Midwest Geocaching

One of the things that keeps potential geocachers and their families from the activity is the thought of having to purchase a GPS. It’s really not as scary as some people think it is, but it is understandable that some people that may be interested are still a bit afraid of the unknown that comes with technology. Check out this video from the REI blog called GPS How To for some simple tips on how the GPS works and how you can use it. Of course this knowledge will be useful when you go after those caches!

Coming soon we will outline some of the best GPS’ for geocaching as well as some smart phone options, so stop back or subscribe free via RSS or email!

River Action, a non-profit organization along the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois has added Geocaching to it’s list of activities. The series of caches are tied in with a Riverway Audio tour, making the game more interactive and educational. There are currently five caches that have been hidden by the group, three in Iowa and two in Illinois. These could make for some fun targets for those traveling on I-80 or I-74. Each container is loaded with a First to find (FTF) coin.

More on River Action…

River Action is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the environmental, economic and cultural vitality of the Mississippi River and its riverfront in the Quad Cities’ region.

Source: RiverAction.org

There will be an intro to Geocaching at the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Public Library on October 8, 2011. The three hour introduction to the game will be put on by locals Kyle Schmitz and Vanessa Theel.  Geocaching could keep the local kids busy as there are more than three hundred geocaches within 10 miles of the main library location at 32 Sheboygan St. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Source: fdlreport.com

The Parks and Recreation Department in Woodbury, Minnesota has wrapped it’s third summer of a kid’s geocaching camp. What a great idea! We know that groups such as the Boy Scouts have integrated geocaching into activities, but for a city to take the step to offer a camp for kids specifically focused on geocaching is exciting. Tell me that wouldn’t be a fun summer job to have!

The camp introduces 9- to 14-year-olds to geocaching by teaching them the basic guidelines and allowing them to go outside and find geocaches located in Woodbury on their own with the aid of an instructor. The camp is now in its third year.

Anyone else heard of camps like this in your area?

Source: Woodbury Bulletin

While it has gained steam and is becoming more of a household name, geocaching still has some hurdles to overcome. One of those hurdles is the fact that those not playing don’t always know a game is being played. It is understandable that with a game that often requires stealth so the cache is not discovered by those not playing, that those that don’t use a sufficient amount of stealth are going to be pretty dang suspicious.

This happened to myself recently when attempting to locate a cache at a new park. The park sat literally in the backyards of some houses in a new development. While searching we were being watched by a lady in her back yard. She came over to ask what we were looking for as she had seen a couple of other groups there earlier. Guessing this would happen more, we fessed up and she understood.When leaving though she asked us to notify the police that it was there as there had been some burglaries recently and the neighbors have wondered what people were searching for in the park. We let the cache owner know and it was moved.

Last week this led to the police being called in  Baxter, Minnesota. Read the rest of this entry