The weather is getting milder, the days are getting longer. Now it is the time you get back more desire for outdoor activities such as hiking or climbing – or just on geocaching, modern treasure hunt. A very special treasure is located in Salzburg…
Photo Source: WoGi – Fotolia.com
Geocaching can be described as treasure hunt in a modern way. In this case, the community plays an important role. One geocacher hides a treasure (=cache) and provides geographic data co-ordinates of the hidden treasure on the central website www.geocaching.com. Afterwards many other geocachers try to find the treasure with GPS trackers.
However, it is not about to plunder these treasures but to find exciting or hidden places and to leave some note in the log book that is placed in each watertight cache. The cache is then stowed away in the same hiding place again for the next treasure hunters.
Already many have discovered and fallen in love with this new sport which is connected to thrill and the world community of “Geocachers” is growing. The hides are rated with a difficulty and environment, so that the treasure hunter can prepare for it.
The beginnings of this hobby were already in the 19th century by the so-called letterboxing, for which also boxes were hidden in nature. But when the navigation was digitized in the around the turn of the millennium, the treasure hunts began on modern electronic means. On the third of May 2000, the first official geocache was introduced near the city of Portland in the US state of Oregon. Thereupon, the number of caches grew to approximately 2.55 million active ones worldwide.
But one of these is quite special to us. It is located in Salzburg, Austria, and has an extraordinary hiding place. It is located in the Old Market in Salzburg’s old town and is listed under monumental protection: An old Lufft weather station from 1888 that still measures temperature, humidity and air pressure. According to the GeoCaching Journal, this hiding place is the one which is visited the most often in Salzburg and has existed since 2008. The name of the cache “424.250” refers to the height in meters above the Adriatic Sea.
I think this is a very nice and beautiful old weather station, which seems to be indestructible. This cache is worth visiting also in order to see the old weather station. But Salzburg itself is of course always worth a visit as well. In case you were gripped by the hunting fever as well, I recommend you go and look over the Old Market of Salzburg!
Further information on Geocaching and the nostalgic Lufft Weather Station.
