The Idaho = Statesman - Always Idaho

Jesse Tinsley /=20 The Spokesman-Review

Jeff = Adams=20 examines a toy gyroscope left by a visitor to his Post = Falls=20 =93geocache,=94 a hidden trove of simple trading items = which other=20 geocachers find using coordinates from a Web site and = a=20 handheld GPS unit. Geocachers trade items, leave a = note and=20 log unusual finds on the=20 = Internet.

POST FALLS =97 Jeff Adams=B4 = mother worried.=20

Her son spent so much time in the woods hunting, fishing and = hiking =97=20 all by himself.=20

So, for Christmas last year, she bought him a Global = Positioning System=20 device.=20

As Adams surfed the Internet for information on his new gadget, = he came=20 across a link for something called geocaching. Before long, he was = hooked.=20

=93It=B4s pretty addicting,=94 said Adams, a 37-year-old Idaho = native. =93Just=20 in a couple of weeks I=B4d seen things that I didn=B4t even know = were here.=94=20

Thousands of people are now geocaching. Players hide caches all = over=20 the world and share the location of the cache online at http://www.geocaching.com/. = Using=20 GPS units, other players try to find the caches using given = coordinates=20 and by decrypting hints.=20

Once a player finds a cache, which is a stash of assorted items = and=20 trinkets, they take an item, leave another item and write about it = in the=20 cache logbook. The cache is left for others to discover.=20

Players keep an online record of how many caches they have = hidden and=20 found. Each player has a user name. Adams is known as = =93niskibum.=94=20

Since Adams began playing, he has logged 92 finds and hidden = numerous=20 caches throughout North Idaho for others to discover.=20

Some of his favorite finds have been in the Priest Lake area, = which he=20 says is beautiful. He also likes searching for caches that bring = him to=20 mountain peaks and waterfalls he never even knew existed.=20

Adams is trying to get others in the area interested in = geocaching. For=20 some reason, he said, the game hasn=B4t caught on in the Inland = Northwest.=20

During a recent trip to California, Adams decided to look for = some=20 caches and had more than 900 to choose from.=20

=93They=B4re hot and heavy down there,=94 Adams said.=20

Adams has been trying to hide a cache each week to get more = players.=20

The first Cache Bash gathering, held in June in Post Falls, = drew about=20 10 people.=20

For an Aug. 25 gathering, Adams is putting a little more effort = into=20 planning.=20

He=B4s hiding some caches and has asked everyone to bring their = GPS units=20 and help introduce newcomers to the sport.=20

Jon Stanley, a 36-year-old from Sammamish, Wash., planted = Idaho=B4s first=20 cache on June 17, 2000, near Priest Lake.=20

Stanley, also known as =93Moun10bike,=94 received his first GPS = unit as a=20 Christmas present in 1995.=20

He was reading an online GPS newsgroup when the very first = cache was=20 planted and, a couple of days later, was first discovered.=20

He decided to plant a cache at Priest Lake, his favorite place. = His=20 parents and in-laws both have cabins at the lake and Stanley = spends a lot=20 of time there. The cache wasn=B4t discovered until Memorial Day = weekend the=20 following year.=20

Spokane=B4s Mike Gardner, or =93Edgydrifter,=94 was the first = person to find=20 Stanley=B4s Priest Lake cache.=20

He got started geocaching in March 2001. His brother had read = some=20 articles, and the two decided to buy GPS units and give it a try.=20

One of Gardner=B4s favorite finds was a cache Stanley hid on = top of Mount=20 Roothaan near Priest Lake.=20

=93It=B4s quite a little hike,=94 Gardner said. =93It was real = scenic when I=20 got to the top.=94=20

Stanley describes the view from the mountaintop as spectacular. =

=93You can see all the way into Montana, into Canada, into = Washington,=94=20 Stanley said.=20

Since coordinates for cache locations are given, some people = assume=20 finding caches is easy. The challenge comes in getting to the = actual cache=20 site, not just near it. According to http://www.geocaching.com/ = caches=20 have been hidden in places accessible only to rock climbers or = scuba=20 divers.=20

A GPS unit generally gets geocachers to within six to 20 feet = of a=20 cache. Sometimes caches are inadvertently discovered or end up = missing.=20

Gardner recalled the time when a cache he had hidden near the=20 Centennial Trail was discovered and moved into the open. Somebody = believed=20 the metal can was suspicious and alerted police. The bomb squad = was called=20 in and, after discovering Gardner=B4s logbook inside, they = contacted him.=20

While geocaching has drawn some criticism nationally and the = National=20 Park Service has banned the game, locally there haven=B4t been = many=20 problems. Though several caches are hidden throughout the city, = and on=20 Tubbs Hill, employees at the Coeur d=B4Alene Parks Department = hadn=B4t even=20 heard of geocaching.=20

Dave Fair, Post Falls Parks and Recreation director, said he = first=20 learned about geocaching when Adams called seeking permission to = hide=20 caches in city parks.=20

=93People tell me it=B4s fun,=94 said Fair, who has yet to try = it for=20 himself. He said he doesn=B4t view geocaching as being any more = intrusive=20 than other park activities.=20

Fair said he was looking at the geocaching Web site and = discovered that=20 one of the cache listings had incorrect information about one of = the=20 parks. He contacted Adams, who had the error corrected.=20

=93There=B4s been some responsibility displayed,=94 Fair said.=20

Adams said he always likes to ask permission before placing a = cache.=20 Geocachers are a friendly bunch, Adams said.=20

=93There=B4s really good camaraderie.=94

Edition Date: 08-03-2002