Geocaching.com
As winter sets in for those of us up here in the northern hemisphere the treasure hunt that is geocaching becomes more difficult. You will notice I did not say impossible, just more difficult. Many roads and trails become impassible and since many geocaches are somewhere on the ground you can run into challenges with snow covering the cache.
I would still encourage you all to get out and try to locate a few caches. Here are a few tips I’ve collected for your snow covered winter of geocaching. I’m sure there are more and I would encourage you to share them.
1. Be extra careful and mindful of the tracks that you leave in the snow. In rural areas where you may be doing snowshoeing or snowmobiling to get to the cache, this may not be as important. In an urban areas, these are sure signs for curious muggles to follow. Your footprints become arrows in the snow saying “go over here”. One thought here is don’t make the direct, easiest approach. Try to approach from behind or along the side, etc… Don’t make it look like the cache hiding place is the obvious destination.
2. Try to make sure that caches that you have hidden are flagged with the appropriate attributes to let everyone know if you can locate your cache in the winter. Perhaps even update your description of caches you have hidden to include this information.
3. Try to assure that all containers are sealed tight and bring along a few extra storage bags to place logs and swag into if you detect that they may be getting wet. Snow and ice can be hard on cache containers.
4. Pens often will not write in the cold. Carry a pencil with you. For that matter take an extra pencil and make sure the caches that will hold them have a writing utensil.
5. Dress appropriately for the current conditions and be prepared in the case of worsening conditions. Hats, gloves, raingear, extra socks, etc. should not be overlooked.
6. Make sure you have adequate food and water available. I might also include here an extra blanket and or coat in your car and matches in a waterproof container. That cache journey that was supposed to be just a couple hours could turn unexpectedly into something much longer.
6. Make sure that someone knows where you are going and when you expect to return. Perhaps leave them the coordinates or where you planned to go. We actually leave them on the front door or our house when we head out and have not had an opportunity to talk with anyone prior to our departure.
I know many of these things are just plain ol’ common sense but sometimes we need a reminder. What other pointers can you offer?
I used to live in Minnesota, so geocaching proved to be a pain sometimes. Thanks for sharing this article.
Very good point with number 2. Very frustrating to score a DNF for a 1/1 only to find it’s not winter friendly and buried under a foot of snow.
Good thing DNFs aren’t like eBay feedback and reduce your overall “feedback” score. I don’t mind a DNF if it was a fun adventure. I just would like to know before I start that my chances of finding the thing are slim to none.
Great tips – I wrote something similar yesterday. Missed some of your tips so will point my folks in the direction of your post. Watch out for snowmobilers though!
Yeah… you should be aware of anyone and everyone on the trail… snowmobilers tend to be a curious lot as well… You make a trail in the snow and it gives them something to do… follow your trail and see where you were headed.
We’re jealous… I don’t want to head out with a shovel. I tried to uncover a couple that I placed and there is just way too much snow. Talk about needing to lead an obvious path…Do you think shoveling them out would be too obvious?
We discovered three caches in the snow today. Great tips.