GEOCACHING

WRITTEN BY REX

WE WENT OUT GEOCACHING THE OTHER AFTERNOON. SO WHAT THE HELL IS GEOCACHING, YOU ASK? WELL HERE IS THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION.

"Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a GPS unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."




THIS IS WHAT A HAND HELD GPS UNIT LOOKS LIKE. THEY ARE SMALL AND DON'T HAVE MUCH OF AN ANTENNA. AT HOME IN THE MIDWEST THEY WOULD BE TUFF TO USE , BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET UNDER THE TREES IT INTERRUPTS THE SATELLITE SIGNALS. IF YOU WERE OUT FISHING ON ONE OF THE MANY LAKES IN WISCONSIN AND HIT A HOT SPOT, YOU'D GRAB YOUR HAND HELD GPS AND PUNCH IN THE WAYPOINT SO THAT YOU COULD RETURN TO THE EXACT POINT ON THE LAKE TO FISH AGAIN.

HERE ON THE DESSERT IT MAKES FOR A GAME OF SEARCH AND FIND THE HIDDEN TREASURE. THE COORDINATES TAKE YOU OUT ON A INTERESTING HIKE. TODAY WE WERE LED OFF ROUTE 66 INTO A DESSERT GULLY WHERE THERE WERE STONE WALLS OF SEVERAL BUILDINGS DATED TO 1947. WE WONDERED IF IT WAS A RANCH, OR AN OLD ROAD HOUSE? GEOCACHING IS IN THE HIKE AND THE UNUSUAL SITES, MORE THAN THE TREASURE, BUT WHAT DOES A TREASURE LOOK LIKE?

BEFORE ......................AFTER