Idaho = Press-Tribune

Hide and seek goes=20 High-tech

Geocaching: Modern-day treasure hunts lead geocachers all = over

By Stephen Lowman

Idaho Press-Tribune

BOISE - Mike Chapton's obsession began with an innocent = question=20 that stumped him while playing Trivial Pursuit.

What scavenger hunt for GPS users got its start when = Oregon's=20 David Ulmer hid the first container and posted coordinates = on the=20 Web?

The answer: geocaching.

A year after that fateful query was posed to Chapton, I = found=20 myself lying on the surprisingly clean cement floor of a = unisex park=20 bathroom Monday in Boise - I won't reveal the name of the = park so=20 not to spoil this fun experience for other geocachers. = Chapton,=20 along with fellow geocachers Ken Baisch and Rob Lytle, = waited=20 patiently outside while I finished my quest.

I was looking for a cache, pronounced like "cash." = Specifically,=20 a micro-cache that is hidden underneath this bathroom's sink = by use=20 of a magnet that is attached to the cache container - in = this case=20 an empty film canister - and the metal piping of the = sink.

Once located by blindly running my fingers across the = underside=20 of the basin, I opened the canister, noted its contents = (some=20 change), put the micro-cache back in its place and, my = mission=20 complete, promptly left the lavatory.

You can think of a cache like a camouflaged Easter egg, = blending=20 into or buried within the surrounding environment. They can = be found=20 inside logs, hanging by a string over a ledge, or they can = be an=20 everyday object like a pop can sitting in the grass.

There are hundreds of these hidden objects in the = Treasure Valley=20 that are walked by unnoticed everyday, and more than 2,000 = have been=20 placed throughout the state. Geocachers, then, are both like = the=20 parents who hide the Easter eggs and the kids who race to = find as=20 many as possible.

GPS units are often associated with hikers and hunters = wandering=20 in backcountry wilderness, but they are also essential to = geocachers=20 locating cache sites that can seem as difficult as finding = the=20 metaphorical needle in a haystack.

The individual who hides the cache places its coordinates = on the=20 Internet for others to download and begin their attempt to = find it.=20 It sounds easy: go to the coordinates and discover the = cache. But=20 getting there and then trying to find an item that is so = well=20 concealed that people can pass it without ever noticing it = is a far=20 more difficult task.

After Chapton incorrectly answered the Trivial Pursuit = question,=20 he researched the adventure game on the Internet and was = soon=20 addicted.

"As soon as new sites come out on the Web, I am out there = looking=20 for them," said Chapton. Finding all the caches placed in = Boise has=20 become an "obsession" for this retired National Guard = officer. He=20 has located 581 caches and hidden 24 for others to find.

Geocaching began in the spring of 2000 after the Clinton=20 administration removed a feature known as Selective = Availability=20 from GPS units, which scrambled the signal sent from = satellites and=20 often made the coordinates unreliable. Since then geocaching = has=20 quietly grown into a worldwide game of hide and seek with an = ever-increasing number of participants.

One month after David Ulmer hid the first cache in = Oregon, Jon=20 Stanley placed the first cache in Idaho - and number 40 in = the world=20 - on June 17, 2000, near Priest Lake in the northern = panhandle.

The cache is a five-gallon bucket that still remains = where he=20 first put it. He originally filled it with outdoor = equipment, a DVD=20 and a CD of his favorite band, Men Without Hats.

Caches are located in other exotic places. One is = weighted down=20 at the bottom of Lake Coeur d'Alene, requiring scuba gear to = find.=20 Another is placed at the top of Mount St. Helens. Eight = currently=20 reside in Iraq. And some have even found a home at the = happiest=20 place on earth, Disneyland.

With considerable help from Chapton, I was able to locate = six=20 caches around downtown Boise in a matter of a couple of = hours.=20 Besides bathrooms, we also searched for them in the downtown = Grove,=20 along the Boise River, on Warm Springs Avenue and in an = abandoned=20 downtown parking garage.

I would still be walking in circles in that garage had = the=20 experienced geocachers in my party not given up on my = ability to=20 read a GPS unit. But to speed things up, they were often = forced to=20 politely point out the cache for me.

More often than not, I found myself looking at it all = along, yet,=20 was completely oblivious to its existence.

For more local geocaching information, visit the Idaho = Geocachers=20 Web site at www.idahogeocachers.org.

Stephen Lowman is an Albertson College of Idaho intern = with the=20 Idaho Press-Tribune. He can be reached at 465-8115.

Geocaching 101

Getting started: A GPS unit is required for aspiring = geocachers.=20 Cache coordinates and hints are posted on the Web at=20 www.geocaching.com. For $30 a year you can have the ability = to=20 download cache sites directly into your GPS or PDA.

Rules: When you find a cache, take something from it, = leave=20 something behind (usually a small trinket or coins), and = write your=20 name and date in the cache's log book.

Lingo:

Micro-cache: A film canister is normally used in this = type of=20 cache, and a magnet or Velcro is used to attach it to an = object.

Multi-cache: The first cache gives coordinates that leads = to=20 another location, which in turn could lead to yet another = location=20 until the final cache is reached.

Skunk: A cache that is no longer at its designated site = and,=20 therefore, unable to be found.

Travel bug: This a tag that is attached to an item and = then=20 tracked on geocaching.com. The item's owner, for example, = may want=20 it to go to a specific country or 20 countries.

Virtual cache: This cache is actually an existing = landmark, like=20 a statue or tombstone. Once found, you must answer a = question from=20 the landmark and let the cache owner know as proof you were=20 there.

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