Introduction to Geocaching Hike along the Sunset Hills Trail in Thousand Oaks

Hike Statistics: We'll hike 4.6 miles with about 950 cumulative feet of climbing. This hike is expected to take 4 to 5 hours.

Geocaching has been described as a sport that makes use of billions of dollars of high-tech government equipment to find plastic containers hidden in the bushes. And hidden next to streets, and in your neighborhood. There are hundreds of geocaches hiStatistics: We'll hike 4.6 miles with about 950 cumulative feet of climbing. This hike is expected to take 4 to 5 hours.dden in the Conejo Valley, and perhaps over a thousand!

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This hike is for anyone who is curious about the sport of geocaching and would like to try it out. Along the way, we'll stop every so often to search for hidden (geo)caches. We'll hike at a moderate pace, but the duration of the hike will be long for the distance because of the caching stops. There will be lots of chances for rest and taking pictures.

The Sunset Hills Trail follows the ridgeline between Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. The views are fantastic: to the south is the Sunset Hills community, Thousand Oaks, with the Santa Monica Mountains in the distance. To the north, we'll overlook Bard Reservoir in Wood Ranch, with the Santa Susanna Mountain forming the horizon. Approximately half of the trail traverses grassland, with the rest going through chaparral. Being a ridgeline trail, it is hilly in places.

We'll return along the street so we can explore a completely different kind of geocaching, called roadside caching. The way caches are hidden can be completely different here compared to beside a trail.

Geocaching: Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt that uses billions of dollars worth of orbiting satellites to get us within a few feet of a hidden container. From there, it's up to the geocacher to find the container, sign it's log sheet and perhaps exchange some swag. We will pass about 23 geocaches (http://www.geocaching.com/) along the way. If you sign up at www.geocaching.com (http://www.geocaching.com/) beforehand (it's free) you can log the caches we find. A GPS (Global Positioning System) device isn't required for this hike, but if you plan to bring one along, details on how to get the cache coordinates will be available below. And if you would like to trade some small items of swag with those in the cache, bring them along. They shouldn't be any larger than about the size of a deck of cards, and not worth more than about a dollar.

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Directions: From the 101, turn north on 23 towards Simi Valley. After 4.1 miles, take the Sunset Hills exit and turn east. Drive 1 mile and turn into the parking area on the right, just before the guard gate.

Map: http://tinyurl.com/yzabgb9

Cache Coordinates: A file containing the coordinates and descriptions of geocaches we'll visit is called a 'pocket query.' The pocket query for this hike is not ready yet, but it will be available at least a few days before the hike. You will receive an email when it is ready, with instructions on how to retrieve it.