It’s a free treasure-hunting game, with the world as its game board. The goal is to get you outside to explore the world around you and have a great time doing it! Whether you want to travel the globe or explore a little corner of it here in Thurston County, you are in luck with over 900 geocaches in the county for you to find.
It is the world of Geocaching. It’s a lot of fun and is a “thinking man’s” hobby (“man” as in “human”) that is a lot easier to get into than you may think! Just in the Olympia area, there are hundreds of cleverly hidden geocaches waiting to be found! Even in the 314-acre Squaxin Park (formerly Priest Point), there are 29, and as per Geocache rules, each sits at least 1/10th of a mile apart from any other. Twenty years in existence, Geocaching is stronger than ever before, with 3.1 million active geocaches worldwide. The international Geocaching headquarters is in Seattle and currently employs over 80 staff members.
Gabe Shanafelt, of Olympia, is a “treasure hunter” and volunteer, part of a worldwide team helping others engage in this hobby. It’s a hobby that gets them involved in outdoor adventures – enjoying the scenery, nature, history, education, family time, and more. You can go it alone or meet others at Geocaching events – to share stories and play the game together!
A “geocacher” for 14 years, Gabe started with a find in Huntamer Park in Lacey on May 21, 2009. So far, he has made 10,488 finds. He’s discovered them in seven countries, 36 of the 50 US states, and two Canadian provinces. Each geocacher has a user name for signing their finds and Gabe is “wasurf.” He loves it and his enthusiasm is contagious. His day job, as this writer knows well from a former life, is that of a highly skilled, helpful, and beloved “computer guy” with the State of Washington. He carries his considerable technical and people skills into his private life, helping others enjoy the outdoors.
In April 2023, Gabe was convinced by fellow geocachers to take on the volunteer job of Chapter Representative for the Southwest Washington State Geocaching Association, covering seven counties. In addition to Thurston County, the chapter includes Lewis, Cowlitz, Pacific, Skamania, Clark, and Wahkiakum counties. Statewide, the nonprofit Washington State Geocaching Association boasts seven chapters with a membership of 344. Nationally, the nonprofit organization’s name is Groundspeak, Inc., doing business as Geocaching. Over 200 other caching-finding groups exist around the world, but Geocaching HQ and geocaching.com are by far the biggest.
Geocaching is almost worldwide and has been translated into 24 languages. Over 3 million people are known to participate in 196 countries, with 84 million geocaches found in 2022. Germany is the #1 country for players finding caches, followed by the USA as #2. Also, worldwide, there are 361,000 owners of caches. (Owners are those who have placed one or more caches.) The only country Gabe could think of that lacked a geocache was North Korea!
Ages vary widely. Off the top of his head, Gabe thought of a couple whose one-month-old baby is a member and he knows a woman, in her mid-eighties, who pairs geocaching with worldwide travel, and, so far, has tallied almost 30,000 finds.
When the organization started over 20 years ago, it was in response to environmental concerns about geocachers damaging fragile wilderness terrain. There was even a thought to ban geocaching in Washington State Parks. Rather than seeing the hobby outlawed, geocachers banded together to create a nonprofit organization, devising rules to protect threatened terrain and to support trails, parks, forests… and geocachers!
Cache In Trash Out® (CITO) is a trash-collecting initiative that began in 2002 and is supported by the geocaching community, coordinating with other organizations and individuals.
Recently in Olympia, CITO assisted the Olympia Surfrider Foundation, a group that works to keep plastics and other contaminants out of the waterways, ocean, and beaches. In one hour, 30 volunteers (eight of them geocachers) picked up 4,000 cigarette butts on a walk in downtown Olympia.
Anyone can volunteer for CITO or host a CITO event. They might pick up trash, plant trees, or do any number of tasks to beautify and restore natural and urban spaces. Community groups and individuals are encouraged to create projects through CITO, which geocachers can support.
While placing a “treasure” cache is something any geocacher can do, not every geocacher must create/hide caches. In fact, Gabe recommends that you complete at least 100 finds before making a placement. There are a number of rules about placement – for example, no cache may be placed on school grounds or underground and property permissions must be obtained. Also, the placement needs to be cleverly devised so that, hopefully, only geocachers will find the “treasure.”
If you need help, all you have to do is to show up at one of the Geocaching events offered, and Gabe or one of his fellow geocachers can help you learn the ropes, whether you want to add a little interest to your walking or delve into the hobby hard-core.
When asked about a memorable find, Gabe said: “I remember cache #1300 vividly. I found it over 10 years ago and I laugh at the cache description describing it as an “easy walk in the woods.” After hanging out at the Disney Aulani Resort, we set out early one morning to find the oldest geocache in Hawaii.”
“My four-year-old daughter’s shoes got sucked into the mud so I tied the bag I was using for trackables* around my waist with her shoes in it and carried her halfway to the cache and then all of the way back. It was quite the adventure!”
*physical game pieces that may move from one geocache to another.
Contact Gabe at: southwestwa.wsga@gmail.com
Washington State Geocaching Association, Supporting geocachers and geocaching across the State of Washington since 2002.
Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. If you’d like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.
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*What a lovely article! I had heard tell about this hobby but now I feel like I know enough about it — and would like — to give it a try! Thank you. Great job, Shirley Stirling!
Saturday, August 26, 2023 Report this
griffithga
Thank you Shirley for another great article. It is great to learn more about Geocaching and the work of Gabe to advance understanding and appreciation for this fascinating educational hobby. I really appreciate how this activity linkshistory, environmental protection, and fun.
Monday, August 28, 2023 Report this
pbaron1902
A great source for getting kids outdoors and making them aware of the joys of nature! Too, they're learning a new skill and the thrill using it to make the finds! Thanks...
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 Report this