What Do I Do If Someone Approaches Me While Geocaching?

Muggle Encounter!  Don’t panic.

Can you spot the Geocachers? (Answer below)
Click the image for a larger view

It’s OK to be Geocaching, so you don’t have anything to worry about, but, in this day and age it is important to not create suspicion in the public’s mind about your behavior or actions. Avoidance is the best solution.  If you can wait a few minutes for an area to clear, do so.  If you can’t search an area without throwing up red flags, then return to the cache at a better time (weekend, night, etc).

If you think the coast is clear and you are surprised by a curious passerby (Muggle) you need to be prepared to explain what you are doing.  How you handle it depends on what makes you feel comfortable.  There are a few schools of thought about this subject, so just go with your convictions.  (Please forgive the tongue-in-cheek tone of some of the paragraphs below)

  • Tell them you’re Geocaching –  It’s the honest approach and It gets more people in the
    Muggle encounter

    Sparkyiv and I were caching along a Texas highway.

    game!!  Show them your GPSr, smartphone, or printed out cache page.  If they seemed puzzled, tell them what Geocaching is (It’s a high-tech treasure hunt, electronic hide and seek, location based search game, etc.)  and soon they will be searching with you to find the cache!  ALWAYS use this method when talking to the police, sheriff, land owner, etc.

  • Come up with a “Cover Story” – If you feel that the Muggle’s (someone not playing the game) knowledge of what you are doing might place the cache in jeopardy, or want to keep your search private, prepare an “alternative reality” role.  Be creative.  The more outlandish and far-fetched the more they are likely to buy it.  Tell the Muggle you are a Waymarker and produce your GPSr as proof.  Show them the cache location and state that you are here to verify it’s coordinates.  You can also use your smartphone as a prop while pretending to take pictures of Ground Zero (where your device says you are 0 feet from the cache).  Some Geocachers use orange reflective vests to indicate an authority with their presence.  Add a clipboard and you are golden!  Use a cover story if the person is casual about asking what you’re doing.  Use your best judgement.  If your young impressionable children are present, you might choose a different approach to diffusing the situation.  NEVER use a “Cover Story” with law enforcement.  NEVER!  Always tell the truth when talking to those protecting and serving.

    Condor 1 (What a cool Geocaching name!)

  • Be vague.  This approach works well if you appear to be deep in thought.  Say something like “I”m searching for the Center of The Universe”.  (No really, there are  caches named Center of the Universe.  ex. GC9CDC).  If you quickly dismiss their curiosity, they will assume you have an important reason to be there.
  • Confuse them.  “Maam, I believe that your inquiry is in direct cohesion with that which has been facilitated.  Please move along.” Or “We are merely trying to dissect an apparent rift in the textile of our existence”.  They have no idea that you just reworded the commercial for the cotton industry (fabric of our lives).  Throw in something about the Flux Capacitor and they will just scratch their head and go back to texting while jaywalking.

Did you spot the Geocachers in the picture above?  It was a trick.  They were all Geocachers getting ready for a flash mob Geocaching event at the America The Beautiful Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  But did you notice Condor 1 blending in the back with his orange vest?

We prefer to tell people that we are Geocaching.  After all, if you tell them, they can relay your intentions to the next Muggle.  “Oh them,  they are just playing that game.  It’s perfectly harmless”.  They might not fully understand what it’s all about, but they will certainly remember hearing about it.  Now if I could just find my lost container of “unobtainium”…