The Olympic Geocacher

Dee Wright Observatory on the Eugene, Cascades, Coast GeoTour (geocache nearby)
Dee Wright Observatory on the Eugene, Cascades, Coast GeoTour (geocache nearby)

Traits like stamina, speed and a competitive spirit transform average geocachers into superstars. For one geocacher, those same traits made him pretty darn good at something else, being an Olympic runner. Ian Dobson qualified and ran as a U.S. Olympian in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

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Ian Dobson - Olympian, Geocacher
Ian Dobson – Olympian, Geocacher

Now imagine a stretch of freshly published geocaches dotting the rugged landscape of the Central Oregon. There are more than 30 geocaches hiding from the dark summit of a volcanic mountain to the lush green of fern covered gorges. This is no geocaching power trail. Each geocache is part of the custom Eugene Cascades and Coast GeoTour. And each geocache delivers adventures to a unique location, often deep into the tall evergreens.

Ian Dobson trains in Eugene. It’s a runner’s paradise with the hallowed echoes of Olympic legends in each footstep. And thanks to the expanding GeoTour it’s a geocacher’s paradise too.

But what to do though if you’re an Olympic runner and a geocacher? How about finish the first leg of the Eugene, Cascades and Coast GeoTour in just two days? Sure.

That’s exactly what Ian and a team of geocachers did. Ian says the GeoTour was a great chance to explore, “I don’t think there’s anyone who lives here, whose been to all those places.”

The team logged more than 30 geocaches from the McKenzie spoke of the GeoTour in two days. Ian says that geocaching offers a good variety of locations and terrains, and the Eugene Cascades and Coast GeoTour offers not just mountains, but also beaches. The team headed to the Oregon coast and the Florence leg of the tour and kept up their pace. They finished that part of the GeoTour in just one day.  The final geocaches were found in the dark, as the team finished at 10pm.

Do you see the puzzle piece Ian is holding in the picture? If geocachers accumulate enough find codes from each leg of the GeoTour they earn the free trackable puzzle pieces. The team will likely be busy again. Another spoke of the GeoTour, through rolling country south of Eugene.

As we have established: you are a superstar too. Do you plan to challenge yourself with a GeoTour, or do you have a geocaching workout routine? Let us know in the comments below!

Near the "Blue Pool" on the McKenzie spoke of the Eugene, Cascades and Coast GeoTour
Near the “Blue Pool” on the McKenzie spoke of the Eugene, Cascades and Coast GeoTour