Geocaching – High-Tech Hide and Seek (and Potluck)

Geocaching is an outdoor activity of high-tech hide and seek which utilizes GPS coordinates and navigation to find hidden containers all over the globe. The hobby is enjoyed by several million people around the world. Many of you know about geocaching, and some of you have gone on one or more of the five past CMC trips that took members to interesting locations in quest of finding caches. These geocaching trips included about 50 participants, some of whom have become committed geocachers from these introductory experiences. Caching has many dimensions that a person can focus on, and some of them ideally complement and enhance other CMC activities such as hiking on standard trails as well as to more remote off-trail locations; climbing various mountains in Colorado and elsewhere; augmenting your mapping and related skills by seeking caches that require employing orienteering/navigational skills; learning about specific geological features and earth processes in areas you are hiking; taking you to special backcountry locations you’ve been unaware of; and a variety of interesting educational and other experiences.

Steve and Brad’s presentation will review several facets of geocaching that allow lots of different recreational foci that might capture your interests and diversify your trip and destination objectives. You might be surprised at how planning for and engaging in cache-finding can really broaden your normal backcountry experiences. As will be pointed out, it’s also a fun additional way of getting into the plains, foothills and mountains with friends!

Photo: Steve, Jordana Estes, and Doug Ingram at a geocaching event at the top of Mount Elbert (photo by Brad). Doug was the group's 2023 annual dinner speaker and presented on his Mt. Everest climb (where he found the EarthCache).