The outdoors is, and always has been, accessible to everyone, and we want it to be that way. All you have to do is find the adventure that suits you.
Geocaching is a great activity for both beginners and seasoned adventurers to explore the world around them. All you need is transportation, a few small items (so-called tokens), and a geocaching app. It's also great to have family and friends together.
What is geocaching? It's basically an open-ended treasure hunt for all ages and abilities. The term itself refers to geography (mapping is key) and to keeping things hidden. People from all over the world participate and play hide and seek. No matter where you live, there are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of items cached nearby.
Geocaches existed before apps. Since 2000, early geocachers have been able to see marks on the Global Positioning System (commonly known as GPS) and be guided to hidden treasures. However, since GPS was not yet a household item, geocaching was a rather special pastime.
The first time I went geocaching was when I was probably less than 10 years old, venturing into the swampy woods off Old Town Road in Three Forks with my Girl Scout troop and a few parents and leaders. Ta.
I don't particularly remember having a GPS in our leader's hands, but I do remember her giving each of us vague hints on how to find the treasure we were looking for. With clues in mind and adventure in our bones, we ran into the woods in search of the stash. In this case, an old can of ammunition was found.
Once discovered, we each signed the log book kept inside, grabbed the items that caught our eye, and left with one item for ourselves. It was a simple and quick activity, but it introduced me to adventure before I even knew what kind of adventure was possible.
More than a decade later, while looking for an opportunity to explore, geocaching came up again in the form of a visit from my old friend Sarah.
It had been years since we met for ice cream at a truck stop diner. Now she's back in Montana. And even though 10 years had passed, our friendship was picking up right where it left off.
Sarah and I first met one day in second grade when my class came to her class and we played a spelling game, or “Sparkle,” if you're familiar with it. I don't remember exactly what drew me to her, but I knew I wanted to find her during my next break. The rest of our friendship is history.
Wanting to make her trip memorable, I planned a geocaching adventure to coincide with her arrival. It was a great opportunity to show her around the Helena area. Her father, Neil, and her sister, Taylor, have also accompanied me on my previous adventures.
After a quick trip to the 100 yen store, we grabbed some trinkets to keep in the stash we found. Before geocaching, we tried something called “landnoting.” This is similar to geocaching in that it directs you to new locations, but there are no trinkets waiting for you.
The Randonautica app will ask you what your goal is, with the intention of finding “amazing views.” We pressed the button and received the location information. To my surprise, I only set the distance to about 100 yards. Anyway, we set off across the parking lot to find a “great view”. Seeing a recently fallen snowbank, we shoveled some snow in our Jeep and decided that this new angle on the world was certainly a unique perspective.
Confident in ourselves and our ability to explore, we switched to our geocaching app (the app we used was actually called “Geocaching”) and set off for Jefferson County. There are countless geocaches hidden in communities across the county, some hidden deep in the wilderness.
To maintain a sense of mystery, we won't reveal too many details about each cache. But an initial search led them to a location outside of Montana City. We all got out of the car with no idea what we were looking for. The app only provides rough clues. And the coordinates are not always as “accurate” as advertised.
In fact, very disappointingly, no cache was found at this location. Maybe the cache didn't exist or I missed the location. Empty handed, we all piled into the jeep and set off further up the Prickly Pear River in search of another jeep.
I spent the rest of the afternoon sliding down embankments, climbing rocks, washing fence lines, and inspecting light poles in my HeyDudes. Many of the caches we found were no larger than a Tic Tac container. It was exciting to investigate the treasures hidden inside, some of which were small treasure chests like the one a Polly Pocket doll could fit in, but the most exciting part for me was misplacing items (wooden I left behind a little sea creature and a little Barbie for gymnastics (but it could be almost anything). That and being able to go on adventures with the people who mean the most to me.
Geocaching required no preparation at all, other than downloading an app or two to your phone. And our afternoon was filled with fun outdoors.
Whether you're looking for a way to immerse yourself in nature or just want to learn more about the city you're visiting, geocaching is the perfect activity. Fun for groups of all ages and sizes from all corners of the globe.
I hope your name appears above mine in the next geocaching logbook I find.
