So what is this 'geocaching' thing anyway?
Simply put, geocaching is treasure hunting for the 21st century. Armed with
a GPS receiver, a set of coordinates that tell you the location of a cache,
and a healthy sense of adventure, players go out and look for caches of
goodies hidden by other geocachers. If one of the goodies in the cache
strikes your fancy, you can take it--provided you leave another goodie in
its place.
In addition to the goodies, caches nearly always contain a log book of
some sort so that you can record your thoughts and scribble a note for
future cache visitors.
Sounds fun. So what's a GPS receiver?
GPS stands for "Global Positioning System," a series of two dozen satellites
in low Earth orbit that continuously broadcast their position. GPS receivers
are able to triangulate on these signals and determine your location on the
Earth's surface. Once you select a cache and enter its coordinates into the
GPS receiver, the receiver can tell you how far away the cache is and in
what direction it lies.
So what does one find in a typical cache?
You could find almost anything in a cache, depending on its size. Small
toys, books, LEGO bricks or mini-figs, stuffed animals, music CDs, CD-ROMS,
tapes, non-perishable food items, and the log of course.
Some caches contain a disposable camera. The camera isn't a goodie to be
taken though; just take a picture of yourself and tell the cache owner if
you snap the last photo. The cache owner can then recover the camera,
develop the film, and put your smiling mug on their web page along with all
the other visitors to the cache.
The smallest caches, known are microcaches, typically just have a stub of
pencil and a few slips of paper to serve as a log--it's rare for these
caches to have any goodies.
How much does geocaching cost?
Geocaching itself is completely free. Well, you will need a GPS receiver and
those start out at about US$100 (and can go quite a bit higher), but besides
that it's free. When you go out on a hunt though you should always bring a
little extra money with you in case you need to pay a parking fee, buy some
gas, get pizza on the way back...you get the idea.
What should I NOT put in a cache?
Whole families go geocaching together so items should be safe and legal for
all. No alcohol, drugs, explosives, Food, etc. Use common sense!
Who goes geocaching?
Anybody and everybody who enjoys the outdoors and looking for treasure goes
geocaching! I've met families with their kids, people looking for something
to do while walking their dog, and solo geocachers of a variety of ages.
Most cache listings do have some sort of difficulty rating associated
with them so if you're bringing small children or your grandmother with you,
you might want to pick an easier cache that's no more than a quarter mile
walk in the park. On the other hand, if your grandmother is a divemaster
that has logged over thousand dives, you and she should grab your SCUBA gear
and try your luck finding that cache I heard about on the bottom of the Red
Sea!
What precautions should I take?
Take the same precautions you'd use if you were going on a hike. Tell
someone where you're going and when you expect to return. Bring maps, water,
sunscreen, and maybe a cell phone if you have one. Watch out for poison oak,
ticks, snakes, cougars, and convicts who just broke out of the maximum
security prison down the road. Above all else, bring your common sense with
you!
Who invented geocaching?
The first cache was placed by Dave Ulmer near Portland, Oregon on May 3rd,
2000. Three days later, two people who had read about the cache on the
sci.geo.satellite-nav newsgroup
found the cache and entered their names in its log: geocaching was born!