At first I thought it was a group of people out doing the Annual Christmas Bird Count who were looking for something that had been dropped in the snow. I was only partly correct. They were in fact looking for something that had been hidden in the snow. What I had come upon was a group of geocachers.
Prior to doing research on the Internet for this column, what I knew about geocaching could easily have fit into one of those little plastic canisters that rolls of 35mm film used to come in. Having said that, I do know that any activity that gets people outdoors and into the fresh air can’t be all that bad.
So began my search to get to the bottom of this whole geocaching phenomenon.
According to Wikipedia, geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and/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 where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name.
Geocaches are currently placed in more than 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. After 10 years of geocaching activity, more than 1.5 million active geocaches have been published on various websites around the world.
There are more than five million self-described geocachers worldwide – almost as many as birders.
Apparently, when geo-caching first started, it was originally referred to as GPS stashing. However, since the word “stash” carried along with it certain connotations, a better term was needed to convey the idea of what participants were doing. The early practice of mountain men “caching” goods in hiding spots for later use gave rise to the term “geo-caching.” Much has changed since those early days.
So why is geocaching such a world-wide phenomenon?
If you were to ask 100 practitioners of geocaching why they do it, you’ll probably get 100 different answers. For some, hiding a geocache is a project involving environmental research, the plotting of dozens of GPS waypoints or co-ordinates and the careful selection of just the right container, not to mention the items to be placed inside. The same effort often goes into seeking a cache. For others, it’s just about being outdoors and getting some exercise. Personally, I know I could do with a bit more exercise.
Geocache sites may include remote locations requiring fairly long hikes (a challenge for anyone looking for this type of cache) to recreational sites such as parks, cemeteries and public access areas with well-marked trails that are usually more familiar and more easily accessible. There are special challenges to placing, finding and maintaining a cache in each and all of these different types of sites. One need only be as involved as they wish.
Access to a computer (in order to obtain cache site co-ordinates), a GPS unit, an understanding of how to use a GPS unit and a basic understanding of how to read a map are pretty much all that is needed to get started.
While information about cache sites can be obtained from any one of a number of websites, neophyte geocachers would be well advised to go out with more experienced geocachers in order to learn the ropes, so to speak. There is also safety in numbers.
From everything that I have observed and read about geocaching and why people get into geocaching, it would seem that it’s not so much about actually finding a cache but more about the process of getting there. I’d say that applies to most things in life.