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Explorer

Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

Geocachers have their own terminology when it comes to playing their game. Here are a few that you will need to know before you begin cache hunting.

GPS
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a system of satellites that work with a GPS receiver to determine any location on the planet.

Latitude
It is the angular distance North or South from the earth's equator measured through 90 degrees.

Longitude
It is the angular distance measured on a great circle of reference from the intersection of the adopted zero meridian with this reference circle to the similar intersection of the meridian passing through the object.

Waypoint
Latitude and longitude together create a waypoint. These points are named coordinates representing points on the surface of the planet.

Datum
In the world of GPS, datums are calculations used for determining longitude and latitude for a specific location. Currently, geocaching uses the WGS84 datum for all caches.

WGS84
Stands for World Geodetic System of 1984, it is the most current datum used for GPS. Geocaching uses this system by default.

NAD27
Stands for North American Datum 1927. It is the system used prior to WDS84, however, many maps still use the NAD27, so always check before combining a GPS unit with a map.

Cache
It is a hidden container and its items include a logbook, pencil/pen and smaller trinkets to reward the geocacher for their hard work.

FTF
First to Find. A term used in logbooks and online forums for the first person to locate a new cache.

CITO
Cache In, Trash Out. Refers to respecting the environment, and cleaning up any garbage you may find during geocaching adventure.

TNLN
Took Nothing, Left Nothing. Another geocaching logbook term for players of the game who didn't take a trinket from the cache - and didn't leave one.

TNLNSL
Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Logbook.

Spoiler
It is information regarding details of a cache, such as its location. It ruins the experience of the geocacher.

Hitchhiker or travel bug
It is an item that is placed in a cache, and has instructions to travel to other caches. It may have a logbook attached to it to track its travels.

Geomuggle
A term for a non-geocacher based on non-magical people or "muggles," from the Harry Potter series.