Crafty on Geocaching

A few weeks ago, I went camping with my daughter’s Girl Scouts troop. We spent the weekend in a cabin about two hours north of our home with 30+ girls and their moms. On Sunday, before returning home, we visited Lincoln Caverns, where the girls learned all about geocaching. After the trip, I decided that, as a family, we would spend time this spring and summer checking out some of the local caches.

This is SWAG (stuff we all get) my daughter made to leave in a geocache.

If you haven’t heard of geocaching before or aren’t sure exactly what it is, it is an interactive, outdoor, treasure hunt. Armed with a GPS, you take off on an adventure looking to find what is called “a cache,” which is located in a hidden place. The caches can be hidden just about anywhere and by just about anyone.  One of the things I like about caches is that the items in the cache are usually related to the person who hid it. For example, if my daughter were to hide a cache she may put something that represents Girl Scouts or art since she loves both of those things.

There are, of course, a few rules to geocaching and what can be in a cache. For obvious reasons, there should be no food or drinks included, along with nothing that could damage the environment, and no medication or illegal substances. Some of the other rules are that if you take something from the cache, you need to replace it with something of equal or greater value, you need to write about it in a cache log, and you should log your experience on the official geocaching website. The rules are pretty basic and not hard to follow. By following the rules, it ensures that everyone is safe and has an enjoyable time geocaching.

If you are considering trying out geocaching, check out the Geocaching website, where you can locate tons of helpful information, learn about geocaching, locate geocaches for you to find, log your experience, and even update information if you decide to place your own cache. Currently, Geocaching.com states that there are about 1.4 million geocaches in the world. The top two caches that are most often visited are both located in Prague and within minutes of each other. Don't worry, though; there are plenty of caches in the United States as well as Canada, too!

If you enjoy the outdoors, love a good treasure hunt, and are in need of something different to do once the weather warms up, you should give geocaching a try. The geocaching website provides you with a free online account to help you get started, a list of common terms and acronyms, and plenty of other helpful information. One of our favorite terms listed on the website is Muggle, of course. Based off of Harry Potter, a geomuggle is someone who doesn't geocache or know about it. Don't be a geomuggle this spring and summer! Get out there and give it a try. Once we get started, I will do my best to keep you all up to date on our progress and experiences.