Please remember to be safe out there!

[arkfiremedic]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/phones-gps-points-ems-to-injured-hiker (http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/phones-gps-points-ems-to-injured-hiker)

This is a story from Austin, Texas about a geocacher who was critically injured geocaching. :(

[apache_scout]

We think "knowing your limits" is an important consideration. We found ourselves on the Stateline Road series a few days after the snow and ice. The trail was so much fun that we were several miles in before we started thinking we might not be makeing a great decision. The road had a lot of ice and muddy spots, no cell service, and we saw no one the entire day. Darkness caught us out on the trail and our GPS led us down a private road that ended abruptly.
This trail is the best, but it might not have been a great idea for us alone on muddy and icy roads. We have promised ourselves to be "smarter."

[Nukeworker]

Last weekend we were doing some hiking in a park and started off in search of a cache that was only rated a 3.5 terrain. When we saw the narrow trail go directly up at a very, very steep incline, we decided to read the cache page and previous logs. One by one, people talked about the difficult climb and the even more difficult descent. Many went into lengthy stories of falling all the way down the hill.....with one cacher ending his log with the word "PAIN"! We usually wouldn't have given up on a 3.5 terrain, but after reading their accounts of the cache find and staring at the steep hill, we said no thank you and gave up our quest. We were a long distance from our truck and did not need to tempt fate. Our luck... one of us would have needed to be rescued. No way did we need to risk that, nor injury, nor "pain". Sometimes common sense just needs to guide us.

We have gotten in the habit of telling a family member if we are headed to a rural area to cache. Always telling them where and about what time we should be done. Then we call as soon as we have cell phone service on the return trip. Hopefully nothing will ever happen, but at least they would know where to start if we were missing.

[DaTexanBoy]

I do the same as Nuke when I go hunting. Several people know where I'm at, where I see deer come from (that way they know the directions I'm shooting) and how long I'm gonna be on my stand. It's always a great idea to let someone know anytime you're gonna be in the woods. Never know who or what you may run into.

[idratherbehiking]

This is a story from Austin, Texas about a geocacher who was critically injured geocaching. :(

I have been following this story on the Central Texas Geocachers page since this unfortunate accident happened. Another local cacher set up a donations page (http://www.gofundme.com/Zachary) to help raise money for Zach's medical expenses.

He was moved out of the ICU on Sunday so that is really good news. He still has a long way to go in his recovery but is well on his way.

[drmo913]

the Podcacher podcast has covered this as well... Great to see national involvement.