Addictive Geocaching

I have a confession to make. I have a new addiction called geocaching. My friend Laura introduced me to it. She has just reached her 300th find, and her excitement was so much fun I had to try my hand at it too. Well, she created a monster. lol

In essence, geocaching is a high tech hide and seek adventure using a GPS to find hidden treasures placed by people all over the world and managed by a common web site at www.geocaching.com. You look up their locations, go find them and then log your finds there. It’s fun to watch the totals accumulate.

It’s a great outdoor activity for travelers. The caches are typically placed in public places of interest or scenic beauty, which most people would never see unless you lived there. Everywhere you go, there are caches to find! It’s amazing.

I purchased a Motorola Droid X a couple weeks ago. Not only is it a phone, but a PDA, GPS and has a great camera. There are some great programs you can download to help you hone the GPS in on the caches. So that’s what I’m using as my GPS, and it’s sweet! You can also use an Iphone or blackberry besides a regular handheld GPS.

The caches range in the level of difficulty such as the size of the container they are in and the terrain you have to navigate to get to them. The containers used can go from tiny to large. Here’s a couple of my first finds, and I am up to 26 in one week! Lol

This was my very first. It’s a magnetic key holder that was clinging to the back of an outdoor sign. (Just learning to use my camera, so that’s why it’s in black and white ;)



Here's a magnetized altoid can that was hidden inside the end of a guardrail.



This is a film canister hidden under a rock with a rock in front of it. Can you see it under there?



The smaller ones are the most difficult for me. This one was a real challenge, but I found it! That’s a dime in that picture! Not only that, it was placed up high on a pillar to a cemetery entrance. I had to use a crate to stand on and a mirror to see on top.



Inside each cache is a log paper that you must date and sign to prove you found it, besides logging it in on the geocaching site for credit. The strip of paper to sign on was about a ¼” wide and I write big! Lol

I have also run into wildlife while out caching. I met this flock of seven turkeys at a city park in Red Lodge, MT over the weekend on my way back from my Beartooth Mountain drive.



And these elk were just strolling around Cody and grazing in the neighbors yard.



You just never know what you’ll see. It’s so much fun!