‘Cache’ or carry: Geocaching for health, household, mates

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Rio Rancho resident and Realtor Mark Ryerson reveals a typical geocache treasure field, which as soon as had a navy use. Gary Herron / Observer

Chances are high fairly good you’ve heard of geocaching, outlined as “the leisure exercise of looking for and discovering a hidden object by way of GPS coordinates posted on an internet site.”

Suffice it to say, it’s a great way to train your physique and your thoughts whereas having enjoyable.

It’s sometimes called the world’s best treasure hunt, and also you gained’t hear an argument about that from Rio Rancho resident and Realtor Mark Ryerson.

Ryerson mentioned he stumbled onto geocaching in 2000; he’s actually stumbled a number of occasions whereas out looking for these “treasures,” and it’s develop into a weekly exercise for him.

It’s not an costly interest — the hand-held geocaching GPS instruments price from $100-$300 — and it could actually virtually be addictive.

These GPS instruments may also be helpful for hikers, who can enter the place they park their car earlier than going out someplace new and thus keep away from getting misplaced by zeroing in on their car later.

‘The enjoyable of the hunt’

There’s nothing helpful on this geocaching discover, nevertheless it’s not essentially the worth of typical “treasures” discovered. It’s the joys of the hunt. Gary Herron / Observer

“It’s all in regards to the enjoyable of the hunt,” says Ryerson, itemizing 4 “positives” about geocaching:

  • A chance to go to locations you may not have identified existed;
  • Even when the treasure is junk, you’re nonetheless happening a treasure hunt;
  • You’re utilizing cool know-how; and
  • It’s a group factor.

Pertaining to the latter merchandise, Ryerson estimated he has met between 50 and 100 folks on this interest, and as soon as organized a fundraising geocache hunt for grownup literacy nonprofit ReadWest, burying about 20 objects. He mentioned he’d seen folks from France geocaching whereas within the space for the balloon fiesta.

He estimated there are about 1.4 million distinctive spots, attainable by way of the cellphone app, and “inside 10 miles of Rio Rancho, there’s a pair thousand.”

To exhibit, Ryerson led a curious reporter out to Trailhead Park, not removed from his house in River’s Edge I, to search out an merchandise he’d hidden.

That’s one other a part of it: The enjoyment of hiding one thing and later discovering who discovered it. Ryerson, like others earlier than him, leaves a logbook throughout the “treasure field” for finders to file once they discovered it and the place they’re from.

Reminiscences of hunts

One such hunt took him to a park in River’s Edge II, the place he was at his wit’s finish looking for a cache someplace on a big piece of grassland. He admitted he contacted the one that stashed it there and came upon it was inside a pretend sprinkler head, with a log connected.

“I began in about 2000; we had simply moved right here then,” he mentioned.

He was together with his spouse, Susan, who was an govt for ReadWest, and occurred to interact in a random dialog — and he was intrigued.

Though Susan isn’t as hooked on the joys of the hunt, Ryerson mentioned it appears each time they’re out climbing and he decides, “Let’s see if something is cached close to us, she’ll discover it earlier than I do.”

Geocaching depends upon a information of longitude and latitude and how you can simply discover these coordinates on a GPS. Individuals conceal “treasures” and publish the longitude and latitude.

Geocache seekers, who may also use an app on their cellphone, can then decide if any such treasures are round them — close to their house, close to a neighbor, whereas vacationing in different states or nations, and so on.

Hunters can get loads of steps in towards cardio targets, get hold of Vitamin D from the solar, see websites off the crushed path and simply converse with their spouses, youngsters and/or mates alongside the best way.

Probably the most-memorable geocaching hunts that Ryerson participated in was serving to “Professor Penguin” get from Albuquerque to Seattle. As soon as there, he perched the toy animal atop Susan’s shoulders and had the state’s capitol constructing within the background.

Some faculty youngsters began that hunt. The scholars intently adopted the log that accompanied the stuffed animal, monitoring its progress across the nation — studying fairly a bit about historical past, geography and extra alongside its route.

Ryerson’s funniest search got here sooner or later when he was on a hunt on the mesa close to Rio Rancho; it was a garments basket that had been buried, and whereas opening it, he sat on a cactus.

Fortunately, he recalled, a pair of needle-nose pliers was in that basket, which helped extract the painful needles.

To study much more about this interest, go to geocaching.com or just Google “geocaching” for assets, concepts, instruments and extra.

 



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