Geocachers near and far traveled to Johnstown today for the unveiling of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Geotrail. Local geocacher Linda Gray’s husband came up with the idea of the Geotrail for Johnstown, but what is geocacheing exactly?
Gray said, “It is a scavenger hunt that uses GPS technology and it just highlights fun parts of areas that you maybe didn’t know existed.”
This scavenger hunt takes people across state lines and even across countries. Linda traveled to the island of Nevis to geocache. Her and her husband have been doing this since 2002.
Ron Cain, a West Virginia native, made the trip to Johnstown looking to add to his collectibles. That journey starts today. Cain said, “Today is going to be find almost all the caches, check into the motel again, and hope to collect my coin tomorrow.”
The coin is the prize of this new Geotrail. Featuring the Stone Bridge and Incline Plain, the coin is awarded to those who fill their Geotrail passports.
Nicole Waligora, the Sports and Travel Program Coordinator, said, “If you find 30 geocaches on the Geotrail, you can go to the visitor’s bureau or mail the passport to the visitor’s bureau and we will give you one of our custom coins.”
So will this bring geocachers to Johnstown?
Waligora said, “They (geocachers) will travel to different areas. They are adventure seekers and they are looking to try new things and see new places. So we are definitely marketing this to tourists and people of our community.”
The geocachers left with a bag that includes their new passport to take them on an adventure in Johnstown.
More information is available on the visit Johnstown website.