Reid’s Personalized Nut Jumble (Note: Clearly snacks do not belong in geocaches unless you’re actually using them as Tupperware.) 

Geocachers are always prepared. GPS? Check. Pen? Check. But wait! What should you bring to combat the growling stomach that inevitably follows a finding frenzy on the geocaching trail? To answer this most important of questions, we decided to ask our fellow geocachers here at Geocaching HQ for their top remedies for an empty belly. Here are their top tricks and tips for a great geocaching adventure!

Tip #1: Avoid getting ‘hangry’ (hungry + angry)

Family and friends can take the geocaching fun-o-meter to a whole new level, but hungry people can sometimes be cranky people. Geocaching videographer Reid Kuennen (Username: reidsomething) advises always keeping snacks on hand. She says, “One thing you should know about me before we go geocaching together is that I have a tendency to get hangry (hungry + angry) if I don’t bring snacks. Over the years I’ve learned never to navigate too far from home without my trusty bag of trail mix.”

Geoacching HQ User Experience lead Nick Botner (Username: Whiskey Bones) suggests a similar tactic to maximize your find potential and reduce the need to exhaust your carefully honed geosense scrounging for food in the forest. “If you’re going out into the wild, make sure you bring a little more than you might need. I know I can tend to get a little carried away with the whole ‘just one more cache’ so it’s nice to have the extra food and more importantly water to enable me to enjoy my time out there and not be reduced to eating the surrounding vegetation.”

Tip #2: Stay hydrated

Nick in his must-find-one-more-geocache mode. Good thing he’s prepared with apples and beef jerky!

Staying hydrated is key to keeping in tip-top geocaching shape. While drinking water is great (we highly recommend it!), there are other ways to keep hydrated as well. Nick likes to eat apples while out on the trail: “This not only stops the hunger but also helps hydrate me. Plus, the natural sugar gives me a little pick me up.” Power geocaching couple Jayme (Geocaching Community Manager) and Ben Hewitt (benandjayme) always make sure to have a good day pack with a hydration reservoir. “Sometimes we even add lemonade powder to one of our water bladders.”

Packing in snacks is useless if nature gets to them first! Nick says, “It’s not often I go into bear country. But when I make my way into the swamps I make sure I bring a backpack that has a compartment on the top so in case I get too deep. Food and electronics can stay dry in their respective compartments.” Reid also reminds us that weather can be important when packing and snacking: “I recommend sealable plastic bags or light-weight Tupperware, both can be washed and used many times! You probably already know this, but chocolate melts, and it’s something to think about on hot days.”

Tip #3: Cache in, Trash out

Anything that you pack in should also be packed out (unless it’s in your belly of course!). Jayme and Ben warn that this is often easier said than done and can sometimes require a bit of hunting: “After we are done eating we always check the area to make sure we’ve gathered any rogue baggies that the wind has picked up.”

Tip #4: DIY Snacks with Reid

Personalized Nut Jumble:

Reid hunting for the perfect trail mix ingredients.

• Roasted almonds (a little salty)
• Roasted cashews (also salty)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Dried cranberries (preferably not sweetened… nature has sweetened them plenty)
• Dark chocolate chunks 

How to: The fun thing is that you get to put whatever you like in it! Above are some of my favorite ingredients.

Surprise Dates:

• Dates
• Chocolate
• Almonds

How to: Putting these together is simple and sticky – pit the dates & shove (gently) an almond and hunk of chocolate inside.

Now it’s your turn! What are your favorite snacks to bring out on the geocaching trail? Tell us about them in comments below!

Sometimes a find leads to this

Let’s set the scene. You’ve heard a few friends talk about this thing called “geocaching” and you fancy you might be pretty good at it. After all, you are fairly certain that your uncanny ability to locate lost car keys must mean that you have pirate’s blood coursing through your veins.

With your handy-dandy smart phone in hand, you set off to find the nearest geocache. According to your GPS you are right on top of it – but wait! Where’s the X marks the spot? You search high and low. You are on the verge of giving up when you spot a rock that doesn’t quite look like a rock….and yes, you’ve found it!

Finding a geocache feels kind of like this!

Now rewind the clock to a time long, long ago – a time without smartphones, Facebook, or (gasp!) geocaching. Thirteen years ago today Mike Teague became the first person to find the first geocache (at the time called a “stash”). It’s an adventure shrouded in lore. The word “geocaching” hadn’t even been invented yet. You can read much more about Mike Teague and the history of geocaching here. But the sense of wonder the first geocacher felt, is the same sense of wonder that now ripples through six million more geocachers. Are you one of them?

Share the story of your first geocaching find below in comments!