Geocaching. Find hidden treasures
Discover geocaching, an adventure that allows you to enjoy the mountains in a different way, and make your routes more entertaining by finding hidden treasures while enjoying the outdoors.
What is geocaching?
Geocaching is a fun activity similar to a gymkhana, which is based on finding treasures hidden by other people anywhere in the open air thanks to the help of GPS.
The treasures are hidden in containers known as geocaches, and they can be of different sizes, depending on what is hidden inside, which can be from small interchangeable objects, that is, you take the treasure and leave another one, to simply a notebook where you can record the day and date you found the geocache.
How does geocaching work?
A person hides the treasure (geocache) in the open air, somewhere accessible but not visible to the naked eye. Using the GPS, he points out the geographical coordinates of the exact point where he has hidden it and shares or publishes them on the Internet on websites, such as the official geocaching.com, where users can consult the geocaches near their home or route on the map what they are going to do
To go in search of the geocache you have to download the coordinates published on the web in the GPS. You can find a single geocache point, or several related geocaches hidden in different places on the same route. In which it is necessary to find the first to receive the clue of the next.
On many websites, along with the coordinates, there are clues to make it easier to find the object, since these are sometimes hidden under stones, inside trunks or places where imagination or an arduous search is required to find them, never buried or where they can harm to the environment.
Once you have found the geocache you can communicate it on geocaching.com where there is a record of all users, and the level of difficulty of each geocache.
What can I find inside a geocache?
All geocaches usually have a logbook, a small notebook or piece of paper to record who has found the geocache.
You will also find small treasures, such as bracelets, small dolls, specific coins for geocaching (geocoin), etc… Everything that can be hidden inside a small tupperware. You can take the treasures, as long as you leave another one in return so that the next treasure hunter can find it.
There are also “traveling treasures” that you can only take with you on the condition that you take them to another geocaching point, or some that contain challenges or small missions that you have to help them complete.
You can also find interactive geocaches with QR codes that explain things about the area you are visiting.
As you can see, the content of the geocache depends on the imagination of the person who hid it.
What do I need to geocache?
To go in search of your geocache, you will need a GPS and the coordinates of where it is hidden.
We recommend that you always carry a pen to be able to sign in the logbook.
In addition to the basic material if you go to the mountains, water, food, hat, etc…
And a lot of desire to have fun and visual acuity 😉
Where to find geocaches?
You can find the geocaches directly on the official website of geocaching.com
Our Land software allows you to find geocaching points directly in the area of the map where you are preparing your tracks. So you can easily add a new way of enjoying the outdoors to your routes.
1-. Open the map of your destination in Land and enlarge the area where you want to find geocaching points.
2-. In the top menu select “Tools -> Find a geocache”
3-. The geocaching.com website will open in a tab of your Internet browser with the geocaches in that area.
4-. Download the geocache waypoint from “Download GPX” and open it from Land to create your route to the treasure.
5-. Check the geocache properties from Land by clicking on the waypoint properties.
6-. Transfer your route and waypoints to your GPS and start the adventure!
Imagine that you have a route already created, to which you would like to add different detours in case you dare to look for geocaches in the area. Now with the new version of Land 9.2 it is possible to create as many variants and forks as you want and improve your routes. Learn how:
Do you doubt between several alternative paths? Include variants in your routes!
For sure this is a frequent question while preparing your itineraries!The eternal dilemma has arisen: do I prepare a long route, or would it be better to shorten it a … Continue Reading
What device to choose for geocaching?
If we have encouraged you to start in the world of geocaching but you do not have a GPS, we offer you the best options to start:
APP TwoNav. If you want to start close to home, in areas where the sun does not shine directly on the mobile screen and you are not worried about the battery.
GPS Cross Plus. If you are going to take advantage of your route to do geocaching, we recommend a GPS device so as not to drain the mobile battery, and to have perfect visibility of the screen in sunlight. In addition to greater precision of your position.
GPS Terra. If you are one of those who like to know what is around you and not focus only on the track, you will appreciate the size of the screen of our new GPS Terra
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