The Geocaching Blog

Signal and snow at Groundspeak HQ in Washington State

The change of seasons is serious a game-changer for geocachers.  The Northern Hemisphere is settling into longer nights and colder days. Winter’s cold blast of wind and snow alters the outside world that is the geocaching playing field.

New obstacles and challenges are added.  But snow drifts and chilly weather are no reason to put the treasure-hunting adventure of geocaching on hiatus until the spring thaw.

Here are a few tips, compiled from winter geocachers around the world via the official Geocaching.com Facebook page, on how you can make geocaching a year-round activity.

Advice for those seeking geocaches:

- Safety First: Go geocaching in groups of two or more. Tell a friend where     you’re going and when you plan on returning.
- Don’t forget extra batteries for your GPS device. Cold weather causes batteries to drain faster than warm weather.
- Bring a pencil.  Pens often freeze in winter, making signing a geocaching log impossible.
- Be prepared as the affects of winter weather may increase the difficulty and terrain rating of a geocache.
- Geocache containers may be frozen shut. Warm the container with hand-warmers or a car heater to open.
- Don’t be a spoiler.  Be careful of your tracks do not lead other geocachers straight to the cache or arouse curiosity among muggles.

Winter geocaching

Advice for those hiding geocaches:

- Hide your geocache above the snow level.
- Use water tight geocache containers to keep the logbook and the contents of the geocache dry.
- Be extra vigilant about maintaining your geocache through winter.

With the right preparation, the adventure of geocaching lasts all year.  Be safe and think ahead and you’ll enjoy treasure-hunting in the winter months.

What’s your advice for winter geocaching?