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EAST BRUNSWICK NATURE NOTES

— Geocaching Page —

To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something.

Walker Percy

Do you enjoy the outdoors? What about nature and hiking?

And, how about a good mystery? Are you curious about things? If any of these questions appealed to you at all, then you are an excellent candidate for learning about and engaging in GEOCACHING.

Liti Haramaty and her family has been involved with this most interesting (and rapidly growing) activity for a while,

and here she provides us with a very enjoyable look into what this is all about, and what it involves.

By the way, if you're already involved with Geocaching and have an interesting story to tell, please let us know.

Geocaching
Treasure Hunting in the 21st Century
by Liti Haramaty

If you watched “Jeopardy” on December 14th, you heard Rich, the two-day returning champion tell Alex Trebek about geocaching. He briefly explained what it is, and in response to the question: “what do you win?” he replied “nothing”. In the game of geocaching there are no prizes and no losers, everybody is a winner. The adventure, the time spent outdoors with other treasure hunters, the things you get to see, the smells and sounds of nature are everybody’s prize.

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching¹ is a treasure hunt game for GPS² 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 (just about anywhere) 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 take something from the cache, they should try to leave something else in for the cache in return. Playing is simple, all you need is a GPS unit and to know how to enter waypoints into it.Once at the point you have to search for the cache. There are very few rules for playing and they're all simple.

Take something from the cache
Leave something in the cache
Write about it in the logbook

Geocaching is a great outdoor activity, and it makes you look in places you never would have thought to look before. However, it's not as quite easy as it sounds. The GPS unit will take you to the immediate vicinity of the cache. The rest is up to you. It is one thing to know approximately where the cache is, but another to actually find it. Some find this last part of the hunt the most interesting.

The game of geocaching is becoming more and more popular and new caches are being placed all the time. There are many hidden in our area [at Rutgers gardens, Cook Farm and one in our Butterfly Park (in East Brunswick), to name a few], and thousands all over the world. Check out the geocaching web site http://www.geocaching.com/ to learn more.

Here are stories of two recent “treasure hunt” adventures.

Geocaching in East Brunswick

I will not tell you where we are, just that we never left East Brunswick for this one.

This is the story of two “hunters”, Gil, seen here holding the GPS programmed with location of the cache, and his friend Offir.

It was a nice fall afternoon and our two “hunters” found the location easily.They, and the adults who accompanied them, looked around - nothing under logs, nothing hanging from trees.

Offir decided to solve the clue his father printed from the geocaching web site. After he solved the clue he read it to all of us. The clue directed us to the exact location of the cache.

A few minutes later we heard Gil calling “I think I found it!”

The cache was somewhat hidden to ensure that only those who were looking for it would find it.

…and here it is – a plastic container with sticker on it explaining what it is.

The boys emptied the container, and chose what they wanted to remove from the cache, replacing their found treasure with items we brought with us.

We logged our visit in the logbook and put the cache back in it’s place, for the next “hunters” to find it.

Later that evening I logged our visit onto the web site. This cache, based on entries on the web site, is very popular, and it is right here in East Brunswick!

Another day, another cache…

We left East Brunswick for this one, but we were less than a mile away from home.

Our team today included Luca (in blue), Ori (in green) and Gil. Allowing children to explore is a always a plus for this activity.

This cache was in Tupperware container.

    We looked through, took something, put in something else in its place, wrote an entry in the logbook, and are still telling the story of that great day.

    Now, don’t get this wrong. This is not a just kid’s game. The grownups love it too! It’s just that no one takes pictures of them.

    This is a great outdoor activity, and it lets you look in places you've never looked in before. You don’t always find the cache but there is always some kind of a treasure, be it a worm, a snail or a little flower. Caches are everywhere and more are being placed all the time, while more and more people are getting interested in playing geocaching. Check out the geocaching web site to learn more.

¹ - geocaching |ˈjēōˌka sh i ng | noun-the recreational activity of hunting for and finding a hidden object by means of GPS coordinates posted on a Web site. ORIGIN from geo(graphical) + cache + -ing.
also -
Global Positioning System unit (GPS)—a receiver that allows you to interact with the GPS satellite system for navigation and other applications.

²- GPS abbreviation- Global Positioning System, an accurate worldwide navigational and surveying facility based on the reception of signals from an array of orbiting satellites.

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For more information about GEOCACHING and GPS (system and units) please see links above or on the Hotlines & Resources Page (under the heading "FUN".) The link for geocaching provides as much information about geocaching and GPS units as you could hope to find. Everything is explained clearly. We hope you enjoy learning about this wonderful activity, whether you go it alone, or share it with friends or your family.

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– East Brunswick Nature Notes –