GeoCaching is Fun!

We call ourselves “The Gowen Goonies” and we have fallen in-love with Geocaching or at least I have. For those of you who are not familiar with the sport, it is basically a global, high-tech treasure hunt. For me, it’s a reason to get-up off my lazy butt and get outdoors with a purpose. To find the ever elusive cache.

I have been Geocaching since September of 2010 and recently logged my 200th find. Geocaching has taken me to many places I would not have otherwise seen. I have found parks within 5-miles of my home that I had no idea existed. I found myself in the middle of the woods in the middle of Chicago. I have met people I would have otherwise never met.

My favorite caches are the ones in the middle of the woods requiring a hike. We did have fun urban caching in Chicago though. I think caching in the city is a lot harder, because of the  high muggle traffic. A muggle is anyone who is not a Geocacher. You don’t want to let muggles see you finding the cache because then it might get muggled, which means stolen or destroyed.

My hubby and I are going to attend our first Geocaching event in June. It’s a two-day road rally in Roscommon, MI. Check it out. http://www.geocacherenough.com/ I am excited.

What is a cache?  A cache is what you are searching for.  A cache is the prize.

There are many types of caches. Most common is the “traditional cache” which is a hidden container of various sizes. The different sizes range from a magnetic container that resembles a small screw to a 50-gallon drum. The tiny ones are called “micro’s”, you won’t find anything but a very tiny log to sign inside. Depending on the size of the container you may also find some fun swag or a trackable. I will explain this later. The second most common type of cache is the “multi-cache”. These are fun. A multi-cache consists of multiple stages. The coordinates you download usually take you to stage #1 which will then give you a hint or the coordinates to the next stage and so forth until you find the final stage which is the cache. There are many other types of caches as well, but these are two types I search for most often.  Caches are hidden in a multitude of ways. Some are simple and easy to find and others are so ingeniously hidden, you have to really think to find them.

What is swag?

Swag means some kind of trinket. Rules say if you take from a cache, you should replace it with something of equal or greater value. This keeps the caches full of fun swag. I carry a few pieces of swag in my backpack always. I like carabiners, pencils, mini-flashlights and travel packs of tissues. I even found a mini-tripod once. Very cool, I replaced it with a pair of mini-binoculars. Mostly, it is dollar store stuff or toys. The kids just love to find swag and there are a lot of caches with kids in mind.

What is a trackable?

A trackable is a coin or a tag with a code on it. When you find a geocoin or pathtag you log that you removed it from the cache. You then place it into another cash and log that. It is really cool to see how far some of these trackables have traveled. I placed my first tag into a park-n-ride cache off I-96 near the Indiana border in November of 2010. It made it all the way to Bahrain and has traveled 16390 miles so far.

Remember to always “Cache In, Trash Out”. I always carry a grocery bag in my backpack andpick-up trash along the way. This is the philosophy of every good Geocacher.

If you want to try geocaching, go to http://www.geocaching.com/, sign-up for a free account, read the “guide to finding your first cache”, search for the caches in your area and then download the coordinates into your GPS or GPS capable phone. That is all there is to it and your off to find the prize. After, your day of searching is done, you go back to http://www.geocaching.com/ and log your finds. Have fun and enjoy the hunt!