Geocaching opens outdoors activities to a new world
Patches of snow dot the landscape of Recreation Park in Binghamton on a frigid day in early April, adding to the frustration for a first-time ‘cacher’ trying to find a hidden container located in the area.
“Get to the ‘root’ halfway between the two statues, and don't forget Rec Park Rocks,” a hint reads, alluding to the fountain sculpture of a boy holding a fish and the large George F. Johnson statue at the southern end of the park.
Attempting to not draw much attention, I slyly move from tree to tree, kicking the snow away and reaching my foot into tiny crevices looking and feeling for any sign of the target. Ready to give up, I take one final glance at my smartphone and notice an option on my Cachebot app reading “Navigate to Cache.”
This makes things much easier. The screen displays a large arrow directing me to within five meters of the target, and minutes later I uncover a well-disguised fake rock tucked under a large root at the base of a tree. “Rec Park Rocks” begins to make sense.
A hidden world exists all around us.
Cachers borrow the term muggle from the Harry Potter book series to describe the uninformed, but this is not about magic. This is the world of geocaching, and you may be surprised how popular the activity has grown to become. In its most basic form, geocaching is a real-world treasure-hunting game played using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate hidden containers called geocaches.
Anybody can place a geocache and register it on one of the many websites catering to the geocaching community, including www.geocaching.com with more than 10 million registered users worldwide and more than 800,000 in the U.S. The website estimates 2.5 million active geocaches in 180 countries.
Thousands of geocaches are scattered throughout the mid-Hudson Valley. Geocaching.com lists more than 2,100 caches within 10 miles of Poughkeepsie. There are caches listed for College Hill Park, on the Walkway Over the Hudson, Spratt Park and more. Many caches are typically placed near parks, trails and other outdoor recreational areas. People often place geocaches in locations important to them.
A geocache — commonly called a cache — usually contains a logbook for people to sign and many also have small trinkets to be taken. Be sure to replace the trinket with something else if you take it.
Depending on the difficulty, caches can be as large as a picnic cooler and as small as a pencil eraser (microcaches). Some caches are part of a series.
For the newbie, it's a bit uncomfortable at first when you think about what it looks like to “muggles” as you poke around trees. That feeling quickly goes away as the determination to find the cache grows stronger.
This particular "Park Rocks" cache did not include a logbook or items when I discovered it, but locating it provided enough sense of accomplishment. The online logbook at geocaching.com has 116 logged visits to this particular cache. When finished, always be sure to put the cache in its original place you found it.
Geocaching is a great way to spice up a hike, adding excitement to traditional exercise for children. What child does not want to go on a scavenger hunt or search for hidden treasure?
Many geocache descriptions include hints in the form of encrypted messages, which can be solved by a simple key, adding an extra layer of puzzle-solving.
All you need to start geocaching is a GPS device (most people use their smartphones) and a pen or pencil to sign the logbook. Although geocaching.com features a paid membership, it also offers hundreds of locations for free.
Several free apps work as a complement to geocaching.com, including Cachebot, can also be downloaded to your mobile device. Once you open the app, locations should pop up on the map. Just pick a location and go hunting.
Difficulty ranges from easy to extremely challenging, which makes geocaching fun for all ages. Once you get started and log a few caches, try to challenge yourself by finding smaller caches in tougher terrain. The next time you are out for a walk in your neighborhood or at a park with friends, think about downloading a geocaching app or logging onto a website. You could be yards away from one and not even know it. There is a whole new world to explore.
WHAT IS GEOCACHING?
Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at the location.
More information: www.geocaching.com