Exercise on the Road--Geocaching

Geocaching...a funny name for hiking, usually through forests, deserts, parks or even old cemeteries, is a perfect way to get a bit of exercise. It's a well-known and continuously growing hobby for thousands of people.

It's easy and fun. Someone hides a small container of treasures, records the latitude and longitude,  posts them at Geocaching.com and gives them a descriptive name. The poster might even provide a hint or two. Your job? Find the cache using one of the many available hand-held GPS receivers. (GPS stands for "Global Positioning System", a way of using satellites to determine your location).

We recently purchased a new, state-of-the-art Garmin Colorado GPS receiver, and tried it out during a beautiful weekend. We searched for a cache, enticingly named "Shoo Fly VIllage", which refers to an old Indian settlement near Payson, Arizona. However, I had forgotten the manual for the unit, and try as I might, I could not remember how to enter the latitude and longitude manually. Here's a photo of me frantically searching for the correct menu, and never figuring out the correct way. 

The next time we tried, I had learned how to enter coordinates. On another beautiful day in Arizona, we searched for a cache named "Pine Trailhead", but this time we took both my old, tried and true Magellan 315 to make sure that we'd find the cache, and also  to compare the two units. We hiked in an area just below the Mogollon Rim and found the cache after a 1 1/2 mile climb, gaining 1600'. When we reached the correct area, both of the units indicated that we were spot on.

Geocaches are usually well-hidden. Ours certainly was and it took a bit of detailed exploration to find it, concealed as it was in a burned-out tree trunk and not visible until we were standing directly in front of  it. The cache was an old ammunition box, filled with goodies that the original cacher had provided or by other cache seekers before us.  Here, Jaimie holds the unopened cache and the Magellan GPS unit.

We opened the cache and discovered a lot of interesting treats; a new diary complete with key, a log book to record our find, business cards, a coupon for a free beer or wine on any flight on Southwest Airlines, and many other small trinkets, none costing more than $1.00 or so.

One of the rules of geocachng etiquette is you should replace any item you take with another, and back at Geocaching.com record what you took and what you replaced it with. We were sorely tempted by one of the items, a small teddy bear. However, knowing that geocaching appeals to all ages, we refrained. The logbook contained records of families with small children who had found the cache before us. In the end we took nothing, but left two, new AA-sized batteries, always a welcome item to geocachers.

Geocaching is a fun way to get some exercise, learn something about the geography of the area you're  visiting and a wonderful way to get you out of your RV. There are thousands of caches, all around the world. More than likely there's one within five miles of where you're parked. Go find it, and you might be the one who cannot resist the small, fuzzy teddy bear. Visit Geocaching.com to read about the hobby. There's a lode of valuable information on the site, and long lists of caches available. Give it a try.

(Photos by Jaimie and George Bruzenak)