Completing the 40 x 40: #2 Find 40 Geocaches

The 40 x 40 : Finding Geocaches

Back in the day, I had a 40×40 list, a list of 40 things to do before I was 40. 

Well, I turned 40 and upgraded the list.  One of the things on that new list? Finish the old list! 

One of the things on that list? Find 40 Geocaches

Getting out and about

Geocaching.

It is basically using millions of pounds worth of satellites to find Tupperware in the woods.

With ever-increasing access to GPS via phones and tablets, Geocaching has seen a huge rise in popularity. 

And what is not to love! 

It gets you out and about, exploring new places (perhaps even some old places you had forgotten about) it’s fun, adds interest to a walk and gives you an excuse to play with your phone…if you need one. 

Geocaching is a global phenomenon

There are over 3 million Geocaches all over the world; they can be found in 191 countries, including Antarctica.

They range in size from Nano (tiny caches you may probably miss if you don’t look REALLY closely) to giant ones.

A cache is a container for a logbook and sometimes swaps. You find it, you sign the book and you do your little ‘Geo-dance’ (Just me? Okay, you don’t have to do the dance).

So what is it all about?

What do you have to do? 

Well, it’s simple really.  Find out where the caches are.

I recommend the Geocaching website, although there are other sites.  Sign up (it’s free!) and then decide where you want to go and look.  You can enter your postcode and find those near to home, or if you are planning a trip somewhere why not see if you can ‘grab a cache’ while you are there…

Now, this is where we have two options – when I initially started geocaching, back in the old days (i.e: 2010) I did not own a GPS device or an internet-enabled phone, so how I went about finding a cache was slightly different than how I do it now.

If you have access to tech you can click here, and visit the official site; it will tell you all you need to know.  But if you want to try it old school – or just fancy a challenge – there is another way to join in with the geocaching fun.

Geocaching without GPS

Back in the day, when I was an impoverished student who could only get on the internet at home, Uni or if I sat outside McDonalds/Starbucks/a pub that happens to be part of ‘the Cloud’, I couldn’t geocache using the traditional GPS assisted method.

I have recently been reliving this ‘no phone nightmare’, and as a self-professed mobile addict, it has been tough. But I digress…

So how do you do it without GPS?  Through the power of Google maps.

Once you sign up to Geocaching.com and have a look around the caches that are in your area, you will notice numbers at the top of each listing like this:

N 51° 27.270 W 002° 31.145  

These are the coordinates at which the cache is hidden.  If you enter these into Google maps you will get as close as you are going to get without technical help. (If you are a fellow Geographer you could, of course, look up these coordinates on a map, and plot the whole thing properly, but ain’t nobody got time for that!)

When the map appears, put the satellite image up, and see what you can see. As the map in my example above doesn’t show a road, you can’t utilise the ‘street map’ facility, which can sometimes get you really close to your target, but with the satellite view, you can still work out where it is you need to be. 

Often the cache listing will give you a clue, use this to get any extra information you can (you can also look at the gallery of photos other people have added).

Then, you go for a walk, and keep an eye out in the area, especially for suspicious-looking piles of twigs (or stickoflague, as we call it) these are often hiding caches, and you will get very good at spotting it after a while.

Once you find the cache – after making sure there are no muggles about- sign and date it, and, if you can, put a small swap into the box (we use Go-Gos or little badges).

Don’t forget to log the find on the website. And that’s it – go forth and search my Geo-friends!

Challenge Accepted?

So my challenge was to find 40 geocaches – which I did – including one in Oslo and one in Japan. So this challenge is…

Have you tried Geocaching? Let me know if you make an interesting find.