Geocaching and Me!

This is an activity that's been on my radar for probably about 11 years. I first came across the idea in an issue of Knights of the Dinner Table. The writer wrote an editorial on it in one issue and the characters became obsessed with it around the same time. It sounded like a cool idea. Alas, it was 2001 and I was a college student and a GPS was a pricey item. So I forgot about the idea for a long time until I heard it mentioned on some random podcast. I remembered what it was and I was excited and wanted to go home and look it up. I forgot about it for another 4 months as life just kind of happened.

Until this week.

I guess before I go into things. I should mention what Geocaching is. If you don't want to read that much. It's essentially a GPS powered treasure hunt. People hide containers in various places and post them to a site. You then use your GPS and a series of clues to find the container. You then sign a log book and you can leave some little item for the next person to find it.

I set out this morning and spent a few hours trying this out. For starters, it was great exercise, I came stomping back to the house a sweaty mess and my Nike Fuel Band had almost 1500 pts. built up on it. And my wife said she hasn't seen me this excited and happy about something in a very long time.

Cache #1: I made the strategic error of wearing shorts for this one. I found where it was hidden but there was overgrown plant life and I didn't want to risk poison ivy so I passed and decided to come back at a later date.

Cache #2: I wandered a little bit back and forth looking for this one and then I saw it. A giant hole in a tree. I got a little closer and there it was. A little black container. I pulled it out and shook the dirt off. There was a little flashlight, a piggy toy, a mint and some other various things in here. I signed off on their logbook and headed off. I made my first Geocache find!

Cache #3: This one was on a little trail near a pond. Unfortunately it had been found and destroyed. The destroyers ruined a perfectly good David Bowie cassette too! Jerks. Oh well, I kind of sort of found this one. So 2 successes on the day.

Cache #4: I realized there was a second cache in this park so I walked towards it. My GPS was flipping out on this one a lot so there was a lot of back and forth. I found a tree with a big hole in it but it was going to be a blind reach and grab so I backed off from it. I checked when I got home and that's where the item was. I may go back for this one more in the fall. The overgrowth was pretty bad and I want to make sure there aren't any animals lurking in said tree.

I spent about two and a half hours of my day doing this and I absolutely loved it. I was outdoors, I saw some places I would never have seen before. I had to use my brain to find the various hidden caches and I got a load of exercise out of it. Earning almost 1500 Fuel Points like that is no easy feat.

I realize I need some gear for this. I should probably make a little kit with a knife, pen and some goodies to leave in the caches I find. Being prepared for the situations is always good. After #4, I will probably make sure to research any cache before I go for it. It's not that I didn't enjoy the chase, I might have just waited on that one considering where it was hidden.

I went 2 for 4 on my journeys. I know where the other 2 are and it will just be a matter of getting back to them. There's numerous around where I live so I think I will have a lot to keep me occupied until I decide to branch out a little more. I plan for this to be something to do early on my Saturday and Sunday mornings. I plan to tackle 1 or 2 a week depending on what's going on.

Stay tuned, I will keep posting updates as I continue to explore this new hobby.