Do you enjoy treasure hunts? If you do, then this is a family activity you really should consider!!
It involves finding hidden containers called "caches" or geocaches anywhere in the world using just your GPS and latitude & longitude co-ordinates.
Try it once - I guarantee you'll be hooked for life!
Here’s a really cool cache. It has a key but you don’t use
the key in the way you’d expect. I believe this was made by a geocacher by the name of "West Virginia Tim".
What's interesting about this cache is the number of keyholes on it. Looking at it, you'd assume that you need several keys to open the cache. Then, on looking closer, you'd notice the large combination padlock on the cache too.
This cache has the key hidden right under the cache. You just need to reach in and pull it out; it's attached to a retractable piece of string.
On trying the key in the keyholes, you'll immediately realize that the keyholes are too big for the key.
So, now you have a key that won't fit the keyholes (which are numbered) and a combination padlock. What do you think we need to unlock the cache??
That's right -- the combination. So, we need the key to somehow give us the combination to the padlock. Move it around the cache and you'll find certain numbered points are magnetic and will attract the key.
Move the key around around all the numbers to get the combination and unlock the padlock.
What is really cool is that "West Virginia Tim" shows us how he made the cache. You too can make your own cache just like his or just get a few ideas from him and build your own amazing cache.
His full video along with instructions for building the cache are available here:
If you don't want to use or buy a GPS receiver, you don't really need to. Most new cell phones have a built in GPS receiver that you can access with third party apps, some of which you may be able to find free.
However, there’s something to be said about doing it the hard way.
So, what is the “hard way”??
Well you could try to find a cache by visiting the coordinates on your computer (Google Maps) and then trying to make your way to the actual cache location and try to find it without any other tools like GPS, etc.It will take more time, since you won’t have the real time guidance a GPS would provide, but it might be worth it.
In case you've been getting bored with geocaching, this may be an excellent way to revive interest and make it more challenging for yourself.
Here’s what the gecoaching website has to say about using google earth to find caches:
“Please Note: The coordinates used in Google Earth are only an approximation and can be up to 100 ft from the actual location. The Geocaching Google Earth feature is a tool for viewing geocaches in a general location. Do not use the coordinates in Google Earth for finding or placing geocaches.
The Geocaching Google Earth Viewer allows you to see up to 500 geocaches within a particular map view. A "map view" is considered a single view of the map and does not include pans around the view area. Such pans count as additional map views.
Premium Members can receive geocache results for up to 250 different map views per day. Basic Members can receive up to 25.”
However, many people have reported finding geocaches using just Google Earth and there are conflicting reports on whether geocaching.com’s map is more accurate that Google Earth, or vice versa.
If you do want to be adventurous, here are the steps for finding a cache using google maps. I’ll show you an example of using google maps for finding a cache.
Step 1. Log into Geocaching.com or your preferred cache listing site and locate a cache you want to find. Don’t forget to verify that this cache had a find logged recently. You don’t want to spend the day looking for a cache that isn’t even there.
Step 2. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to the section “For Online Maps....”
Step 3. Click on Google Maps. This should open a new window with the coordinates already fed in. Click on get direction. You will be asked your starting point. Print out the directions.
Step 4. Click on the little window on the left that has “Earth” written in it.
Step 5. Zoom to the maximum extent possible. Study the map and make a note of all visible landmarks around the site.
Step 6. Use your printouts and go find the cache! You may want to print out the geocaching page for this cache too!
This cache container is
going to need its very own category.
Typically, the type of caches go from Nano caches to Large caches (which
are 20 Litres and above).
The world’s biggest cache is going to be 12.19 meters, a 40 foot shipping
container.
This is an initiative started just a few days back (15th
March, 2014) by Lachlan Gall to create the world’s largest geocache. Lachlan
has created a project on Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform to create the World’s biggest geocache.
Lachlan is located in Australia, and that’s where the geocache is going to be
hidden in Australia, Victoria. His project has raised $1,271 AUD out of his
goal of $5,000 AUD as of today, 20th March, 2014. He’s raised this
money within 5 days and he still has around 24 days left to go, so I don’t
think he’ll really have a problem raising the remaining amount.
According to his project listing on Kickstarter, there will be solar power for
lighting the shipping container (the geocache) and a type of maze inside the
geocache. He has a location for the geocache in mind but it hasn’t been
finalized yet.
If the money is raised by April 14, 2014 (the end date for his Kickstarter
project), he plans to hide the cache on 2nd May, 2014, which means
you could be on your way looking for this cache in just under a month and a
half!
I’m not sure how he plans to hide a 40 Foot geocache, but I’m
sure it’s going to be really interesting to what he comes up with.
Do visit his project on
Kickstarter & leave an encouraging comment for him.
b) The thrill of actually looking for the cache, the part right after using your GPS. Once you’re at the cache site, you have to use your wits to actually find the cache.
Geocaches are hidden by members of a cache listing site (like www.geocaching.com). These members will often painstakingly identify a location (Geocaching follows the same rules as real estate – location, location, location), study it, put together the cache container that’s appropriate as per the intended difficulty of the cache (micro, mini, regular, etc.).
The person who creates the cache site will be called the “cache owners” and responsible for maintaining their cache site(s). What maintenance does a cache site need? Well, the owner periodically checks the cache on the cache listing website and if he/she notices a lot of people logging a “did not find” status, he/she is expected to visit the cache location and verify that the cache is still there. It is possible that a cache was removed by someone or even an animal.
There are different types of Geocaches, however, for the purpose of this article, I’ll talk exclusively about a “traditional” cache. This type of cache is just a regular cache and the most common you will see listed.
Ok. So here are the steps you’ll need to carry out for hiding your first cache:
1. Login to your cache listing website. The very first thing you need to familiarize yourself with are the guidelines/Dos & Don’ts posted on your cache listing site for hiding geocaches. This will help ensure that your geocaches are not rejected when you submit them for review in the last step.
Search around your desired location for your geocache. Please do not try to setup your geocache in a far flung remote area that you cannot visit at least once every three months. This is important as you may need to visit it periodically to make sure everything at your geocache is as it should be. For the same reason, do not hide geocaches when travelling abroad. Please make sure that there are no other caches at least 512 feet near yours. This is a requirement for most cache listing websites.
2. Decide exactly where you want your cache to be hidden – maybe a tree hollow, a shrub, among a pile of rocks. You want to make it difficult for your cache container to be found accidentally and yet not impossible to found by fellow geocachers. Make sure that your container is airtight, waterproof and contains at least the absolute essentials – log book, pen/pencil, a geocaching note (unless it is a micro cache), zip lock bag, small prizes.
3. Hide your geocache in your decided spot. Write down the GPS coordinates. Make an entry for your cache on your cache listing website and submit it to the reviewers. The reviewers will need to approve your cache to make it visible on the cache listing site.
Now you just wait for fellow geocachers to find your geocache and write about their experiences doing so.
Here's a park that has a rule - you can keep what you find which
is a pretty cool rule to have, but what makes it really interesting is that
this is a state park and the “finds” here are diamonds and they are found
fairly frequently!!
Oh yeah and
before I forget – In case diamonds don’t interest you, this state park is also a cache
site, so you could call this a two-birds-with-one-stone kind of
adventure.
Where else in the world can you hunt for real
diamonds and keep what you find!
Ok – enough suspense – Where is this State Park?
It’s aptly called, Crater of Diamonds
State Park in Arkansas. by kthypryn
Your
diamond hunt is on top of a plowed 37.5 acre field, which is the surface of a
volcanic crater that had gems. The park staff is pretty helpful and will
provide free certification and identification of diamonds found there.
The park is
open throughout the year except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New
Year’s Day. Here are some of the largest diamonds found in this park:
How big are
the diamonds usually found here? Well, don’t expect to find something
running in hundreds of thousands of dollars for your first find. Generally,
most diamonds found by visitors are too small to be cut, but they still make
fantastic & memorable souvenirs. That being said, only your luck and skill
at finding a diamond will determine how valuable your find is.
A good statistic to note is that this park averages over 1 diamond find a day
and at least 1 diamond over 1 carat found every month on average. Here are some interesting facts on the diamonds found here:
What should
you carry? Well – it depends on how you intend to search for diamonds. It would
be one of three ways:
1.Top search – you basically
walk up and down the rows of dirt and look for diamonds lying on top of the
ground; like you would look for seashells at the beach. The best time to do
this is after a hard rain since the soil is washed away, thereby exposing the
diamonds.
2.Dig a little – you can dig
the first 6 to 12 inches and check for diamonds. You could sift through the
soil using a screen. Any diamonds would be held on the screen and the soil
drops through.
3.Dig deep – you would dig a
relatively deep hole and pass the soil through a series of screens. I have to
warn you though – this is the most laborious and painful methods of doing this.
As for your tools and
implements, you could carry a small trowel/shovel, bucket, screens, etc. or you
could rent them directly from the park.As for your tools and
implements, you could carry a small trowel/shovel, bucket, screens, etc. or you
could rent them directly from the park.
2. Can you solve clues to find a REAL life treasure?
While we all love the sport that geocaching is, I have a special challenge for those of you who can take it up...
How about a real life Treasure Hunt where the prize is real treasure (gold, jewelry, gems, etc.) instead of the usual McDonalds Happy Meal toys?
The value of the treasure in this article is claimed to be anywhere between $1 and $4 Million!!
There’s a big catch though – you will need to find this treasure by solving clues and will not have the exact coordinates for any location given. You will need to feel your way around. But the prize is big – over a Million Dollars big.
Intrigued? Read on....
Forrest Fenn's Hidden Treasure
Forrest Fenn, a Santa Fe antiquities dealer, who was heavily influenced by lost treasure books he read as a boy, was diagnosed with cancer in 1988. After a long bout of cancer treatments, the doctors told him the cancer could return.
During his illness, he came up with the idea to fill a bronze chest full of treasure for anyone to go find. He is rumoured to have filled the chest with "treasure" including gold coins, nuggets, rare coins, jewelry, a Spanish 17th century gold-and-emerald ring and an important bracelet with turquoise beads excavated in 1898 from Mesa Verde, along with a jar holding his autobiography. He also added some hair he pulled off his head and added it to the jar with his autobiography for scientists to make DNA, Carbon-12 and other tests to learn more about him.
Fenn admitted that the treasure is hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe, higher than 5,000 feet above sea level, it's not in Nevada, Idaho, Utah or Canada, and it's hidden over 300 miles west of Toledo, Ohio.
He wrote a book, Too Far to Walk, which includes a pullout map, which he said shows the area in which the treasure is hidden, but without the usual “X marks the spot”. Note: This is an affiliate link - it won't cost you anything but I would receive a small commission if you buy through this link. If you prefer not to use this link, please search amazon.com directly for this book.
There might not be an X marking the treasure's location, but the two-page map, made especially for Fenn's book, includes the 24-line poem with clues to the treasure's location.
The poem was originally published in Fenn's memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, which went viral and sold on eBay for $400.
The treasure has not yet been found. Fenn said, "It's difficult so it won't be found right away, but it's easy enough so that it's not impossible to find it."
Clues
This poem written by Forrest Fenn contains nine clues that if followed precisely (as claimed by him), will lead to the end of his rainbow and the treasure.
As I have gone alone in there
And with my treasures bold,
I can keep my secret where,
And hint of riches new and old.
Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk.
Put in below the home of Brown.
From there it's no place for the meek,
The end is ever drawing nigh;
There'll be no paddle up your creek,
Just heavy loads and water high.
If you've been wise and found the blaze,
Look quickly down, your quest to cease,
But tarry scant with marvel gaze,
Just take the chest and go in peace.
So why is it that I must go
And leave my trove for all to seek?
The answer I already know,
I've done it tired, and now I'm weak.
So hear me all and listen good,
Your effort will be worth the cold.
If you are brave and in the wood
I give you title to the gold.
Fenn also provided these additional four clues later::
Clue #10
The treasure is hidden higher than 5,000 feet above sea level.
Clue #11
No need to dig up the old outhouses, the treasure is not associated with any structure.
Clue #12
The treasure is not in a graveyard
Clue #13
The treasure is not hidden in Idaho or Utah
Can you be the one to solve this mystery? Are your geocaching skills good enough - even without your GPS and cache location? Can you solve his clues and prove yourself worth of the million+ dollar treasure?
Sgt. Kent "Doc" Byrd, an Army explosive ordnance
disposal expert was in Iraq where helped save the lives of several soldiers.
As he was moving his robot over a pile of rocks, one rock
caught his attention. Something didn't seem right about it. Just as his team
leader was about to declare the area safe, Sgt. Byrd said he wanted to flip the
rock over before anyone got out of the truck.
As the rock was flipped over, they could see a portion of
mortar, embedded in plaster to make it look like a rock!
Sgt. Byrd’s keen eye probably saved several lives that
fateful day.
Where did he develop such a keen eye and attention to
detail? Geocaching he says. He’s been an avid geocacher for several years
now.
"Seeing the things that are meant to be unseen,"
he says. "Geocaching - that's pretty much what the game is based on - is
finding stuff, finding stuff that you know the average person is not going to
see as they walk by it on a daily basis."
Here’s a Youtube video featuring Sgt. Byrd:
Sgt. Byrd is known as JrByrdMan162 in the geocaching world.
He also had a travel bug tattoo on his left leg, has his own page and is a
trackable.
Here's saluting a real hero... and of course, his geocaching
skills!
A geocache container is usually a waterproof container that contains a logbook, pencil or pen and some treasures. A geocacher who finds the cache may take out one of the treasures and replace it with one he/she has brought with them. This replacement is done so that there’s always a treasure for the next geocacher who discovers the cache.
However, do remember that some containers may be too small for any treasures and may have nothing more than the log book.
When you’re looking for a geocache, it always helps to know at lease the size of the geocache container you’re looking for. This gives you a pretty good idea on how closely you’re going to need to search once you’re at the cache site’s co-ordinates.
Broadly speaking, there are five types of geocache containers used as per the size of the containers.
1. Nano cache – Their size is usually less than 10ml. This is the smallest possible container for a geocache and is usually the most difficult to find since it can be hidden almost anywhere. They can also have magnets in them so they can stick to a hiding place. You really should carry a pair of tweezers to retrieve the log sheet from a Nano cache.
Examples of this would be a large 5-gallon bucket.
However, please remember that people can get really creative with making their own / going through the trouble of buying geocache containers that easily blend in with surroundings, such as fake mushrooms, fake nuts and bolts, etc.
2. If you're just starting out, start with a low difficulty and a preferably, a large cache (size of the container). They will be easier to find once you've made your way to the cache site. Once you've had more practice and built up some confidence, go for the microcaches (micros). These can be a real challenge to find even after you've found the cache site, because they're just so small. They also tend to have magnets or Velcro on them, so they can be "stuck" onto different surfaces.
The cache listing site will let you know both the Difficulty and Terrain. Difficulty refers to how hard it is to find the cache. Terrain refers to how hard it is to get to the cache site.
3. Research your decided cache and its logs well. When was it last found? Do people say the co-ordinates are off and if so, by how much?
4. Before you head out, familiarize yourself thoroughly with your GPS. Understand how it work, accuracy, features, etc.
5. When you get to the cache location, think like a cache owner -- Where would you hide a cache if you were the one doing it? Where would the best place be in the location you are standing in?
Look around for things that seem out of place - too new, too "perfect", something that subtly stands out from its surroundings.
Look all around you - caches do not necessarily have to be on the ground.
6. Good luck with your hunt and remember, even if you didn't find it, half the adventure was in going there and looking for it!!
If you enjoy treasure hunts and trying to beat your opponents to get to it, this is definitely the hobby for you and your family!!
Geocaching involves finding hidden containers called "caches" or geocaches anywhere in the world.
Caches are waterproof containers that would contain at least a logbook and a pencil or a pen in it along with some small trinkets or souvenirs of very low monetary value.
