Geocaching is a game in which coordinates are used in order to discover hidden objects. A geocache is a hidden container holding any number of trinkets. Sometimes, there is a  sheet attached to the geocache made to record the number of people who have visited the geocache. Geocaching is not limited to certain people; anyone can enjoy it. A well-known website for geocaching is Geocaching.com. There are also apps associated with geocaching to make one’s experience easier. Some may know that Mr. Yochum enjoys geocaching and has been geocaching for five years. It may surprise many to hear that there are over two billion geocaches in the world; two thousand just in New York State. However, Mr. Yochum has been to over six countries and ten states. Some areas he has visited include Montreal, Italy, London, California, and Alabama.

When discovering the hobby of geocaching, Mr. Yochum was hiking in the woods. He stumbled upon a geocache and thought that it was pretty interesting. Since that day, he has enjoyed traveling to find additional geocaches. He even brings his nephew geocaching every once in awhile. Mr. Yochum says his love for geocaching came easily because of his frequent traveling. In fact, Mr. Yochum says that his favorite part of geocaching is discovering new areas. Anyone could participate in geocaching by following a few simple steps. First, the person must get a membership and visit a geocaching website. From there, the person enters their postal code and chooses from the list of coordinates given.  

There really is no limit to the amount or variability of objects that someone can find while geocaching. Mr. Yochum has stumbled upon statues, abandoned farm equipment such as old plows, sculptures, and less-known trees like sycamores, mangroves, and banyan trees, to name a few. These odd materials inspired me to ask what the most valuable object he has come across was. To my surprise, he said a 1972 Stingray, which, is very rare to find. This is because the make of a Stingray was incredibly limited in that year. “It is both an adventure and a mystery every time,” he says. Another teacher who has geocached is Mr. Hazelton. He has been geocaching in Belfast and Houghton several times.

Mr. Yochum has even gone as far as hiding his own geocaches. He hid one in Angelica and later went back to discover that it had been found. Geocaching sounds like a very unique experience and is worthy of trying sometime in the future.