Media:

Fall 2004 article in Temagami Times

June 2005 article in Temagami Times

June 2005 Poster

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This article appeared in the Temagami Time, Fall, 2004

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Geocaching in Temagami!

By Terry and Wendy Lang (terlan)

 There’s a cool new global high tech game happening right in your backyard and it’s free. Hundreds of thousands of people are “treasure hunting” or geocaching using there hand held GPS (global positioning systems). Experience the thrill of the hunt (and find). Learn to use your GPS, get some exercise, and have some fun. When I purchased Terry a GPS for his birthday this past June , little did I know that it would enter us into the new and exciting world of geocaching. What is geocaching? Well, simply put, it is electronic treasuring hunting using a GPS Welcome to the coolest game to come along in a long time.

Geocaching uses expensive high-tech gadgets, to help locate dollar store swag. Why you might ask do people do this and why is it becoming so popular? First off, lets face it…guys like their toys. Terry is always after the latest gadget to play with and being able to actually use it to play a game is ‘way cool’. Secondly, the chance of finding that perfect piece of treasure in a cache, the one that no one else wants, but is perfect for you. Now throw in the exhilaration of the hunt, and all the fresh air and exercise, the learning a new area or parts of your area that you didn’t even know existed, and I think you’ll start to see why this game is catching on so rapidly. This gives the trip a purpose as well. There is a goal to find something as part of the outing and we find it gets us out more often.

We have found that geocaching has taken us into areas that we did not even know existed. Often caches are hidden near trail systems or point of interest. For example there are 2 caches hidden up near the fire tower in town. There are excellent trails and the view from the tower is breath taking. Definitely a worthwhile trip. A cache is also located north of Temagami by the old mine, and 2 just south of town at Tomiko and Martin River. Closer to home there are 2 on Temagami Island and one on top of Ferguson Mountain. My parents have owned a cottage on the lake for over 20 years and I have never been over to the Temagami Island trails. What great walking trails, Terry and I took my parents on this geocaching trip and our two dogs Duffy and Pepper as well. Pepper thinks geocaching means “walk”. He has been on many treks with us but he is not very good at finding the cache. Pepper seems more interested in chasing squirrels. Anyhow there are more that 100 caches within a 100 km radius of Temagami, so get busy and start caching.

We got hooked this summer on vacation in Manitoulin Island. We borrowed our friend’s 6-year-old boy, Colton, and asked him if he’d like to go treasure hunting. A short walk up the beach and a little searching, and we’re hooked. He wanted the baseball cards that were in the cache and all we had to trade was a golf ball. We are a bit better prepared these days. He came back to camp and told all of our friends children about the treasure hunt. So, now of course we had to take each of them in succession out on the next hunts and find them their treasures. The most exciting one was little Sydney (6) who found a whoopee cushion. Another one hooked and a new little prankster to boot. Camp became a bit noisier after that find.

Terry had been waiting for months to climb Ferguson Mountain and claim an FTF (first time found) on top of the mountain. We have found over 50 caches, but never an FTF. You see, claiming an FTF on a cache is a special honor. We finally went up while visiting my parents in July. Terry had been watching this cache on the website hoping no one would get it before us. I’m thinking to myself “who’s crazy enough to climb a mountain for a cache” not me! Well one afternoon we decided to head up the lake, Terry and I, my parents and of course Duffy and Pepper. As we approach the area I tell them that there is no way I’m going up there. Mom and dad decide to try their luck fishing out in Ferguson Bay. Pepper wanted to go up the mountain but Terry thought it might be a little too much of a hike for him, so he stayed with grandma and grandpa. At the last minute while Terry is jumping out of the boat and into water (he missed the shore) I decide to go. Packed with our FRS radio to call for our ride back, away we go. I’m thinking maybe I should have brought Pepper to pull me up the hill! The walk was much easier that the 5 star rating it was given. Caches are rated from 1 to 5 for difficulty. What a great climb and the view from the top was spectacular.

A quick call on the radio to let my parents know we were at the top and within 70 meters of our goal. A quick search and easy find. We open the lid “Please don’t be any entries in the log”, Terry say’s out loud. A smile breaks across his face as I open the empty logbook. Woo Hoo!!! We made our trades, signed the log and put things back as we found them. Another successful mission.

Items that may be found in a cache include, toys, cards, tools, software, CD’s, tackle, camping and hiking accessories, maps, puzzles, and many other items. Typically, you want to leave something that someone else may be able to use. Often children join their parents or grandparents in caching, so toys are often included in a cache.

What shouldn't be in a cache? Use your common sense in most cases. Explosives, ammo, knives, drugs, and alcohol shouldn't be placed in a cache. Respect the local laws. All ages of people hide and seek caches, so use some thought before placing an item into a cache. Food items are ALWAYS a BAD IDEA. Animals have better noses than humans, and in some cases caches have been chewed through and destroyed because of food items in a cache. Please do not put food in a cache.

After visiting a cache your job still isn’t done, you must then log into geocaching.com again and log your visit there as well.

Geocaching has many different “types” of caches. There are micro caches and as the name suggests are very small and often hard to find. Virtual caches can be as simple as finding a certain word in a sign, a statue, or a place, then taking a picture of it and up-loading it to the geocaching site, or e-mailing the owner of the cache the correct information and then they will allow you to log it. My favourite type is called a traditional cache. A traditional cache is a container filled with goodies hidden between rocks, behind a large tree or hanging from a branch. Traditional caches can range is sizes from a film canister size to a 5 gallon pail. There are also multi-caches. Multi caches usually involve finding one location (waypoint) that will give a clue to finding the next one. A small cache may be found with a slip of paper with the coordinates to the next location. 2, 3, or 4 part multi’s are common. Another type of cache is a puzzle cache. This usually involves you solving some sort of puzzle to give you the location of the actual cache. We did a puzzle cache that involved solving a circle-a-word type puzzle, then using the letters, and a key to convert the letters to numbers and thus, decode the coordinates of the cache.

How does it work? It’s actually very simple but can be challenging at the same time. A traditional cache is hidden by another geocacher. We have hidden 3 so far and there are over 10,000 caches hidden worldwide. The coordinates of the cache are entered on the website (www.goecaching.com) along with a description and usually a clue that you can decrypt if you would like to see the hint. You type the coordinates into a hand held GPS unit (ok, you can use a boat mounted GPS as well, but you will look a bit silly walking through the woods with a 16 foot Starcraft on your shoulder), which is saved as a ‘waypoint’. When you save a set of coordinates in a GPS, it is known as a waypoint. You then navigate to that waypoint and find the cache. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s hidden very, very, very well making it quite difficult to find. Clues in the write up and comments that others leave help solve the mystery and disclose the hiding spot, some caches you might not ever be able to find. Without getting too technical, even the best GPS’s on the market today will get you down to 3 meter accuracy (that’s 9 feet). So…the person that hid the cache has a real good GPS…3 meter accuracy, you have a good GPS…3 meter accuracy…. that’s a (3X3=9) meters or a 27 foot circle to search. Now, throw in some leaves overhead and drop the accuracy a bit….say 6 meters each, now you are talking about a 36-meter (108 foot circle where the cache could be hidden). Now, don’t get scared…hiders usually use averaging to get good coordinates, and using simple triangulations you can get fairly close to them even in bad navigation conditions.

Caches are placed by other geocachers and can be anywhere. There are rules for getting a location approved, like not trespassing on private land, etc but you can read about that on the site. One of the principals of geocaching is “cache in, trash out”. Caring for the environment is part of the mandate.

Once you have entered the waypoint in the GPS and have navigated to that waypoint , start looking for the cache. It’s the most amazing feeling when one of us yells “found it” after a great hunt. When you find the cache open it up. Hopefully the container is well sealed and there is no water inside. We have come across a few that were water damaged and we tried to dry it out the best we can. If is in real bad shape you may want to e-mail the owner so they can fix it up. Anyhow, all caches contain a logbook. You are required (rules of the game) to sign the logbook. People will often have user names that they go by. So use your imagination and come up with your own name. When we located the cache my job is to sign the logbook while Terry opens up the cache. In bug season you will want to be quick. We have made a sticker that we now put in the logbook. Time is an important factor when blackflies are in your ears and up your nose!!!

How much does this cost? The game itself is free. You will need a hand held GPS which range in cost from under $100 to well over $1000 depending on what features you would like. You will need to sign up for an account (which is free) on geocaching.com where you will pick your username and agree to the rules. Your visits are tracked by your username.

If there is something in the cache that you like, you can take it providing that you put something else back in its place. The general rule is to trade up, trade even, or don’t trade at all. So if you take something out, you should replace it with something of equal or greater value.

Another aspect of the game is Travel Bugs and Geo-coins. A travel bug is a small metal dog tag with a unique tracking number stamped into them. You have to buy these tags from geocaching.com or one of the Canadian suppliers. They are usually attached to a small item (keychain, small stuffed animal, golf ball, laminated photo, etc), and are assigned a goal by their owner. e.g. The “Great One” travel bug is a little miniature Wayne Gretsky figure who’s assigned goal is to ‘follow the cup’. If you find one in a cache, you can take it, log it and place it in another cache to help it reach it’s goal. These have to be logged on the website as well of course. In the example above, we took the Great One Travel Bug (TB) out of a cache in Toronto, and brought it to Callander to see the cup when Bill Barber had it here in August. We tried to get a picture of it with the cup, but missed by a couple of hours due to a family commitment. We took a picture of it in front of the sign and posted that, then promptly re-hid it in another cache so it can continue it’s quest. Other travel bugs just want to travel around, others want to visit certain countries, or certain cities. We had one a while ago that wanted to visit North Bay, which was the home town of one of the owners. We took a photo of it in front of the population sign on the highway and posted that on the site. The owners can of course see these pictures and watch and track it’s movements across the country. Similarly, there are Geo-coins. Coins have a unique tracking number stamped into them as well and are traded from one cache to another and logged into the site or in the case of Canadian Geo-coins, into geocoins.ca

Creating and maintaining a cache is exciting to do as well. We have one just south of North Bay. After we placed it, I anxiously waited for someone to find it. Finally, after about a week it was found by a cacher who just meters from our cache, ran into a moose and lost his lab for over 20 minutes.

What’s next? Terry and I are engaged in preliminary discussions with the TLA to organize a geocaching game on the lake for next summer. We are in the early stages in planning this event on lake Temagami for summer 2005. Watch for more details in the Spring/Summer issue of this newsletter. In the meantime, please visit www.geocaching.com and sign up. Learn what geocaching is all about, do some caching around your place and have fun. We hope you will join us in the hunt around the lake this spring.

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This Article Appeared in the Temagami Times, June 2005

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Are you ready for the Great 2005 TLA Temegami Geocaching Challenge? 

In the previous Temagami Times we explained what geocaching was all about and the do’s and don’ts of the internet based, GPS treasure hunting game.  Well, now we are ready to bring the game to the lake.  OK the game is already here, but we have a couple of prizes to give away, so we’re putting our little slant to the game and staging this contest.  We are beginning the challenge this summer July 1, 2005 and will wrap it up on Aug 31, 2005. 

Everyone can play the game, all you need is a hand held GPS receiver – you might even win a new one. We will have hidden 10 caches around the Lake Temagami area.  Some caches are hidden on portages.  Some are longer walks than others, but all are rather easily accessible.  What’s in it for me you might ask….besides the obvious prizes that I already mentioned, you get to explore the lake, maybe going to a part of it that you have never been, and certainly enter an area of the woods that you have never seen.  The caches will be hidden in areas of interest and spread out in the different sections of the lake.

The first thing you will need to get is an official game playing card from the T.L.A. building.  This card is going to have 10 squares on it with the names of each cache.  In each cache you will find a special paper punch.  Each cache has it’s own unique punch.  Once you find one of the caches, all the regular rules of geocaching apply.  You can do a trade, ie leave a little something in the cache and take something you like, then you must sign the log that you will find in the cache.  If you just want to punch your card and not leave or take anything that’s fine too.  Please do not take the punches, they are for the game and must remain in the cache.  For example, if the star punch is in the “ Liberty Lake” cache, use that punch to punch the “ Liberty Lake “spot on your card. 

For each correct punch you get, your name will be entered into a draw for a variety of prizes.  The draw will take place after Aug 31, and announced before the TLA signs off the air for the fall.  Of course the more punches you get the more chances you have to win!!  If you find all 10 caches (achieve a ‘completed card’, in addition to your name going in 10x for the prizes, your name will go into a separate draw for a prize for completing a full card.  When you have completed your card, drop it back off to the T.L.A building. 

We are still trying to get a few more prizes donated, but as it stands now, the full card prize will be a genuine Leatherman tool, the regular draw prizes will include a Magellen GPS donated by Lefebvres Outdoor Sports in North Bay, a headlamp, a nice daypack, an adjustable walking stick, a pair of precision sunglasses/ball cap, and a few other cool things.  You want to be in this draw as many times as you can to increase your odds.

We suggest that you sign up at www.geocaching.com and become a true geocacher.  It’s free.  For this event, you don’t have to join, but you won’t be able to see the comments that others leave as they find the caches.  Sometimes the comments give clues to finding the caches.  The TLA has offered their radio operators to enter your details into geocaching.com website if you don’t have access to a portable computer.  You can keep track and enter them yourself at the end of the summer, or not at all if you choose not to (but we really hope you do join in the online fun as well).  Whether you join or not, by picking up the info at the TLA building for this game, you agree to all the rules at Geocaching.com ie, you must never divulge where the caches are, you must practice the ‘cache in, trash out’ philosophy that cachers follow, if you take something, you must leave something of equal or grater value, etc.  The caches that will be set up specifically for this event, will be archived at the end of the contest, and they will be collected.  Make sure you get credit for them while they are still available.  We won’t actually archive them online until the end of September to give everyone time to enter them to get the credit, but they will be collected and unavailable after September 1 st. Any travel bugs, coins, etc will be redistributed into an active cache. All trading items will get moved to active caches, or get redistributed as new caches.

There will be a complete list of all the caches hidden on the lake with their coordinates and a “little hint” as to where the cache is hidden.  This list along with the cards to punch, and official rules, will be available to pick up at the T.L.A building before the beginning of July.  I hope you take some time and join in the game this summer.  It is a lot of fun, great exercise, and you may even learn about a new area of the lake.

Happy geocaching!!!!!

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This Poster will go up around local bulleten boards, June 2005

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