We were introduced to the concept of Geo-Caching last summer when my sister and her group of hiking friends took us on a geo-cache hunt. So what is geo-cashing? Simply put, it is a treasure hunt (through the use of GPS devices) for small treasures (usually boxes) that are hidden all over the world by everyday people. We purchased a couple of kid-friendly GPS’s last year and have used them occasionally, but without a doubt packed them for this road trip. The first cache we found on this trip was in Convict Lake (with the Carew’s) and the second was earlier today. Berk and I drove to a town called Manitou Springs, CO. It is known for its granite cliff faces, amazing waterfalls and a cog railroad that climbs to more than 14 thousand feet up to the top of Pikes Peak.
Rather than take the easy way, we decided to hike of part of Barr Trail which starts in Manitou (at about six thousand feet elevation) and hike a few miles toward the first cache identified by our GPS. It was quite a beautiful hike and tough as it was basically straight up hill. Thankfully this specific cache was hidden in a small cave-like structure close to a stream and water fall. Berk was very excited as we had actually remembered to bring some little trinket of our own to add to the hidden cache. We traded a nickel and a clover medallion for a butterfly shaped eraser. Berk thought that was a GREAT trade! After the trade was completed, and the cache re-hidden, we hiked down to the waterfalls and played and splashed for a while. What a refreshing mid-point break during our hike. The only other thing we still had to do…was hike back out.
If any of you think your kids would like this type of an incentive to get some exercise through hiking – try this. It’s fun. You never know what you might find.
No comments:
Post a Comment