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Timberline Echoes 19 years, 4 months ago.
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After reading Marc_54—‘s article on what is Geocaching? Well, I got to thinking(scary). To me caching is getting out on a long walk after a hard day and leaving work behind. Or getting a bit of exercise by going out on my bike to find a couple. It is spending quality time with my family riding in the car and hearing the immortal words “are we there yet?” from the back seat. But mostly I get a sense of community from other cachers that I have met. I do not know them very well but I feel comfortable with them. There is a lot to be said about that in today’s world.
Notice I didn’t say anything about the numbers, I’ll leave that to Marc. I do have some competitive nature that way too.
So what is Caching to you?
What is caching to me?… Self inflicted torture (sometimes), a chance to meet people who are just as crazy as me (not often enough though), a chance to spread the joys of nature with others I have talked into going out on the trails with me (still not often enough), relaxing (if I turn the ringer on the cell phone off), but most of all… caching is an adventure that I can embark on whenever I please without having to ask anyone’s permission and without explanation. I do not have to have someone with me to enjoy the trip and often I would rather be on my own to discover the little things… frogs, spiders, deer and yes, even badgers. (I still don’t like the ticks!) It is a time for me to think about life and a time to make important decisions without the pressure of others. Over the last two or so years that I have been caching, I have learned to slow down a bit and enjoy things. Enjoy what you find today and discover all you can, for there may not be a tomorrow.
My 13 year old son goes caching with me periodically. It’s a chance for us to spend fun time together and make memories. I also enjoy just getting out and discovering nature and seeing places I might not have otherwise known about. I also love the thrill of searching for the cache. Every time I go out, it’s a new adventure.
When I first started 2 years ago, it was all about the hunt and getting my kids out in the fresh air – seeing nature, getting some exercise.
Now, it is still about those things. But 2 very important elements that I was not expecting have been added:
1. Visiting really cool places I never knew existed and never would have if it hadn’t been for geocaching. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve just been blown away by where I happen to find myself during the hunt.
2. The sense of community we share and the friends I’ve made. I was not expecting this at all! And now it has become the most important part of the hobby for me.
When I started three years ago, I wanted to spend more time with my son and get him outside and interested in nature. He loves to go with me and always asks to take his friends. Like most kids, he hates all the micro caches in the area and loves to find the larger caches with the goodies. We try to take the bikes whenever we can and love the ones that are along bike trails. I have enjoyed meeting fellow cachers on the trails and at the events I have attended. For me, it is time to get away and enjoy a nice hike and see interesting places or learn some history about an area.
My wife swears its an addiction but, I’ll never tell her she is right. 😀Mofongo
For me, caching is a way to commune with nature, get some great exercise outdoors, have some frustrating fun and socializing on common ground, with some great people, from all walks of life. I love to see the excitement and enthusiasm on faces of all ages/ in their logs, when they come to an event I put on or do caches I place. It’s as simple as that. Numbers are fun, but I do it for ME and not for the competition…..OK.. just a very little bit for the competition, but MOSTLY for me!! 😀
We were looking for a reason to buy a GPS. We had reached a point in our life in which we had just spent many summers tent camping with our kids. But our kids became teens and got jobs, so we could not spend weeks at a time out in the woods. We got bikes and spent a lot of time biking, hiking taking nature photos, etc.
Then we heard about Geocaching… we bought a GPS, and found that the sport fit right into our existing hobbies and we could be home at night to supervise the kidos.
The numbers are probably a bit more important to one of us than the other, but where we live we can not even begin to compare with those who live in cache rich places. So it is more a journal of where we have been and the beautiful things we have seen than a competition with others.
We have really enjoyed meeting other cachers at events and on the trails, and then sharing stories about some of our favorite, most memorable or most challenging caches. We have even had the privilege of having a few cachers drop by our house to meet IRL.
We continue to enjoy being out in God’s creation, watching the birds, animals, identifying the plants, checking out the geographical things, learning more about historical events and we have found that geocaching is one of the greatest ways to do that.
Timberline Echoes
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