sig is no sig.
Last winter I found one on the coldest day of the year. It was one I couldn’t find in the summer but once the leaves were off the trees it was a glaring misfit very easy to find
The best sig is no sig.
I love finding a cache in the winter! Where I live makes it difficult but when I get off Island there are certain hiders who you get to know where they like to hide a cache. Those drilled out holes in the base of a sign post, the guard rail, bike paths, you know the kind. The trick is to leave those for the winter and tough weather months and get the hiking ones in the nicer weather.
I have a sister in Eau Claire who I visit on a regular basis and I’ve left that Clairemont and Highway 93 Bike Trail just for that purpose. Open date over the holidays, I’ll grab a cache like that. In my neck of the woods, we have multiple barn quilt caches and the Top Spot caches, usually a signpost that’s easily available and easy to grab and return to the warm vehicle in short order.
Just go out when you feel like caching.
All good points about not trying to do it all at once and not burning myself out but this will be my 3rd winter of caching and I STILL have found absolutely nothing…so clearly this is going to take at least a little bit more of a concerted effort.
I’ll come caching in the winter with you. . Now I just need to find where my snowshoes are packed….
Sweet! Sounds like fun. I have two pairs of snowshoes but I don’t know if either is your size. Speaking of snowshoes, I was thinking I could maybe get out to some of the area island caches once everything freezes over.
I have a sister in Eau Claire who I visit on a regular basis and I’ve left that Clairemont and Highway 93 Bike Trail
Yes! I was thinking I would milk the 93 bike trail whenever I get in a pinch for a quick one. I already have all of the Claremont ones though I know the whole thing got archived and replaced last year and perhaps that’s an annual event?
Lots of good suggestions here. This was exactly the sort of stuff I was hoping for. Thanks everyone!
In winter, Size matters too.
look for Regular and large caches. often, the size can easily indicate what beacon type you should be looking for. Micros in the woods in winter unless painted like a Christmas ornament, will be difficult to locate while an ammo box in a hollow tree should be easy-peasy.
Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.
Regular sized containers on islands are fun in the winter! Snowshoes are the best. Long hikes to the Eagles Source with good friends are not bad either.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
@lacknothing wrote:
Regular sized containers on islands are fun in the winter!
Especially when those islands are somewhere in Hawaii or the Caribbean… 😉
Here’s a quickie video I just made today about geocaching in winter.
WHO’S READY FOR WINTER CACHING?!!?
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