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PCWize.com Geocaching -- What is Geocaching? Geocaching is a hobby / sport in which people from around the world hide what are called "caches" (pronounced "cashes") and announce it on a website like Geocaching.com . Others then can download the coordinates of the hidden cache into their GPS and try to find it. Sometimes this is an easy thing to do as the coordinates might take you right to it, and sometimes it's hard because they may only take you to a starting position where you'll have to follow clues to actually locate the cache. I want to stress that "easy" is a relative term. There are caches that require specilized equipment like rock climbing gear, SCUBA gear, a boat, etc... But these are relatively few and the majority of caches you'll be able to walk right up to. You may have to do some searching, but you won't have to do much else. Without even realizing it, you've probably walked past a few caches, and driven past dozens of them. They're everywhere... You just need to know where to look. Last time I checked, there were 185,266 caches in 216 countries. Your first start to locating Geocaches in your area is to go to Geocaching.com In the beginning.... Of course, every story has a beginning, and Geocaching is no different. On May 1st, 2000, President Clinton ordered that Selective Availability (SA), which was the ability to scramble the GPS signal and thereby reduce its accuracy for the civilian population, be turned off. Just two days later, on May 3rd, Dave Ulmer hid a five-gallon bucket in Portland, Oregon and posted the coordinates on the sci.geo.satellite-nav newsgroup. On May 6th (best guess based on posts I read in the group), Mike Teague found Dave's cache. Mike put together a website (long since gone Oct, 2004, but can be found via the Wayback Machine ) to list caches at and it exploded from there. The original cache site still exists and a plaque has been placed there to commemorate the start of Geocaching. When the plaque was put in place, a can of beans was discovered which became the first trade item ( travel bug ) and is now referred to as the O.C.B. ( Original Can of Beans ). This travel bug holds special significance for the Geocaching community and is carried by person to various Geocaching events for people to log. The Geocachers' Creed As a Geocacher, there are certain tenents we try to live by. Below is a list borrowed from Geocreed.info WHEN PLACING OR SEEKING GEOCACHES, I WILL: Not endanger myself or others Observe all laws and rules of the area Respect property rights and seek permission where appropriate Avoid causing disruptions or public alarm Minimize my and others' impact on the environment Be considerate of others Protect the integrity of the game pieces What will you find in a cache? Theoretically.... Anything not prohibited by law that can fit inside the cache container. Generally though, you'll find things of relatively little monetary value. This doesn't mean that you won't find anything that you might find valauable. For instance, my SageBrush Inn cache contained a $100 USD gift certificate for a free nights stay there. The idea behind geocaching isn't so much the treasure you'll find, but the memories of the hunt. One thing that you'll almost always find is the logbook. It could be a spiral notebook, or just scraps of paper on which you'll scribble the fact that you were there and maybe some insightful thought you want to share with those geocachers that follow. Usually you'll also find the "treasures" to consist of non-consequential items like a maybe a marble, a G.I. Joe, a patch, a coin from another country, a free carwash ticket or just about anything you can imagine. However, there are some special items you might find in a cache which I'll describe below. Travel-Bug: This is a particularly exciting find. This item is usually a dog-tag shaped piece of metal with a serial number etched into it, and some item attached to it. The purpose of a travel-bug is to log its movements throughout its journey from cache to cache as each geocacher helps to fulfill the purpose it was put in place for. For example, you might find a travel-bug whose purpose is to visit all the zoos in the U.S., or maybe even the whole world! Sticking with this example, let's say you find a zoo travel bug in a cache and decide to take it. You would log the fact that you took it from the cache and it would get marked as being in your posession. You then need to do something to enable the travel bug to continue on its quest. You might take it to the zoo and snap a picture of it, or if it had already been to the zoo in your location, you might take it to another zoo in another area it hasn't been to yet, and then leave it in a cache near there. If it's been to all the zoos in your area, then you might pass the travel bug on to a fellow geocacher who you know is going on a trip to an area where there is a zoo that it hasn't been to. Worst case, you might just place it into a cache that's closer to the direction of a zoo it hasn't been to yet. One thing with travel-bugs that you'll want to remember, is that each one has a purpose, and if you take it from a cache, you're expected to help it fulfill that purpose. Sometimes this isn't easy. You may pick up a travel-bug without knowing what its purpose is, and then when you log your visit to the cache you discover that you are either unable or unwilling to do this. While unfortunate, it does happen. At this point, you should just put the travel-bug into another cache and log that fact. You should never keep a travel-bug. You wouldn't like that to happen to one of yours. See my travel bugs here . You can buy travel-bugs at the Groundspeak Store . My daughter, on the right, is holding the first travel bug I found and took. Geo-Coin: A geo-coin is a pretty cool item to find. They are usually brass or bronze coins specially minted with a serial number. Geo-coins can have a number of purposes. They can be used similar to a travel-bug, or they could be a memento you're meant to keep. Sometimes they're traded among geocachers and are considered a great find. If you find a geo-coin, you need to see if it has a purpose before keeping it. You can buy a geo-coin at places like USA Geocoins or Canadian Geocoins . To the right is the first minted Geocoin for New Mexico. These are some of the nicest coins I have seen with a good hefty weight. I bought ten of them and have given them out to various people. My daughter of course wanted one right away! :-) You can click on the pics to the right for a bigger image. If you just have no luck getting your hands on one, I've discovered there's a pretty good market for them on e-Bay . What kinds of caches are there? Wow... It's almost easier to say what types of caches there aren't! But here's a list of the most common ones. Traditional: These caches can range from anything the size of a thimble to .50cal ammo cans, and are placed just about anywhere. You'll often find these in parks, along walking / biking paths, and in the woods. This is by far the most normal cache type. Virtual: A virtual cache is one in which the person creating the cache is wanting you to visit a location they think is worth your time to come see. Usually these caches would consist of a great camping spot or a particularly nice view, or even a historical landmark of interest. With this type of cache, you normally would take a picture or provide an answer to a question posed by the cache creator that can be found at the cache location to prove that you've actually found it. Multi-cache: Multi-caches are generally like a traditional cache except that they are usually meant to be found in some logical order by either getting the coordinates to the next one in the series as you find each one, or by solving some puzzle at each cache in order to learn the location of the next. These are my favorite! If done well by the cache creator, this type of cache can keep you thoroughly entertained during the e...