I should probably give some words of advice on hiding a cache.

First and foremost . . . I strongly encourage new cachers to not hide a cache until they've found at least 15-25 caches. The reason for this is that a lot of folks want to hide their own cache right away (and that's great since new folks often have new ideas of where to place a cache),but until you've seen different cache containers, cache hides, etc. you may not have a good idea on what makes a good cache hide . . . and there's nothing worse than hiding a cache and then having to archive it a few days later because it's on land where the owner doesn't want caches, the cache is muggled because it wasn't hidden very well or the cache washes away downstream because it was too close to a rising stream.

Take the time to see what caches you like and why. Look at the various ways in which caches have been hidden. While caches can't be buried, there are some pretty ingenious hides . . . some involving fishing line, cables, ropes and the use of natural and man-made materials to camouflage the cache.

Of course your first step in hiding a cache is to pick a location. I personally prefer locations that offer me a scenic view or historical aspect. Other cache favorites are ones that have a personal tie-in (i.e. a cache dedicated to someone . . . these caches often have some info about the person and there is often a reason the cache is hidden where it is.) Do take the time to learn what places are unacceptable according to geocaching.com guidelines . . . and remember permission needs to be given before hiding a cache. Just don't assume that since a wildlife refuge is open to the public that it is also open for cachers. You also don't want to place a cache in an area that is already saturated with caches . . . look up the area you're thinking about at geocaching.com and see if there are already a ton of caches hidden there or not.

Choose your cache container carefully. Tupperware is fair at best and doesn't always survive Maine winters so gracefully. Lock N' Lock containers with their seal seem to work well and the ammo can is almost always a good choice. The Ziplock plastic ware containers are junk . . . sorry, that's my opinion . . . but these things may be great for storing a sandwich in a refrigerator, but they just don't stand up so well for geocaching. Other popular choices for containers include water-proof match containers, 35 mm film canisters (although who is buying film these days with so many digital cameras in use is beyond me) and "bison tubes" (small metal tubes). The key is to not limit yourself or your imagination . . . I've seen many good cache containers . . . one was even home-made out of PVC. For me I think the best thing to remember is to choose your cache container based on the location. An ammo box in a busy city park will most likely be muggled . . . a film canister in middle of the woods may not be the best choice when a large ammo can could be hidden there in its place.

While you could technically hide your cache with nothing more than a logbook inside (on my larger caches I also include a pencil or pen) it's nice to start off a cache with some good swag. Again, put stuff in it that you think yourself or others would like to trade. One word on the logbook . . . this should contain the name of the cache on the cover and some contact information in case a cacher or non-cacher needs to contact you for some reason (i.e. the Maine State Police Bomb Squad is about to detonate your cache . . . not that this would ever happen of course. ) Finally, go to geocaching.com and print out one of the many "geo stash notes" -- these notes explain what geocaching is and are useful for non-geocachers who might accidentally find this cache. I personally like to laminate my stash note . . . but this is not necessary.

OK, so you've got the location picked out. You've found a great place to hide the cache and you've got the cache container stocked and ready to go. All you need to do now is hide it and post the information on-line . . . which is a pretty easy proposition.

However, I would strongly suggest that for your first hide or two that you take separate GPSr readings . . . or at the very least place your GPSr near the location of the hide and wait for it to "settle down". Don't just take the first coord reading that you get . . . at the very least wait a few minutes. When possible I like to go back to the site at least two or three times on different days or different times and then I take the average of those readings . . . others will approach the cache from different directions and average the coords. The main thing I'm trying to impart here is just don't go up to the cache and take the very first coord reading that is on your screen . . . you may also want to check your accuracy reading. For example, I've had days when my accuracy was 100 feet plus . . . on those days and on that reading I tossed it out since it was off by way too many feet to be of much use for future geocachers.

Well that's it for now . . . my fingers are getting tired of typing . . . and I have to get ready for lunch . . . any other geocachers are welcome to offer up some geocaching advice for cachers looking to hide a cache.