Geocaching in Petoskey and Beyond for 25 Years

I remember hearing about geocaching for the first time several years ago while I was living in Grand Rapids. I knew it was an activity that took place outside and possibly used a compass, but that was just about the extent of my knowledge of it. To be honest, until my girlfriend suggested the topic, I did not know that there were still people taking part in geocaching in northern Michigan or anywhere else for that matter. I was proven wrong very quickly as I began my research on this topic. . .

For those of you who have never heard of geocaching before, basically it is like one big outdoor, worldwide treasure hunt.  These hunters use a Global Positioning System receiver or their cell phones, to look for containers also referred to as caches or geocaches at locations that are marked by coordinates. Once found, the caches contain a logbook and also oftentimes contain a small token or treasure. Geocaching is similar to Pokémon GO but with actual physical items that you seek instead of virtual pocket monsters.

The very first cache was hidden on May 3, 2000 by Dave Ulmer near Beavercreek, Oregon. In May of 2000, the strength of the GPS signal was greatly improved, and Ulmer wanted to test just how much better the signal had become. So, he hid a container in the woods and recorded where he had hidden it. Then, he shared the coordinates online for people to try to find the container’s location. Three days later, someone found this box and thus the idea of the sport of geocaching began. News of this successful hunt began to spread online, and soon 75 other geocaches were placed around the world. Just a few short months later, one eager geocacher named Jeremy Irish created geocaching.com which became the first official portal of the game. 

Twenty-five years later, there are now more than 3.3 million active geocaches worldwide. These are hidden in 191 different countries and on all seven continents. Yes, even Antarctica. (Antarctica actually has 49 active caches!)

Anyone can join in on the fun of geocaching. All you need is a smartphone. Download the geocaching app and get started. Prior to writing this blog, I downloaded the official app and immediately it showed me a cache that was within a half mile of my house. I thought it would be advantageous to the writing of this blog to actually search for this geocache to see how easy it would be to navigate with my phone. The app worked great. It was very similar to the Maps app on my phone. It guided us to the area where the cache was to be found. From there, we searched the area for approximately 10 minutes and eventually found our concealed treasure. Carefully hidden, we discovered the makeshift cache (an old prescription bottle) which contained a rolled-up logbook. We enjoyed this search so much that I went into my app to see if there was another spot close by. Sure enough, there was a second one within a couple miles of the first. This second one was quite easy to find. This time the cache was an old plastic bag that caused the logbook to become wet. Fortunately, I had a resealable bag in my car that I switched out with the ruined one. 

I have to admit that I enjoyed my first experience with geocaching, and this is something I would definitely do again. I found the app to be very user friendly. I love being outdoors, and this is the perfect opportunity to get outside and do a little walking and exploring.  There is a sense of satisfaction when you find the cache- even if it is a weathered resealable storage bag containing a moist piece of paper. This is something that I will now look forward to doing when I travel. I would recommend keeping a pen in your car as well as some resealable plastic bags and small tokens to leave behind in the cache. 

Ready to get started on your first geocache adventure or want to learn more about this fun activity? Here are some useful resources:

• Geocaching.com gives you all the answers to everything geocache. They even have answers to questions that you did not know you had. 
• MiGO is the Michigan specific geocaching website. This one is great as well. You can find events and programming associated with the sport. 
• Click here for a direct link to download the app to your smartphone so that you can get started today.