Laird's Larder

Hobbies

"A hobby is hard work you wouldn't do for a living." Anonymous

"A man must have his hobbies." Anonymous

"Everyone needs three hobbies: one for the body, one for the mind, and one for the soul." Anonymous

Geocaching

Geocaching is, at its core, a global treasure hunt. The accuracy of GPS for civilian use was greatly increased by the turning off of 'selective availability' in May 2000 - previously the highest level of accuracy was reserved for military use. Dave Ulmer, a GPS enthusiast, decided to test just how good the new GPS accuracy was by hiding a container in the woods and publishing the coordinates on an internet newsgroup. A couple of newsgroup subscribers quickly took up the challenge and geocaching was born.

Today the basic concept remains the same - hide a container (which may contain small items to swap in addition to a logbook), publish the coordinates, and wait for other geocachers to find it. And it is the thrill of the hunt that means geocaching is an activity that will stand the test of time: there is a great pleasure in finding a cache, and the harder the hide, the more rewarding the find once made. Great hides make for great memories, and a number of geocaches I found 6 or 7 years ago still stand out vividly today because of the ingenuity of the hide.

Read more about geocaching...