My Intro to Geocaching

On a cold, wintery November morning, I joined Lawrence to go geocaching.  On one of my Facebook calls for “who would be interested in teaching me something new?”, Lawrence jumped at the opportunity (well, perhaps not, but he responded) to teach me about geocaching.  I had done it once to find one geocache a few years back, but, since I did not remember much, I considered this a fresh start! I was in for an adventure! Long story short, I had a great time, and I can see how this can become addictive!

First, Lawrence recommended that I register on-line at geocaching.com, which I did, and download the “Geocaching” app.  This allowed me to more fully participate in the activity as opposed to just following him around. In preparation for getting together, Lawrence had downloaded a route of seven geocaches to find out in a different suburb.  (I have not yet learned how to do that type of preparation, but I will get there.) He was already aware of the exact locations of the first two; he placed one himself. These were good ones for me to start learning how this all works.  For the other five, we were hunting together. The app does help direct you and gives distances. It is important to keep in mind, though, that as you get close, the specific directions may not be as accurate. Here was a big lesson I learned–as you seem to get closer to one of the hidden geocaches, look AWAY from the phone and LOOK AROUND YOU!  This is an outdoor activity; you have to pay attention to what you are doing. The treasure will be in front of your eyes, not in your hands. Once we found the hidden geocaches, there was usually a little paper scroll tucked somewhere inside for you to mark to acknowledge that you were there. I know that in some places, you take and leave little trinkets.  We did not find any of those when we were out. There may be other creative and clever surprises. Keep your eyes and mind open! Not surprisingly, the difficulty level varied. Sometimes you may have to solve a puzzle as part of the hunt. I am NOT going to give specifics because I simply don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun!

As I started looking on both my phone and the website and entering various general locations, I was able to see that there are many geocache spots all around.  I am certainly planning on more “treasure” hunting! I am looking forward to doing this more both on my own as well as with friends and family. This was really fun!  (I will make sure that I have thicker gloves and possibly some hand warmers available next time. I could hardly sign the paper logs because my fingers were too cold!)  There is a lot that I can learn, but I know enough that I can start enjoying more geocaching now. This blog is not intended to teach you how to go geocaching, just intended to inspire you to try it out!  Let me know how it goes, and I will do the same! Have fun!