I stumbled into geocaching (pronounced geocashing) quite by accident. Denny and I had been navigating the back roads using a GPS (global positioning system) receiver and a laptop computer with DeLorme Street Atlas software, but the laptop was big and bulky and we were looking for something smaller that we could also use to check altitude when we were out walking trails in parks and unfamiliar areas.
While comparing hand-held GPS receivers through on-line forums I saw mention of geocaching and it piqued my interest as I wasn't quite sure just what it was and how it related to a GPSr (receiver).
What I discovered was that the first cache was hidden after the government removed the satellite signal degradation on May 1, 2000. Two days later someone hid that first cache in the Portland, Oregon area and Mike Teague was the first to locate it and log it. He created a web page to log future caches which was discovered by Jeremy Irish later that year and Jeremy approached Mike about creating a bigger and better website to document all caches, adding maps and other information to assist others in locating the caches. Jeremy created the term geocaching and took full control over the website after a few months.
Today there are geocaches in all 50 states and in over 100 countries. The Geocaching.com website is said to be the “official” geocaching website but there is other information and sites available as well as forums for geocachers.
So you might be wondering what a GPS receiver is and what it does. A hand-held GPS unit is used to locate your position by satellite to within a few feet of error. Most receivers have multiple screens that show various information such as your position by latitude and longitude, the altitude, the speed you are traveling, the route you are traveling and much more. Some receivers even have information loaded in for fishing/marine applications so they can be multipurpose.
There are many brands and types of GPS receivers but one I see a lot of geocachers using is the Garmin eTrex unit, sold at Wal*Mart for about $70. I use the Magellan Meridian Gold unit as it comes with a SD memory card for loading driving routes for use in navigating our trips. There are many GPS receiver forums out there that will give you a lot of information and personal opinions about the “best” unit to buy and you can buy them online or at sporting goods stores or stores like Wal*Mart.
Okay, now you have your GPS unit and you want to know where to find a geocache. That's where Geocache.com and Navicache.com come in; they both have lists of caches loaded by longitude/latitude and by zip codes so you can pull up caches that are close to your location. You can manually enter the geocache coordinates into your GPS unit, but a much easier way is to download the “Easy GPS” program which allows you to download the coordinates directly into your GPS unit from your computer by use of a serial cable. By using the Easy GPS program you don't have to worry that you have loaded the wrong numbers into the latitude/longitude coordinates, which will really mess up finding a cache!
What will you find in a cache? Well, that depends. If you are the first to find a newly placed cache you may find money, jewelry, CDs, gift certificates or other really nice “stuff”. Other caches will have toys, flashlights, pens, keychains, geocoins, travel bugs, beads, whistles, trinkets and more. There are micro-caches which are tiny little containers that only have room for a log for finders to sign, and virtual caches which have no treasure other than the surroundings you find yourself in when you arrive, such as a pretty park, a museum or a favorite haunt of the cacher who has created that cache.
One thing you will have to watch when you are geocaching are the ratings for difficulty and terrain. Difficulty is the rating for how hard it is to find the site and terrain is how rough it is to travel there. You should remember that there are many young geocachers and what they consider mid-level difficult in location and terrain may be quite a bit harder for you at age 60-70 with bad knees. Read the log entries to get a clue as to how difficult it really is and whether you should have a 4x4 or a boat to get to the location!
Geocaching can be done alone, as a couple, with friends or other geocachers. It's a fun way to be outdoors, see new areas and learn about the general geography and possibly the history of an area. If you live in one location year-round you might even consider creating and maintaining a cache yourself; the information is there for you to start!
Geocaching.com
Geocaching with Navicache
A Beginner's Guide to Geocaching
