A prize at the top

In 2004 I learned about the "fastest growing sport no one's ever heard of" from my Dad.  He likes his hobbies and his newest hobby at the time was geocaching.  This hobby, as they like to say, is comprised of using multi-billion dollar satellite technology to find tupperware in the woods.  After I moved to Seattle and started going on hiking adventures on my own, I decided that maybe I should have one of these hand-held GPS receivers with me just in case I ever got lost in the woods.  Before Seattle I was used to hiking in the foothills of Boise where you can see for miles and it's nearly impossible to get lost.  After my dad got me a Garmin Legend for my birthday I decided I might as well get myself a geocaching account and find some caches while I was out hiking.  

Geocaching has taken me some incredible places and acted as the best tour guide possible for both the city in which I live as well as any others I ever visit.  I've met some wonderful people through the sport and had some really great experiences including my hike up to Camp Muir last summer because of it.  

Why do I bring up this hobby you ask?  Well of course there's a geocache on the top of Mount Rainier!  While physical caches (the tupperware or often old ammo cans) are not allowed in National Parks, that doesn't stop geocachers from listing Earthcaches on the website.  Earthcaches are placed for their educational value in accordance with the Geological Society of America.  So while I won't be finding a container where I can trade trackable items, swag or sign a log book, I can use the opportunity to learn something new about Mount Rainier and its geological features.  The cache I will be finding is the Rainier Summit Earthcache.  As the cache listing says, finding it will help me discover the present thermal activity in the summit crater.  To get credit for finding this cache I'll have to describe what the rocks and mud feel like in an email to the owner.  Of course I'll be taking pictures to show that I've stood in the very spot where the coordinates tell me to go!

As if getting to the top of Rainier won't be cool enough, this will easily be the coolest cache I may ever log.