The Nuts and Bolts of Geocaching...

Think of geocaching as an outdoor activity—a treasure hunt—with the aid of a GPS (Global Positioning System) hand-held receiver. Most receivers are the same size as a cellphone. A series of 24 satellites in low-Earth orbit  continuously broadcast their position. GPS receivers are able to triangulate on these signals and determine your location anywhere on the Earth's surface. Once you select a cache and enter its coordinates into the GPS receiver, the receiver can tell you how far away the cache is and in what direction it lies.

A  hollowed-out tree trunk sits in a clearing along a path at the Snowdon Park Wildlife Preserve. To the average hiker, it looks just like any other tree. But to those who know to look for it, the trunk holds a surprise: a "cache," which is usually a small, waterproof container inside which are little treats, from stuffed animals to collectible coins, a pad and pencil guest book, all hidden in a camouflaged Canadian Army ammo box.

A group of "geocachers" made the find Saturday morning by following mapping coordinates on handheld GPS devices. The coordinates, downloaded in advance from the Ontario Ceocaching website at www.ontgeocaching.com led them to the clearing after a short, one-half kilometer hike into the forest. Once there, they found the box on their own.

The phenomenon known as geocaching, is a kind of scavenger hunt of international proportions with over 5000,000 locations of hidden articles all over the World. Founded in 2000, the pastime is shared by tech geeks, teenagers, retirees, hikers and anyone who has a sense of adventure and the ability to follow a compass. Geocaches are currently placed in more than 220 countries around the Globe, and registered on various websites pertaining to the fascinating hobby of Geocaching.

People have hidden small, waterproof containers in which they’they have put a logbook or notepad along with a pen or pencil, items of interest (the treasures) such as trinkets, small toys, key rings, refrigerator magnets, etc.

The person who originally places the cache, records the longitude and latitude co-ordinates along with other details of the location of the hidden cache and places this information on line. Other "geocachers" can download from the Internet the coordinates — or take note of the co-ordinates — and go out with the help of their portable, handheld GPS receiver, search for the cache. Most are easily found. However, many are found after a long, arduous hike, canoe paddle, swim, etc.

The finding geocachers record their exploits in the logbook and at the on-line  Internet Forums that are devoted to Geocaching. Geocachers, if they wish, are free to take objects from the cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value, so there's treasure for the next geo-cacher to find.

A simple task? Some are easily found, other can be quite a challenge. Many geocaches can be tucked away in some very obscure spots. GPS receivers are accurate to approximately 7 meters — or 20 feet — which can be quite a challenge locating a cache hidden in a heavily-wooded or rock-strewn area.

"Travel Bugs" (or "travelers" as they are called) adds another dimension to this exciting hobby. Think of travel bugs as "dog tags" which travel from cache-to-cache, and are obtainable from Groundspeak, the company behind www.geocaching.com. Movement of these traceable tags from cache-to-cache is recorded on line so they can be tracked around the World.

For example, finding a travel bug in a geo cache location at Butternut Falls near Carnarvon, Ontario, Canada could be placed in another cache near Wilberforce—considered to be the Geocache capital of Canada—for the next geocacher to find, who would place the travel bug in the next geocache he/she discovers.

In another example, a travel bug could be placed in a cache at a location in Muskoka, Ontario. Its co-ordinates recorded, and the information placed on one of the geocache websites. Each time it is moved, we get an email to let us know its current location. This is a fun way to get the kids out for a hike and good way to learn about geography and orienteering!

Go to this geocaching website — www.geocaching.com — and look for caches near where you live or travel. One should never move a cache. If you search for a geocache and find it damaged, or if you can’t find it at all, let the cache owner know. If you take an item from a geocache, always leave something in return. Be sure to read and sign the log book. Caches are graded in degrees of difficulty of terrain and access. If you find a Travel Bug, don’t hang onto it for long. They should be traveling, so place it in another cache as soon as possible.

To get you started, here's a cache that's located about 40-minutes from our bed and breakfast: Link to Martin's Mill Travel Bug Hotel

Shutterspot GPS...

Shutterspot is an interesting variation of geocaching. It's a game in which a photograph is taken—of a place or landmark—and other players are challenged to try to find and log the latitude and longitude of the exact spot where the photographer stood when the camera shutter "clicked" [the Shutterspot].

More information about Shutterspot, and other GPS-themed games, can be found at this link: Shutterspot GPS

 A Nearby Haliburton Area Geocache...

Coordinates: N 45� 08.426  W 078� 44.588

Name: Hawk Lake Log Chute

The original Hawk Lake Log Chute was built in 1861 and is the only one of its kind remaining in the province of Ontario. The existing log chute was meticulously rebuilt through generous contributions. It is truly a majestic structure that was built by local artisans. In its day, logs were floated down the log chute in order to get the logs out of the forest, over rough terrain to a sawmill where the logs were cut into lumber.

There were several thousand log chutes throughout Ontario, but this is the only one of its kind remaining.

This is a traditional cache with only 1 waypoint to find. Very easy walking unless the snow is still waist deep. During the Spring, Summer and Fall months, this won't be an issue.

The cache—a medium-size thermos—is only a few meters off the road near a parking area. It is far enough from the river that the kids can help you search. They will be especially helpful in retrieving and replacing it. It contains the usual mix of trade goods, and of course, the log book.

After finding the cache we know you will take a walk up the road to view the the wooden log chute. A short walk downstream will take you to a small picnic area where your kids and pets can play in the river shallows.

Check back here often. More information will be added regularly regarding Haliburton Ontario Canada GPS, Groundspeak, and geocache items.