Geocaching

WHAT IS GEOCACHING?

As described by Geocaching.com, "Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment." It is high-tech hide-and-seek. Anyone who geocaches can hide a geocache, post it on Geocaching.com, and then it is available to be found. Anyone can seek a geocache. Although some caches would be extremely difficult to find without a hand-held GPS unit, a great many caches, particularly in the city, can be found simply by scrutinizing the Google map on any geocache's page, reading the description and hint, and perusing the logs for any additional information. It takes a keen eye, and puzzle-solving wits sometimes to find the caches, as they aren't always easily found.

WHAT DOES A GEOCACHE LOOK LIKE?

There is no typical geocache. The only requirement is that every cache have a log so that each finder can put their name and date of the find on it. The size of a cache varies greatly. Each cache you hunt for gives you a size range, and hopefully the cache description will give you a little additional information. It can be as small as a "button" magnet, which is about the size of a pencil eraser, or as large as a 5-gallon bucket or larger. A micro is something about the size of a 35 mm film canister or smaller. Frequently, it is exactly a 35 mm canister, but usually camouflaged in some way -- painted, camo tape, glued-on leaves, or even inside something else. These rarely contain anything but a piece of paper to sign to show you found it. A size small is about the size of a sandwich container, and may contain small items. A size regular is about the size of a military ammo can (and frequently is one) -- about the size of two cereal boxes put together. A large is about bucket-sized. Any of these containers may be painted, taped, or items glued upon it to camouflage it, or it may be inside something else. Your job is to find it, despite that.

HOW DO I LOOK FOR A GEOCACHE?