Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game that has gained popularity over the past few years and combines outdoor activities with GPS adventure. Geocachers seek hidden "treasures" using GPS coordinates posted on the Internet by those hiding the geocache. You then use a GPS to go and find the treasure, sign the log book, and possibly retrieve some small price and deposit a small prize in return.

Geocaching is a wonderful activity that combines high-tech with outdoor activity, and exposes you to new trails/places you might not have otherwise discovered. It may not sound like much of a challenge to find hidden treasure if you know the exact coordinates, but it's more challenging than one might assume.

Using the Colorado for Geocaching is a bit like using a cannon to kill a fly; with so many advanced features available, the biggest challenge is keeping all the options straight and figuring out how to use only the features you need.

Figure 24: Garmin's Communicator Plugin

Transferring Geocaches to a GPS can be a tedious, time consuming task. Thankfully, Garmin has developed a browser plugin that makes it possible to transfer Geocaches from geocaching.com directly on to the Colorado and other Garmin GPS units. It's not required to use the plugin, but it sure makes life easier. The plugin is available for Mac or PC, works in IE or Firefox, and can is a free download via Garmin's website.

Figure 25: Installing Garmin's Communicator Plugin

Installing the Communicator Plugin is easy and takes about a minute to complete. No reboot is required, although you do need to quit all running browser windows for the installer to work.

Figure 26: Download to GPS Icon

Once the plugin has been installed, connect the Colorado to the computer via the included USB cable, and Geocaches can be transferred to the Colorado by clicking on the "Transfer to GPS" icon, shown above.

Another advantage of using Garmin's plugin to upload geocaches to the Colorado is that all accompanying data is also transferred, including a detailed description of the cache, hints, and more, effectively making Geocaching a paperless activity since you no longer need to bring printouts of the geocache from geocaching.com.

Geocaches can also be manually entered into the Colorado, if desired.

Once the Geocaches have been transferred to the Colorado, they are accessed by selecting Shortcuts > Others > Geocaches(if you're in Geocaching mode, Geocaches also appears directly on the Shortcuts menu).

Figure 27: Geocache Page

After choosing a preferred geocache from the list of available caches, the Geocache Page appears, shown above. In my testing I found that most geocaches didn't transfer over to the Colorado with all the available information. For example, the Geocache shown above in figure 27 includes basic information like the cache name and coordinates, but some other caches include difficulty and terrain ratings, the cache size, and a detailed description of the cache.

I'm not sure if this is a bug with the pre-release version of the Colorado I tested, an issue with the browser plugin, an issue with the caches I tried to transfer, or a combination of issues.

Figure 28: Compass

When navigating to a destination, the Compass page guides you to your target with a graphic compass display using a red pointer, as shown above.

I had to calibrate the compass before the red arrow would appear. Calibration is simple and easy: the Colorado prompts you to turn clockwise slowly in two full circles until the compass is calibrated. Move too quickly and the Colorado instructs you to slow down. Once calibrated, the red arrow appeared on the compass screen and directed me towards the destination. The manual says you may need to re-calibrate the compass if the GPS is moved long distances or subjected to sudden temperature changes, or after the batteries have been changed.

The compass ring displays your heading and the pointer shows what direction you should be headed. Speed, distance to next turn, ETA, and remaining time are also displayed on this page.

Figure 29: Trip Computer

The trip computer is available is Automotive or Recreational mode, and displays various statistics regarding the current trip, such as current speed, average speed, maximum speed, trip odometer, and more.

The trip computer page can be customized and has the following settings available:

• Reset - Reset the trip data
• Big Numbers/Small Numbers - view fewer/more fields with larger or smaller numbers
• Change Data Fields - choose which data you want to display on this screen
• Restore Defaults - reset the data fields to the factory default settings