0001-E.T.

0001-E.T. (GC2ZK7J) is the first geocache of a legendary power trail in the American desert. But what exactly is that?

The geocaching guidelines require a minimum distance of 161 metres between two caches. Taking advantage of the vast desert expanses of the United States, geocachers turned that constraint into power trails: gigantic series of boxes lined up end to end at the minimum spacing, turning the game into a genuine endurance marathon designed to send find counts through the roof.

One of the most legendary trails of that kind runs through the Nevada desert, along the Extraterrestrial Highway, with some 2,400 caches. This arid, isolated environment demands rigorous logistical preparation, water and fuel reserves above all. Once there, the GPS sometimes becomes redundant: the tracks left in the sand by earlier players lead naturally to the caches. The local wildlife, snakes and free-roaming herds included, adds one more challenge to an already extreme setting.

To take on a challenge of that size, teams deploy formidable optimisation strategies. To save time, players use stamps or stickers to sign the logbooks in a continuous chain. Another common method is to keep passing the boxes from one stage to the next to speed up the pace. Solidarity, finally, is essential on these extreme trails: geocachers carry a stock of replacement containers (often film canisters) to keep missing caches maintained and preserve the power trail for those who follow. And that is precisely what 0001-E.T. is: a large container holding… replacement boxes!

So, tempted by the adventure?