5 minute read
Geocaching
Story By Madeline Wilson | Photos By Josh Julagay | Design by Joe Petrick
IIt’s your first year at CWU and you’re required to
Advertisement
live on-campus; you enjoy living in the dorms but don’t have a car. You and your friends are trying to figure out an easy way to explore Ellensburg without needing to walk too far. If only there were something you could do that doesn’t require a car and could pass a few hours around town.
Suddenly, you remember that while scrolling through the App Store last week you saw a geocaching app. You decide to download it and discover that
many geocaches have been placed around town and on campus that are within walking distance of your dorm. You and your friends may have just found your new favorite, year-round weekend activity.
Geocaching is a longstanding activity that many families and friend groups have been participating in for years. People all over the world work together in search of the small, treasure-filled capsules that have been hidden in plain sight.
WHAT IS GEOCACHING?
Geocaches, commonly referred to as ‘caches,’ are enclosed canisters that contain a log of people’s names who have previously found the cache and depending on the size, small treasures meant to be traded, according to REI.
Geocaches come in any container you could think of, ranging from sizes extra-small to large and are normally placed by more experienced cachers.
If you are just walking down the street, you may not realize it but you probably have already passed between one and two caches. Unless you are deliberately looking for a particular cache, they are very difficult to spot. However, with practice you can become an expert geocacher and they become easier to find without relying solely on a GPS.
WHERE TO FIND GEOCACHES
So, you now know what a geocache is, but how can you use the app to find them? The official Geocaching app has many features, but its main purpose is to serve as a map and a modern navigational tool in order to find a given cache. The caches appear as green dots on the map and, when selected, present you with a wide array of information.
Coordinates, difficulty level, size and even hints are at your disposal. You can also find a virtual log of every person who has found that cache before you and often, experienced cachers have been known to leave tips for beginners. Using the coordinates, the app tracks how many feet away from the cache your location is and can be a guiding tool for finding your first cache.
You may be thinking that in a small town such as Ellensburg, there couldn’t possibly be enough geocaches for it to be worth your time to start now. However, it may be surprising that Ellensburg is full of geocaches and there have even been some placed around campus. You may feel embarrassed openly searching for caches at first but Devlin Mee, a sophomore environmental science major, recommends that you “go to less urban caches … like in a park,” for your first time caching.
As you gain more experience, the time spent looking for a cache is lessened and you can try more exposed locations with bigger difficulty levels. Mee says, “Geocaching is like a team sport, [and] you [can] have more eyes to look for hidden caches,” which lowers the difficulty of caching for the first few times.
Any time you are in need of a break from school you can download the app, grab a few friends and find geocaches in any of the numerous Ellensburg parks.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a car or the bus stops don’t coincide with where you want to geocache because there are many caches within walking distance, even in the heart of downtown Ellensburg.
You could walk to Main Street and be at a major caching hub in under 20 minutes.
However, for those of you who do have a car and are interested in exploring outside of Ellensburg, there are many great trails and natural escapes that contain geocaches. “Most caching spots in the Pacific Northwest use good-sized caches and can be found near eye-drawing attractions on hikes,” says sophomore Bart Hasz.
Hasz also explains that hiking trails and paths
can be great alternatives to going in town in search of geocaches because “it gives you the ability to get away from the concrete … and instead, relax and enjoy the outdoors.”
Geocaching can be a great getaway for anyone who enjoys spending time in nature and also needs motivation to take a break from the stress of college life.
Geocaching can also be a great weekend activity, especially if you are someone who wants to be more active but hates going to the gym or doesn’t have time in your demanding schedule.
Sophomore Marissa Bonner says that for “students [who] stay inside way too much … it’s a really good way to get out … [and] to get exercise.” Even if you are not a fan of hiking, you could open the Geocaching app, find one that you are interested in and run or walk until you are in the general area of the cache. Searching for caches is a great way to get exercise every week without ever truly breaking a sweat.
Whether you’re a student in need of an escape from campus life or are a member of the community wanting to explore new parts of Ellensburg, geocaching is a great way to be active and spend time with your friends. You can go by yourself or with a group of people and no matter how many caches you find, you can still be continually challenged every time you search for a cache.
