The Basics
What? A day of geocaching fun followed by a BBQ!
Where? Jack Seaton Park, Lake Country
When? Saturday, July 15th 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
To celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, over 465,000 Canadians from coast to coast voted for their 150 favourite physical activities to create the Participaction 150 Play List. The list is a challenge to all Canadians to get active with the Participaction 150 Play List and see how many activities you can complete in 2017. Geocaching is on that list!
So what is geocaching? In the simplest terms, it is a worldwide, modern day treasure hunt using GPS satellites and coordinates. Players need the use of a GPS, or smartphone with a geocaching app installed, to locate the hides and an account on geocaching.com to track their finds. That's it! Each geocache contains a piece of paper called a log, which you sign using your geocaching name. We recommend signing up for your free geocaching.com account before the event to ensure your chosen geocaching name is available. Depending on the size of the container, geocaches might also hold small trinkets that you can trade. Trade items, or swag, are often small toys or gadgets. As long as your trade items are family friendly and not food, you can trade it! But please do try and trade equally. Every geocache is assigned a unique code, called a GC code. This code is used to log your find on geocaching.com. Each cache also has a rating system; one rating for difficulty of find and another for difficulty to access. 1’s are the easiest and 5’s are the most difficult. This ratings system allows you to tailor your experience to your physical needs as well as level of challenge in the hunt.
The Event! We will start with a meet and greet at Jack Seaton Park and will gather around the north baseball diamond area. There are washrooms, a playground, baseball diamonds, and picnic tables available as well as the opportunity to cross other Participaction 150 Play List activities off the list! This area of the park is not paved, however it is mostly level and wheelchair friendly. Take this time to mingle, meet some new faces and get to know our geocaching community. The BC Geocaching Association (BCGA) will be in attendance with a limited number of GPS’s available to loan to anyone looking to try out the game. Those who are new to the game will be invited to cache as a group, using these GPS’s or your own smartphone, along the hiking trails surrounding the park and will be guided by a veteran cacher. This group will set out to find a mix of new and previously released geocaches in the area. Proper walking or hiking footwear is recommended and please bring a pen and any small trade items you might have, should you want to swap swag. Anyone interested in joining this hands on, learn to geocache group are asked to check in at the BCGA table by 1:00 pm. A number of other new geocaches around the Lake Country area will also be released to attendees. All new geocache listings will be available to attendees through a GPX file as well as a paper copy. At 1:30 pm, we will start the geocaching portion of our day!
After a fun day of geocaching, we will gather back at Jack Seaton Park for more mingling, games and a BBQ! We will fire up the BBQ at 4:00 pm and hot dogs will be available by donation. Veggie burgers will be available by request for our vegetarian attendees. All proceeds from the BBQ will be donated to the Kelowna SPCA to help animals in need.
Geocaching is a fantastic way to get outside, get moving and discover this beautiful land of ours. We hope you’ll join us for this Participaction 150 event and come explore with us!
I am happy to announce that, as part of this event, we will be handing out free tote bags to the first 100 people to attend (limit 2 per family)! They will be handed out on a first come, first served basis at the check in table on event day. I am also thrilled to announce the we have been working with event sponsors, who have generously donated prizes to be given away at the end of the day through a raffle draw. 100% of the proceeds from the raffle and BBQ will be donated to the Kelowna SPCA. We will be announcing our sponsors as the date draws closer, both on this event listing page as well as on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/learntogeocache).
I am also happy to announce that we will also be supporting Shoe Bank Canada at this event. We will have a shoe donation box setup to accept donations of unwanted new or gently used shoes, to help those in need.
Thank you to our sponsors who have generously donated items to our day of raffle and tote bags. 100% of the proceeds from our raffle and BBQ will be donated to the Kelowna SPCA to help animals in need.
Thank you Landsharkz, GeoWyrm's Geocaching Supplies, SweetLegs, Gold Country Geotour, Cache Advance, Lake Country Dairy Queen and the BCGA for your generous support!
We will be continuing to announce sponsors in the weeks leading up to the event.