Geocaching @ the Moss Rock Festival

We want to bring your attention to another outdoor game scheduled early next month in the Birmingham region:

This November 4 & 5, The City of Hoover, Ala. and the Freshwater Land Trust will jointly present the Moss Rock Festival at The Preserve, a classic American neighborhood. TechBirmingham and the Alabama Geocachers Association (AGA) have partnered with the Moss Rock Festival to organize a geocaching event.

In the age of GPS geo-location technology and online mapping and satellite imagery software like Google Earth, a new breed of outdoor enthusiast has emerged that take part in hiding and finding geocaches (hidden containers with a logbook and perhaps some toys to trade) around the globe. There are over 348,000 geocaches hidden all over the world and currently registered at a popular website, www.geocaching.com. All geocaches can be found by using a unique latitude & longitude intersection coordinate that is entered into GPS receivers. Anyone can participate in the fun. Whether it is introducing people to a beautiful view you want to share, some thing or place unique or historical, geocaching is all about sharing places and information. This new technology has brought people together from all backgrounds for the hunt…old and young, families and singles, from techies to hikers to businesspeople.

There will be four introductory sessions from 11am to 2pm, each beginning at the top of the hour. Participants will get a short presentation on the topics, (What is GPS?) (What is geocaching?). They will then head into the Preserve with a guide and a GPS, loaded with the coordinates for locating the various geocaches hidden there. Finding all of the geocaches will allow each participant to enter into special drawings, which will be held during both the morning and afternoon sessions.

There will be 4 sessions from 11am to 2pm, each beginning at the top of the hour. Participants will get a short instructional presentation, then head into the Preserve with a guide and the proper equipment, armed with the coordinates for locating the various caches hidden there. Finding all of the caches will allow each participant to enter into special drawings, which will be held during both the morning and afternoon sessions.

It is widely known & accepted that geocachers are not allowed to disturb the natural environment (i.e. digging is prohibited) during any geocache installation, which is why the festival is endorsing this new game. Geocachers ascribe to an ethic called Cache In Trash Out (CITO) which calls for them in organized group events and as individuals to collect and pack out trash found along the trails while geocaching. The AGA will conduct such an event Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon, when geocachers from all over the South will gather at the Preserve to clean along roadways and trails. There will also be a 24-hour Cache Dash competition to find the most geocaches from 1 p.m. Saturday till 1 p.m. Sunday. Anyone is welcome to join and play… it’s all free!

See http://tinyurl.com/juxrj for details.

On November 4 & 5, experience this new technology & game first hand at the inaugural Moss Rock Festival. With 18 geocaches permanently hidden within the 250 acre natural expanse adjacent to The Preserve neighborhood and festival site, what better way to explore this beautiful natural space? And it’s all FREE!

All visitors will PARK & RIDE to the festival. The FREE festival shuttle will run from the Hoover Met parking lot to The Preserve between 9:30am and 6:00pm. Directions to the Hoover Met: Take I-459 to Hoover/Bessemer exit 10. Go back under freeway. At 3rd light take a right onto Stadium Trace Parkway and follow signs to parking entrance – about 2 minutes. The stadium will be on your left.