Geocaching Orcutt

GeoCaching Orcutt
Edited by
Archie Miller
Updated February, 2010

     Geocaching is the only local sports activity that requires $12 Billion dollars worth of equipment to participate.

    One relatively cheap GPS unit, and $12 Billion U.S. dollars worth of satellite systems, and you're ready to play. Luckily the US government has already footed the bill for the satellite system, and put it out there. So all you need is the GPS, some walking shoes, and a sense of adventure.
     The sport involves a GPS user hiding "treasure", a collection of goodies, called a cache, somewhere, and publishing the exact coordinates so other GPS users can come on a "treasure hunt" to find it. The participant uses a GPS, a Global Positioning System unit. Geocaching is the sport where you are the "Search Engine."

What is a "cache?"

     The word "cache" is pronounced like "cash," as in cashing a pay check. The word Geocaching comes from GEO for geography, and CACHING from “a hiding place,” especially for concealing and preserving provisions or implements. A cache is a secure place of storage; and also something hidden or stored in a cache. In our sport, cache is the term used as a hiding place for concealing and preserving our "treasure."

Worldwide there are 981,794 caches. A month ago there were 928,943. In the last 30 days, there have been 2,081,306 new logs submitted.

As of 02/01/2010, there are 3393 caches in Santa Maria zip code’s.

         ZipCode   #Caches
         93454     - 663
        93455     - 661
        93456     - 669
        93457     - 657
        93458     - 743

The Rules

The only rules are: You must sign the logbook; and if you take something from the container, you must leave something.

What are the different types of Geocaches?

    Micro or Nano caches: Extremely small containers such as 35mm film canisters, Breath-mint tins, Breath-strip boxes, or tiny bottles. They are especially favored in urban and suburban locations where they can be hidden and retrieved in populated areas. Micros are a very common cache type.   Some micros are creatively and frustratingly disguised as pine cones, broken branches, fixtures, bolts, etc.
     Regular caches: a small to large container that has enough room for both the log and "treasure." Common containers are ammo boxes, Tupperware/Rubbermaid style containers, or plastic buckets.
     Multi-Cache or Offset Cache: The coordinates given are for the start of the hunt, and involve multiple locations with the physical container at the last location. The other caches in the series give coordinates, clues, hints, or puzzles that will lead to the next "link" in the chain.

What is the treasure in the Cache?

    The real treasure is being able to find it and sharing that with others by your logbook posting.
     Occasionally, caches get "muggled," meaning someone who isn't a geocacher steals the trinkets; but usually the treasures are creatively hidden. In fact, unsuspecting people pass them every day. There are hundreds in the Orcutt area, hidden in parks, open space preserves, fairgrounds, a college campus, a race track; or in any number of nooks and crannies.
    One cache near the airport is in an ammo can measuring 10" x 7" x 4", and when placed contained a Book entitled "Einstein's Dreams," a Squirrel sand pet, a Miniature clown mask, a Smiley CD opener, a Plastic magnifier, a USA flag pin, a Crazy Bones miniature lunch box, and five travel bugs.   I had to climb a fence to locate this one.
    Finding the "treasure" is only part of the lure. One cache placed by a bunch of third graders is a Micro, in a film canister, and contains a log book and a pencil. Their teacher, opens her student's eyes to spectacular views, introduces them to local history, helps them learn how to unravel mysterious ciphers, how to solve puzzles, and how to work together as a team.
    Cachers take on handles known as "Username"s. The third grade teacher is known as "AvePaloma."
    About that "travel bug": a Travel Bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. This allows you to track your item on Geocaching.com. The item becomes a "hitchhiker" that is carried from cache to cache, sometimes migrating to different countries around the globe, and you can follow its progress online.

What will you see while Geocaching Orcutt?

This is a fun way to involve the whole family. The rule of thumb is to make caches "family friendly"
From one site, you can see the first school built in the Santa Maria Valley, the Pleasant Valley School. From another, you can see the Orcutt School District's offices. Another will take you through a pleasant stroll through Pioneer Park. Another allows you to see the airplanes take off and land. Another takes you to a place where you could sit and relax.

What about Benchmarks?

Benchmarks are markers placed by governmental agencies to assist surveyors to precisely locate a specific location. These help surveyors, civil engineers, and map makers to locate the longitude, the latitude, and altitude. They are placed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) , CalTrans, National Coast and Geodetic Survey (NGS), US Geological Survey (USGS), and others.

Markers are part of the geodetic control network created and maintained by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). The NGS maintains a database of these locations. In the database, each geodetic control marker has a PID (Permanent IDentifier) number, and a datasheet of information about it. Although much of the descriptive (how to find it) data is outdated, the surviving markers remain vitally important to the conduct of our nation's commerce.

Geocaching benchmarks, and reporting your findings, helps maintain an updated database. Locating benchmarks can involve more walking than hunting caches, but the personal rewards are great.. There are hundreds of benchmarks within 10 miles of my home coordinates. For mare information, see the Geocaching Benchmark Page.

Bryon Roth, a co-founder of Groundspeak, the Seattle-based company that operates geocaching.com, said more than a million people play the game worldwide. People who place caches usually do so in an area that's special to them, Roth said.

"It's kind of like having a local tour guide showing you places that aren't on a tour map," Roth said, recalling a trip to Utah where he went hunting for a cache. He started in a parking lot and ended up in the mountains.

"We had this tremendous view of Salt Lake City from the mountain top," Roth said. "Had it not been for geocaching there's no way I would have been hiking up into the mountains of Utah."

Where Can I Learn More About GeoCaching?

The official web site for Geocaching is: www.geocaching.com. Check it out, and while there, create a caching name for yourself. Enter your zip code on the search page, and you'll be amazed at the number and diversity of cached sites located right here in Orcutt.

- Waymarking.Com is just getting started, and provides tools for you to catalog, mark, and visit unique and interesting locations around the world.

News Releases:
http://folsomtelegraph.com/articles/2006/12/20/news/lifestyle/01cache.txt
http://www.pall-times.com/articles/2006/12/27/news/news1.txt

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