Muchmor Canada Magazine decided to take a look at the phenomenon of Geocaching and how you can get involved and make exploring your country even more exciting.

So, what is Geocaching?  Put simply, Geocaching is a game of treasure hunting or hide and seek. All over the world individuals and companies hide caches and then share the location on the Internet and invite other Geocachers to find them using GPS devices.

Some caches can be found quite easily, whereas others require significant hikes and map reading skills. There are puzzle caches that require you to solve clues in order to find the cache and multi-caches, which involve finding several caches before finding the final location. At the time of publication there were over 30,000 Geocaches in Canada and these are added to every day.

This type of treasure hunting makes it fun to explore your surrounding and makes for a great family trip.

What is a cache?

There are many different types of cache to find and the size and contents vary. Smaller caches can be the size of a 35mm film container and contain only a logbook and pencil to register who finds it and when. Other caches can be the size of large buckets or plastic containers with several items inside such as CD’s, money, books, maps, games, in fact anything that is not illegal or dangerous.When you find a cache you should enter your details in the logbook and if items are included you should take one and replace it with something of equal or greater value.

Where are caches usually located?

The location of the cache is what makes Geocaching interesting. Some are located in easily accessible areas such as at the side of a road, in a local park, cemetery or even in the middle of a town centre. However the more interesting cashes can be placed in very remote locations and may require special equipment in order to find them. Examples include caches hidden underwater that can only be accessed by scuba divers, ones located on rocky cliffs, accessible by rock climbers etc.

How do I find the cache?

When someone sets up a cache they submit the location details (waypoint) on the Geocaching website. They will also give other clues such as if it is a box or bag and its size, so you know roughly what you are looking for. They may also give you practical information like, “you might need Wellingtons” or  “it is in a very public area”. There will also be details regarding the difficulty and terrain, so you can search only for caches that suit your ability. When you decide which cache to search for, you input the co-ordinates (waypoint) in your GPS device and away you go.

What is a GPS Device?

A GPS (Global Positioning System) unit is an electronic device that can determine your approximate location (within around 6-20 feet) anywhere on the planet, much like a satellite navigation system found in many vehicles.  Coordinates are normally given in Longitude and Latitude. You can use the unit to navigate from your current location to another location. Some units have their own maps, built-in electronic compasses, voice navigation, depending on the complexity of the device. You don’t need to know all the technical details about GPS units to play Geocaching. All you need to do is be able to enter the waypoint where the Geocache is hidden.

How do I buy a GPS unit?

You can purchase GPS units from many places on the Internet as well as camping stores and other supply stores. The costs vary depending on the type of device you purchase and where you buy them. Units start at around $100 CAD and can be as much as $1,000.The GPS unit you choose should be easy to use and durable. Some GPS units come with certain functions and accessories and others require you to but additional software etc.As a guideline, you should consider purchasing a GPS with the following functions:12 parallel channels, external antenna jack, in/out ports, NMEA compatible, at least 8 megabytes of memory, memory card acceptable, adaptable power sources i.e. cigarette lighter cable, solar charger, rocker keypad, large screen and waterproof. Some GPS units have colour screens and although these can be useful they are not essential to Geocaching and the colour screen will use up batteries much quicker than a black and white.

Getting Started

So, now we have you interested here is what you need to do. Go to the Geocaching website at http://www.geocaching.com/ here you can find out all sorts of information about your new hobby including help and advice, forums etc. Before you start you should purchase your GPS unit and a map of the area, preferably a topographical map, which shows land features such as hills and rivers etc., these can be purchased at camping stores or off the Internet. You might also want a compass and of course make sure you are equipped clothing wise. You should also have items ready that you can leave in the cache in place of the ones you remove. These can be anything from key rings, to CD’s, jewelery to cameras.

On the Geocaching website you can locate one or several caches in the area you are concentrating on. You can search by postcode, province etc. Study the information given carefully and look at the results of other people who have found the cache. They might give you some clues, which will make finding the cache easier.Next you need to use your GPS and input the waypoint and off you go. Once you find the cache, remember to sign the logbook and enter any additional information such as how easy it was to find, what fun it was etc. If there are items in the cache take one and replace it with something of equal or greater value. Never move the cache from its original position and always replace leaves, rocks etc if they were there before.

You can log your find on the Geocaching website and also email the person who hid the cache to let them know you found it. Safety FirstRemember to always let someone know where you are going and if at all possible never travel alone. Make sure you have adequate clothing, food, water etc and that you have spare batteries for your GPS. When you leave your vehicle at a cache point it is worth entering the waypoint into your GPS so that you can find your vehicle after you have found your cache.

Next?

Once you get into Geocaching you can start to leave your own caches for others to find.  You can also attend Geocaching events and start to extend your search to other locations and even other countries. You can purchase trackable items to leave in caches such as Geocoins and Travel Bugs. As people transfer then from cache to cache you can track them on the Geocaching website so you can see how far your item has travelled – you might be surprised. There are many different kinds of cache, so you might want to track certain types such as puzzle caches where you have to solve clues in order to locate the cache, or you might want to track only caches that contain Travel Bugs.

The scope of Geocaching is endless and new variations to the game are always being invented. One thing is for sure, once you get the Geocaching bug it will be very had to travel anywhere without first checking to see what caches lie nearby for your to find.Number of caches in Canada Alberta: 3,037British Columbia: 5,483Manitoba: 1,074New Brunswick: 3,149Newfoundland and Labrador: 875Northwest Territories: 40Nova Scotia: 2,919Nunavut: 17Ontario: 6,926Prince Edward Island: 267Quebec: 6,279Saskatchewan: 518Yukon Territory: 64Total: 30,648If you are travelling, there are thousands of caches all over the world:United Kingdom: 17,428Australia: 9,908France: 2,149Germany: 31,322New Zealand: 2,868South Africa: 1,701

Publiched in muchmor canada magazine www.readmuchmor.com