Geocaching is a modern-day treasure hunt

A simple way to describe geocaching would be to call it modern-day treasure hunting. It involves using the geocaching website or, more conveniently, a mobile app to track down caches hidden throughout the world.

“It’ll give you the coordinates and you can either use your GPS or your phone, and phones work very well, to go find that cache,” local geocaching enthusiast Louis Carr said. “Once you find it you sign the log in the cache and then you go online and you say you found it or you didn’t find it.”

It’s important to note if you didn’t find the cache so that the owner can check to make sure it’s still there. Caches come in all different shapes and sizes; some contain swag while others merely hold the log to mark that you’ve found it.

“From little tiny ones, the size of your little finger, to five gallon jugs in town,” Carr said. “I try to make them creative so that they’re not just your Tupperware in the woods and there are lots of them.”

Carr enjoys making gadget caches, which require some problem solving to open.

“My philosophy is: caches are made to be found,” he said. “Some people put them out and make them very, very difficult and then people get frustrated with them. I make them so they can be found and they can be fun.”

He’s been making and hunting caches for some time, and people always ask him why he makes and hunts caches.

“I like getting out in the woods, and geocaching gives me a chance to go someplace and take a walk in the woods to find something, but probably more than that, I really enjoy making them,” he said. “I spent all winter making about ten gadget caches, so then I put them out and I know other people are going to find them and have fun doing them.”

Many caches are easy to find and access, making geocaching accessible to anyone, regardless of skill.