Geocaching

Sarah, Sue and Jim show off Sarah's first cache prize, a key ring

Sarah and Jim are somewhere in Arbutus. Thanks for taking us, Jim!

What is Geocaching? You pronounce it Geo-cashing, like cashing a check. Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.


Yesrterday and today, my friend Jim (with his gps unit and car), Sarah and I found three caches in the Arbutus area. Although the "treasures" are trinkets like keychains and small toys, it really is exciting when you finally find the hidden container. Some hunts require you to hike in the woods, some are in urban settings, and some require driving from location to location where you gather new clues. Cache containers can be thermoses, lock boxes, ammo boxes, Tupperware boxes, even tiny boxes. Hunters can log in their caches and keep track of their locations. For more information, check out the website at http://www.geocaching.com/. You'll be amazed at how many caches are hidden in and around "Music City".