Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunting game where participants use GPS-enabled devices to locate hidden containers in public and private locations. The document provides an overview of the basic rules and guidelines of geocaching, including descriptions of different cache types and container options. It discusses tools that can help with searches and offers tips for planning successful geocaching outings. Examples are given of unique caches that have been hidden in unusual or hard-to-find places.

1. Finding Happiness in an Ammo Can in the Woods Paul Gillin Co-author, The Joy of Geocaching

2. What is Geocaching? Worldwide treasure hunt enabled by the Internet and global positioning satellites Simple rules with complex player-defined variations Containers must have log books Containers must be locatable by geographic coordinates Containers must not be buried That’s it!

3. Navigation Basics The world is divided into 180 degrees of longitude and 180 degrees of latitude. Each degree is made up of 60 minutes and 360 seconds. That’s a total of 7,776,000 unique spots, or about one for every 10 square feet!

4. “Caching is a great leveler...You can be caching with a bank president or a ditch digger... it doesn't matter." -- Don & Jacqi Liddiard (Rock & Crystal) “We've adopted a very large circle of friends through geocaching. Some we've never physically met." -- Paul & Karen Sandvick (Jug & Roon) “I can literally drive from Alabama to Kansas, pull up to some guys sitting around the campfire and within minutes I’m accepted” – Ed Manley (TheAlabamaRambler) “It stirs a passion in me that no other hobby has before. It has dimensions of camaraderie, competition, mental stimulation, fitness, and creativity that I’ve never found elsewhere." -- Dean Powell (J5 Crew) “I feel the weight of the world lifting from me when I'm tramping through the woods." -- billandlore

5. Kyjen is at: N 39° 34.857 W 104° 48.463 There are 46 geocaches within a 2-mile radius and 5 within a 10-minute walk! You are here

6. Fun Facts Date GPS network opened for public use: May 2, 2000 Date first geocache placed: May 3, 2000 # of geocaches, Jan., 2003: 41,000 # of geocaches, Jan., 2005: 140,000 # of geocaches, Jan., 2010: 1,010,000 # of registered geocachers worldwide: 4,000,000 # of geocaching organizations, N. America: 126 Age of oldest known geocacher: 99

7. More Fun Facts Most geocaches found by one person, lifetime: 39,265 Most geocaches hidden by one person, lifetime: 2,285 Most geocaches found by a team in 24 hours: 626 Geocaches within 10-mile radius of DFW: 1,269 Geocaches with 10-mile radius of Denver, CO: 1,824 Highest geocache: Mt. Everest (Earthcache) Lowest geocache: 7,000 ft. below Atlantic Ocean surface Mt. Everest Earth cache

8. Why On Earth?? Appeal of geocaching is in the hunt and the accomplishment of discovery Most geocaches are hidden in places the owners consider special to them Many have historical significance or local importance A great way to explore new areas without a guidebook More than 70% of players regularly explore in groups Accessible to people of all ages and abilities

9. Geowoodstock

10. Cache Types Virtual cache Traditional cache Multi cache Earth cache Puzzle cache Letterbox hybrid

11. Name (often a pun) Who and when Type & difficulty Where Map Download stuff Download stuff Miscellaneous stuff you need to know About (often misleading) Description (may be misleading!) Trackable items therein Encrypted hint

12. Pay Attention to Logs Hint Hint Hint

13. Tools to Aid Your Search Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) GeoBuddy Geocaching GPSr Google Street View Microsoft Streets & Trips

14. Planning Your Outing How Long? How Far? With Who? Quantity vs. Adventure Consider the Weather And Your Frustration Level! Stuff to Bring Spare Batteries Cell Phone Whistle or Horn Dry Clothing First Aid Kit Hiking Boots Hat Sunblock Mirror Tweezers Bug Spray Walking Stick Water Pen Food Todd Beal and the Amazing Caching Vest

15. It’s Your Choice!

16. Geocache Containers Bison Tube (Micro) Nano Traditional Ammo Can Pill Bottle (Small) Range of Sizes

17. Unusual Containers Log Hollow Rock Dragonfly Bottle Cap Sprinkler Head Light Bulb Rusty Bolt Spider on Rock Rattlesnake Cinder Block Light Switch Bone Cell Phone

18. Typical Hiding Places Rock walls Crevices Light Skirts Suspended Inside trees Covered by sticks

19. A Language All Its Own FTF – First To Find DNF – Did Not Find CITO – Cache In, Trash Out Skirt-lifter – Cache placed under the skirt of an outdoor light fixture Muggle – A non-geocacher Ground Zero – Point where GPSr coordinates exactly match cache coordinates P & G – Park and grab Virt – Virtual cache UPS – Unnatural Pile of Sticks TFTC – Thanks for the cache GeoSense -- Sixth sense gained from experience finding geocaches Travel Bug Hotel – Geocache placed principally to house trackableitems TNLN – Took nothing, left nothing

21. Extreme Geocaching

22. Why You Shouldn’t Trust Your GPSr Too Much At best, only accurate to within 10-ft radius (315 ft2) Satellite reception affected by objects, weather, visibility “Signal bounce” can seriously degrade accuracy Low batteries can make matters worse The person who hid the cache had the same limitations!

23. When You Get Close, Look For: Unnatural piles of rocks or sticks Items that don’t seem natural Evidence of other humans “Geotrails” Places where you would hide a cache Can You Spot the Cache? Can You Spot the Cache?

24. Unwritten Rules Log your finds and leave a unique comment or story Log your “did not finds” – owners need to know Always hide just as you found – a small change can make a big difference in difficulty Never disturb nature If you take items, leave items of equal or greater value Notify owner if cache is compromised Pick up trash on your way out

25. When to Quit? Depends… Joy of Geocaching Survey n=142

26. Trackables Travel the World

27. Unique Codes Are Logged Online

28. And Inspire Commitment

29. Geocaching in Business & Education Arkansas State Parks Amador County, CA State of Maryland PPL Corporation Geoteaming is one of several companies that organize geocaching events for team-building

30. Favorite Stories A Fine Send-Off – Ben Johnson was hospitalized with terminal cancer just 33 caches short of the 1,000-find mark. Daughter Kathy tells what the members of his local caching organization did. Horse Sense – Brad Simmons and friends came up with a clever idea to distract a crowd of people while his wife replaced a cache in an awkward location

31. Thanks! Linden Publishing, 2010 JoyOfGeocaching.com paul@joyofgeocaching.com dana@joyofgeocaching.com Twitter.com/joyofgeocaching