Practice Proper Care and “Feeding” of Geocaches

Good geocache maintenance is the story of two smiles. You earn a digital smiley for your Geocaching profile by finding a geocache. If you’ve found a well-maintained geocache it often leads to a real, in the flesh, teeth showing, ear-to-ear smile. Now, we’re on a quest for even more smiles.

It’s the perfect time to help.When you find a geocache, treat it with care and lend a helping hand if it’s necessary. After signing the log book, make sure the geocache is clear of debris and return it to the original hiding spot. If you notice the geocache is no longer water-tight, the log needs to be replaced, or anything else that needs some geocache love, submit a “Needs Maintenance” log on the geocache page. The geocache owner will receive a message and a red wrench icon will appear.

If the geocache is well-maintained, make sure to include a thank you to the geocache owner in your log. And, of course, don’t forget to smile.

Geocachers are always prepared. GPS? Check. Pen? Check. But wait! What should you bring to combat the growling stomach that inevitably follows a finding frenzy on the geocaching trail? To answer this most important of questions, we decided to ask our fellow geocachers here at Geocaching HQ for their top remedies for an empty belly. Here are their top tricks and tips for a great geocaching adventure!

Tip #1: Avoid getting ‘hangry’ (hungry + angry)

Family and friends can take the geocaching fun-o-meter to a whole new level, but hungry people can sometimes be cranky people. Geocaching videographer Reid Kuennen (Username: reidsomething) advises always keeping snacks on hand. She says, “One thing you should know about me before we go geocaching together is that I have a tendency to get hangry (hungry + angry) if I don’t bring snacks. Over the years I’ve learned never to navigate too far from home without my trusty bag of trail mix.”

Geoacching HQ User Experience lead Nick Botner (Username: Whiskey Bones) suggests a similar tactic to maximize your find potential and reduce the need to exhaust your carefully honed geosense scrounging for food in the forest. “If you’re going out into the wild, make sure you bring a little more than you might need. I know I can tend to get a little carried away with the whole ‘just one more cache’ so it’s nice to have the extra food and more importantly water to enable me to enjoy my time out there and not be reduced to eating the surrounding vegetation.”

Tip #2: Stay hydrated

Staying hydrated is key to keeping in tip-top geocaching shape. While drinking water is great (we highly recommend it!), there are other ways to keep hydrated as well. Nick likes to eat apples while out on the trail: “This not only stops the hunger but also helps hydrate me. Plus, the natural sugar gives me a little pick me up.” Power geocaching couple Jayme (Geocaching Community Manager) and Ben Hewitt (benandjayme) always make sure to have a good day pack with a hydration reservoir. “Sometimes we even add lemonade powder to one of our water bladders.”

Packing in snacks is useless if nature gets to them first! Nick says, “It’s not often I go into bear country. But when I make my way into the swamps I make sure I bring a backpack that has a compartment on the top so in case I get too deep. Food and electronics can stay dry in their respective compartments.” Reid also reminds us that weather can be important when packing and snacking: “I recommend sealable plastic bags or light-weight Tupperware, both can be washed and used many times! You probably already know this, but chocolate melts, and it’s something to think about on hot days.”

Tip #3: Cache in, Trash out

Anything that you pack in should also be packed out (unless it’s in your belly of course!). Jayme and Ben warn that this is often easier said than done and can sometimes require a bit of hunting: “After we are done eating we always check the area to make sure we’ve gathered any rogue baggies that the wind has picked up.”

Tip #4: DIY Snacks with Reid

Personalized Nut Jumble:

• Roasted almonds (a little salty)
• Roasted cashews (also salty)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Dried cranberries (preferably not sweetened… nature has sweetened them plenty)
• Dark chocolate chunks 

How to: The fun thing is that you get to put whatever you like in it! Above are some of my favorite ingredients.

Surprise Dates:

• Dates
• Chocolate
• Almonds

How to: Putting these together is simple and sticky – pit the dates & shove (gently) an almond and hunk of chocolate inside.

Now it’s your turn! What are your favorite snacks to bring out on the geocaching trail? Tell us about them in comments below!

 

Earlier this month we received an email from a geocacher named Karen. In her email, she described how geocaching has completely turned her and her husband’s lives around with more exercise, lower blood pressure and a slimmer waist line. Then, her husband, Mike, sent an email to elaborate on their story. We love reading stories like this and can’t help but share it with Karen and Mike’s permission and an ear-to-ear smile across our faces.

After retiring, Karen and Mike found themselves with a few bad habits: eating more and being less active than in previous years. That is, until a local outing for retired and active police officers. This is where it all began to change for Mike and Karen. “…Officer Sean Sullivan was present at this one. At the end of our dinner, he showed me a key ring of “path-tags”. They, of course, looked cool and he told me he has collected them “Geocaching”. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He explained the whole process to me that evening, and I was intrigued,” said Mike.

Later, Mike dug out his older GPS device he had used for boating. Admittedly, he hadn’t learned to use it properly, but spent a few days reading the manual and getting the basics down. From there, Mike and Karen created a Geocaching account as NHBucket and set out for their very first geocache. “We ventured out and found my first cache (Rhoades Cemetary Pt 2, Alexandria, NH)….in thigh-high deep snow. I was hooked, right then and there,” Mike wrote.

Since they earned their first smiley, Karen says, “We have gone geocaching in New Hampshire in Andover, Franklin, Tilton, Laconia, Lochmere, and Belmont. We took a vacation last week in Maine and spent every day geocaching.” During that vacation in Maine, the couple found 47 geocaches. And they’ve begun to see the benefits, too. “Mike and I are both benefiting from geocaching because it makes exercising fun. Before we know it, we have walked 6 – 10 miles a day. Mike is also seeing his diabetes come under control with his numbers dropping,” said Karen. Mike added, “In the couple months since, I’ve lost 20 pounds, I eat less, have reduced my [blood pressure] & [blood sugar] levels overall, and just plain feel better about myself.”

Mike and Karen have shared the geocaching love with others, as well. “I’ve taken my wife, my 16-year-old son, and my 8-year-old grandson out geocaching. I’ve also introduced my brother Chris, and his wife, Carla to geocaching…Now, she (Car-Crazy) is hooked with the GC Bug worse than me. AND, she “hooked” her father (Yogi1940),” said Mike.

Thanks Mike and Karen for sharing your story with your fellow geocachers. If you have any inspirational stories about how geocaching has changed yours or someone you know’s life for the better, share it in comments below. Happy geocaching!