Back in May 2009 when use of global positioning systems (GPS) was starting to be used more frequently, Paul Lenort set out in search of an activity in which he could engage local army cadets.
And that’s when he discovered geocaching. The outdoor adventure game, not yet a decade old back then, involves the use of the geocaching app and a GPS device or cellphone capability to find hidden containers, or caches.
“There was a cache in the town park in the bandstand… I just walked across and that was my very first cache,” says the Newmarket resident of the find. “It just became a fun thing.”
Lenort is now retired and no longer involved in the Cadets, but the adventure continues. He’s closing in on 10,000 caches found, he’s only about 100 away.
“It will bring you to places in Aurora and Newmarket where you say I’ve never seen such a beautiful place,” he says, citing small cemeteries and old ruins.
Just two years earlier, Roy C. Alexander got a call from his brother and soon found himself in his four-wheel drive navigating the dirt Swift Rapids Road in Severn Township.
There, at the end of the road, was the treasure his brother was looking for – a cache.
Alexander was immediately hooked and soon combined his passion for travel with geocaching activities. He’s been to 67 countries, finding caches in each one.
“I’m still a player, I’m still finding things, I’m still hiding things … getting on planes and ships as often as I can possibly manage,” he says.
He also now serves as co-ordinator and is one of three community volunteer reviewers in Ontario for Geocaching HQ, which is the Seattle-based organization that oversees the activity.
There are almost 3.5 million active geocaches in the world today, he says, with about 250,000 active geocaches in Canada. Of those, 58,000 are in Ontario.
York Region has almost 1,800 active geocaches with another 2,000 in Simcoe County.
“There’s been a lot of action in York Region for geocaching for as long as it’s been around,” he says.
Communities often develop around the activity. Every month a dozen or so geocachers gather for breakfast in Newmarket, which also serves as a launch for a geocaching search afterward. Many also seek out gathering events when they travel, meeting other geocachers. The events are generally posted on the geocaching website.
CITO (cache in, trash out) events are also hosted, focusing on the cleanup of an area or removal of invasive species or helping with trail building.
“There’s lots of geocaches hidden along rivers, there might be water caches, there might be geocaches hidden to be found at night with reflective markers,” says Alexander, adding searchers often venture into forests and along trails. “There’s all kinds of experiences that you can find, whether you’re on foot, whether you have bicycles, whether you are mobile in a vehicle, whether you have kayaks. In our region, there’s something for everyone.”
Once a geocache is hidden, its co-ordinates are revealed on an online cache page with some details about the location and geocachers set out in search of it, often using a GPS app on their cellphone, Alexander explains. That can often involve some looking around at the site, which might be chosen because of its view or unique location.
“That writeup is what people look at to decide whether to engage the adventure,” says Alexander, also known as geocacher RCA777 and reviewer CacheShadow.
You might find trade or swag items inside the geocache. The general rule of thumb is if you take something, leave something of equal or greater value. Then, place the container back and share your experience online with the rest of the geocaching community. There’s also a log book for geocachers to make comments.
There are also virtual geocaches, which are locations you can visit where a logging task should be performed, earth caches with a geology focus, as well as adventure labs that are similar to virtual caches.
It’s the reviewer’s job to ensure the description of the cache follows the guidelines. That could include confirmation that containers aren’t too close together, are in an approved area and don’t have promotional material.
The adventures are free, as is the mobile app to find them, but there is a pay membership available that offers more features and provides access to a greater array of geocaches.
Since Lenort has dug up just about every cache around his Newmarket home, and further out, finding other caches becomes a little more involved.
Two years ago, he set out on a road trip with his brother, finding caches in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia on their way to an annual geocaching event called GeoWoodstock held in Canada for the first time in Abbotsford, B.C.
He’s been all over Canada and the United States finding caches.
“One of my favourites was in Chicago, there was a cache on a bridge” designed by American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright.
“You get out, you explore, you might see things you’ve never seen.”
A good starting point for those interested is to navigate to the Geocaching HQ website.
