The word “geocache” combines the words “Geo”, meaning Earth, and “Cache” (pronounced cash), a French word for a place where supplies are hidden. So geocaches are like supplies (or in our case, goodies) that are concealed all over the Earth and geocaching is the sport of finding them.
Before the word “geocaching” was created it was referred to as “stash hunting”. On May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, became the “father” of geocaching when he placed the very first “stash” in a wooded area near Beaver Creek, Oregon. The stash held a logbook, a can of beans, mapping software, five dollars in cash, and a slingshot. Prior too May 2000 the gps units that were available to the public didn’t have the accuracy needed to locate a stash.
Ulmer hid his stash and posted the coordinates on a USENET group and referred to it as the “GPS Stash Hunt”.
One of the first people to locate the “stash” was Mike Teague. After finding Ulmer’s “stash” he wrote about it on his website and formed a mailing list where members could receive locations of new stashes. One of the members of the mailing list was a guy by the name of Mike Stum. Stum is credited with inventing the word “geocaching” which soon became the universal term for the hobby.
Geocaching is not only fun it's a great family activity that provides excitement, exercise, and fresh air. Kids enjoy it and with over 1 million geocaches hidden around the world chances are you will find many close to your home. On our own geocaching hunts we discovered things close to home that we never knew existed.
Geocaching is not just for those who live close to the great outdoors. There are geocaches in small towns and large cities as well. Many geocachers also include geocaching on their vacations, allowing them an opportunity to locate caches that would be too far away during their regular outings.
Geocachers are an inventive bunch of people and have placed caches just about anywhere you could think of, even underwater. That’s part of the fun for cache hiders and seekers alike, making them challenging for both the mind and the body. Some geocaches even require you to have a boat or climbing gear to get to their location.
On one of our outings we found a cache was sealed with a chain and a combination lock so we had to explore the area for the lock combination. Another one we found was located in a swamp inside of a huge frog lawn ornament. The cache owner had appropriately named his cache as “Frog Bog”.
When you are geocaching you’ll most likely come across fellow geocachers during some of your hunts. You won’t find a nicer bunch of people, fellow geocachers are always eager to share tips and advice and you’ll learn a lot from them.
When looking for caches you’ll need to learn to think outside of the box. When you arrive at the general location of a new geocache, also know as ground zero, start looking for things that just don’t seem right. Some caches will be easy to spot while others will require some additional hunting, don’t get upset if your first geocaching adventure ends in a “DNF” (did not find). It’s happened to all of us.(and still does.lol) On the other hand maybe you’ll be one of the lucky “FTF” (first to find) geocachers and you’ll get a change to grab a special gift that a lot of cache owners leave for the first person to find their “hidden treasure”.
Finally, I suggest you make your first geocaching adventure an easy one if you bring your kids. After they’ve successfully located their first geocache they’ll be begging you to go again and you can start searching for more difficult caches.
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