MATLAB Geocache - Another Chance To Snag Some Bling
10 Mar 2009 Rob Slazas 5 comments 293 views
I recently participated in a geocache find that Sam and Loren at the MathWorks organized. Although I didn’t have to do anything too challenging to find it (as shown below), it still turned out to be an enjoyable little diversion. So I took the liberty of extending the fun.

The Bounty has been Relocated . . . in Denver!
With the help of my good friends Pete and Heather, the goods have been re-cached here. If you’re in the Denver area, go get yourself a cool Mathworks laser pointer / flashlight. Once you have secured the prize, post your findings back here. Remember to take some pictures of your find and to send them through the contact form, I’ll be sure to post your pictures!

A Hint for the Treasure Hunters
Besides the geohash link above, here’s a little hint on the hiding spot:
“It’s parked down low, like Fred Flintstone’s car.”
Yabba Dabba Doo! Happy Hunting!
5 Responses to “MATLAB Geocache - Another Chance To Snag Some Bling”
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I may just fly out to Denver to find this thing.
The loots have been found!
I was thinking of telling you “NO WAY Quan!” but I didn’t want others to think I might be onto it. I snagged the light/laser around 10:30am 3/14/09. I will post my experience soon, but didn’t want Quan to waste a plane ticket out to an empty hole.
Thanks for the cache Rob!
So I, like others it seems, had never heard of geocaching before seeing posts on it recently. I looked into some of geocaching websites and thought that it is a great way to combine out-door hiking with a fun technological aspect.
I tried to find some areas in Colorado where it might be popular, but nothing major came up. But when I saw Rob’s post, I knew I had to go find it. And being the competitive person I am, I thought about going to find it the day of Rob’s post (Tuesday). I realized that throwing elbows to be the first there might not /quite/ be in the spirit of the hunt, so I decided to wait for the weekend and invite a friend. I didn’t think I had a cool GPS device (as seen in the movies) so I started to figure out how to do it via google maps. It then hit me that I had recently gotten a Garmin Nuvi last year for my car, which might be capable of such a daunting feat. Upon inspection of the ‘Nuvi’ I found a lat/lon coordinate entry screen. While I could put in the precision of the given coordinates, I still had no idea how long it would take.
Saturday comes, and I get up around 8am (sleeping in for me these days) and meet my friend at the park nearby the coordinates. I allotted a couple hours for the hunt, but I warned my friend (who was just as new) that it could take 5min or over an hour, since I had no idea.
Thankfully, there weren’t too many people out and about that early on a saturday to give me looks, but I did feel a little awkward lifting up rocks in random places. The cache was in a hole of a rock slab structure. Not too hard to find, but you definitely wouldn’t see it if you weren’t looking for it. I think the whole hunt took ~20minutes (most of the time spent figuring out which way moved the coordinates in the right direction). A very rewarding find!
Although I’ve always wanted a laser pointer (Skymall addiction) and always wanted something from mathworks, I will most definitely relocate the cache when I go on my next trip. Good luck to the next hunter!
-Zane
Nice summary Zane, I suggest you try sending it to North Dakota!
Is there someone/something in ND Quan? Or are you just evil in trying have the laser lost in the woods of Fargo?