Cemetery Caches

My favorite kind of caches are cemetery caches. I find cemeteries very peaceful and interesting. I especially like old cemeteries and I enjoy looking at the headstones and markers. I discovered that some cemeteries have mainly flat markers and most older ones have headstones. I have come across several interesting headstones in my travels. 
As for caches, all that I have found were hidden respectfully at the edge of the cemetery or in trees or bushes within the grounds. In Twinsburg we have two great cemeteries, one loaded with seven caches. Crown Hill Cemetery is located on Darrow Road (Rt. 91) just south of the 480. This cemetery has large grounds and a few ponds. Locust Hill Cemetery is located off of Aurora Road (Rt. 82) just north of the 480. Locust Hill is a small cemetery but it is the final resting place for notable families from Twinsburg's past. The Wilcox Twins (Twinsburg's namesakes,) Chamberlin and Bissell families have several markers. 
When I travel I really enjoy exploring new areas and the cemeteries I come across while geocaching often give me some history of the location.

A cast iron headstone.
Location: Noblesville, IN

An interesting headstone from 1907. There is a photo inlaid into it.
Location: Houston, FL

Detail of the inlaid photo.
Location: Houston, FL

An ornate headstone.
Location: Indianapolis, IN

A rather foreboding message.
Location: Delphos, OH 

This is how I would like to be buried...with a huge tree on top of me.
Location: Noblesville, IN

Travel Bugs and Geocoins

Another fun aspect of geocaching is finding travel bugs and geocoins. These items are known as trackables and are intednded to travel from cache to cache. It is up to us to help them move around complete their missions. Unlike trading for SWAG, you do not have to leave anything in the cache when you take a trackable. 
A travel bug (TB) is basically a dog tag like item with a tracking number etched in it. Often a TB is attached to some sort of "token" like a toy car, a small doll, key chain, or just about anything. Often TB's have a misson. The TB in the photo has a mission to find other TB's from the same animated series. 

The travel bug is technically the metal dog tag on the right. I removed the tracking number.

Geocoins are the same basic idea, but they are not attached to anything. As with TB's, geocoins have a tracking number etched into them. Many geocoins have some sort of theme and can sometimes be customized. 

Front of a geocoin. I removed the tracking number

The back of the above geocoin

What seems to be the most confusing thing for cachers is how to accurately log trackables. I'll try to lay this out in a very basic way:

1. Take the TB from the cache.
2. Go to Geocaching.com and click "Trackables" on the left.
3. In the "Enter the Tracking Code of the Item:" area, input the TB/geocoin tracking number and click "Track"
4. In the upper right of the screen, click: "Found it? Log it!" 
5. Select the type of log. If the person before you did this right, you should be able to select that you retrieved it from the cache it was in. 
6. Input the tracking number again.
7. Add a comment.
8. Click "Submit Log Entry"

Now the TB/geocoin will be in your inventory. If you go to your profile, you will see all of the trackables listed in the lower right side. 

1. Once you decide to place the trackable in another cache, you will need to log that you did so. This will allow the next person to "retrieve it" and keep the process going. 
2. Place the trackable in a cache.
3. Go to geocaching.com and log the cache like you normally would.
4. BEFORE SUBMITTING THE LOG, scroll down and find the trackable you dropped off.
5. To the right, select "Dropped Off" and then submit the log. 

Great job!

Out and About

We have made it to the cache hiding area, known as ground zero or GZ. Our GPS shows that we are right on top of the cache...but where is it? Well, that is the second part of geocaching. 
Once you have made it to the hide area, you have to locate the cache. It is very helpful to know the size of container while looking. The size will have an effect on where the cache is hidden and I have seen many different sizes and types of cache containers. Caches can be hidden just about anywhere, but there are some rules:

• No cache can be intentionally buried underground. 
• Most cache owners try to avoid hiding caches in a way that would cause people to destroy or dismantle anything. It is a general rule that we should leave the area better than we found it (well, at least not worse.)
• Any cache hidden on private property should have permission form the property owner.

So you have found the cache, now what? You will want to find the log and sign it. The log is your proof that you indeed found the cache. I have read about some cache owners who will check the log in the cache against the log on the website. I personally don't bother as I figure people are only cheating themselves if they don't actually find the cache. You may then want to look in the container to see if there is anything worth trading. Once finished with the cache, be sure to replace it as you found it (unless you found it laying out in the open,) to be ready for the next cacher. Now on to the next hide!