OK, I have a GPS, how do I get geocaches on the map?

Here are my steps for getting geocaches into my Garmin 60Csx.
(These instructions will work with the Garmin Colorado, but there are other options for that as well, see : http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Geocaching)

1. Become a premium member at Geocaching.com. For $30 a year, you get Pocket Queries (and many other features : http://www.geocaching.com/subscribe/)
   
   
2. Setup pocket queries for the areas you will be geocaching. Log in to geocaching.com, on the left click on My Account, then on the right select "Build Pocket Queries". A pocket query is a way to 'search' for geocaches, and it will return a list of geocaches inside of a .gpx file. This file can be automatically emailed to you.
   
   
3. Geocaching software. I use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). Download it at gsak.net. What is the purpose of the extra software? It provides a local storage and management of all the geocaches you are interested in. Plus GSAK will check your email and retrieve all the 'pocket query' emails coming from geocaching.org and automatically add/update the geocaches returned. (This also means that geocaches that you find will be automatically marked locally as well). So at this point, you have daily/weekly emails coming from Geocaching.com, and GSAK will update from them. So now you just need to get them into your gps.
4. Waypoints or POIS? On the 60 Csx, there 2 ways to store the geocaches. They can be treated as normal waypoints, or custom pois (points of interest). The 60CSx is limited to 1000 waypoints (sounds like a lot, but geocaches add up fast - especially if you are on a road trip). The only limit to 'custom pois' is space available on your SD memory card - great!
   
   To load custom pois, Garmin provides a POI loader program. Now all we have to do is tell GSAK to export our geocaches, and use the Garmin POI Loader to send them to the GPS.
   
   Here is a 'macro' to add to GSAK, which will do exactly what we want. http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=3172&st=0&#entry32637
   
   The best part about this, is it also uses custom icons, so the icons on the gps look like the icons on Geocaching.com's 2D map.
   
   
5. Export-Import Run the export, then run Garmins POI Loader. Go to the map view on your gps, and voila - Geocaches!
   
   
6. The Geocache Lifecyle OK, once you have your software set up, and geocaches on your GPS, it's time to actually go find one. Here are the steps I use.
   
1. Go find geocaches and sign the log books.
2. When I get home, I log into Geocaching.com and go to the geocaches that I found using the 2D map. I then sign each geocache with the "Log your visit" option. This marks the geocache as found in your account. The next time your pocket queries are emailed to you, these geocaches will be marked as found (a different icon)
   
3. I have my pocket queries set to email me every Thursday.
4. Every Friday I run GSAK, have it check my email, and export the geocaches to garmin pois. Then I run the Garmin POI Loader to update the geocaches in my GPS. Now all found Geocaches show up as such on the GPS.
5. There may be other ways to handle the logging of geocaches (I would be interested to hear in what other people do). This is working fine for me. The part I like, is that I can now edit/add/remove pocket queries and it is all handled automatically by GSAK.
   

Happy Geocaching!

I want to Geocache - what GPS should I have?

Geocaching is great! What a great excuse to get out and hike.

I get asked quite often about what GPS unit would be good for geocaching. Not a simple question, as there are ton of models to choose from. I am only familiar with a few, and they are all Garmin brand.
I have been using a GPSMap 60 Csx for a few years now and love it. I can use my own memory card to store custom maps and thousands of geocaches. The sensitivity of the antenna is great, no longer do I lose a signal when under foliage or in a valley.


The Models
Here is the Garmin lineup : https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145

The Colorado models are the newest, and I do not know much about them (it looks like they may add a little fancier support for geocaching).

Features To Consider:

• Memory Card For the Garmin models (excluding the Colorados) the letter 'x' in the model name indicates that it will allow you to use a microSD memory card. Using your own memory card is handy for storing lots of maps and 'custom points of interest' (can be geocaches). I would highly recommend this option
• Channels This is how many satellites it can calculate against. I think 12 has become the standard number, at least last time I looked into it.
  
• Electronic Compass A GPS receiver (GPSr) is not able to determine the direction that you are facing unless you are moving. If you stand still and turn in a circle, it will not know that you are facing a different direction. Thus, some models add an electronic compass (works just like a normal compass - it faces magnetic north). Thus, if you stand in one position and turn, the electronic compass can tell that you have turned, allowing the map to rotate, or a heading arrow to change, or the arrow to the geocache to turn to the proper direction. They are not always perfect, and do need to be recalibrated fairly often (just hit 'recalibrate compass' and turn in a circle twice to recalibrate - easy enough. I personally think it is worth the extra $. (it can be turned off as well)
  
• Barometer A GPSr is great at determining your x/y position on the earth, but not quite as accurate in determining your elevation. To help improve accuracy in elevation, a few models also include a barometer. A barometer uses the the measurement of air pressure to determine altitude. This also requires recalibration - and there are arguments back and forth whether this is really a worthwhile addition. I believe that the barometer is really accurate at determining changes in altitude, but does need to be recalibrated against a known reading.
• Topo Maps
  Garmin sells a Topo map software product which contains topo maps for the US (pretty low resolution) but there are becoming more and more custom made maps available for free. For example, this guy has high res topo all of Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming : http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_main.html
• Street Navigation
  Garmin likes to make money off their street map software : Garmin City Navigator. If you have this installed, it will auto-route you on roads, let you search by street addresses and find points of interest like restaurants, gas stations, etc. If you do not already have a GPS for your car, this is worth the investment. (No more digging in the phone book trying to find an address for a garage sale :-), it will just take you there turn by turn).
  NOTE: this is available on either a DVD which you can then use to install into your GPS, or on a memory card that you can put directly into your GPS. I would recommend the DVD version, because if you get the memory card version, you will not be able to use your own custom maps at the same time as the street maps.
  

• Custom Maps If you would like to load your own maps (custom topo, private land ownership, etc.) you need the models that have an 'x' in their name:
• eTrex Legend HCx
• eTresx Vista HCx
• GPSMap 60 Cx
• GPSMap 60 Csx (this is the one I have)
• GPSMap 76Cx
• GPSMap 76 Csx
• Colorado models.