Discovery hosts geocaching event

Posted 2 years ago

TONY WHITE

For The Petrolia Topic

More than 140 geocachers braved cool fall weather recently and descended on The Petrolia Discovery for the fourth annual discover Petrolia geocaching event.

Hosted by The Petrolia Discovery on Oct. 24 and organized by geocachers Tony White and Anita Nason, the event attracted geocachers from across Ontario and Michigan and from as far as Indiana and Kentucky — ranging in age from five to 75.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers — called geocaches — outdoors, and then share experiences online at www.geocaching.com.

More than 900,000 caches are currently hidden worldwide with more than 16,000 in Ontario and hundreds in Lambton County — many of which are in the Petrolia area.

New caches for the event were located throughout Petrolia, making this an opportunity to showcase our parks and community.

Returning back to the Discovery from hunting the caches, stories were shared of our history, geocaching experiences were related and new friendships formed.

Feedback from participants was extremely positive. Everyone appreciated the opportunity to explore the area and enjoyed learning the Petrolia history that many of the newly placed caches exposed them to.

Each year attendance has grown significantly for this event as the sport continues to gain popularity and word gets around about all the fun and enjoyment that can be experienced at The Petrolia Discovery event.