The weather has finally turned and the sun is shining. If you’re looking for something inexpensive to do that will get you out of the house and allow you to get some exercise, consider giving geocaching a shot.
Geocaching is basically a scavenger hunt that is used with GPS to assist players in locating caches. Although versions of the sport have been played for more than 100 years, Geocaching itself officially started about 13 years ago.
Essentially, it is a giant game of hide and seek. Each cache is typically a waterproof container that is hidden somewhere out of sight. Inside the container is always a “log” or a piece of paper. People who have located the cache sign their name and date it.
Sometimes, there are little trinkets in the cache that are available for trade. These are typically things like small toys, erasers, marbles and rubber bracelets.
When you locate and open the cache, you may take something from the container and replace the item with something else of equal value. Usually, the items in the cache do not have any monetary value. They are items that players keep to trade with the next cache they open.
To locate the cache, seekers must follow GPS coordinates to the spot and do a little physical searching.
Once the GPS gets the user to within about 20 yards, it is necessary to put the device away and use your eyes and hands to locate the cache. It could be buried, rigged into the air or hidden inside seemingly normal objects like a fake rock or pine cone with a hidden compartment.
Sometimes seekers aren’t able to find the cache on the first try and have to return with a fresh set of eyes on another day.
Geocaching is a sport that people all over the world enjoy. Michigan resident Dennis Darabos is a relative newcomer to the game, having only been caching for about five years.
He says he likes the challenge and doesn’t mind not finding a cache on the first try. He has over 500 “finds” under his belt, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some elusive ones out there.
“I have one I’ve been looking for now for two years,” he explained. “I’ve been back about five times, and I still can’t find it but I’m not giving up yet. It will be mine.”
An exciting aspect of Geocaching is trackables or “travel bugs.” These are special pieces that people place inside the cache they’ve planted. The purpose is so that when someone finds it, they will take it and move it to another cache they find.
Each trackable has its own page on the geocaching website to that users can see how far it has traveled and where it’s been.
Darabos says so far his biggest achievement is taking a travel bug across the country.
“I found it in a cache in Michigan and I took it on vacation with me to California,” He explained. “I placed it in a cache I found out there. That baby made it 2,000 miles.”
Geocaching can be a good hobby for a family with children. It’s also growing in popularity with teens and young adults who like to get groups of friends together to go caching on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The hobby promotes exercise and physical activity and can be a good way to spend family time together without the pitfalls of forking over a lot of dough.
Ian Seybold, a 14 year-old Lincoln resident and a newcomer to geocaching, recently went out his first time with his family.
“Our first day out, we found two geocaches. We looked for a third but we couldn’t find that one,” he confessed. “I liked it so much I hope it’s something we do every Saturday.”
With more than 5,000 caches hidden within a 100 mile radius of Lincoln, there are plenty out there to keep players busy.
A good place to start would be to go to the geocaching website www.geocaching.com and make a free account. You will have immediate access to all of the caches and you can start right away.
Some players use actual GPS devices but it works just as well to use a GPS app on your cell phone. The official geocaching app runs about $10 but there are free ones out there like c:geo for Android that work just as well and won’t cost a thing to get started and try it out.
Lastly, if you’re looking for socialization, many local geocachers have started groups where they get together and cache or talk about caching.
Groups meet once a month at a restaurant downtown just to hang out and talk about the sport, get advice on those hard to find caches and share stories. The geocaching community also holds several free events around the area and the information is updated regularly on the geocaching website.
Additionally, if you have a Facebook page, there are local geocaching pages you can join like “Nebraskache” that will get you started talking to members of the community.