Geocaching
Have you ever
dreamed of finding a
hidden treasure?
Just the thought of
following clues and
coordinates on a map
tickles the
adventure bone in
both kids and
adults. Well, here’s
your chance; a
fairly new sport
with the promise of
fun, excitement and
family bonding
is hiding all around
us, it’s called
geocaching, which
basically means,
storing things on
the earth.
Geocaching is a
treasure hunt using
your Global
Positioning System
(GPS). It’s a
sophisticated
game of
hide-and-seek where
people all over the
world search for
hidden boxes, or
caches. The GPS
required for
geocaching is a
hand-held
navigational device
about the size of a
cell phone. They
range in price from
$70 to $1,000 and
can be purchased at
any sporting goods
store.
The difference in
price can get you
within 20 feet of
your destination, or
as close as a
centimeter. The
importance of that
20 feet depends on
whether you’re
looking for your
favorite hunting
spot or if you’re
searching for the
exact spot in the
river where you
dropped your wedding
ring.
A GPS uses 24 space
satellites and their
corresponding ground
stations to give
accurate
coordinates to
anywhere in the
world. According to
the Trimble GPS Web
site (www.trimble.com),
“…it’s like giving
every square meter
on the planet a
unique address.”
So, basically, if I
hide a penny in a
forest in Idaho, and
give you the
coordinates from my
GPS, you’ll be able
to follow the
directions from your
GPS until you’re
practically standing
on top of my penny.
Cool, huh? |
Getting Started
After you get a hold
of a GPS, go to the
Geocaching Web site
(www.geocaching.com).
Start your own free
account. Choose a
special geocaching
name that your
family will be known
by online. It
creates a place to
keep track of every
hide you search for,
which ones you find
and which ones you
can’t find.
When you’re ready to
embark
on your first hunt,
type in the city,
state and country
you’d like to
search, and what
mile radius you’re
willing to travel.
For instance, you
might want to know
about any caches
within a 15-mile
radius of Oldtown,
Idaho. Even though
most of the people
living in this small
town of 190 people
have never heard of
geocaching, there
happen to be 13
caches within that
radius. Sandpoint
has 74 caches
waiting to be found.
Scroll through them.
The difficulty of
the search is ranked
on a scale of one to
five. If the terrain
for a particular
cache isn’t
advisable for small
children, the cache
hider will have
mentioned it. Some
will leave hints,
some won’t. Many
people who hide the
caches want you to
experience
interesting sites in
their area, and will
give a brief history
or interesting fact
about the spot where
the cache is hidden.
Each has it’s own
name, and many times
the name is the
clue. Print off the
caches that appeal
to your family.
Enter the
coordinates listed
with the name of
each cache into your
GPS and get going! |
Traditional Cache
There are several
different types of
caches, but we’ll
focus on
“traditional
caches.” A
traditional cache is
a waterproof
container of some
sort; a Tupperware
bowl, four inch PVC
pipe with a cap or,
seemingly the most
popular, old ammo
boxes found at most
army surplus stores.
There will be a
label on the side
that identifies it
as an official
geocache, and asks
that people replace
it exactly as it was
found. Inside will
be a log for the
finder to sign and
date as proof
they’ve been there.
It can be a small
notebook, adding
machine tape or cut
pieces of paper and
a pen. These types
of caches are filled
with trinkets and
toys. You or your
children are welcome
to take something
out as long as you
put something back.
You’ll find a
variety of
treasures: tape
measures, fingernail
clippers, compasses
and dollar-store
toys that thrill the
kids. Some
thoughtful
geocachers will slip
in a can of bug
spray if it’s a
particularly bug
infested area so you
can douse yourselves
then leave it for
the next family to
use. Pack along a
bag of give-away
tokens to add your
own brand of
seasoning
to the pot.
After the log is
signed, and trinkets
traded, the cache is
put back exactly as
it was found. It
could be hours, days
or even months
before someone looks
for this cache
again. Some caches
are found many times
a day, while others
can lay undisturbed
for weeks between
finds.
The hiding spots for
some of these are
ingenious. |
