There is a new outdoor activity that is gaining popularity these days and its called geocaching. Have you heard of it?
I didn’t really know what it was until I had a conversation with my coworker Kyle MacKenzie* last week, who is hooked on the “wonderful collaboration of adventure, fresh air and treasure hunting.”
Geocaching is a free, organized treasure-hunting activity that you can do all over the world, as long as you have a handy GPS device. In fact, there are over one million geocaches worldwide!
But don’t take my word for it…I asked Kyle to tell me more about this exciting new activity!
Cheryl: What attracted you to geocaching?
Kyle: The outdoors and the challenge! I was attracted to the fact that you can search for a cash nearby in a half hour, or make a day of it and hunt for one 2-3 hours north of the city! I’ve got my eyes on some that are hidden in Algonquin!
C: What was your best experience so far?
K: I have successfully tracked down about 20 caches, but two experiences stand out in my mind. I grew up in rural Ontario and was very surprised to see that there were caches in my hometown (I now live in downtown Toronto). So last time I was visiting my parents I went on a bike adventure and found a cache close to home, that was cool.
The second was a date I went on. I took a lady friend for a walk through a park and mentioned that there was a geocache somewhere hidden in the park, our hint was ‘look up’. She was excited at the idea and we went searching. An hour later, after many laughs and frustrations, the GPS led us under a big pine tree and we looked up to see a little package camouflaged in Christmas garland hanging from a branch. Success! It is a great first date activity.
C: How often do you geocache?
K: I try to get out once a week to geocache. Sometimes I go with friends, sometimes I just hop on my bike and ride for an hour then take a look to see if there are any caches nearby. Then, I hunt ‘em down.
C: Any helpful websites that you found when starting out?
k: I use the geocaching app for the iPhone, as it has the GPS tool built right in. Search ‘Geocaching’ on the App Store. Also check out geocaching.com. You can grab the coordinates of a cache and go find it yourself!
Watch the video on www.geocaching.com to get the full picture!
*Kyle is pictured above holding one of his finds! The tiny rolled up little scroll contains a list of all the people who have found the cache and who have added their names.
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