No Title 1118
Supplement to “Geocaching: High-Tech Hide & Seek”
We asked Kentucky geocachers to share some of their favorite caches around the state.
To learn more about a specific cache, go to the Web site www.geocaching.com, hit the “hide and seek a cache” tab, and enter the waypoint number (a number this Web site creates to track caches on its site). All caches posted by members of Geocachers of Kentucky, and Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana cachers, are linked to the geocaching.com site.
You also can search for caches within a geographic area by zip code.
1. Making the Connections, Elizabethtown, a mystery-puzzle cache. “Lots of big grins on this one,” one geocacher said on the cache’s online logbook. Waypoint: GCHNF5
2. Off the Beaten Path #1, Sonora, a cache with a bit of history and a general store that sells moon pies and pork rinds. Waypoint: GCH8YR
3. East Pinnacle Cache, Berea Forest, a hiking cache that requires mountain maneuvering to reach this spot near East Pinnacle Outlook. It’s ranked 4-1/2 stars out of 5 for difficulty and terrain. The hider suggests you bring a rope or a helping hand. All finders agree the view is awesome. Waypoint: GC575E
4. The West Pinnacle Slot, Berea Forest, also has an awesome view and a slightly less challenging hike (3 stars). But claiming the cache also involves a tricky maneuver through a 1-foot-by-3-foot vertical slot. Waypoint: GC8D48
5. Working in a Coal Mine, Owensboro, a historic and educational cache, takes seekers to the site of the George H. Rudy Coal Camp, which operated from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Waypoint: GCH9NP
6. D.W. Griffith, Crestwood, another historic site, reveals the churchyard grave of the early filmmaker from the early 1900s. Waypoint: GCKMY6
7. Dawson Springs Area Falls, a scenic cache located in the Jones-Keeney Wildlife Management Area of Hopkins County between Dawson Springs and Princeton. You’ll find a small cave, and a 50- to 60-foot waterfall. Waypoint: GC4311
8. Take Your Chevy to the Levee, a scenic cache located on the levee overlooking the Mississippi River in far western Kentucky. Waypoint: GCBE9B
9. Lexington Tool Cache, somewhere in Lexington, is known for its deviousness. According to the Web site, “the cache container is painted John Deere green and yellow, and it has a geocache sticker on the side. It’s easy to see … Heeeee Heeee Hee.” Waypoint: GCB381 (requires login)
10. Kentucky Living Cache, located in the Jefferson Memorial Forest near Louisville, is a real find. Turtle, aka Greg Norberg of Elizabethtown, hid this cache during a photo shoot for this article. Inside the cache, you’ll find copies of your favorite magazine. Waypoint: GCNB5G
Variations on geocaching
Geocaching is constantly reinventing itself. Here are some popular variations and offshoots of the game.
Multi cache: The first cache gives coordinates (or partial coordinates) to the next location. Some multi caches have hints to the final cache.
Virtual cache: A cache is actually an existing landmark, such as a tombstone or a statue. The cache hunter has to answer a question from the landmark and let the cache owner know as proof that he was there. These are designed for areas such as nature preserves where a traditional cache might detract from the environment.
Web cam cache: These caches take advantage of existing Web cams. The hunter must have himself photographed by the camera to claim the cache.
Hitchhikers and travel bugs: Hitchhikers are items, such as a key chain or a stuffed toy, placed in a cache with instructions for it to travel to other caches. The owner of a hitchhiker can send it off on any destination in the world, and many travel thousands of miles. Owners sometimes attach logbooks to hitchhikers to record their travels. You can also buy travel bugs, which are tags with I.D. numbers that allow you to track a hitchhiker through the Internet.
Source for geocaching variations: www.geocaching.com
To read the Kentucky Living June 2005 feature that goes along with this supplement, click here: Geocaching: High-Tech Hide & Seek
