(no subject)

[platypus]

On Saturday, the one day that Ken and I both do not have to be on campus, we returned anyway for an orienteering event. It was at night, and all the controls had reflective tape on them. After doing the night cache in Wisconsin last month, I wanted nothing more than to wander through woods at night looking for reflective things, so this was fun. My legs were sore and tired from a hike the previous day, but I made it through the 90-minute course without doing significant damage to my ankle. At the end, we had a quite respectable score, solid upper-middle-of-the-pack standing, and a topographic map of campus. Not bad for an evening's work.

Comments

[floatyfish.livejournal.com]

You know, in reading back through your journal, I'm fascinated by this thing you do. Do you have any really good sites that explain it or discuss it?

Thanks :)

[platypus]

We do two similar things: orienteering and geocaching. Orienteering came first; it's an organized thing where they set up a course and give you a map (usually it's in the wilderness, but sometimes it's on campus at the university where I work) that shows where all the "controls" are. At each control there's a flag and a thing that stamps your card to prove you were there. We do the kind where you get an hour and a half to hit as many of those as possible (they're worth varying numbers of points depending on how hard they are to get to, and how far they are from the others).

Geocaching is a more recent development, but it's more fun; it's not exactly organized and you can do as much as you want whenever you want. Two years ago, Clinton removed accuracy restrictions on Global Positioning System devices. Hence, for a hundred bucks anyone can own a device that uses satellite signals to determine exactly where they are to within twenty feet or so. Someone thought it'd be funny to hide a bucket and publicize the coordinates to see if other people could find it. They could. Now there are thousands of little containers hidden all over the place -- parks, urban areas, anywhere you could hide something from an Altoids tin to a sweater box. After you hide it, you publish the coordinates on www.geocaching.com, and people come to search for it. When they find it, they sign the logbook, take an item, and leave an item (mostly tiny trinkets, but you never know what you'll find). I like the finding-secret-things aspect of it, and I've begun collecting rubber lizards since they seem like a common trade item (I always leave a little tiny frog). It motivates us to get out and hike in places we'd never see otherwise, too. www.geocaching.com has a lot more explanation, plus forums where I at least find the discussion fascinating :).

[floatyfish.livejournal.com]

You know, the Geocaching sounds really fun and I like the treasure-hunt aspect of it. Very cool :)

I'll have to look up more on the internet. It might be a really good way for John and I to get out more and get some exercise :) Thanks for the info.