It’s a novel Father’s Day idea if your family enjoys the remote outdoors. Give him a Wilderness Time Capsule, and then chart a memorable trek into the wilderness where you and your family can leave the camouflaged time capsule to be opened years into the future. This gift to Dad will one day be retrieved by the kids who helped him plan and celebrate The Great Father’s Day Family Project.
This concept is based on a sport called Geocapsuling, which is fully explained in the pages of our website. It has markings of the higher profile Geocaching activity, but it differs in a few distinct ways. The caches for Geocapsuling are prepared for just one or more family members, not groups of recurring public visitors, as in Geocaching. They are left in an environmentally camouflaged housing, not exposed in the plastic Tupperware containers that are typical for Geocaching. And unlike Geocaching, these personal time capsules provide a dual family connection for both those who leave the cache and those who retrieve it.
Two elements comprise the Geocapsule cache: a small stainless steel time capsule and a separate polyurethane housing, which is a replica of an actual rock or log. The realistic replicas are virtually indiscernible from any other natural feature, even on close inspection. This is the key to a successfully placed Geocapsule.
Geocapsuling is a family oriented event. So while this may be a celebration with Dad, it is also an opportunity for both parents to leave a small generational gift to the children. An incentive for your own kids to repeat an experience that will remain with them years into the future.
A time capsule adventure has all the elements of a GPS based wilderness treasure hunt. And the fun is shared twice: first by those who plan it, and then by older kids when they revisit the treasure-trove.
Protecting capsule contents for an extended stay and choosing a remote and legal drop-site are two important factors to consider.
What do you include inside your own time capsule? Well, the sturdy stainless containers are slightly larger than a soft drink can, but you will find room for private notes, a few photos, a personal item or two. The kids might even insert their own handwritten greetings to themselves…for later reading. And Dad could slip in a personal gift, keepsake or remembrance for unveiling later.
In future years, the opportunity to return to the site of a deep woods family adventure could be a priceless event. But that adventure need not extend over decades. Short months can also separate the visits.
Like Geocaching, the Geocapsuling episode leaves something behind. Would it be “littering”, as some have claimed? That may be a hard sell to hundreds of thousands of current and responsible Geocaching devotees around the world. And because Geocapsuling incorporates so many alluring elements of a wilderness treasure hunt, the camouflaged gems left during an earlier adventure are not likely to be abandoned or forgotten by any intended recipient. Still, you should read the information about Retrieval Folders.
As with Geocaching, some public lands are off limits to Geocapsuling. Our Time In A Capsule website provides help in identifying both public and private land alternatives where this adventure can take place.