By Jillian Manty | Observer Contributor
It all started with a push of a button. A simple download of an app.
My first “cache” was on a rainy spring night last year. My boyfriend, Luke, and I had just gotten out of work and decided to check out this new app I had downloaded. We opened it up and realized there was a cache hidden right down the road from us, so we took off and arrived at the Hannaford parking lot in Orange.
Upon arrival, my GPS said we were within 30 feet of the cache. We slid down the muddy embankment and found the cache in the base of the tree. Feeling a rush of excitement, we took the cache back to my car to open our find. There was a log book that we signed and neat knick-knacks inside. This was the beginning to our Geocache addiction.
What is Geocaching exactly?
It is basically like a real-life scavenger hunt that you participate via smart phone. The app gives you coordinates to where each cache is for you to find. There are so many hidden nationwide – you have probably passed them without even knowing it! In fact, there is even one hidden right by the MWCC Gardner campus, so that would be a good place to start.
Geocaching has taken me to some really cool places – campgrounds, hot dog joints, waterfalls, and beaches are just a few. Luke and I recently took a mini vacation to Maine for the weekend and we found sixteen caches on that trip alone. Some of the caches were hidden under park benches, behind town signs, and in secret spots at the local shops.
There is always a log to sign your name with each cache, and sometimes there are different prizes you can take, as long as you leave one in return for the next person. Mostly, the prizes are just cheap, little knick-knacks. Some that I’ve seen have been erasers, miniature toys, stickers, and pins. Usually when I decide to take a prize, I leave behind a rubber duck. I bought a big bag of them just for this purpose. Geocaching really is more about the thrill of finding the cache more so than the prize you go home with.
I recently took my dad out to find a few and we found my favorite prize yet. The cache was hidden in between a few big rocks in an Altoids tin at a rest area in Ware, MA. Inside, there was a log to sign as well as a copper heart that said “Love” on it. In return, we left a pair of new NASCAR ear plugs with a case, intended for going to the race and blocking out the loud noise of the cars racing by. This was my favorite find because it meant a lot to find it with my dad, and it’s a memory I will have with me forever and I am sure it will be something he remembers, too. He had a lot of fun geocaching and we actually have a day planned that’s dedicated solely to that this week!
If you are looking for something that is both cheap and fun to do, geocaching is definitely something to check out. Before you know it, that click of a button could turn into an addiction, too!
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