geocaching?

[Iain McFadyen]

Alex,
 
We discussed this at Tacos one Saturday.
 
I have tried Geocaching.
 
There is a Geocache hidden in McLean, which has a British theme. There are thousands of these worldwide, some themed and some general in nature.
 
In a nutshell, in case people didn't already visit the URL given by Alex, geocaching consists of searching for a hidden treasure by using any means you wish, having been given no more than an accurate Lat and Long. Accurate maps can work, but nowadays, everyone uses GPS receivers. Geocaches are typically hidden ammo boxes, hidden in woods or other public places. On finding the cache, the finder opens it, and signs the log. If they know the theme of the cache in advance, they can deposit an item and take an item. Or,... you can "TNLN" (Take Nothing Leave Nothing). The finder then hides the cache again and walks away. 
 
The local (McLean) cache contained toy british soldiers, a severely damaged beatles 45rpm vinyl record, a postcard of London, a British Railways used train ticket.... and much more. 
 
It is very unusual to find anything of value in the cache. The game is to find it, not to benefit from the cache itself.
 
The first lesson learned by anyone using a GPS is that the accuracy under a tree canopy in summer  is much less than winter accuracy with no leaves on the trees.  :-)

Iain   KI4HLV

Alex Fraser <beatnic at comcast.net> wrote:
Technology spawns the oddest things
http://www.geocaching.com/
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