Introduction to Letterboxing and Geocaching

1
Introduction to Letterboxing and Geocaching

• Jay Matzko

2
Introduction

• Letterboxing
• Geocaching
• Getting Started
• Geocaching and Scouting

3
Letterboxing History

• Origin traced to Dartmoor, England in 1854
• Became popular in the U.S. in 1998 after an
  article in the Smithsonian Magazine featured
  letterboxing
• About 36,000 registered members of Letterboxing
  North America

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Letterboxing

• Find a starting point
• Decipher the clues to the letterbox
• Search for and discover the container
• Stamp the register
• Stamp your personal log book

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Sample Letterbox
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Letterbox Log
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Geocaching History

• 01 May 2000- U.S. Government disabled selective
  availability (SA)
• 03 May 2000- Dave Ulmer hides the first
  geo-stash
• Geocaching.com is launched, enabling cachers
  worldwide to join in the hunt
• About 675,000 caches and 62,000 registered
  members of geocaching.com

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Geocaching

• Obtain the lat/long
• Chart your course
• Search for the cache
• Trade items/sign the logbook
• Record your find on the website

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Sample Geocache
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Getting Started

• GPS
• Coordinates
• Stamp and logbook (for letterboxing)
• Swag
• An adventurous spirit!

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Geocaching and Scouting

• Cache in Trash Out
• Cache to Eagle program
• Travel Bugs
• Geocaching games

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Conclusion

• Letterboxing
• Geocaching
• Getting Started
• Geocaching and Scouting

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Questions?

• The game is afoot