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Geocaching is an outdoor
treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global
Positioning System receiver or other navigational techniques to hide
and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the
world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container
containing a logbook and "treasure", usually toys or trinkets of
little monetary value.
History
Geocaching is similar to a much older
activity called letterboxing. The major difference is its use of the
Global Positioning System. Geocaching via GPS was made possible by
the "turning off" of the selective availability of the Global
Positioning System on May 1, 2000. The first documented placement of
a cache with GPS assistance took place on May 3, 2000, by Dave Ulmer
of Beaver Creek, Oregon. The location was posted on the Usenet
newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav. By May 6, 2000, it had been found
twice and logged once (by Mike Teague of Vancouver, Washington).
Today, well over 200,000 geocaches are currently placed in 220
countries around the world, registered on various websites devoted
to the sport.
Geocaches
For the traditional geocache, a
geocacher will place a waterproof container, containing a log book (with
pen or pencil) and treasures, then note the cache's coordinates.
These coordinates, along with other details of the location, are
posted on a website (see
find geocaching site). Other geocachers obtain the coordinates
from the Internet and, using handheld GPS receivers, seek out the
cache. The finding geocachers record their exploits in the logbook
and online. Geocachers are free to take objects from the cache in
exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value, so there
is treasure for the next person to find.
Typical cache treasures aren't high in
intrinsic value. Aside from the logbook, common cache contents are
unusual coins or currency, small toys, ornamental buttons, CDs or
books. Also common are objects that are moved from cache to cache,
such as Travel Bugs or Geocoins), whose travels may be logged and
followed online. Occasionally, higher value items are included in
geocaches, normally reserved for the "first finder", or those
locations which are harder to reach.
Geocaches can range in size from "microcaches",
too small to hold anything more than a tiny paper log, to those
placed in five-gallon buckets or even larger containers.
If a geocache has been vandalized or
stolen, it is said to have been "muggled" or "plundered". The former
term plays off the fact that those not familiar with geocaching are
called "geo-muggles" or just muggles, a term borrowed from the Harry
Potter series of books. If a cacher discovers that a cache has been
muggled, it can be logged as needing maintenance, which sends an
e-mail to the cache owner so it can either be deactivated, repaired,
or replaced.
Geocachers who have done the sport for a
while often recognize small things out of place that the muggle will
never see, and can find a geocache even without a GPS receiver. It
takes practice to spot the more inventive geocaches.
(source: wikipedia.org) |
