and we were off.What is geocaching? According to geocaching.com, Geocaching is:
"Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."
Basically, people get small, waterproof containers and hide them somewhere. Anywhere at all. They use a portable GPS unit to note the coordinates of the container when it is hidden and then go to a website like geocaching.com and post the coordinates of the cache and give some clues or describe the goal of the cache. Most caches are filled with small trinkets and most people will take a "gift" from the box and then leave something of their own. The box also contains some type of log book, normally a tiny spiral note pad, that geocachers sign when they find the cache.
Some caches contain a special "travel bug" or a "geocoin". a travel bug (or TB) is a metal pendant like a dog tag. It has a picture of a bug on it, a serial number stamped in it, and instructions to log onto geocaching.com and enter the serial number to log the bug. The TB's are meant to be passed from cache to cache and the locations of them are tracked on geocaching.com. Geocoins are similar to TBs but are specially designed commemorative coins.
The cache that my daughter and I first set out to find is called "Okay, maybe in a million years". This is a very difficult cache to find. We ended up walking through a small stream, following the GPS unit. We were right on top of the location and couldn't find the cache. The creator/owner of the cache, Legendpilot, said the cache is hidden right out in the open. He said even though it is in plain sight the cache is difficult to find and you may have stepped on it. My daughter and I spent several minutes looking around and then decided to try the second cache in this area since we had a limited amount of time before the Girl Scouts meeting.
The second cache, "Definitely in less than five minutes" by VerySmartGirl, promised to be easy to find. It took me about five minutes to find this one. I was right on top of it again, still not really sure what I was looking for, when I noticed something that didn't look natural. Sure enough, there was the box. Our first geocache find! The box was small, a little bigger than a pack of cigarettes. It was made of clear plastic and had latches that snapped into place on each of the four sides of the lid. There was a label on the lid that read "Official Geocache" and had lines for the name of the cache, the name of the cache's owner, and point of contact information for the cache. We both signed the log book. I didn't have anything to place inside the box so we looked at the trinkets inside but didn't take any. There was an eraser shaped like a flower, some plastic army men, a guitar pick, a pin, a keychain, and a few other little items.
When I got home tonight after the Girl Scouts meeting i jumped on geocaching.com and posted my results. I was the 50th person to attempt "Definitely in less than five minutes" and the 49th successful finder. "Okay, maybe in a million years" had 34 finds and 26 did not finds.
Geocaching follows the same "Leave no trace" principals that I have been teaching my son's Cub Scout pack. There is a large "Cache in, trash out" movement where people carry trashbags with them when they are leaving or hunting caches and they carry out any trash they find along the way.
I think I'm going to enjoy geocaching. It's a great way to enjoy hiking, explore new places, meet new people, and practice navigating with a portable GPS unit.
2 comments:
That maybe in a million years one sounds interesting... so far I haven't found any that are THAT hard in my area, but then again I'm just starting out so that may change.
I went back again yesterday for about 5 minutes. I had an idea about what and where it was but I guess I was wrong. With all the rain we have had here in the Baltimore area the stream was much higher than normal, about 2 feet of running water compared to a few inches trickling by, so it may have been under water when I was there. I'll check back in a few days when the water levels return to normal. We've broken records for daily rainfall amounts four days in a row now.
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