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MetroParks outdoor recreation festival offers know-how

Photos: Gearfest in Dayton

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By Terry Morris, Staff Writer Updated 9:23 PM Thursday, September 30, 2010

DAYTON — Interested in outdoor recreation, but unsure where or how to begin?

Get thee to Eastwood MetroPark today and Saturday for the sixth annual GearFest, presented by Subaru.

The Five Rivers MetroParks showcase and demonstration will include backpacking, camping, climbing, cycling, disc golf, fly fishing, geocaching, mountain biking, orienteering, paddling and skating.

For the third year in row, there will even be snow. Mad River Mountain ski resort is transporting it in for snowboarding demos and a competition.

An event called GearFest suggests that proper gear is required to take up one or more of these activities as a hobby or obsession.

Will that consume your wallet the way a grizzly bear would inhale a bag of Cheetos left at a campsite?

Not necessarily, according MetroParks staff members who have worked up some estimates. Depending on the activity, it will cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred.

You can’t kayak or canoe without a boat ($350 to $1,000 to own one), for example, but all you need for orienteering is a compass (about $8) and maps ($10).

How about geocaching?

Alan and Rebecca Boyd of Cedarville, who will be working the Miami Valley Geocachers’ booth, said the initial expense is for a handheld GPS unit ($100 to $400).

Geocaching is “basically an outdoor high-tech treasure hunt using global positioning satellites, a hand-held GPS and your computer. You enter latitude and longitude coordinates from the computer into your GPS and search for a hidden container,” Alan said.

More than 1 million geocaches, ranging in size from a pencil eraser to a trash can, are stashed around the planet.

“It gets us outside as a family and may show us something or an area we have never seen. Geocachers come from all walks of life and all age groups,” he said.

Andrew Schlegel, store manager of Great Miami Outfitters in Miamisburg, which will also be among the 60 exhibitors, said GearFest is placing new emphasis on participation.

“In the past, someone who expressed interest in trying an activity might have left without knowing where to go next. People will be able to try a lot of things on site.”

Things to do will also include three group bike rides, a climbing wall and a Youth Adventure Zone (6 to 8 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday).

Things to see will include MBS mountain boarding, slacklining, BMX and tree-climbing demonstrations.

Competitions will be a 5K run, a “Hunt for Shred October” snowboarding event, “Rock the Clock” speed-climbing and a cross-country biking race at MoMBA, located at Huffman Reserve.

Schlegel said GearFest can add momentum to the Mad, Stillwater and Great Miami rivers being designated state scenic streams earlier this year.

Anslinger said the event will also demonstrate why the Miami Valley is laying claim to being the “Outdoor Adventure Capital of the Midwest.”

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