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Art, Entertainment & Lifestyle

Summer - 2016

Shopping & Dining in Sensational

Jefferson County JeffCo
Hot Spots
“Gateway to the
Rocky Mountains” • Art
• Food
... and so much more! • Music
• Hiking & Biking
• Museums
• Photography

Many Great Places
to Visit!

The World’s Largest Treasure Hunt

What comes to mind when you hear the word Geocache We quickly opened it
(pronounced Gee-oh-cash)? Not familiar? It wasn’t to me either up and found a delightful
until a few weeks ago but now I’m absolutely hooked on this trove of cheap trinkets. We
cool activity. signed the log inside the box
and Kenna decided to take
According to Geocaching.com, Geocaching is an outdoor ad- a small bird tile and left
venture where players use a free mobile app or GPS device to find behind a plastic water gun.
cleverly hidden containers around the world. There are 2.5 million We placed it back exactly as
geocaches waiting to be found in over 180 countries and more than we found it, logged our find
10 million registered users, 800,000 of whom are in the U.S. on the Geocache app and
received a smiley face for
The reason geocaching even exists is that on May 2, 2000, at our trouble.
approximately midnight, E.S.T, the U.S. Government turned off
“selective availability” to twenty-four satellites around the globe. Standing in the direc-
Instantly, GPS accuracy improved tenfold and became accessible to tion we wanted to head, I
civilians. The very next day, Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, Oregon tapped on the green dot showing us the general proximity of the
decided to bury a cache and post the coordinates on a Usenet news- next geocache along the trail. That cache was called a “micro” and
group. According to Ulmer’s message, the cache was a partially was found by Kenna hanging in a tree at eye level. Micro geocaches
buried black plastic bucket that contained software, videos, books, are very small containers that only have enough room for a tiny log
food, money, and a slingshot. book.

Within a day, the cache had been found and within a month, new We ended up finding one more geocache for a total of four but
caches were being buried around the world, which began a new decided we should get on with our hike in order to finish before
global sensation. In fact, when I checked for caches near me, the sunset.
app located over 300 in just a 5-mile radius of my home!
All along the trail we kept talking about how much fun we were
The basics are this: A geocacher hides a container that includes, at having with our new hobby. My husband was so glad I had
minimum, a logbook. They list it on Geocaching.com and challenge suggested it since it seemed to energize our daughter and make
others to find it. The container is hidden but never buried and if the her look forward to our next hike.
geocacher is playing by the rules, the cache should not contain food,
ammunition, alcohol or illicit items. Most geocaches contain small Since our first outing, I have become more familiar with the
trinkets and if you choose to take something, you should leave Geocaching app. Each geocache has a clever name given by its
something of equal or greater value. Once you’ve traded trinkets owner and most have a short description often telling users about
and signed the log, put the cache back exactly where you found it. the container itself, hints and other fun facts. Since geocaches can
And that’s it! be found virtually anywhere, the app will let you know on a scale
of 1-5 (1 being easiest, 5 being most difficult) how challenging the
A few weeks ago, my husband Thom, daughter Kenna and I location, how difficult the terrain you’re likely to encounter and the
decided to take advantage of the glorious spring weather and go size of the geocache itself, which makes it easy to design the outing
for a hike. I had recently read an article about geocaching and was best for you. Under the “Activity” tab, you can read users’
intrigued. After installing the free Geocaching app on my iPhone, comments. These proved helpful when we weren’t sure we were
I helped Kenna gather some plastic trinkets and off we went for in the right location. If you come across a cache that is not located
White Ranch Park in Golden. where its posted coordinates say it is, you can leave a comment for
the owner and let them know it’s been “muggled” – geocache speak
As soon as we pulled into the parking space, a frantic woman for missing or stolen. You can also leave suggestions to let the
told us that she had lost her Beagle named Snickers after the dog community know you had a hard time finding it or a funny story
took off after a scent on the hiking trail. We told her that we too had
a Beagle and promised to look for him during about how you came across it.
our hike.
This is what I like best about my new hobby
We headed up Belcher Hill Trail and I - the community. It’s such a great feeling
tapped the app on my phone. As soon as I to know that in a world full of divisiveness
did, several geocaches popped up on the and discord that millions of really cool and
screen. Although you could use the app adventurous people all over the world are
free of charge, I decided to upgrade to the interested in the same thing – getting outside
premium membership which revealed more and exploring their environment, finding a
details and even hints for finding the nearby treasure or two along the way and then
treasures. taking the time to share and help others have
the same fun experience.
We chose our first geocache and gleefully
hiked up the hill. Using the compass within I’m already looking forward to our next
the app, we were able to come within 30 feet geocaching adventure. I just checked my app
before we had to use our own wits to find and there are five just in my neighborhood!
it. After about five minutes climbing over a Gotta go!
giant rock pile, we found it – our first geocache! The container was a
metal ammunition box, which I later found out is popular due to its Interested in Geocaching? Check out Geocaching.com for more
durability and waterproof properties. information.
— Lisa Langley

16 JeffCo Living • Summer 2016 • www.JeffCoLiving.com