i know helena

Over Spring Break of this year, my boys and I discovered a new passion – Geocaching.  “Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.” –Geocaching.com

Since March, the boys and I have geocached all over Montana, parts of Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Utah. 

 Before geocaching, when I would tell the boys on a Saturday afternoon, we’re going on a hike.  I would get mixed responses, but now I tell them we’re going on a geocache and they get all excited to go on a treasure hunt.  They argue about who gets hold the smart phone and seriously discuss which trade items they want to take and what to leave behind in a cache. 

Since beginning our geocaching adventures, I can honestly say that I’ve discovered a whole new Montana and for that matter a whole new Helena – I paid attention to the police memorial at the Capitol Complex, I took a serious look at the outside of the St. Helena Cathedral and I discovered this brick structure downtown that I’m sure I walked by a couple hundred times of the years, but never really “saw.”    

If you’re interested in geocaching, check out www.geocaching.com.  Plug in your zip code (Helena’s is 59601 if you’re interested in caching here) and you’ll get a list of all the geocaches in the area.  There are about 1.5 million geocaches world-wide.