The Grand Adventures of Geocaching!
Part Two – Geocacher’s Unite!
In this second part of our Grand Adventure, we will discuss caches in our local area, groups that connect fellow geocacher’s, as well as some more advanced terminology.
If you look at the picture above, you will see there are hundreds of caches waiting to be found in the counties of Grey & Bruce.
The Beaver Valley alone has a several days worth of caches and adventures to be found! These Google maps can be found on geocaching.com, under the hide and seek a cache tab. One cache that offers especially brilliant views of the Beaver Valley is Thanksgiving with Old Baldy and is best viewed in fall, when the leaves exhibit a plethora of colours. The terrain and difficulty level are both listed as 3, so be extra careful when searching with smaller children. Another thing that makes this cache interesting is the actual location of the container itself. A large portion of caches are hidden amongst trees or bushes; however, this one is hidden in a small gully of a rock face which is very interesting to search for!
Since geocaching with friends is always more fun, groups or associations have been created to unite geocachers in their local areas. If you are interested in joining a group the first one to check out is the Ontario Geocaching Association (OGA). The OGA serves members of the association across Ontario within its five regions: south-western, golden horseshoe, central, eastern, and northern Ontario. Part of the south-western region, Bruce and Grey County are considered to be within the following local associations: Central Ontario Geocachers (COG), South Western Ontario Geocachers (SWOG), and Mid Western Ontario Geocachers (MWOG). MWOG seems to be the best fit for our family; however, we have joined all three so we can be posted on various events in our surrounding area.
One major event happening this month is Saturday in the Park at the Pittock Conservation area in Woodstock. August 27th is the date and it will run rain or shine! Activities are scheduled throughout the day to aid exploration of the area and a potluck supper takes place in the evening. Admission is free with the exception of a small Park Admission Day pass. Camping is available on site as well. Events are planned throughout the year and help bring together fellow geocachers, and if geocaching is of interest to you, should not be missed!
Advanced Terminology (from geocaching.com)
Ø GC Code: A unique identifier associated with every geocache listing. The GC Code starts with the letters "GC" and is followed by other alphanumeric characters.
Ø GPX (GPS eXchange Format): A specific file format available when creating a Pocket Query. A Premium Member feature, the GPX file format has specific geocaching information that can be used by supporting applications.
Ø Latitude: Latitude and longitude create a waypoint. Latitude is the angular distance north or south from the earth's equator measured through 90 degrees. Think of latitude as rungs on a ladder.
Ø Longitude: Latitude and longitude create a waypoint. Longitude is the angular distance measured on a great circle of reference from the intersection of the adopted zero meridian with this reference circle to the similar intersection of the meridian passing through the object. Think of the long lines running north and south.
Ø Reviewer: Local volunteers from all over the world who publish the cache listings on geocaching.com. (Needed to hide your own caches)
Ø Waypoint: A waypoint is a reference point for a physical location on Earth. Waypoints are defined by a set of coordinates that typically include longitude, latitude and sometimes altitude.
Stay tuned next month for the third and final installment where we cover how to hide your own caches and the many different types of caches available in the world!
SOURCES:
www.geocaching.com
www.ontgeocaching.com
www.swog.com
www.centralontariocachers.com
www.mwog.ca
