From the Pueblo Chieftian 04.19.07:
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1176964526/1
By AMY MATTHEW
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Next time you're out on a trail, in a park or even in the middle of Manhattan, you could cache in on a growing trend.
Not cash in; this isn't about money. It's about cache, as in geocaching, a global treasure hunt that started almost seven years ago and keeps expanding. It combines technology and curiosity in a pastime that appeals to all ages.
First, a short history of geocaching, courtesy of Geocaching.com:
On May 2, 2000, global positioning system technology became available to the general public. One day later, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant in Oregon, hid his first geocache: a black bucket containing a logbook, pencil and various prizes. He posted the waypoint - latitude and longitude coordinates - online and challenged other GPS aficionados to find it; within three days, two people did. Ulmer called the idea the Great American GPS Stash Hunt.
The concept spread quickly and within a month the term geocaching, "geo" for geography and "caching" for hiding a cache, had been proposed. The Web site Geocaching.com was launched in September 2000 by Jeremy Irish and it has become a one-stop source for geocachers all over the world to join the hunting experience. Players can search for caches by zip code, chat with other hunters and leave clues about their own caches. Many caches are similar to that first one hidden by Ulmer, but some are more elaborate or contain hitchhikers: items that are meant to be moved along to other caches.
Pueblo is home to a sizable group of geocachers, including Tommy Fergerson and his family, known as Team Fergerson in the geocaching world. They've been on the hunt since 2004.
"It's kind of like a big Easter egg hunt more than anything," Fergerson said. "It's a family thing (that) takes you places you've never been before and it's not that expensive."
Fergerson has two large binders on top of a filing cabinet in his office. They're filled with information about the caches he, his wife, Sandy, and several of their eight children have hunted and found. Another notebook documents the caches Fergerson has created and hid. He's known among fellow geocachers for his unique caches.
"I've spent in excess of 40 hours to make some of them," he said.
All of Fergerson's creations have names that are clues in themselves. There's Einstein, a cache that's also a puzzle; hunters can't search for the cache until they've solved the puzzle. Don't be Scared is somewhere in Phantom Canyon. Dolly was so named because "that's how it got there," said Fergerson. "It was too heavy to move." His designs and locations aren't meant to frustrate. Judging by the online responses, most geocachers appreciate the complexity, even if they never find the cache, because it makes the hunt more challenging.
"It's fun reading what people write," said Fergerson.
There are guidelines for hiding and hunting. Caches can't be buried, placed in dangerous locations or be filled with food or items that could be harmful. Because geocaching is often a family activity, cache items should be appropriate even for children. Caches should be in closed, preferably transparent containers and plainly marked.
Items should be noncommercial - no advertisements or coupons for specific businesses. However, Jeep came up with its own Geocache Challenge as a promotional tool, using tiny toy Jeeps as hitchhikers. It generated a lot of attention, but many of the little Jeeps didn't make it to the next cache because people didn't want to part with them. Some are now available on eBay.
Hunters are asked to leave areas as untouched as possible. Geocachers practice CITO - cache in, trash out - to help clean up areas where they search. Preparation is essential: dress for the conditions, take plenty of water and be aware of the surroundings.
If they find a cache with a hitchhiker inside it, hunters are expected to move the item along to another cache. Fergerson said one of his family's hitchhikers - actually a Travel Bug dog tag that's available through Geocaching.com - has traveled more than 17,000 miles and gone as far as Japan.
Caches often are placed along nature trails or at least away from heavily populated areas. National parks don't allow them, but many state parks do, including parks in Colorado. Geocaching has exposed state parks to a whole new audience, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee:
Colorado State Forest State Park sprawls high in the Rocky Mountains west of Fort Collins and offers camping, hiking, snowshoeing and, now, geocaching.
‘‘I just think it’s a gold mine,’’ said Deb McLachlan, an aide to the park manager. ‘‘If I had a business, it would be an awesome way to bring people into it.’’
The 71,000-acre park has hidden eight of its own geocaches and rents GPS units to novices for $10.
A survey of geocachers at the park revealed that 90 percent of them had never been to the park before, McLachlan said.
‘‘If you hide a cache, they will come,’’ she said.
She has sold park passes to a group of retirees in a caravan of 22 recreational vehicles who came for the geocaching. She was hugged by a 70-plus Nebraska woman who had 1,100 geocache finds, and has welcomed European visitors with GPS units in hand.
Geocaching isn't only for people who want to hike and explore the great outdoors, however. There are 559 caches within a 20-mile radius of Manhattan, N.Y., according to Geocaching.com listings.
That's a pretty good way to keep the kids entertained if you can't escape the city, and that's the whole idea, says Fergerson. Geocachers can discover places in their own city, region or state that would otherwise remain unknown to them.
"There are lots of places even in Pueblo that people don't know about," said Fergerson. "There are over 2,000 (caches) in Colorado alone. You could spend years looking here if you had the time."
Common geocaching terms
- Cache - pronounced "cash," it is a hidden container filled with a logbook, pen or pencil and sometimes small prizes.
- CITO - Cache in, trash out. Geocachers are encouraged to remove trash from the areas where they're hunting in order to leave the environment as untouched as possible.
- Datum - A datum is used as a basis for calculating and measuring. With GPS, datums are different calculations for determining latitude and longitude of a location. Geocaching uses the WGS84 datum for all caches, which means a GPS unit must be set to that datum before a cache coordinate is entered.
- FTF - First To Find. When someone discovers a cache before anyone else, they can document it in the logbook and/or online.
- Geomuggle - someone who is not a geocacher. Geomuggles are often responsible for the disappearance of caches, simply because they don't realize what they've found. The term comes from the word "muggle" the Harry Potter books; a muggle is a person without magical powers.
- Hitchhiker - an item placed in a cache, with instructions to move it along to other caches. Some hitchhikers have their own logbooks to document their travels.
- Logbook - book that is kept with a cache; people sign and date it when they find the cache. They can also log the information online.
- Spoiler - information that can give away details, possibly ruining an experience for someone else; i.e., revealing specifics of a cache location.
- TFTC - Thanks For The Cache
- TFTH - Thanks For The Hunt
- TNLN - Took Nothing, Left Nothing. Typical message left in logbooks by people who focus on the thrill of the hunt rather than the contents of the cache.
- Travel bug - Hitchhikers; metal dog tags with a picture of a bug on them. They're purchased through geocaching.com and each has its own ID number so its travels can be documented.
- Virtual cache - The location is the cache itself; there is no physical cache.
- Waypoints - named coordinates representing points on the surface of Earth (latitude and longitude). They are used to locate caches.
- Source: www.geocaching.com
Get into the geocache game
When it comes to hobbies, geocaching is actually pretty simple. It doesn't require a huge investment in money or time (unless you want it to) and it's one the whole family can enjoy. Here are the basics to getting started in the geocache world:
- The greatest expense is a hand-held global positioning system unit, which can be purchased for about $100 at most sporting goods stores or online. There are more expensive models, but a simple GPS device will work fine for geocaching. Geocaching.com has a section that offers tips on buying a GPS.
- Create an account at Geocaching.com, the go-to site for geocaching. Basic membership is free and allows access to all the necessary information. Premium memberships are available for those who want extras; cost is $3 a month or $30 a year.
- Read the "getting started" section of the Web site before attempting that first hunt!
- Search for caches hidden in and near your city. This will allow you to get used to geocaching without getting far from home. Caches on Geocaching.com are ranked according to the difficulty of the hunt and the surrounding terrain, so start with something simple. A recent check showed 82 caches hidden within a 10-mile radius of Pueblo.
- Be prepared. Have at least one person with you, bring plenty of water, dress accordingly and make sure someone knows where you are and what time you expect to be back. Always be aware of your surroundings.
- Some caches are "take something, leave something." They're filled with small prizes for finders to take and finders, in return, are expected to leave something of their own. Simple, family-friendly items are encouraged, like collectible coins or fun trinkets.
- Bring a plastic shopping bag or trash bag with you to carry out any trash you find during your hunt.