When we tell friends and family about our Geocaching adventures (and we always do!) we are often asked, “How do I start Geocaching?” and to this we reply, “Let’s go now!”. However, we realize that there are others out there that may not have a friend or family member to take them Geocaching. So, for those of you that don’t, we have compiled this quick guide to help you get involved with this fun, rewarding activity.

We know (and boy, do we know!) that it can sometimes be a bit intimidating to get started on a new hobby or venture, especially when dealing with technology, unknown terms, secret handshakes and what seems to be a huge learning curve. We have found that if you take it step by step, don’t sweat the small stuff and work at it a little at a time you can overcome these small hurdles. Keeping this in mind, in no time you’ll be caching with the best of them!

This article is in no way meant to be all encompassing! It is meant as a primer only. There are so many cool tricks, tips and nuances with this sport to be dealt with in this one article. We hope that it is at least enough to get you started. From then, the more Geocaching you do the more familiar you will become with the finer points.

So let’s start Geocaching!

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Here are a few interesting Geocaching related news articles that we came across this week that we would like to share, just in case you missed them:

There was a great article posted this week by The Unofficial Apple Weblog that explains with concise instructions how to go Geocaching with your iPhone 3G. This is not a software app but a how-to using the internal iPhone technology. Check it out here.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the recent announcement from Garmin regarding the upcoming release of the new Oregon series GPSr. This series uses touch-screen technology, 3-D map viewing, sharing capabilities and like the Colorado it can download all the cache information allowing paperless caching. You can find out more at this great visual overview located here.

A suspicious package in Florence, Alabama caused a bit of a stir this week. Transportation workers were inspecting the O’Neal Bridge when they spotted a container and called police. Bomb squad members arrived to check it out and found a Tupperware container wrapped in duct tape. Apparently the Geocache was not clearly marked and located in a high-risk location. You can read more here.

Geocaching is quickly being recognized not only as a fun activity but as an educational one too, especially for kids. You can read about an upcoming Girl Scouts camp that is adding Geocaching to list of activities here.

Podcacher, the weekly Geocaching podcast, celebrated 3 years of podcasting this past week. Congrats on your third birthday and 174 great issues!

Keep on cachin’!

We are extremely pleased to announce that the Geocaching Directory has grown to over 500 Geocaching related resources listed! There are links to Geocaching websites of all kinds!

Are you looking to find a Geocaching club? There are 162 clubs from around the world listed!

Are you looking for software to help you with your Geocaching? There are 64 different programs available!

How about how-to guides, games or GeoSwag? There are website links for those too!

In fact, there are now thirty-one different categories including the fastest growing Software, Blogs and Associations and Clubs categories. We have also seen quick growth to the newly added Tourism category.

You can view all the listings here.

If you have a favorite Geocaching website you can add it here

Thanks to everyone for their support!

Keep on cachin’!

Earlier this week it was so hot that we took an afternoon off and went to the beach. Here on the North East Coast you have to take it when you get it and we decided to take it!

There are several great beaches nearby to where we live that sometimes it’s hard to choose which one to go to. This time we decided to go to the Lawrencetown Beach on Highway 207, the Marine Drive. Usually the temperature at this beach is considerably cooler than here at home and sometimes the fog can roll in quickly but since it was so hot here with such a beautiful blue sky we thought that we would take the chance. We were not disappointed. It was just cool enough to be enjoyable, the surf was rolling and we got to do some Geocaching!

Since we are not the ‘lay on the beach’ type (oh sure, there are times when we’ve been known to rest our weary bones (nap), or to read a book (nap) while protecting our selves from the sun by laying under a beach umbrella (nap)) we decided that today we would walk a section of the Atlantic View Trail. The Atlantic View Trail extends approximately 10kms (6 miles) from the Eastern end of the Salt Marsh Trail and past Lawrencetown Beach, following an old railroad bed. However, today we only walked a small section from the beach to where the trail crosses Highway 207.

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We had a great evening last night at a local German style Ale House with over 20 other Geocachers! We spent several hours enjoying excellent company, great conversation and some fine food. The event was held to give a warm Maritime welcome to Geocachers Binrat and Geogranny, who were visiting from Eastern Ontario. The photo below certainly shows that our traditions held true to its roots:

Binrat and Geogranny were in town to visit their brother/son Ducky (also a Geocacher) and his family. They will spend the next week or so caching in the area with a trip to Canada’s First Geocache in the plans.

The evening began with dinner of choice which included a variety of fare, the most popular being the German Schnitzel. This was followed by the awarding of quite a few door prizes donated by GPSCentral and The 3Geeks Outdoor Store. Throughout this there was a treasure trove of Travel Bugs available for discovering and exchange. There were a dozen conversations going on at once but good times and laughter was the common topic!

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We headed out yesterday morning to explore a trail that has been calling us for years, the Lake Charles Trail at Shubie Park. Even though we live close by and are frequent visitors to the park, most recently for the CITO event, this was one part of the trail system that we had yet to venture on. We can’t think for the life of us why we had never been there before other than it was saved for a day like today. It really was a great day.

The Lake Charles Trail extends the full length of the lake and is a part of the Shubie Park shared-use trails and the Trans-Canada Trail. It skirts the water’s edge for most of its length, offering many great viewing areas and resting spots. The trail is well groomed and a favorite among hikers, joggers and cyclists. It is continually being extended where eventually it will follow the canal route all the way to the Bay of Fundy!

It took us just over four hours to do the round trip of around 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the parking lot to the end of the trail and back. This included stopping frequently to enjoy the views, to take photos, to have lunch and, of course, a bit of Geocaching! We were able to pick up a half a dozen caches along the way. (We even left a couple to bring us back here another time. :))

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