Geocaching Mega Event Underway in the Lakeland

The Lakeland Geocachers’ Mega Event, Westcan6: Sails, Rails & Tails is underway and will welcome 500 or more people to the region to participate in what’s known as the World’s Largest Treasure Hunt. The event starts today at Fort George Buckingham House at 10:00 am and will stop at major Lakeland attractions throughout the week, leading up to Saturday’s Mega Event at the Energy Centre in Cold Lake says organizer, Vicky Lefebvre.

“Anybody can go to all the satellite events that are happening, they’re free and a lot are done outside, so anyone can enjoy it,” Lefebvre says the beauty of the geocaching community is, “a geocacher is always willing to talk about geocaching and share their knowledge.” Today’s satellite events will travel from Fort George Buckingham House to Elk Point’s Eco Centre to Glendon’s pyrogy where geocachers will get ingredients and a demo on how to make the delicious Ukrainian dumpling. “Anyone can find a geocaching friend and I’m sure they’ll take them around and help them,” assures Lefebvre.

On Thursday the satellite events will travel from the St. Paul Museum to the UFO landing pad, to the Bonnyville Rodeo grounds for a rodeo challenge, and end at Muriel Creek Ranch House. On Friday geocachers start at the new Cold Lake fire hall, then head to the Cold Lake Museum, and end the day at the Fish Hatchery where Mayor of Cold Lake Craig Copeland is expected to be on hand to greet the geocachers.

On Saturday the Energy Centre will be host to 500 or more geocachers from all over the world, says Lefebvre. “Everybody’s allowed to come in, free. There’s no charge for the Kids’ Zone or the market. It’s a great time to come and learn about Geocaching.” There will be beginner classes, Geocaching 101, to learn what it’s all about, as well there will be a class on how to make a cache, says Lefebvre. “They’ll be a class on how to make the most unique cache, there’s some pretty cool ones out there. We have instructors that will help you for when you do want to place a hide. They’ll give you the ins-and-outs of learning how to make it so your cache gets published and people get to enjoy it.”

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, anywhere in the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook (with a pen or pencil). The geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets, usually of more sentimental worth than financial. Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.

The Mega Event on Saturday will run from 11:00 – 4:00 at the Energy Centre, but there’s still fun to be had throughout the weekend. Sunday starts with a pancake breakfast at 7:00am, followed by Kayak and Canoe event. The water event is unique to the Geocaching world, as there’s not many events or caches on or under water. Then Monday the event wraps up with another visit to the Fish Hatchery.

For more information on the Mega Event, Westcan6: Sails, Rails & Tails, visit them online: sailsrailstails.com.