This past weekend the kids and I tried a new outdoor activity that I had been interested in for a while - Geocaching. If you have not heard about this, the idea is that someone hides a small cache somewhere and the only clue given for those who want to try to find it is the exact coordinates. To find this cache you use a GPS which can get you within 20 or 30 feet of the spot, and then its just a matter of looking in the places where something might rest undisturbed until you find it. The cache almost always contains a log where you can record your visit, and usually there are some trinkets for trading. You take something and leave something else for the next person who finds the cache.
It was a beautiful day, and we had lots of fun. Since the caches are often hidden in places that are a bit off the beaten path the hunt leads you to places where you may not have bothered to go otherwise. We hiked through wooded areas of nearby parks that we had never really noticed before, and visited other parks and trails that we knew about, but had never bothered to check out. The kids had a fabulous time.
A big part of the process is that the folks who have hidden these caches register them on a web site (www.geocaching.com) and provide the coordinates there. Also, the listings on the web site provide a place to leave log entries about your hunt for the cache, so you can see who else has found the cache and when they found it even if you have not yet found the cache yourself. The person who hid the cache can also see who has found it and how often it gets found, and can get some feedback from the folks who have found (or tried to find) the cache.
Looking on the Geocaching web site you can see that there are many of these caches around. There are some hiding just about anywhere you might be. Here is a map of the ones near my home, several of which the kids and I searched for and found:
Now that many cell phones have GPS capabilities, folks who don't have a dedicated GPS unit can get in on the fun. In some cases it is even possible to find a cache without a GPS. With a good enough map you can get pretty close, and in some cases there are just not that many good hiding places where a cache could be stashed. In an urban area with good coverage you could just about nail down the spot with the satellite view in Google Maps.
I've always been totally impressed by the GPS system and the idea that a little hand-held receiver could determine your position on the planet to such great accuracy just by knowing the precise orbits of a few satellites and then listening for broadcasts of the time from them. I've played with the units in the car and while hiking and biking, but I rarely drive anywhere where a GPS is very necessary, so it is fun to have found another great way to play with one.
4 comments:
I think Joshua wrote something about this a while ago. It really sounds fascinating, and sounds like an excellent reason for me to spring on the GPS unit for my motorcycle! I can use it as a hand-held as well (I wonder about my phone; it has a locating capability, but I assume that's for others to locate me in a pinch, and not for me to know the exact coordinates of my current location).
I assume the website is nation-wide? Worldwide? What a fun way to make your way thru Europe!
I love the GPS system in my car... Not only does it tell me where EVERY Starbucks is in the nation, it also gives me Zagat ratings! Now you've convinced me to use for something OTHER than eating. Thanks, Wunelle!
wunelle - Yeah, now that I look a bit more at what the GPS-enabled phones can do those are probably not going to do the trick for much of anything. Yours does do more than most - you can set it to store the coordinates with the pics you take - that is pretty cool, but I think that it wouldn't really cut it as a device to find your way.
That nifty Garmin Zumi is a pretty cool-looking GPS for motorcycles, but it is over $700 (discounted from over $1000 MSRP)!! That is more than I can spend for something that may damn cool and fun to boot, but pretty much just a toy. Garmin makes some other less expensive units that would probably do fine on a motorcycle (I've used mine that way and never felt like I needed something more). The tough thing is that they are fairly targeted at road use, and I don't know how well they do with hand-held use (the Zumi is touted as being useful on foot).
Maybe the way to go is to get a used one that is just a bit behind the state of the art. I have a couple of hand-me-down units and I like them quite a lot. The only down side is that the maps get out of date and quickly become nearly useless. An old map is almost as bad as no map in some cases. For road use the map (and the Point of Interest data) is the main thing, but for hand-held uses the map is not good for much (although I have really liked having even a crude map for some hiking).
Too cool - and even in our own rather isolated corner of the world, there are a few caches. Looking forward to trying it (though off the grid as I don't have a GPS unit!)
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