geocaching

I have been spending more time geocaching lately, which is a thin excuse to motivate the kiddos to hike more with me. For those unsure what geocaching is, it is a high tech treasure hunt game (in a nutshell). Basically what it amounts to is that all these folks out there place caches all over the globe and post the GPS coordinates of the cache to geocaching.com’s website and folks, like myself, download the coordinates and set off to find the cache. Typically this consists of a waterproof box with a logbook (for the finders to sign) and optional “goodies” that you can “trade” for (anything you take from the cache, you must replace with something of equal value). For the kids, this is “finding treasure in the woods”. Tonight Sarenna likened it to Easter Egg hunting with a GPS.

So we have gone on handful of cache hunts now and Sarenna loves it, whereas Ethan is so-so on it. I think his enthusiasm soured a bit when we visited West Tyson County Park and ended up caching for 4 hours or so – until it got dark. I think that hiking off-trail as it is getting darker by the minute sort of freaked him out a bit. Sarenna, on the other hand, cached with me for 6 hours last Saturday (!!). She even has wiped out pretty hard on the caches with a terrain rating of 5 (out of 5) and even though she has been bruised and bleeding, she insisted we find what we came for and not give up when it is hard to find.

(Sarenna crossing a creek in Laurmeier Park en route to our first cache of the day)

Quickly into our caching I realized that I needed to get better shoes, so I recently picked up some Keen Voyagers and also picked up a technical (internal frame) day pack (Northface Interval 30). Both have helped the feet and back during the longer hikes (especially compared to my normal camera bag – messenger style). I can’t keep as much gear loaded, so I have limited my carry along kit to:

• EOS 40D Body
• Sigma 10mm 2.8 FishEye Lens
• Canon 17-55 2.8 IS Lens
• Canon 580EX II Flash
• Journal
• Fisher Pen
• Long Sleeve T-shirt
• Garmin Oregon 450 GPS
• Spare Batteries
• Cache Swag
• Water Bottle

(Ethan at the base of a tree on the trails at Faust Park)

We have also noticed that the cache swag, thus far, has been pretty weak sauce. Sarenna and I talked about it and decided we are going to try and really make an effort to put quality stuff in the caches. When her and I cached last Saturday, we put Smurfs in each cache.. which are leftovers from my own childhood. I have also been taking necklaces that I have made (silver bezel cup with an image or polymer design coated in resin) and putting them in caches. These necklaces are the ones that we don’t see fit to sell because of some small imperfection (air bubble, uneven resin pour, etc) – but they would make fun trinkets for kids to play with. Plus they are all handmade, which is kind of cool in it’s own way. It beats the truckloads of McDonalds toys we have found so far.

(Sarenna taking a break from caching on the playground in Faust Park last Saturday)

Tonight Sarenna and I decided to go out for a quick hike and cache. I had originally planned to go by myself after work, as the weather is finally nice and I want to get as much outside time as I can) – but she wanted to go, so I ran home and got her and came back to the park across from my office. The park is at the 270/44 intersection – Emmenegger Nature Park. We hiked a few trails and admired the Meremac River before heading for the cache we were looking for. When we reached the cache site I was shocked to find it was at the foundation of an old home.

All that seemed to remain was the foundation and the chimney. Pretty neat looking structure, as it was on the side of steep hill, with a beautiful creek running below (with the sound of running water within earshot). We were also surprised to see that it appeared as if someone was using it as their home now though. In the picture above, you can see the small shelter someone built in the corner. They had taken some metal mesh and propped it up with sticks and created a roof from leaves. There was also a fire pit in the middle of the foundation that had had a fire in it sometime recently. Thankfully there was no spray paint, but there was a small amount of litter (no beer bottles, but there was broken clear glass). In the structure there were also 2 lead pipes which were small enough to be used as a weapon. It was a little unnerving to think that this person might come back and be upset that we were trouncing around his home. This structure was far enough from the trail that you would never know it was there unless someone told you. This place was literally in the middle of nowhere 300 feet from the trail.

(Sarenna in the center of the foundation of this house)

(Sarenna looking down the side of the hill at the creek)

We stayed long enough to find the cache, sign the log, take a few pictures and explore this structure pretty well. I think Sarenna was as intrigued as I was as to who might have lived there, when, and what the land was like back then. The cache was cleverly hidden, but Sarenna found it in no time. Here are some pictures from the evening.

(Sarenna hunting for the cache in the firepit. Spoiler: It wasn’t there.)

(Sarenna tired of me taking pictures and taking a break cache hunting by resting on my bag)

So geocaching has been great for me and the kids so far. It has taken us to a lot of places we wouldn’t know existed otherwise – places like Emmeneger Park or West Tyson Park. It is great exercise, you spend time outside and most importantly, I get to spend time with the kids and all that time on the trail gives us time to talk. We have all enjoyed it so far and I, for one, am hooked. Although I am only 10 caches in, I am already planning our first “hide”. I am awaiting permission from the county of the park our first one will be placed before we hide it, but have the container (Pelican Large Waterproof case) and the contents picked out. I foresee myself maintaining 10 or so caches in the area by years end. The first is being placed in a sentimental spot, but the others will be placed in locations that blow my mind.

I am also looking forward to caching with the Wheeler family sometime soon!