As a family we have been geocaching several times. It's a great way to get in some family time, get in a hike and have some fun finding stuff at the same time. It's a lot like treasure hunting. Someone hides a small container logging in the coordinates on a website. We log into the website getting the coordinates and usually a hint or two and set off looking. If you find the container you log in that you found it and hide it again. You are supposed to be inconspicuous so nobody else knows what you are doing. Otherwise people will find the containers and not know what to do with them (which is called muggled in the geocaching world). Once back home you log into the website again and make comments about what you did and didn't find.
We decided to bring all our "stuff" with us to Korea just in case they geocache here. Turns out they do! Galen loaded up the handheld Garmin with coordinates and we were off. We decided to introduce the Metz family to geocaching knowing full well they would love it!
Galen found 4 relatively close spots in Jukjeon not too far from where we live. We parked at a lot nearby and headed off!
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| Setting off from the parking lot. |
The first one was a micro (meaning really small container) hidden within a piece of metal sculpture but hadn't been found for quite a while. We decided it was worth a try. Galen patiently showed the boys how to use the handheld device. Heather tried to use her iPhone but it wasn't accurate enough. Setting up our usual guidelines of only looking for about 10-15 minutes (otherwise you could get too bogged down on one site) I started the timer as we arrived at the destination point. The boys tore into it! There was not a rock that went unturned or a blade of grass untouched. As the timer went off we proceeded to the next one. Although disappointing we quickly pointed out that it wasn't the "finding" that was the object. It was the hiking, spending time together and looking that was the point. "Finding" is the icing on the cake.
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| Quick lesson with the Garmin. |
The second one was along a rock face next to the sidewalk. There was a "hint" for this one that said it was between two rocks. Up the kids went along the rocks. I said a quick prayer hoping no snakes were out and then started the timer again. Alas as the timer went off we found nothing again. With all the landscaping they do here we figured a landscaping crew probably muggled it during the winter.
The third one was a bit farther away so everyone had fun taking turns with the Garmin. It was also uphill... my favorite!! At the top of the hill, at the mouth of the stream, before I could even get the timer started, we had success at long last! We found it! I pretended to take pictures while we logged in. Unsure about whether we should press our luck or just end on a high note, the kids voted to keep going. After all it was hazy but still a beautiful day.
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| The searching continues. |
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| First success! |
The fourth one was well over a half mile away and since we were right next to the car we decided to drive to it. Thank goodness we did since it was at a rest stop along the highway. We had to do only one U-turn but we managed to find the right rest stop! Starting the timer the kids go at it. The hint stated it was at the top of the rock near a survey marker. As if the kids needed any incentive to climb to the top! Once the marker was found the small container was found immediately! Yeah! Our first micro here in Korea! More pictures were taken while we logged in.
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| Found the rest stop. |
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| Searching at the top of the rock. |
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| The survey marker and the micro-cache. |
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| The crew logging in our second find and first micro! |
With that, our geocaching day was complete. Fifty percent isn't bad and a good time was had by all. The Metz are hooked! We leave for Busan tomorrow and Galen already has 12 more coordinates uploaded and ready to go.
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| The crew, complete with Heather our driver! |
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