The Art of Geocaching

I have never been geocaching, but I have a dear blogger friend, Carole, who does. She runs a terrific blog called So You Wanna Go Geocaching, and I enjoy reading her articles. She has so far maintained a “temperate” mode– that is, she’s described and journalized the art of geocaching in temperate New York and New England weather (no winter), but her latest post promises: “Snow doesn’t stop serious geocachers!” Oooo how titillating!

In case you don’t know (and I didn’t know until Carole informed me), geocaching is:

…an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”) anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and “treasure,” usually toys or trinkets of little value. Today, well over 800,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to the pastime. Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. source: Wikipedia.

New York State and New England experiences about five months of what we classify as “winter”: temperatures below 30-40 degrees (sometimes subzero) and the possibility of snow for the months of November to March. Places in the southernmost areas of New York are more temperate; when I lived in the Southern Tier, spring and planting season usually came a good 2-3 weeks earlier than the Great Lakes area of New York State. So we New Yorkers have learned to adapt to winter (thank God for berghaus fleeces, though!); and we organize our work and leisure in tandem with it. I did wonder if geocachers took winter off (that would mean half the year!) so I was pleased to see Carole’s mysterious inference that devoted geocachers brave the winter elements in pursuit of their quest.

Geocachers use a portable GPS device to locate the caches. It’s like modern-day treasure hunting, with the GPS as the map. I hope to try my hand at geocaching someday– I know the kids would love it. I recommend checking out Carole’s blog for more information, great tips, and entertaining stories about her geocaching exploits.

The Wonder of Geocaching

I’ve heard of geocaching here and there, but didn’t give it much attention before. I’d always heard about in the context of wealthy Californians in the Redwoods forest, loaded with heavy-duty equipment and who have loads of time for frivolities (kind of like global travel or mountain-climbing or kayaking the river rapids). I never thought about it being a short-term weekend scavenger hunt for the Average Joe. A friend of mine, Carole, is an experienced geocacher and she sent me a link to check out the hobby.

WOW!

At the Geocaching website, I punched in my zip code, and was surprised to find geocaching goodies in my area! This looks like a ton of fun! Only problem is that, in order to participate, I need a GPS. I don’t have a GPS. And I doubt I’ll be getting a GPS anytime soon, because right now I really need a vacuum cleaner and a new kitchen, before the ceiling caves in. But I’ll keep geocaching in mind for some future time.

P.S. Geocaching is enjoyed on all the continents of the world– even Antarctica!

Photo from Wikipedia.