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It’s a cross between a scavenger hunt and a nature hike, between treasure hunting and orienteering. It’s fun! It’s free! It’s geocaching.
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On this date in 2000, a guy from Oregon named Dave Ulmer posted a note on the internet, informing people that he had buried a black plastic bucket in the ground. The bucket held software, videos, books, food, money, and a slingshot. He stated that the latitude/longitude coordinates of the bucket, which he called a stash, were 45 degrees 17.460′ N and 122 degrees 24.800′ W—and he encouraged people to go out with their GPS devices and find the stash!
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Within five days, two different people had discovered the waterproof container! And thus a new game/sport was born.
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GPS (Global Positioning System) devices are used in this outdoor activity in which people look for hidden or buried caches, waterproof containers containing a logbook and items to trade. When someone finds a cache, he or she is supposed to put some trinket in if he/she takes one out; more importantly, the finder is supposed to enter the date and his or her code name in the log. The fun for the hider is to dig up the cache every once in a while to see how many people have found it…
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I’ve tried this sport, and it’s fun although sometimes very challenging. I’ve discovered new places to explore and new trails to hike while on the prowl for a cache. Try geocaching today by going here (or Google geocaching).
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