Geowhat!?

This week I was going to talk about tournaments and how the heat of competition can change how people react to certain things. How, even if you are right, losing your cool is never ever a good thing.  Since I am still in tournament season and trying to recover from catching, more balls than both catchers combined I will talk about a game. A game, what game? you ask.  The game I speak of is called Geocaching.

Geocaching (pronounced Geo-cashing) is a real world, outdoor (yes, I said outdoor. That means if you want to play, Pretzel Motion, you have to get off your video games and see the sunlight.) treasure hunt using a GPS enabled device.  I can hear you now: “A real live treasure hunt, you say? This sounds interesting. How do I play, what do I need to get started? It’s a game, right? So there must be rules.” Slow down, slow down. I will tell you all of that with the help of the official Geocaching website, Geocaching.com.

I would have liked to start off with some history, but the best way for you to get this history lesson is to go to https://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx. That will give you the big history of how and when this fun adventure game started. It is a really good read and I don’t think that I could do it justice.

Let us start with rules. Hey, don’t give me a dirty look. If it wasn’t for rules then all sports and games would be a free for all. Fights (heck even fights have rules) would break out and there would be no fun or winners. And I am all for winners and having good clean fun. Okay, so the rules are real easy. First, find a cache. Second, sign the log book. Third, re-hide the cache better than when you found it. Don’t want any non-geocachers to find it and take it. Last but not least, log your visit on the website.

Sounds easy, right? So what do you need to do to get started? That’s even easier. Step one, create a free account.  Step two, type in your location. Step three, select a cache. (Being your first time out, I would go with something easy. No matter how hardcore of a hunter you may think you are, some caches even stump a vet like myself.) Step four, put the coordinates into your GPS. Step five, go and hunt.

“Okay, I have done all of that now, WHAT should I be LOOKING FOR?”  Good question, devoted reader. I wish there was a simple direct answer for this question. There is a range of things that you could be looking for. The cache can be something as small as your fingernail. Or it could be something as big as an ammo can.  Some, you have to find a web cam and take your picture using the camera. Some, you have to solve a puzzle to find the cache. So many different variations of cahces to find.

Now here is what I recommend. I recommend that you go out with someone who is experienced. They will be able to help you out and it is more fun to go with someone who knows what they are looking for. I went out for the first time in about 6 years. Yes, it was that long. I had to kick my eyes and gut instinct back into gear. I went out with a first timer and I think all in all she enjoyed it. But I will let her tell you her story and her experience the first time out.

 

Hey y’all, Jack from Green Screen and Tidbits here. I don’t really know what Andrew wants me to say here. He and I decided to track down a whole slew of caches all in the same semi-local park together. I used to hike fairly extensively so I agreed without really thinking about it. I had no idea what to expect, and honestly, I’m still not sure. I’ve looked at a few maps of caches since then and some seem to be hidden in the middle of cities, not along hiking trails like the ones we found.

That being said, I had an absolute blast and I highly recommend Geocaching to anyone and everyone. It was a perfectly pleasant day spent just hanging out and chatting in between finding caches. It brought me back to my childhood in the best possible way… reminiscent of birthday party scavenger hunts or Easter egg hunts. We got lost a couple of times, but it’s hard to get truly lost when you can just whip out your GPS to help find your way back. We were slightly disappointed that we couldn’t find two caches on our list of eleven, but we were tired by that point and not sure if we were missing them or if they were genuinely gone. All in all, it really was a great time. It’s hard not to have fun bonding over buried treasure, after all.

So there you have it. If you are looking for something new to do or just love the outdoors I would highly encourage you to go out and give it a shot. Who knows you may just find a new hobby when you are all said and done.  That is all for now next time on ball game we will talk about all the fun we had at the District and State Little League Baseball Tournaments.

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