Do you have a love for the outdoors, a fondness for high-tech toys and an adventurous spirit?
If so, Geocaching might just be the hobby for you!
Thousands of people in over 200 countries are discovering the pastime known as Geocaching (pronounced “Geo-cashing”).
It’s the adventure/sport that has families and individuals using the internet, hand-held GPS’s and their eyes and wits to search for “treasure” hidden all over the world!
The odds are that sometime in the past few years you’ve been within a few feet to a few miles of a geocache and didn’t even know it!
An inexpensive hand-held GPS can receive signals from the 26 Global Positioning System satellites in orbit over 12,000 miles away!
Containers are typically watertight and often are transparent so that the contents are clearly visible to anyone who might stumble across it accidentally.
Geocaching is a great activity for young and old alike. Whole families form geocaching teams and spend time searching together!
How did it start?
In In May of 2000, the United States government officially removed “selective availability” to the Global Positioning System satellites.
This meant that civilian GPS units now possessed greater accuracy than they previously were allowed to have.
Within days a GPS enthusiast hid a container in the backcountry of Oregon, posted the coordinates on the internet and told others to “go find it!”
The phenomenon of Geocaching sprang from that one simple posting! As it has grown in the years since, it still maintains the simple guidelines of those early days—find the cache, take something, leave something, and sign the logbook.
Getting Started
Getting started is easy. If you have a handheld GPS and internet access, you’re halfway there!
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Log onto GEOCACHING.COM and enter the zip/postal code of the location where you would like to go geocaching.
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Enter the longitude and latitude of the geocache you want to search for into your GPS.
You will probably also want to print out a copy of the geoc ache sheet.
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Go get it! Search in the area your GPS leads you.
Usually GPS accuracy will be limited to a thirty-foot area.
Keep this in mind as you search.
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When you find the cache, take something from the container and leave something you’ve brought with you.
Sign the logbook and then return the container to its hiding spot for the next finder.
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How Does Geocaching Work?
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A Geocacher carefully chooses a location and fills a container with items to trade and a logbook.
He then registers his new cache on GEOCACHING.COM to share it with the rest of the world.
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After receiving the coordinates and other information from the website, another Geocacher uses a hand-held GPS to look for the cache.
The GPS receives signals from the Global Positioning System satellites to give the user their current longitude and latitude.
However, the Geocacher has no idea of the altitude of the cache location or the terrain or what kind of structure the cache container might be hidden in.
This is part of the challenge of finding the cache!
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The finder takes something from the container as a memento of their visit, leaves something for the next player, signs the logbook and returns the container to its hiding place.
Later, they will log their visit on GEOCACHING.COM so that others can read about their adventure.
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Cache In Trash Out!
In In an effort to give back to the parks and other environments that allow the placing of geocaches, participants often practice what they call “CITO,” that is, they “Cache In and Trash Out.”
Geocachers do their part to remove trash and debris from the environment and leave the area as untouched as possible.
Many Geocachers carry garbage bags with them and even organize special “CITO Events” to beautify parks and environments.
Do’s & Don’t’s
Do
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get permission where needed before hiding a geocache.
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fill the cache with family-friendly objects.
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respect the environment—practice CITO while caching and leave the area as undisturbed as possible.
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mark your container plainly so that it is obviously a Geocache.
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perform monthly checks on any caches you have hidden.
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Don't
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ever bury a cache.
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trade items that might be harmful (like lighters or knives) or family un-friendly.
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put any food items in the cache. These can attract animals who might be harmed or might damage the container.
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