# Geocaching
Geocaching is a GPS-powered outdoor treasure hunt where players hide waterproof containers called caches and share coordinates online for others to track down. Launched in May 2000 after the U.S. military unscrambled civilian GPS signals, it grew from a Usenet experiment in Oregon into a worldwide hobby coordinated through Geocaching.com.
## Origin
Geocaching was born on May 3rd, 2000, one day after President Bill Clinton's administration switched off Selective Availability, the intentional signal distortion that had kept civilian GPS receivers accurate only to about 100 meters[3]. Computer consultant Dave Ulmer wanted to prove that the newly sharpened signals could guide someone back to an exact spot, so he stashed a black bucket in the woods outside Beavercreek, Oregon containing a logbook, software CDs, a Ross Perot book, a slingshot handle, four dollar bills and a can of beans that later became the collectible O.C.B. trackable[5].
Ulmer posted the coordinates to the Usenet newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav under the title GPS Stash Hunt, telling readers to take something and leave something[3]. Mike Teague was the first to find it and swapped in cigarettes, a cassette tape and a pen[5]. On May 30th, 2000, Matt Stum floated a rename on the Yahoo! group GPSStash from stash to cache, Ulmer agreed, and Jeremy Irish registered Geocaching.com on July 3rd of that year as a central listing site, later founding the company Groundspeak to run it[4][3].
- **Platform:** Usenet sci.geo.satellite-nav (origin) / Geocaching.com (community hub)
- **Creator:** Dave Ulmer
- **Date:** 2000
## Overview
Geocaching is an outdoor scavenger hunt built on consumer GPS receivers and a shared online database of hiding spots[1]. Players called geocachers use an app or handheld GPS unit to hike to a set of coordinates, locate a waterproof container, sign the paper logbook inside, and often swap a small trinket before putting the cache back exactly where they found it[1].
The caches themselves range from film canisters magnetically clipped under park benches to five-gallon buckets buried in the woods, and each hide is logged online with clues, difficulty ratings and terrain scores[5]. The commemorative plaque at the original hide site sums up the etiquette that shaped the hobby, asking finders to sign the logbook and record their visit as Dave Ulmer originally proposed[5]. Urban Dictionary has captured the mix of earnest fandom and self-deprecating humor around geocaching, describing it as using a multi-billion dollar satellite system to find plastic boxes in the forest[6].
## How It Spread
Geocaching.com quickly turned a Usenet thread into a coordinated hobby, offering searchable maps, cache-hide instructions and player profiles under Groundspeak's stewardship[2]. Groundspeak, headquartered in Seattle, still frames its mission as inspiring outdoor adventure, exploration and community around the game[7]. The site adds a free account requirement and encourages new players to download the official app or bring a GPS device and a pen before heading out to sign logs[1].
The hobby drew comparisons to letterboxing, a 19th century British tradition where hiker James Perrott left a bottle with his calling card at Cranmere Pool in Dartmoor in 1854 and later travelers stashed rubber-stamped boxes along the moors[3]. Letterboxing had barely reached the United States before geocaching arrived, though Fox News covered how a New England educator introduced it to schoolchildren in the 1990s and about 1,500 boxes were hidden across American wilderness by the early 2000s[8]. GPS gave the same idea a digital backbone, and cachers marked the original Oregon site in 2006 with the Original Stash Tribute Plaque maintained by volunteer sonorazark on land owned by Port Blakely Tree Farms[5].
By 2012, geocaching was a fixture on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr, with the official Facebook fan page passing 205,000 likes and a community wiki called Cacheopedia hosting player-written guides since May 2005[3]. Official iPhone and Android apps replaced dedicated GPS units for most casual players, and Groundspeak added logging, trackables and premium memberships to keep the game funded[3].
## How to Use
To play geocaching, sign up for a free account on Geocaching.com or in the official Geocaching app, then browse a map of nearby caches[1]. Users typically pick a cache by difficulty and terrain rating, hike to the listed coordinates, and search the immediate area, since GPS accuracy still leaves several meters of guesswork[1]. When you find the container, sign and date the paper logbook, optionally swap a small item of equal value, hide it again exactly as you found it, and post an online log with photos back on the site[1].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is a global outdoor game where players use GPS coordinates to find hidden containers called caches, sign the logbook inside and share their find online[1].
### Where did Geocaching come from?
Dave Ulmer hid the first cache, a black bucket, near Beavercreek, Oregon on May 3rd, 2000 and posted the coordinates to the sci.geo.satellite-nav Usenet group as a GPS Stash Hunt[5][3].
### What does Geocaching mean?
The name combines geo, for geography, with cache, and was coined on the Yahoo! group GPSStash on May 30th, 2000 when Matt Stum suggested renaming the GPS Stash Hunt to something less loaded than stash[3].
### How do you use Geocaching?
Create a free account on Geocaching.com or in the app, pick a cache near you, hike to the coordinates, sign the logbook, put the container back exactly where you found it and log your visit online[1].
### Is Geocaching still popular?
Geocaching grew into a global community coordinated through Groundspeak in Seattle, with an active Geocaching.com hub, mobile apps and a tribute plaque still maintained at the original Oregon hide site[7][5].
## References
1. [https://www.geocaching.com/]()
2. [https://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=909c9502-796e-442f-aa8f-b71be68a772b]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/geocaching]()
4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Geocaching]()
5. [https://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCGV0P]()
6. [https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55367,00.html]()
7. [https://www.groundspeak.com/]()
---
Source: https://meme.com/memes/geocaching
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library