Unexpected Treasures: A Family’s Message to our Geocaching Program

When Water Rocks! team member Nathan Stevenson checks his email inbox, he’s never sure what he’s going to find.

Stevenson is, among other things, the Water Rocks! geocaching coordinator. “When people log their visits after finding a geocache I receive an email of that log. It’s a like a digital journal of that experience,” says Stevenson. “I usually check on Monday morning because most of the geocaching finds happen over the weekend. I get messages every week. Sometimes I’ll have two, sometimes I’ll have twenty. But this one stands out.”

The message read: “My daughter’s first find. I’ve never seen her light up so much since we lost their Dad. It’s official, we’re hooked!”

“On a personal level, it really struck a chord – feeling like this work made a difference in a family’s life. Even if it was a very small thing, it felt like it really mattered to them.”

It’s not unusual for Stevenson to respond to requests for maintenance or reports of missing caches. This time, however, Stevenson simply wrote to express his thanks.

“Basically I just said, I receive a lot of feedback, but this was special. Even if it was just three sentences it carried a lot of weight. It moved me.”

More than anything, Stevenson was touched by the optimism in the message. “This is a family that has obviously been through something tough. Geocaching gave them a memorable, unique experience that they could share together. I’m proud to be a part of that.”

To Stevenson, it reinforced the importance of the geocaching program. “The goal was always to get people out in nature and to bring families together.”

Go ahead and get your family out in nature! You never know what treasures you will find.

The Water Rocks! geocaching program ended in June 2018.