Category Archives: Geocaching

Geocaching

Get the FREE Intro to Geocaching app!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Yes, I’m a big ol’ proponent of geocaching.  It’s fun.  It’s outside.  It’s almost like exercise without feeling like exercise.  It’s a great way to have fun and go places you might not necessarily normally go, see things you might have missed, and solve puzzles without having to look at a picture on a box top and wondering if that one piece out of a thousand you’re holding is a a corner or an edge piece!

Geocaching.com is now offering free Geocaching Intro apps for Android, iOS, and Windows.  From their email:

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Geocaching, Personal

Video: Beginner’s Guide to Hiding a Geocache

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Geocaching is a great family-friendly outdoor recreational activity that involves getting up off your butt and heading outside.  Into the real world.  Where life happens.

All is not lost for the technologically savvy, as participants don’t use olde tyme cartographic periodicals to find caches (although they kinda still can), they use Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers or GPS-enabled mobile devices and navigational skills and techniques to hide and seek geocaches (or “caches”) worldwide.

It’s the world’s biggest and most interactive treasure hunt!

A typical cache is a container that holds a logbook, maybe some trinkets, and a pencil so the finder can note the time and date they found it.  Containers can be as small as a plastic film-roll container, or as large as a tupperware box or even a waterproof ammo box.  The contains might contain trading items, and can even contain travel bugs or geocoins – items which are picked up and later deposited in different caches. Geocaching is a great ways to learn about GPS mapping, navigation, orienteering, treasure-hunting, and waymarking. Continue reading →

General Aviation, Geocaching

International Space Station Travel Bug Mission Update

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

I just got an update from geocaching.com about the Geocaching Travel Bug that hitched a ride with astronaut Rick Mastracchio to the International Space Station. This is a great way to interest students (and us older folk who geocache about geography and science.

From the email:

Nearly 100 days have ticked by since geocachers cheered as a Travel Bug® rocketed toward the International Space Station. It’s in the capable hands of astronaut Rick Mastracchio. Like everything else on the space station, the Travel Bug has a mission. Mastracchio is using the Travel Bug to teach students back on Earth about geography and science. The Travel Bug’s page is the chatroom of a teacher’s or parent’s dreams. More than 1,200 posts have been logged so far, as classrooms (and even Geocaching HQ!) asked questions and Mastracchhio answered them from the weightlessness of low Earth orbit.

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Geocaching

Geocaching in Harmony with Nature

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Yes, it’s getting a bit cold outside, and geocaching might take a backseat to cozying up to a cup of hot cocoa next to a warm fire, but – at least in Southern California – we are lucky enough to be able to geocache all year long!

As a conservationist, I like to encourage people to work in harmony with Mother Nature.  Not just because it’s good for everyone, but because she’s a bitch if you cross her.  There are a couple of great new blog posts by Annika over at the Geogaching Blog about geocaching in harmony with nature.  Part I is about hiding a cache, and Part II is about finding caches.

Tips described in detail in Part I:

  • Have a comprehensive geocache details page.
  • Place the geocache carefully.
  • Choose an appropriate geocache container.
  • Work with your geocaching community volunteer.
  • Don’t leave Cache-Trash.

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Geocaching

What is Geocaching?

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Geocaching is the real-world treasure hunt that’s happening right now, all around you. There are 2,189,060 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers worldwide.

There’s a new post over on the Geocaching blog that starts to answer the question “what is geocaching?”

From the blog:

You’re among the first to see a new geocaching debut. We’re proud to launch the new “What is Geocaching?” video. Watch and share the easy-to-understand video to quickly show all those who ask you, “What is Geocaching?” Once you’ve shared the video, soak up all the thank you’ll receive for introducing people to the joys of geocaching.

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