GEOCACHING was made possible following a decision by the US government in May 2000, to switch off a feature that had historically degraded GPS accuracy. This meant that civilian users of GPS devices could pinpoint locations up to ten times more accurately.

The announcement caused great excitement among GPS enthusiasts. One enthusiast chose to test the accuracy by navigating to a hidden container using coordinates recorded on a GPS unit. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted coordinates on an internet GPS users' group. The rules for those who found the stash were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff".

His container was hidden in the woods near Beaver Creek, Oregon and contained a logbook, pencil, and various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. Within three days, two different people had used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. The "GPS Stash Hunt" mailing list was soon created to discuss the emerging activity and during this time a new name was proposed: Geocaching.

In the valley there are a number of Geocaches that you can go looking for. One is close to the Montejaque dam, so might be an idea to give that a miss until the water level drops (see the story elsewhere on this site).

There is also one somewhere between Benaojan and La Indiana. Unfortunately the day we went in search of it something messed up with my co-ordinates and didn't get discovered.

I have recently placed two up on the Libar range. To discover them download details from the Geocache site www.groundspeak.com  and then set off. These two are a bit of a trek from the road but quite close to each other as the crow flies, but in walking terms a good distance apart. I have placed the boxes so that the hunt for them will take you over some beautiful countryside that is a bit off the beaten path.

The view from the position of one of the hidden caches can be seen above.

A good thing about Geocaching is the variety of caches. We were on the coast yesterday to pick up papers from my accountant and found ourselves with a bit of time to spare. Too early for lunch, so we switched on the GPS and had a pleasant stroll around the castle in Fuengirola where we discovered another Geocache. A week or two ago while visiting an excellent real ale pub in Liverpool I went out and found a cache close to the pub www.shipandmitre.com. 

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Guadiaro Geocaching
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
GEOCACHING was made possible following a decision by the US government in May 2000, to switch off a feature that had historically degraded GPS...

© 2012 - Secret Andalucia - Guadiaro Valley, near Ronda

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