I never realized how focused I was when Geocaching until the first time we went out in the woods to find an ammo can (well, technically, it was the second time).

My eyes were glued to the screen until I was within 30 feet of the hidden gem.  At 29 feet I put the GPSr down and fired up my “Geo-senses”.  Success.  I signed the log then came to a heart-stopping conclusion.  I had no idea where we parked.

I couldn’t believe that I had gotten us lost with a GPSr in my hand.  Stacie and I were caching in the mountains west of Colorado Springs and the Sun was well on its way to the horizon.  So we at least knew where the city was.  As we scrambled to what we hoped was the right direction, my stomach was in knots since nothing looked familiar (after all, my head was buried in the GPSr screen).  In my rush to the published coordinates I hadn’t paid attention to any of my surroundings.  By sheer luck we ran into the dusty cordoned-off piece of land ear-marked for depositing vehicles.  Whew!

My Take-Away:  Mark a waypoint named Car, Parking, or PK as soon as you leave the car.  If you are unsure how to do that with the Geocaching.com app you can go here and see how to do it.  Mark where you park!