Did you realize that there are several treasure sites within a half hour drive of your home? And did you know that you can get a “map” for this treasure and find it in an easy and fun-filled afternoon’s walk? If you didn’t know this, then let me tell you about the exciting world of Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing)!
Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt, practiced worldwide, using small electronic instruments know as GPS receivers. These hand-held units pick up signals from 24-32 satellites and display information that provides the user with coordinates (precise to a few metres), elevation, speed of travel and (most important to a geocacher) distance and direction to a destination. The treasure you are hunting for is called a geocache (or just cache) that has been hidden by another geocacher. You enter the coordinates of the cache into your unit and begin the hunt. Within a half hour drive of Castlegar, there are almost 200 such caches waiting for you to find! These caches are small containers such as a tobacco tin or Tupperware container which are usually hidden in hollow trees or in rocks so that they are not readily visible to others that might just be wandering through the area but your clues help you to find them. The “treasure” is mainly trinkets. What kind of trinkets, you ask? Coins, tokens, finger puppets, shiny rocks, batteries for a GPS, dollar store stuff. The cache also contains a small log book in which you register your nickname and a short comment. You can also exchange some of the trinkets with ones you have brought along for this purpose. Some caches contain “Travel Bugs” that might be a numbered tag or trinket that a geocacher is tracking to see how far it travels. Some of these Bugs have gone around the world and been in many countries! But the true fun of geocaching is in the finding of the treasure more than what is inside of it. And the real enjoyment comes from getting out and exploring all the nooks and crannies of our wonderful area, and discovering places and trails you didn’t even know about! Some of our local trails, such as Waldie Island, Mel Deanna and Merry Creek, have caches hidden along them and many others are scattered about the area on Zuckerberg Island, along the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers, Kootenay Lake, Rossland, Sunningdale, Crescent Valley and other hidey holes.
“How do I get started?” you ask. It is simple, but you need a computer or access to one and you need a GPS receiver. GPS receivers are easy to find in Canadian Tire, Mountain Equipment Coop or other outdoor stores and range in price from $125 for a basic Garmin E-trex to $350 or more for units that are more accurate and have more features. One such unit is the Garmin GPS Map 60Cx, which can plot your course on maps and almost make your lunch. You need a computer, of course, because you have to register with the official Geocache site in order to get coordinates and directions/clues to the various caches. Basic registration is free and you get to give yourself a nickname. Some well-known local names are Kootenay Pirates, Groundhog and Granitic Intrusions. The address for the official site is http://www.geocaching.com .
You enter the cache coordinates into the GPS and start searching when you get into the general area (within a kilometer or a few hundred metres). When you find a cache (which is almost as exciting as finding some colour in your gold pan!) you can report this on the website with a brief story of your day, what challenges you had and what you exchanged. This information is valuable to other cachers who are interested in that particular cache or who might be following the movement of a Travel Bug. I monitor the Waldie Island cache comments and there are many positive comments about our trail. You can also create a cache in a spot you think deserves one, register it on the website and then monitor it as your fellow cachers discover it.