09.07
Cost – The cost depends on the GPS you choose to purchase and how far you decide to drive before you start hunting. If you already have a GPS then it is essentially free.
Geocaching seems to be catching on with a lot of people lately. And it’s no wonder, seeing as it appeals to the treasure hunter in all of us. So we decided to try it out and see what would happen. So far we have only had two geocaching experiences. One on a local trail in the city, and another in a nearby park.
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SHE SAID:
I was really excited to try geo-caching, and to find out there was one really close to our house was even better. I think I was more excited to find out what the treasure was than to search for it. I probably would have gotten into the searching part of our first cache more if it hadn’t been alongside someone’s property. I felt like I looked like a criminal staking out someone’s house. It turns out the lady is used to people doing this because about half an hour into our search she belted out, “It’s under the stairs!” Thanks, lady!
I’m really glad we decided to go to a park for our second attempt at geo-caching because it seems more exploration friendly than alongside someone’s property. After our first cache attempt at the park failed miserably, I was ready to pack it in. How many slug ridden logs must I turn over to find a slimy old film canister? I’m glad we decided to try for one more because we hit the motherload! In fact, I thought for a moment we had found an old bomb from WWII and made Brad open it in fear it would melt my face off. Luckily it was not a bomb, but a well-fed cache with lots of interesting, and sometimes creepy, gadgets inside. After this cache I’m excited to search for more!
HE SAID:
I recently joined the iPhone masses with the new iPhone 3GS. One of the features that had me so excited was the GPS. So of course one of the first things I did after I bought it was fire up the Maps application and marvel as the little blue dot found exactly where I was. I decided to buy the official geocaching.com iPhone app as I already had an account on the site and was familiar with how it worked.
Once I launched the Geocaching App I noticed that there was a cache within walking distance of our house. So we headed out to try and find it. I quickly realized that just because the GPS leads you to the general area that the cache is hidden in doesn’t mean it will be easy to find. Once we found it, I got a better sense of what the clues mean and some of the different terms used in the descriptions. For instance, a muggle is any passer by who might give you suspicious looks while you are scavenging through various places. I noticed that I was complicating things too much on the first one. The description made it seem like it was hidden under the steps on the path, but since I didn’t see them in my initial search, I started looking elsewhere. Had I been more thorough I would have saved us a lot of time.
The second outing was equally frustrating but also somewhat successful. Though we didn’t find all the caches we were looking for, the one we did find was really cool. It was in a great spot, in a really neat looking box, and was filled with little trinkets that people had traded for or left behind. So we signed the logbook and took some pictures.
I’m not sure why we couldn’t find the other ones. I’m tempted to blame it on the tree cover interfering with the satellite signal to my GPS, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was mostly due to human error.
Next time we venture out to geocache we will likely aim for a more urban environment. Some of us aren’t really into running through the woods, turning over bug covered rocks, and reaching into holes in the ground. That was fine though. That’s why there’s two of us – one to hold the GPS, and one to get bug bitten and dirty!
If you’re looking for an excuse to get outside, but you aren’t the type to do anything too physically challenging, give geocaching a try. Make sure you enjoy the hunt just as much as the find. If not, you may get let down if you have trouble finding anything. Enjoy being outside and happy treasure hunting!
