Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Monday, December 11, 2006
Geocaching Winonans take out the garbage
 Brett Cargel, organizer of Winona's first 'Cache In, Trash Out' event, puts a fire extinguisher he found on Latsch Island in his garbage bag Sunday. Geocachers went out with their GPS devices to search for caches and pick up litter around Winona. (Photo by Andrew Link of the Winona Daily News) |
Try to leave a place better than you found it. That was the philosophy of geocachers Sunday at Winona’s first “Cache In Trash Out” event.
Geocaching is kind of like a 21st century scavenger hunt, said CITO organizer Brett Cargal. People plant objects in various locations around the world, publish the latitude and longitude coordinates on www.geo
caching.com and use global positioning system devices to find the caches.
Armed with global positioning devices, a few coordinates with clues and garbage bags, the geocachers looked for trash and treasure. Cargal had strategically planted caches in areas of Winona that were especially in need of being picked up, like Sugar Loaf, Garvin Heights, Latsch Island, Lake Park and Prairie Island.
Cargal hopes to make CITO an annual event, although he may try a warmer month than December next time. Fortunately, the temperature was in the 40s on Sunday, making it a very good day for a trash/treasure hunt.
The caches are often placed in plastic containers and have a log book for the finder. If you want to take something from the box, Cargal says, you’re supposed to put something back in.
Then, you can go online and report your find. To date, Cargal has logged 600 finds, his first being along the Root River Bike Trail between Lanesboro and Whalan, Minn.
“It gives you a reason to get out and get some exercise as well as find prizes,” Cargal said.
Cargal, who lives in Rushford, Minn., has been geocaching since April of 2005. He says GPS devices range in price from $70 to $600.
Robin Engler of Independence, Wis., has been a geocacher for a little more than a year. She’s already upgraded her GPS device and had more than 940 finds. Her hunts have brought her to California and Tennessee.
“It’s great because you get to meet a lot of new people,” Engler said. “You also see a lot of things you wouldn’t normally see.”
A lot of times, you see garbage. Engler says she’ll often see garbage strewn at parks less than 10 feet from a garbage can. Picking up here and there can make a huge difference, Engler said.
“The nice thing is it gives you some time for peace and quiet. Life’s not so hectic. You can just walk through the woods, listen to the birds and enjoy nature,” Engler said.
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or 453-3523.
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