Geocaching on the PA Quilt (And Rug) Trails

In less than a week, the first, possibly first and  second geocache site will be installed along the PA Quilt (And Rug) Trails. How this works is first you must beg, borrow or purchase a GPS device. With the coordinates in hand a GPS coordinate will guide the cache seeker to a location . This can be done with any device that has GPS coordinates: smart phones, iPhone, iPads, laptops, Tom Toms, Garmans, etc. Once you have located the first site via GPS coordinates, you will refer to three photos that will be posted. These photos are close ups of structural details that you need to find in the area of the GPS coordinate to find the cache. Sounds more complicated than it actually is.

When I first heard of geocaching a few years back, I must confess I "pooh poohed" the idea. In my mind I imagined walking through the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, ignoring the foliage and focusing solely on a technological device. Would you ignore the Bared owl high above you or the beautiful asters lining the path in lieu of nose to the screen following coordinates? My thoughts were that technology and outdoor activities should not mix.

But I have soften my stance.

I now see possibility of geocaching as a non expensive activity that takes to you to places you might not naturally chose to explore. Caches are not in random places but in well designed sites. Though the caches offer little in material value, each waterproof box will contain a small trinket, pencil and log book and some information about the location of the cache. Exchange of trinkets is encouraged. By reading through the log, a history of persons visiting is recorded. Maybe a familiar name is logged ahead of yours, perhaps a visitor from out of state or country-what fun to be connected to others!

I encourage all to try one geocache hunt, play it out, see where the experience takes you.