Geocaching Part 1: Getting Started

I have been spending time learning to geocache and want to share my experiences as I learn to treasure hunt using high tech tools. In short, someone hides a container of inexpensive items in a container -- a cache and the latitude and longitude are posted on geocaching.com so that people can go hunting for it. Most geocachers use handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) units (cost around $100) to locate the cache. The GPS is a special radio receiver that measures the distance from your location to satellites that orbit the Earth broadcasting radio signals and can take you to coordinates you enter into the device.

After creating a profile on geocaching.com, I searched for caches near my home. I was surprised to find that there are 57 within five miles of my area code and 237 within ten miles! I printed out a few pages about caches that were close by in Coulwood Park, Dog Days of Summer - GCQ6A4 and Follow My Tracks - GC1D926. This is my picture before heading out on my first geocaching adventure on August 8, 2009. At this point, I am a neocacher which means I am a novice geocacher. I thought I would blog about becoming an experienced geocacher with many discoveries logged, travelers released, and some caches created and left for others to find.

My first experience geocaching was in June of 2005, the month I retired from education. Teachers at Highland School of Technology learned to navigate using GPS units during summer staff development provided by Karen Creech and Acacia Dixon from the NC Department of Public Instruction. I created a geocaching activity for the staff members which led them on cache searches around the school's campus and finally guided them to our end-of-year cookout at Crowders Mountain State Park.

From June 2005 until July 2009 I did not have access to a GPS unit so I put geocaching on hold and did not fully explore this exciting activity. Now that I have access to a unit, I plan to learn all I can before I take my grandson on his first adventure in a couple of years!